The darkened sky, the massive withered tree, a mountain of corpses, rivers of blood on the ground, and a talking eagle—what kind of world was this?
Altair was montarily stunned. This world seed horrifying, far more chilling than the previous two he had encountered.
Especially the talking eagle. Its blood-red eyes stared at him so intensely that Altair felt a shiver run down his spine.
Before Altair could respond to the eagle's question, the bird spoke again.
"Never mind. I don't need to know who you are. You're just another magician sent to stop . It's aningless. No one can stop now."
As the eagle spoke, its blood-red eyes suddenly glowed. A crimson arrow appeared out of thin air and shot directly toward Altair. Reacting quickly, he summoned a dialog panel in his left hand and rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the arrow. It struck the blood pool on the ground, sinking into it.
Just as Altair thought he had avoided the attack, the previously still blood pool suddenly exploded. Droplets of blood shot into the air, rging to form a massive blood web that rushed toward him, ready to envelop him.
"What the hell?!"
Altair didn't have ti to care about getting dirty. He dove, rolled, and scrambled, using both his hands and feet to weave through the corpses on the ground, dodging the web's relentless attacks.
Perched atop the tree, the eagle observed Altair's desperate movents with a disturbingly humanlike expression of disdain. It continued to speak.
"It's useless. You can't escape. This is a curse I specifically designed to counter magicians like you. No magician can oppose it. Not even a Grand Knight could stand against this."
"To prepare this curse, I sacrificed the lives and blood of 3,333 people. Using sorcery, I linked it to the leyline's power. With the leyline's reinforcent, this curse will continue indefinitely—until I, its master, choose to end it!"
"I may not know who you are, but I can make a good guess which mage society sent you. After all, only a select few groups in the magical world could use large-scale teleportation magic and precisely deliver you here. But it doesn't matter. The hope they've pinned on you is about to shatter!"
"Damn it, you talk too much!"
As Altair continued to dodge the blood web's attacks, he couldn't help but grumble internally about the overly chatty bird. Confronting the web head-on wasn't an option. He had tried blocking it with his gauntlet earlier, only for the web to shear cleanly through, leaving a perfectly smooth, unnatural gap in the tal.
This wasn't just blood—its destructive power was far beyond even his photon blade.
Thankfully, Altair's agility, courtesy of his Tom's Body, allowed him to leap, dart, and twist through the battlefield with ease. Without this inhuman flexibility, avoiding the blood web's cuts would have been impossible.
After 10 seconds of relentless dodging, Altair's passive skills, "See, I Told You!" and "Background Heroine", finally kicked in. The eagle lost sight of him, and the blood web halted its pursuit.
"Hm?"
The eagle stared at the stopped blood web, montarily surprised. Then its expression shifted back to contempt.
"So that's how it is. My curse mistakenly assud its target had disappeared. It seems you were sent here for a reason."
"You possess impressive stealth capabilities, enough to evade my magical perception and even my clairvoyance. Despite my 20 years in the magical world, I've never heard of soone with your abilities. You must be your mage society's hidden trump card!"
"There are only three primary ways magicians lock onto a target: visual sight, magical perception, and the highest-tier clairvoyance. To bypass both magical perception and clairvoyance is no small feat. I imagine many magicians have underestimated you, only to be cut down when you get close."
"Unfortunately for you, they didn't anticipate that I would spot you imdiately after your teleportation. Even though you've vanished from sight now, it's too late. You won't be able to approach , for I already know your capabilities!"
The eagle spread its wings, shaking loose several feathers. The feathers drifted down into the pool of blood and were instantly dyed crimson. Then, as if alive, they floated back up, surrounding the eagle and forming a spherical barrier around it.
The eagle slowly folded its wings after finishing its actions.
"Now, let's see how you plan to attack !"
"I'll even generously tell you this—the sorcerer used my feathers to link to the leyline, forming the cursed barrier. Unless you possess the power to sever the leyline itself, you won't be able to break through this defense!"
The eagle seed utterly arrogant, brimming with confidence in its own strength.
What it didn't know, however, was that its target—Altair—had already used his passive skill to reduce his presence and had silently dashed up the massive tree. Now, he crouched on a branch not far from the eagle, watching it monologue to the empty space below.
Relying on his passive stealth skills, Altair felt relatively safe for the mont. But he was still utterly confused about the nature of this world. The eagle could speak, but it gave him the impression of being a person in so form. It kept ntioning magicians, curses, and mage societies—all of which were common elents in various magical worlds. However, he still couldn't determine exactly which world this was.
For now, Altair decided not to act rashly. Besides, as the eagle had said, its barrier was ford using leyline magic. Altair wasn't confident he could cut through sothing like that.
While Altair silently observed the eagle, the bird remained unaware of his presence. It simply assud Altair was hiding sowhere out of sight.
"So, you plan to keep hiding and wait for an opportunity, huh? A decent idea, I'll admit—but soon, you'll realize just how foolish that plan is!"
The eagle spread its wings, and the blood pool on the ground began to boil violently in response. The sky erupted with thunder and lightning, casting an ominous glow over the scene.
"Haven't you all been trying to stop all this ti? Well, I'm honored to inform you—it's too late now! The thing you've been so desperate to prevent... is about to happen!"
"My lifelong wish is on the verge of being fulfilled!"
Blood-red light radiated from the eagle's body as it shouted triumphantly.
"Co forth, Nidhogg!"
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