Chapter 84: Chapter 20: Split Mist Town: [Druid]
Early August.
Zorn let his displayed Fighting Master Sequence reach Level 3.
During this ti, Zorn would go to the Red River Valley Tavern on Ruke Long Street every night and sit for a while.
While listening to Alvin’s reports, he would use the Evil Spirit Authority to baptize him several tis.
At the sa ti, he also gradually converted the mbers of Poisonous Horse’s gang into Believers.
Alvin Burke’s surveillance of the Evil Spirit Divine Mage had also yielded so results.
By questioning the people from the steamship, he found another stronghold.
It was suspected to be a hidden stronghold of the Sun Secret Cult.
But Zorn was clearly not satisfied with just one stronghold; he had Doomsday Shadow Stab Alvin continue his observation, insisting that he dig up as many Sun Secret Cult strongholds and powerful Transcendents as possible.
If he was going to make a move, it had to be a big one. Zorn wasn’t satisfied with petty skirmishes.
In early August, after his "breakthrough," Zorn once again paid a visit to the Countess.
The Countess was very pleased with Zorn’s breakthrough.
By mid-August, an invitation from the Countess had Zorn sitting in a steam car heading for the outskirts.
His destination was a place in the eastern outskirts, across the steam train line, a misty area called Split Mist Town.
That was the entrance to the Legendary Ancient Mage’s ruins.
Inside the slightly bumpy steam car, Countess Mable, puffing out clouds of smoke, explained the situation inside the Legendary Ancient Mage’s ruins.
"It’s a domain filled with Mysterious Power and the danger of Death."
"Currently, what has us trapped is a peculiar ’Mirror Demon Realm’."
"It possesses an extrely powerful Magic Ban."
"Almost any Magic or Skill that leaves the body is drastically weakened."
"Only those Sequences that don’t rely on casting external Skills, the so-called Close Combat Sequences, can operate with any real effectiveness inside."
"Every so often, a group of mysterious ’Mirror Image Warriors’ are deployed into the area."
"But there’s no reward for killing those Mirror Images."
"Only by killing the ’Mirror Image Constructors’ behind these Mirror Images can we end this ceaseless slaughter."
"But each floor has a considerable number of ’Mirror Image Constructors’."
"Therefore, our only option is to send in Transcendents of the appropriate Level each ti the Split Mist opens. We have them try to kill the Mirror Image Constructors, allowing us to probe deeper, floor by floor."
"As I just said, it’s very dangerous inside."
"According to the information we’ve gathered, the Mirror Demon Realm has seven floors in total."
"We are currently exploring the fourth floor."
"Even so, over a dozen Transcendents have already died in the Mirror Demon Realm."
"The fifth, sixth, and even the seventh floors below are even more dangerous."
The Countess explained.
Zorn quickly processed this information.
’First, they don’t have a way to distinguish the Mirror Image Constructors, so they can only use this crude thod to probe, explore, and advance, one attempt at a ti.’
’Not only is it ti-consuming and labor-intensive, but it’s also easy to lose people.’
’The Mirror Image Constructors inside the Mirror Demon Realm are indeed quite tricky.’
’Also...’
Zorn’s pupils constricted slightly as he looked at Countess Mable.
’The Split Mist opens? It can’t be kept open permanently?’
"We haven’t yet found a way to keep it open permanently. We can only enter when the Split Mist opens on its own."
Countess Mable explained.
"Mm."
Zorn nodded slightly and closed his eyes, digesting the information he had just learned.
’Soone is causing trouble behind the scenes! And it’s a big shot from the inner circle of power.’
In a flash of thought, Zorn had already reached an important conclusion.
Zorn was all too familiar with the internal structure of the Ancient Mage Ruins.
’The boss of the first floor’s demon realm is the Gray Mist Knight. While not very powerful, he has the ability to endlessly create ordinary Gray Mist Soldiers. Overall, he’s relatively easy to deal with.’
’The second floor’s boss is the Purgatory Mage, and he’s a rather despicable Mage. When adventurers go in to explore, he frequently hurls wide-area Fla Magic from a great distance. If you don’t have Fire Extraordinary Armor, it’s easy to die from his attacks.’
’The third floor’s boss is the Mirror Witch.’
’This is the area I’m about to enter, which Countess Mable calls the "Mirror Demon Realm."’
’The boss of the Mirror Demon Realm, the Mirror Witch, commands the power of the "Mirror Image Constructor." She deployed a large number of Mirror Image Constructors throughout the seven floors of the Mirror Demon Realm.’
’Normally, after defeating the first floor’s boss, the Gray Mist Knight, you get the thod to keep the Split Mist permanently open.’
’But they’ve reached the third floor and still haven’t figured it out.’
’Obviously, soone found the way to keep the Split Mist permanently open and didn’t publicize it.’
’That’s why they have to wait for the Split Mist to open before they can get in.’
Previously, Zorn had been wondering why they had to wait from the beginning of the month to the middle of the month.
Now, the mystery was solved.
’There’s a mole!’
As he thought, the three factions of the current Ogrande City Hall appeared in Zorn’s mind.
The Church Faction! The Parliant Faction! The Reconstruction Faction!
The Church Faction was, naturally, the group of Transcendents led by Duke Mu Huo who aligned themselves with the Church.
The Parliant Faction was the main power within Ogrande City Hall.
As for the Reconstruction Faction, its voice was still relatively weak, and it mostly aligned with the Parliant Faction.
Clearly, the force obstructing Ogrande City Hall’s developnt of Extraordinary Power had to be that group of diehards led by Duke Mu Huo.
’They must be dealt a severe blow.’
