novelThe Sealed Place (5)
| ← Ch.0234 | Ch.0236 → |
Translator: AtlasStudios Editor: AtlasStudios
Rhode quickly found Gillian and Lapis. When he saw Lapis, he finally understood what Gillian meant by trouble.
At this moment, Lapis had totally lost her consciousness. The light in her eyes disappeared too, and she looked just like a dead person. If not for the fact that she was still breathing, Rhode would even believe she turned into undead or something similar.
"What happened again?"
"Her consciousness fell into a deep sleep. In other words, there's a virus in her system. But, in here, there's no firewall or a similar software that can kill the virus and protect her..."
It was really convenient to communicate with someone who had knowledge of his world. There was no need to use mysterious and complicated magic spells. The example that Gillian gave made him quickly understood what happened to Lapis. But why? He knew that the Behermes was a race that used alchemy and magic to improve their power. With the magical skills of this world, they should not have yet reached the point where they could injected a chip into the brain to control and stimulate the body, right?
"Although this is only my speculation..." While saying this, Gillian was currently touching Lapis's chest softly from behind like a pervert... But because Gillian herself was a beautiful woman, this scene would make some people get lost in thought. Of course, Gillian was using this opportunity to take advantage of Lapis while she was sleeping.
"I think that Lapis might not be an ordinary Behermes. You know that Soul Alchemy is a very high-level skill, right?..."
Hearing until here, Rhode nodded. Indeed, he had heard such a rumor before. It was said among the Behermes race, there was an ultimate alchemical prop called the Soul Crystal. However, unlike an artificial soul like the Gargoyle's Heart, the Soul Crystal was used to seal the soul of living person into a crystal. The crystal would be placed into the body afterwards. This was the core idea of Behermes research, which believed that a formless soul wouldn't be able to strengthen one's power. On the other hand, a soul with a form could be trained and transformed. So in other words, the Behermes had the idea of integrating CPU functions into the motherboard. It would be easy to increase the memory, replace the advanced graphics, or do whatever they want, as long as the motherboard was still inserted. It was easy, quick, and convenient.
It was the Behermes' idea to crystallize one's soul so they could attach it to more advanced alchemy and equipment. They could change their bodies at their own will and make themselves more powerful. They could also possess control and affinity for certain elements like elemental creatures.
This was once a rumor among a lot of players in the forum. If the rumors were true, then an alchemist would also have the power of a mage, the strength of a barbarian, the speed of an elf, and the wings of an angel with this new enhancement. Finally, a support class had enough power to roam around and create a new era of online games. Unfortunately, gossip was gossip, and after the players' painstaking efforts to find the original Soul Alchemy of the Behermes, they finally found out that only the royal family could understand the secret. There was no use in increasing the reputation among the Behermes because the secret of this alchemy was not perpetrated orally or in writing, but rather relied on the inheritance of blood and soul.
The players had no other choice but to give up this idea. Players started to live down-to-earth lives since they couldn't select the Behermes race when creating the character.
But that also meant.... .
"Is this little girl a royal?""
Looking at Lapis' slightly pale face, Rhode felt somewhat incredulous. He couldn't believe that this weak girl, who was wrapped in a cloak all day long, was actually Behermes royalty. Frankly speaking, there wasn't the slightest royal aura in her. It wasn't even close to Marlene's
However, now wasn't the time to evaluate whether Lapis had a royal aura or not.
"What's next?""
"I tried to exert a psychological barrier before, to avoid her soul from getting invaded, but the opponent's force seems to have exceeded my expectations. Because my power is suppressed, I have no way to block the opponent's psychological attack, so she became like that...
Gillian no longer said anything. Rhode also noticed that her stopped wagging like usual.
"But let me remind you, Master. Whatever invaded Lapis's spirit is certainly unfriendly towards us..."
I see.
Looking at Gillian's right hand, which was placed on Lapis neck, Rhode finally realized that Gillian wasn't taking advantage of Lapis, but feeling the spirit that invaded Lapis's mind. The spirit seemed to be unusual, so Gillian deliberately wound Lapis around her. If Lapis suddenly became another person once she woke up from the coma, Gillian would be able to break her neck. Rhode had no doubt that Gillian would do it, but he did not know whether it was the right decision or not.
