Chapter 256: Spade K’s Scheme
The plaza returned to a dead silence, only the foul odor of ghouls turning to ash after death began to spread.
The battle ended too quickly, and the process was too unbelievable, so much so that the brains of the three survivors had not fully recovered from the horrifying scene just now. That young priest, who looked calm and reliable, annihilated more than ten ferocious and terrifying monsters with just one sword, which completely exceeded their understanding of extraordinary power.
The player believer collapsed on the ground, looking at the longsword still burning with a faint flame in Moria’s hand, his eyes filled with a dullness mixed with excitement and awe. He knew very well that either of the two people in front of him possessed the strength to slaughter them all with ease.
This was incredibly impressive.
The other two ordinary believers, who were scared out of their wits, trembled all over, lacking the strength to even stand. They could only support each other, leaning against the cold stone wall, their faces as pale as paper.
Moria put away his longsword, and the flames on the sword were extinguished. He slowly walked towards the three survivors, his footsteps clearly audible in the empty plaza, each step like stepping on their taut nerves.
“We have no ill intentions,” Moria’s voice was calm and gentle, trying to appease their emotions that were on the verge of collapse, “but we need to know what happened here, and where your companions are now.”
His words did not have much effect. The two ordinary believers just shook their heads in terror, their lips trembling, unable to utter a complete sentence. It was the player who, after the initial shock, had a flash of shrewdness unique to players, a shrewdness for judging the situation. He struggled to get up from the ground, his movements appearing somewhat comical.
“Big… boss…” He forced out a smile that was even uglier than crying, his voice clearly flattering, “We… we were forced! It’s all the Cult Leader, it’s all that bastard Spade K! He brought us to this godforsaken place!”
Li Wen’s figure appeared beside him silently. The shadow of her hood cast down, bringing an invisible sense of oppression. The Raven Feather Dagger held in her hand emitted a cold, faint light under the reflection of the ethereal blue glow. Although it was not pointed at him, the subtle killing intent made the back of his neck feel cold.
“Where is your Cult Leader?” Li Wen’s voice was very soft, but chillingly devoid of any emotion.
The devout player trembled, and almost spat out everything he knew like a string of beans: “The whirlpool tore our ship apart, and many people died when we fell. Spade K… the Cult Leader was lucky enough to fall with all of us, not far from here. But he didn’t care about the lives of ordinary players like us at all. He only took his confidants, holding… holding something snatched from the Oracle, and went towards the city center.”
The Oracle? Madam Sivell?
“What thing?” Moria pressed.
“I, I don’t know what that is…” The player believer hurriedly waved his hands, “That thing looked like a compass, and also like an astrolabe, very strange, carved with incomprehensible symbols. The Cult Leader said it was key to guiding him to find the ‘treasure’.”
As if afraid they wouldn’t believe him, he quickly added, “Really! He said at the time that as long as they followed its guidance, they could find the most magnificent building in this city, and the ‘treasure’ was there.”
The most magnificent building… Li Wen and Moria’s gazes turned towards the center of the ruins in unison. In that area, shrouded by layers of building wreckage and dim light and shadow, one could vaguely see the outline of a spire much taller and relatively better preserved than the surrounding buildings. It stood there quietly like a sharp sword piercing the underwater sky, exuding an ancient and majestic aura.
“What did he come here for?” Moria’s brow furrowed, “To release the sealed existence?”
“No, it’s not like that.” The player believer shook his head like a rattle drum, “The Cult Leader… he doesn’t care about whatever is sealed here. His target throughout was never to release anyone or any monster.”
This unexpected answer surprised both Li Wen and Moria.
“Then what is his purpose?” Li Wen’s dagger moved forward imperceptibly, its cold edge almost touching the other person’s neck.