’If we can’t keep the Split Mist permanently open and have to rely on the one or two chances to explore each month, I’m afraid we won’t have even found the important resources inside by the ti the Church’s internal strife and the continent’s conflicts erupt.’
’And that will bring huge trouble for Ogrande City.’
’Even if the Church is secretly backing Duke Mu Huo, that’s unacceptable!’
’Now that I’m here, your plans—all of them—are going to fail!’
In that mont of thought, Zorn had already ford a general strategy and plan.
After this exploration was over, he could use a "discovery" from inside as an excuse to tell Countess Mable the correct way to open the Split Mist.
Their current progress, only reaching the third World of the Mirror Witch, was already a bit slow.
Therefore, Zorn also planned to speedrun the powerful Mirror Witch and, at the sa ti, provide so key clues to break through the next floor, the fourth World of the Witch Lich King.
This way, he could accelerate Ogrande City’s official progress to the fifth World, the Ancient Mage Projection.
The entire Ancient Mage Ruins had seven Worlds in total.
But as long as they entered the fifth World, they could obtain rather abundant resources.
The sooner Ogrande City Hall obtained and assimilated these resources, the stronger they would naturally beco, and the more leverage they would have to challenge the Church.
As the steam car drove on, Split Mist Town drew near.
Suddenly!
"CAW CAW..."
"CAW CAW CAW..."
A massive flock of crows took flight, scattering in all directions. The piercing sound washed over Zorn like an ocean wave.
A thick fog instantly surrounded the steam car, making it seem illusory and hazy.
Zorn was thrown hard by Countess Mable toward a mirrored world.
A swarm of crows imdiately gave chase.
Suddenly, a sharp claw lunged for Zorn’s heart.
While still in mid-air, Zorn casually reached out. His right hand, wreathed in Gang Qi, clamped down on the swiftly attacking claw like a steel pincer. CRACK.
THUD!
Zorn’s fist had already slamd viciously into the "Crow Person’s" head.
"ROAR..."
Just as Zorn was about to land a second blow...
...the roar of an angry bear surged forth.
The crow’s claw he held swiftly transford into a thick, broad bear paw, its terrifying strength prying open Zorn’s hand.
The bear paw then tore through the air, striking down at Zorn with the force of the earth itself.
Shattering Spirit·Skull-Splitting Fist!
Not to be outdone, Zorn t it with a punch of his own.
BOOM!
As Gang Qi and Natural Power erupted and clashed, Zorn landed smoothly on his feet.
The cumberso brown bear, however, crashed heavily onto the grass in front of the mist.
Fortunately, the Druid Sequence’s Bear of Nature transformation had thick skin and hide, so it wasn’t injured.
"A decent Surprise Attack! But your execution was a little lacking!"
Zorn’s voice was calm and natural, his breathing not even slightly disturbed.
The Druid quickly shifted from his Bear of Nature form back to human.
This Level Three Druid was a man of about twenty-seven or twenty-eight, dressed in a clean white shirt under a black tailcoat and a high top hat, looking very much like a stage magician.
Although his Bear of Nature form was burly and imposing, the man himself was sowhat lean.
At this mont, the steam car pulled up nearby, and Countess Mable opened the door and stepped out.
"I told you he was tough, but you just had to test him. Satisfied now?"
The Druid looked at Countess Mable as she got out of the car, his voice rising a few pitches.
"Where did you find this incredible Fighting Master?"
"Don’t tell
this is the guy who fought the Rat King in the underground!"
"Obviously not. He only just reached Level Three."
"What? He’s this strong right after hitting Level Three?"
"Ever consider the possibility that he was already this strong at Level Two?"
As they spoke, the Druid looked at Zorn.
"I’m Joy Bryan. A pleasure to et you."
"A pleasure to et you too, Mr. Druid."
"That said, your strength is incredible. If I hadn’t turned into a bear, I’m not sure I could have broken free from your grip."
Zorn just smiled faintly.
’If I’d wanted to, Mr. Druid here never would’ve had the chance to turn into a bear. I would have torn him to shreds in his crow form.’
"What’s the situation inside?" Countess Mable asked as they walked forward into the mist.
"They said we were too slow," Mr. Druid explained quickly. "They didn’t wait for us and have already gone down ahead."
Hearing this, Countess Mable snorted coldly, a frosty look appearing on her fair cheeks.
"Before it was open, that Duke Mu Huo did everything to obstruct us. Now that it’s open, they’re the ones in a hurry."
"What about the other two?"
"They’re already over there waiting!"
"Alright, let’s hurry over."
With that, Countess Mable turned her head to look at Zorn.
"Get ready. We’re going down in a mont."
"This is your first ti down, so stick behind them. You can only act alone after you’ve gotten a clear grasp of the situation inside."
"You’ll have at least a full day to fight, explore, and advance inside. There’s no need to rush at all!"
"What about the rewards inside?" Zorn asked curiously, following behind.
"Rewards?" the Druid walking with them chuckled.
"This is your first ti down. You’d be lucky just to make it out alive. You really don’t need to worry about rewards."
Countess Mable, however, gave Zorn a more detailed answer.
"Unless it’s sothing particularly valuable, any general resources... as long as you’re willing to haul them out, they’re all yours!"
’Particularly valuable things...’
Zorn rubbed the bridge of his nose.
’That’s a lot of discretionary power! Don’t tell
everything they take a fancy to is considered ’particularly valuable’!’
Fortunately, Zorn was also prepared.
The power of his Calamity Origin Land was now strong enough.
He could send things away silently and without a trace.
Although the efficiency of sending items out from within the Mirror Demon Realm was very low, Zorn would definitely use the Calamity Origin Land channel for the really good stuff.
’Otherwise, what would be the point of going through all the trouble of clearing a boss dungeon only to co back empty-handed? It would be a complete waste.’
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