“It’s here. Right here… My darling, I can now help you…”
While mumbling incessantly, the old witch produced a fragment of a piece of parchment and threw it towards the altar.
At the same time, Jaye, who had been shaking all this while, suddenly made her move!
Streams of translucent, faintly green rays of light descended from the heavens and formed a large net, aiming for Leylin. The surrounding air produced a hissing sound, and there seemed to be some undulations in the scenery around them.
“What are you doing?”
Leylin bellowed, though his expression did not undergo much changes.
It was apparent that he had been expecting something like this, and had thus made some preparations.
*Boom!*
On Leylin’s head, countless black strands of hair seemed to have lives of their own as they wriggled to counter the approaching green net.
*Pu Pu!*
The instant the half transparent green net and the black strands of hair met, large amounts of white gas emerged, and the sound of corrosion constantly erupted in the air.
With a wave of his hair, Leylin’s figure flickered and he shifted over ten metres away from his original spot.
“Madori Defensive Spell Formation!” Jaye, who was in the black cloak, was well aware that Leylin’s power surpassed hers. She had acted first in order to gain the upperhand.
While Leylin was dealing with that large net, Jaye had already fixed up a defensive formation around the spirit altar!
“Activate!” Along with Jaye’s words, translucent black rays rose around the spirit altar, keeping the altar, Jaye and the old witch protected inside.
“Latent Fireball!” With a flash of Leylin’s eyes, countless black fireballs emerged from the shadows, rushing towards the black dome!
*Bang!*
The numerous black fireballs converged and its volume expanded by more than ten times. With the added bonus of Leylin’s elemental essence conversion of 70%, its might had become exceedingly horrifying.
Under this level of attack, an ordinary Magus’ innate defensive spell would be completely destroyed within seconds!
The black flames spread, and even with Jaye within the dome trying her very best to maintain it, it was still vibrating vigorously, as if on the verge of breaking.
However, Jaye was unperturbed and chanted a few incantations.
*Buzz buzz!* From the bottom of the altar, a circle of black light emerged, merging with the defensive spell formation.
*Peng!*
With the addition of this circle of light, the entire defensive spell formation immediately became more radiant. Its colour was black to the extreme, and it was almost impossible to see the figures behind the formation.
Flames from the Latent Fireball burnt at the surface of the dome for over ten seconds.
But when facing the reinforced defensive spell formation, they could do little but succumb and disperse.
“This…”
Seeing how Jaye seemed to be able to take advantage of the powers of the laboratory, Leylin hastily moved a few steps backwards.
The old witch was sure to have hidden a lot of information from him. Thinking back to the spirit explosion that she had previously used and what had happened with the Loathsome Evil, Leylin was certain that the old witch had found out about these ruins much earlier, contrasting with what she had said. She must have already reaped a bountiful harvest from within the ruins before this expedition.
“Give up! This is the core of the secret plane. After borrowing a portion of its strength, it’s impossible to break through this defensive formation unless your power has reached such heights that you’re able to destroy this entire secret plane!”
From within the black dome, Jaye’s faint voice was transmitted over. However, there was no hint of joy in her gaze and her eyes were not on Leylin but rather on the witch. There were dozens of complicated emotions on her face- anticipation, joy, and also… fear!
Upon coming into contact with the altar, the yellowed fragmented piece of parchment burst into flames.
These flames were a light yellow and extremely pure. They started off as small as a bean and gradually crept to engulf the entire parchment, the flames turning light blue.
At the same time, the altar seemed to come to life and began to tremble.
From the gaps between the bones of the altar, fresh red blood trickled down. Dark rays were emitted from the eye sockets of many skulls.
“Old witch! You’d better calm down. It’s obvious that there’s an extremely strong and evil being trapped within the altar. I don’t care if you made a pact or some contract with it, but the strong won’t bother making transactions with the weak.”
Outside the spell formation, Leylin recalled what he had seen and hastily spoke.
“Of course, I know what’s in there! I knew about it 157 years ago! If not for it being in hibernation, and the conditions to awaken it being too harsh, I would have summoned it a long time ago… As long as I summon it, I can…”
The old witch’s facial muscles twisted, her expression crazed as she gestured wildly.