The player felt a chill in his throat, scared out of his wits, and his speech accelerated: “It’s to steal, to steal something. I… I overheard it inadvertently, he and Heart A were discussing that there was a very high-level, ahem, powerful existence sealed here by an incredibly powerful divine artifact. His target was to take advantage of the seal not being completely invalid to steal that divine artifact. He said… as long as he got that divine artifact, he could become the strongest player in this game, and any hellish guild would have to make way for him!”
Steal the sealing divine artifact?
This crazy yet logical answer made Li Wen connect all the clues in an instant. The Cult Leader of the Divine Cult of Eternal Blessing had never aimed to release the troublesome Soul Lord, but rather to snatch the powerful divine artifact capable of suppressing a Soul Lord from the fire.
This was undoubtedly more covert than directly releasing the Soul Lord, and it was more in line with the behavior logic of a greedy player. He didn’t need to face a terrifying and uncontrollable awakened existence; he only needed to steal the sleeping treasure during the gap in the seal.
However, he seemed to have overlooked the most important thing – the reason why a divine artifact is a divine artifact lies not only in its own power, but more importantly in the responsibility and function it carries. Once the seal is removed by external force, even if the Soul Lord does not immediately awaken, the dissipation of its power and the complete collapse of the seal are only a matter of time.
No, it’s not that he overlooked it, but rather that he didn’t care at all. After all, they were players.
Just as Li Wen was about to ask for more details, a sudden change occurred.
A low roar, as if from the depths of the earth, came from the depths of the ruins without warning. The sound was heavy and oppressive, not an explosion, but more like the teeth-grinding roar of gears and rocks rubbing when a vast mechanical device, dormant for thousands of years, was restarted.
Immediately after, the entire underwater ruin began to tremble slightly.
The ground of the plaza shook slightly, and tiny pebbles fell from the cracks of the surrounding buildings. The ethereal blue sky, formed by the seawater overhead, also rippled with visible waves.
“What, what is that sound?” The surviving believers looked around in horror, their faces drained of color.
Li Wen and Moria’s expressions also changed simultaneously. Their gazes were directed at the magnificent spire standing in the center of the city. The source of the vibration seemed to be from there.
Rumble—
With another more violent roar, this time, accompanied by the loud noise was the “awakening” of the entire city.
The stone statues that stood on the eaves of the magnificent buildings, the edges of the plaza, or the sides of broken bridges, which were originally just inanimate objects, began to crack. Cracks spread rapidly like a spiderweb, and stone chips fell off like showers.
From the depths of the cracks, cold, ethereal lights, not belonging to any living being, lit up.
Then, with a series of hair-raising “crunching” sounds, those statues moved.
They twisted their stiff stone necks, and in their originally empty eye sockets, two cold and ruthless eyes, flickering with magical light, were ignited. They spread their cracked, bat-like stone wings, shook off the accumulated sediment and seaweed of hundreds of years, and let out a series of piercing hisses like rocks grinding.
“Gargoyles…” Moria’s voice was extremely solemn, “They are the magic guards of this city.”
Li Wen frowned slightly. Of course, she recognized these things. These construct guards, created by ancient mages using alchemy and elemental magic, were the nightmares of countless players exploring ancient ruins. They tireless, impervious to swords and blades, highly resistant to magic, and absolutely loyal in executing their single, set instruction – to eliminate all unauthorized intruders.
These gargoyles were clearly the last line of defense of this sunken city, the final guardians of that sealing divine artifact.
As the first gargoyle spread its wings from the top of a tall building and pushed off forcefully, its massive body glided down with a whistling wind. More gargoyles “came alive” one after another.
Their numbers grew, dozens, hundreds… a dark mass, like a demon army awakened from hell. Their huge stone wings covered the last trace of light filtering down from the sea surface, and their eyes, carved from magic gems, formed a brilliant and deadly galaxy in the darkness.
Their gazes locked onto all living beings in the plaza without discrimination – whether it was Li Wen, Moria, or the three Eternal Blessing Cult believers who were already scared out of their souls.
In their eyes, all intruders had only one outcome.
Death.
