631 - 638

Chapter 631: Notes

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

"…The path to 'immortality' has been unraveled before us. If our 'experiment' goes well, we will surpass the longevity limit of human beings…"

"…During our experiment, I accidentally discovered a strange and interesting world where there are undead creatures everywhere. The messy reflections of everything in the main material world except life can be found… After a few explorations, I discovered magnificent palaces deep inside the World of Souls, which were defended by the spectres that were more than the number of the legends in the three magic empires. Thankfully, most of them were unwise. I was able to sneak in and see the 'curtain', or maybe 'furnace' if you will, that indicated the true nature of souls…"

"…When I studied the curtain of souls, a primordial mummy in a gold crown discovered me. His defense was truly unbelievable. I was unable to escape and could only hide in the grey pathway behind the curtain of souls. I dared not approach the entrance on the other side because I had a strong sense of danger. A prophet can never survive without believing in his intuitions."

"…This place is almost a 'world of gates'. There are infinite grey halls and black gates. Thankfully, many unusual worlds lie behind certain gates, in which there are uncanny monsters and precious materials…"

"…I discovered certain familiar and strange magic patterns, and a world that I cannot believe. I can't even imagine why it exists here… My research and experiment have made significant breakthroughs, but my sense of danger is stronger and stronger. Perhaps, I should invite a few friends to explore it with me. The primordial mummy outside should be sluggish already…"

"…After a long communication, Viken, McLeod, Solins, Albert, Illinois, Eugenia and some other friends understood the value of the World of Souls and joined my team. Wilfred, on the other hand, was otherwise occupied and could only wait for the next operation…"

"…The nine of us are from different empires. We are as strong as one third of the whole magic society when we go out together, but I strongly felt uneasy before I left. Therefore, I performed divination with the Mirror of Fate, and I saw my possible fate as well as 'the non-believer who roams between light and darkness'…"

The content so far was similar to the notebook that Lucien read inside the Grand Cross lock, but it was more elaborate and detailed. Lucien was informed that of the nine legendary sorcerers who explored the World of Souls, five were level-three legends, and four were level-two legends. They perhaps did not amount to one third of the total number of legendary sorcerers, but they were more than one third when it came to strength. No wonder their disappearance collapsed the three magic empires.

"Nine legendary sorcerers went missing here. The Realm of Gates is truly a dangerous place." Rhine was not far away from Lucien. He stayed on alert against the gate while he read the notebook. "However, they were not as strong as your team in general. There are no more than ten top legendary sorcerers in the entire history of magic."

Lucien nodded and did not say anything. He kept on browsing through the magic notebook and cracking the crown of the Primordial Mummy.

"On the third day inside the Realm of Gates, we found certain weird ghost creatures that were similar to our experiment results. Had it been otherwise, we could've barely discovered them… I believe that our experiment will make more breakthroughs after we study them…"

"On the fifth day inside the Realm of Gates, Viken found certain strange items. Somebody was here!"

"…The 'Chamber of Immortality' as mentioned in the items has been determined to be the entrance enshrouded in illusionary ripples, because that's the only place which matches the description. The secrets of immortality! I never thought that we could get in touch with the secrets of immortality! I was only trying to break the limit of life and become somewhat undead! Viken, McLeod and Eugenia are too excited to say anything right now, not to mention other people… Has the owner of those items reached the Chamber of Immortality and achieved real immortality?"

"The discovery exalted us. We cannot calm down enough to do the experiments. So, we decided to explore the Chamber of Immortality first…"

"On the ninth day inside the Realm of Gates, we watched Solins and Eugenia disintegrate and disappear in the pathway leading to the Chamber of Immortality which was beyond our imagination… They had been through so many dangers, but they died while confused and helplessness… No! We will not stop! They must've been full of regrets when they died. Perhaps, we need special ways to pass the channel?"

Lucien took a breath. It seemed that two legendary sorcerers died on the other pathway.

"On the tenth day inside the Realm of Gates, we calmed down to study the strange items. After consuming the Mirror of Fate again, we finally discovered the enormous, hidden laboratory…"

"It was actually Mr. Thanos who came, studied the weird ghost creatures, and searched for a way to enter the Chamber of Immortality earlier than we did!"