"Leaderl!"
When Rhode was still feeling confused, Shauna and Kavos suddenly called him from behind. Seeing their arrival, Gillian twitched her mouth and her tail floated to the front to block Lapis's body from being seen. Rhode turned around and saw that the originally messy platform had become a lot cleaner. The Ophenians were taking some odd things out of their backpacks and placed them in the hollow near the podium. Their expressions also looked very serious.
"We finished your order... but what the hell are those guys doing?"
Kavos and Shauna did not notice Gillian's strange behavior. They were just looking at the Ophenians who were walking towards the platform and placed a cone on it with a puzzled and surprised look.
"They told all of our people to leave and not to disturb them in their experiments. Did we come to this hellhole just to see them put on bricks?"
Kavos's expression clearly showed his dissatisfaction, and although Shauna didn't say anything else, it was clear from her expression that she thought the same
"Do not complain. We have taken their money, and let's not forget that we work for money..." After saying until here, Rhode fell silent. He quickly recalled the passage to the second floor in his mind. Then, he lowered his voice.
"Inform everyone that they should stay vigilant, reorganize their formation, and guard the surroundings. These guys are definitely not here just to to put on bricks. Something unexpected usually happens in such an ancient ruin. I hope you are well prepared so there won't be any mistakes."
"Yes, Sir.""
Hearing Rhode's order, Kavos and Shauna glanced at each other and nodded. After that, Kavos turned around to leave while Shauna stayed by Rhode's side as she looked at the podium.
"Have the Ophenians done anything strange, Shauna?"
Although he had gotten the information from Gillian, out of concern for his subordinates, Rhode still decided to inquire about this issue. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a good thing to give his subordinates the feeling that he wasn't valuing them. Since he left the matter to her, he should ask her for the results.
Sure enough, after hearing Rhode's question, Shauna showed a stiff expression. She slightly bowed, and then answered.
"Everything is going well, Sir. These Ophenian have not stayed too long in these ruins, but I feel like they are familiar with this place because I once saw their leader come up with a map and talk to the people around him. I didn't see it clearly, but I thought it was a map of the ruins."
"Oh?" When he heard Shauna's answer, Rhode frowned."What else did they do?"
"As for the other things... It doesn't seem to be a big deal, Sir. These Ophenians seemed to be very keen on collecting slate. They dug up a lot of slates along the way and collected them in their backpacks. It seems to be very important to them."
"I understand."
After he heard Shauna's report, Rhode only nodded and fell into deep thought. This time, after giving the report, Shauna didn't stand in silence as usual. To the contrary, she worriedly looked around, then looked back at Rhode and said.
"Sir... I don't know if it's just a delusion or not, but I keep feeling that this place is not too safe. Not just this area, but I feel like there seems to be some danger approaching..."
Shauna's words were not yet finished, when the Ophenian who had finished placing the bricks shouted at them, telling them to leave the platform. The mercenaries quickly moved aside. The old scholar, who had been observing and commanding from the side, slowly came forward to the center of the high platform. He stretched out his hand and took a round, crystal ball from his bag.
Everyone, including Rhode, was watching this scene. After the old scholar took out the crystal ball, he placed in the center of the high platform. When the old man loosened his hand, the original crystal ball did not fall to the ground, but instead, it remained floating.
A chant sounded.
The old scholar spread his hands and shouted as if he were calling for something. Followed by the sound his voice, the round, crystal ball emitted a soft glow and shone through the surroundings. The light was focused on the top of the cone the Ophenian had placed on the platform. After that, the light beam began to move slowly. Like a searchlight, it flashed at the stone wall. These lights overlapped at the center and formed a dazzling light.
At this time, the crystal ball also emitted a sudden, dazzling light, pointing towards the center of the stone wall.
......
...
......
A minute passed.
Two minutes passed.
Five minutes passed.
Nothing happened.
What the hell is this?
The mercenaries glanced at each other, while the Ophenians showed a puzzled expression. Even Rhode felt surprised. Was there a delay?
No one noticed that, at this moment, Lapis suddenly opened her eyes and countless strange runes emerged in her eyes.
Then, she raised her right hand and pointed at the crystal.
Golden runes flew out from the tip of her finger and hit the crystal ball.
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