This exposed her knowledge about the ruins.
“You need to think this through. This is an evolved being that escaped out of the Loathsome Evil’s body and is much more sinister and vicious. It’s something the likes of you definitely can’t control.”
As Leylin persuaded her, he’d already left his original position and backed away to where they had climbed up, a ring of Darkness energy particles around his two legs.
“I know better than you how vicious it can get! Even though I can’t control it, I know how it was assembled and basically everything there is to know about it. As long as we give enough offerings, with the power of this spirit altar, I can definitely…”
Her eyes were crazed as she spread out her arms and yelled, “Come out! The collective body of vengeance, the manipulator of spirits and bodies! The supreme king, Gargamel!”
“Gargamel?!” Leylin’s heart lurched.
Before he had come here, he had seen plenty of records regarding the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect and naturally knew about this Gargamel. It was a being that the sect had worshipped.
They believed that a spirit was the last resting place for all beings, and the Gargamel was the one in charge of all these spirits!
It was apparent that this was a Gargamel that had already taken shape after the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect’s immense efforts in cultivating it! However, for some reason, this Gargamel had been sealed here by the Magi of the sect.
The old witch had obviously received the inheritance from the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect and obtained many benefits. She had also been working hard to unseal the Gargamel.
Leylin believed he had a rough understanding of this whole situation.
The black ring of light around his legs flashed and, wrapped in energy particles, his body’s speed reached its limits and he instantly disappeared away from the mountain.
Even though he had no idea why the old witch had swindled him and Brass Ring into coming here, it definitely wasn’t anything good!
Leylin felt it was better if he retreated as soon as possible.
As long as he was out of this secret plane, even if the old witch and Jaye attacked together, Leylin was certain he could take care of them.
“A smart move, but it’s a pity that it’s too late…” Jaye, who was nearby, gave a low sigh.
At this very moment, the piece of parchment on the altar had already been burnt to ashes and, with a cry from the old witch, streams of black gases streamed out of the gaps within the bones of the altar.
*Weng Weng!*
An ancient devil was awake once more.
An aura that caused one’s heart to palpitate in fear arrived on top of the mountain of white bones.
Ice-cold! Evil!
Leylin felt as if he had returned to his childhood, powerless while surrounded by a group of direwolves.
Just with the leakage of this aura, the secret plane vibrated slightly.
A vast amount of black gas converged and gradually solidified, forming a gigantic translucent figure.
The figure brought the skull on top of the altar to its face, treating it as a mask. Its two completely red eyes seemed to be looking down on every one of the Magi present as if they were mere ants.
Leylin’s heart plummeted, and he could not gather any strength.
“Jiik!” The black figure bellowed towards the heavens.
With the tremendous sound waves, the black defensive spell formation that had caused Leylin much trouble instantaneously gave way, and the old witch and Jaye were forced aside from the pressure.
*Pu!*
As the old witch flew backwards, mouthfuls of blood spurted out like water gurgling in a spring.
Chapter 185- The Gargamel
“Respected Lord Gargamel… Cough cough… please accept our offerings”
Jaye, who was at the side, suffered quite a deal from the energy waves. However, she was still better off than the old witch and was somewhat able to stand.
Observing these circumstances, she was partly kneeling in a bizarre position, while tossing a severed Magus’ head in front of the black shadow.
“Brass Ring!”
Leylin’s pupils contracted as he recognized whose head it was. It seemed that Brass Ring didn’t die because of the secret plane’s mechanisms after all, but was instead ambushed by the old witch and Jaye.
Right now, Leylin stood to the side with cold sweat forming on his body, not daring to move an inch.
Although the black shadow atop the altar didn’t look his way, he could clearly feel an extremely vicious and unyielding spiritual force completely locking him down.
Leylin had a premonition that if he took a single step forward, he would be struck by the full power of the Gargamel!
*Crunch! Crunch!*
Immediately after receiving the head of Brass Ring, whose expression still held traces of disbelief, the black shadow put it into its mouth and started to chew.