Lucien's finger bounced. Thanos, the Sun King, was really one of the toughest people during the last years of the ancient magic empires. Even the World of Souls and the Chamber of Immortality were discovered by him at the beginning!

He was known as the strongest sorcerer of the school of astrology, and he was praised to be a demigod, but he perished during the prime years of his life. Everybody who reads history would feel sorry for him.

In history books, the demise of the Sun King was exactly the seen as the beginning of the decline of the magic society.

"So, the Sun King did not perish but went missing in this place. The Sylvanas Magic Empire must've announcement that he died in an experiment to pacify the people." Lucien had a weird feeling of satisfaction after solving the history puzzle.

The Sun King went missing here… Suddenly, the words struck Lucien's head like lightning. The sense of familiarity immediately congregated into a crazy tide that broke the dam of memories.

"Right, the Sun King's 'Devil' experiment! Those whom the Devil project will be stronger than themselves! For the people of lower ranks, the improvement brought by the projection may be several levels, but for those in the higher ranks, the improvement will only be two levels, one level or even half a level. The domain of legends should be the same! No wonder I felt it so familiar that the 'monster' happened to be one level about the target!"

"However, the 'Devil' is projected into one's own heart and increases one's own strength, whereas the monster in the Realm of Gates exists in reality and improves its own abilities. That's why I didn't think it through at the beginning!"

Noticing Lucien shock, Rhine asked, "What's up?"

Through the telepathic bond, Lucien talked about his speculation.

Rhine stopped his casual smile and was deep in thought. "The seven primeval devils… I once explored the primeval relics in the deepest part of hell. Now that I think of it, they were rather similar to this monster. They also couldn't reach the level of demigods, also couldn't be destroyed easily, and were also good at prying into the mind and memories. However, this monster does not affect our mind and personality or 'improve' our strength. Instead, it is weirdly separated from us. They are different in nature."

"Perhaps, it cannot be projected into the mind of legendary experts and could only deceive and fight externally. From that point of view, I'm beginning to understand why those legendary sorcerers were so crazy and hysterical in the words they left behind. They must've been affected and compromised by the monster because they were not strong enough, and their personality was twisted." Lucien continued his speculation.

Rhine nodded his head. "Fair enough, but why did the monster not destroy the notebook and the scraps, and why could we find them so easily?"

He asked the question that Lucien had before.

"To create panic?" Frowning, Lucien ventured. "Let's keep reading. Perhaps, the answer to the puzzle is behind."

"On the eleventh day inside the Realm of Gates, Viken proposed that we delete everything about this experiment on our own notebook in case of any careless exposure, and that we should only read the files in the laboratory. I couldn't agree more. So, I deleted certain things that I wrote before, and I may have to skip them in my future recording… In the end, allow me to pay respect to Mr. Thanos. Although he failed, he has illuminated the path forward for us. He deserves to be called the greatest sorcerer ever, and his demise is the greatest loss in the history of magic…"

"On the fifteenth day inside the Realm of Gates, we collected the 'weird shots' and began to create a medium according to Mr. Thanos' approach, exploring how it could work on us to transform our 'status' in order to enter the Chamber of Immortality…"

"On the twenty-sixth day inside the Realm of Gates, something went wrong in the experiment. The 'medium' we created became a terrifying monster, an apparition that wandered inside the Realm of Gates! We only managed to beat it back by joining our hands…"

"On the twenty-ninth day inside the Realm of Gates, Viken was horrified and wanted to leave. He kept telling us crazily that the devil was more terrible than we thought…"

"On the thirtieth day inside the Realm of Gates, Viken 'went missing'. What a coward…"

"On the thirty-first day inside the Realm of Gates, Albert went missing. Has he also deserted?"

"On the thirty-second day inside the Realm of Gates, Illinois also went missing. Things may be trickier than we thought. I suggest we leave the Realm of Gates first…"

"In the afternoon of the thirty-second day inside the Realm of Gates, we were deceived by the monster… It is really terrifying, and it can mimic any other person… McLeod went missing, too…"

"On the thirty-fourth day inside the Realm of Gates, we have been blocked by the monster. Also, we accidentally discovered the puppet parts that McLeod left behind. Perhaps, he is trying to say something… I think I can predict the monster's weakness with the Mirror of Fate, right?"