An absolutely horrifying grinding noise could be heard reverberating from the top of the skeleton mound.
“Ji Ji!” After the black shadow swallowed the head whole, it gave off a sound of satisfaction. Moreover, a scarlet tongue licked its lips, apparently with a desire for more.
“Ah, a spirit that fulfills the conditions! State your wishes!”
An ancient and cryptic voice sounded directly into Leylin and the others’ consciousness, spoken in a language Leylin had never heard before. Strangely, Leylin could understand the meaning of each word that was being spoken.
“I want…” Jaye slowly opened her mouth.
“Let my daughter Jaye come back to life! Give her a new body filled with life!” The old witch, who had fallen to the side, suddenly grew frantic. As she threw herself in front of the Gargamel’s shadow, “If you can fulfill my desire, I will pay any price necessary!”
It could be a misperception, but after the old witch spoke of those words, Leylin seemed to notice a hint of… ridicule in the Gargamel’s gigantic eyes
“I need… I need more offerings…”
The giant shadow licked its lips, “According to the principles of spirit transformation, a male magus cultivating in the Darkness element is a necessary offering!”
“I got it!” Old witch retrieved a couple of crystal balls filled with spiritual powers, and in addition, pointed towards Leylin.
“As for the offering, it’s that Magus!”
As the black shadow stated its conditions. Leylin felt his heart sink as he furiously activated his hastening spells.
His silhouette looked like it was cloaked inside a black tornado as it charged down the hill.
However, the speed of the black shadow Gargamel was far beyond Leylin’s expectations.
Facing Leylin’s escape, the black shadow simply extended a translucent palm and grabbed!
*Screech!* *Whoosh!*
The black tornado was torn apart, revealing Leylin’s body.
Leylin felt like the air was instantly solidifying, and that it was constantly pressing in from all four sides.
In an instant, a band of silver light descended from the sky and coiled around Leylin’s waist.
From this band of light emerged an enormous amount of tyrannical spiritual force. The quality of this spiritual force was higher than anything that Leylin had ever encountered before. Just a tiny bit was enough to completely shatter his elemental essence converted spiritual force.
The spiritual force was a fundamental part of a Magus and was also the primer for casting spells.
With spiritual force having been shattered, Leylin naturally could not cast a single spell.
The silver band of light retracted, and Leylin was forced to follow its movements to ultimately arrive in front of the altar.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Four black shackle-like tentacles emerged from the altar and bound Leylin’s limbs tightly together.
The present Leylin’s body was spread eagle as he was presented to the black shadow Gargamel.
“Spiritual force materialisation! This evil spirit Gargamel must be at least at the level of a rank 2 Magus!”
Leylin’s face was deadly pale as his mind raced, trying to gauge the strength of the black shadow.
At the same time, the A.I. Chip was operating at full speed in order to calculate the energy that the Gargamel was emitting, and from there, predict its stats and weaknesses.
Spiritual force materialisation was an advanced technique that only rank 2 Magi were qualified to practice!
Spiritual force lacked shape or substance, and the various colorful spells that Leylin had seen were actually just the appearance of elemental particles that were in the air. As for the spiritual force, it acted as a catalyst and initiated the process of casting spells. However, all of these things could not be observed with the naked eye.
After a Magus reached rank 2, he could directly draw his spiritual force from his sea of consciousness out into the real world, and materialise it into the most basic energy particle. This was something that could be seen by even the most ordinary person!
When dealing with Magi below rank 2, who were unable to materialise their spiritual force, that ability made it basically impossible to lose!
After all, for Magi who could materialise their spiritual force, their condensation of spiritual force far surpassed that of a rank 1 Magus. With the weak spiritual force of a rank 1 Magus, it was impossible to hold out against attacks produced by the spiritual force of a rank 2 Magus, which resulted in the situation where a rank 1 Magus’ power was nothing compared to that of a rank 2 Magus.
The silver band of light that the shadowy Gargamel used was a materialisation of spiritual force that could be seen in the real world!
Warlock of the Magus World 1-596 Page 143