"…The two of them went missing, too. The Mirror of Fate gave me a fuzzy hint. Based on the things that I already know, I think I'm onto something. It is not a monster, not a ghost, not a primeval devil that we feared, but a…"

Maskelyne's journal came to an end. The most critical part had a long trail of ink, as if something happened and he had to leave the secret chamber in a hurry, never to return again.

The most critical sentence was not finished! Lucien almost tossed the magic notebook to the ground. Why couldn't you just write a few more words, Mr. Maskelyne?

Chapter 632: Unexpected Encounter

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Rhine was amused by the situation. "Maskelyne must've thought of something of paramount importance when he wrote to this part, to the extent that he ruined the chamber in his emotional turmoil. He didn't finish his speculation and simply left in a hurry, not bothering how it would upset the future readers."

"I think so, too. Considering that no battle of legends happened here and nothing was intentionally damaged, it's not hard to tell that Mr. Maskelyne left voluntarily but hurriedly." Lucien calmed down and restored the battle from the traces.

Rhine looked around and said, "It means that what Maskelyne was eager to do was more important than finishing the clue. It's perhaps the key to destroying the monster."

"However, how much time would it have taken him to finish the name with the help of magic?" Lucien answered his own question. "No more than one second."

Rhine examined the long ink mark left by Maskelyne so carefully that he almost brought out the magnifying glass. "The mark is indicative enough of Maskelyne's shock. By logic, he couldn't have been too stunned to finish the name when he already finished the deduction, unless something happened outside, or a new clue suddenly occurred to him…"

Lucien thought of something. "Perhaps, Mr. Maskelyne thought of an important detail that he neglected, which entirely disapproved his speculation. So, he left in a hurry to search for other clues to confirm it. He was so shocked towards the end because his new speculation was beyond his imagination. He didn't finish his previous speculation because it was wrong."

"A very bold hypothesis and a very reasonable explanation." Rhine complimented. "However, I believe that the monster is related to Thanos in any case, because the guy was a monster himself, just like you."

He acted as if he was Thanos' best friend.

"I suspect so, too. I found Thanos' incomplete journal in the underground palace of the Sun King. I speculated that the Sun King found a way to transform himself into the seven primeval devils and eliminated the negative influences of such transformation in the way that the fake gods gathered godhood. Such products should probably be able to transform into anybody according to memories or negative feelings other than being projected into someone's body."

The more Lucien talked, the faster he became, as if Thanos were already the culprit. However, Lucien was chilled when he thought that someone close to a demigod a thousand years ago was the murderer.

Rhine asked in confusion. "I know that he studied the primeval devils. I even provided some of the files for him. I know how godhood is gathered, too. But what do you mean by negative feelings?"

"It's about the other secret chamber that you didn't discover, Mr. Rhine…" Lucien explained the temple where the Sun Staff was discovered.

Rhine chuckled, "He kept a lot of his discoveries to himself. Judging from Rudolf II's projection, he might've found ways to break the previous limit by transforming into the seven primeval ghosts. Well, do you think the monster matches the features of 'Thanos Demon'? If you know everything at present, you will completely grasp the past and the future…"

"…Theoretically speaking, I don't think 'Thanos Demon' can exist in reality. If it exists for real, the computation load and the energy required will be unimaginable." Lucien answered Rhine's question from the perspective of arcana. In the meantime, he thought to himself, if it was 'Thanos Demon', I'll release 'Schrodinger's cat'!

Rhine clicked his tongue. "Perhaps, it's only a simplified version. Alright, what are we going to do?"

"Mr. Maskelyne's journal was cut at the critical part, but the files about how the monster was created must be still in the laboratory left by Thanos that they mentioned, if they are not destroyed by the monster yet…" Thinking for a moment, Lucien was full of momentum again. "The ancient sorcerers such as Mr. Maskelyne perhaps couldn't tell anything wrong from the experiment records, but we the modern arcanists certain can!"

Seeing Lucien's determined face, Rhine chuckled, "You could've activated your blood power with your resolution even if you failed to become a sorcerer. Hehe. With everything coming to this point, we can only go to Thanos' laboratory now. The problem is, where can we find it?"

Lucien brought out the Mirror of Fate. "It can tell the past accurately, at least much more accurately than the prediction of the monster's weakness."

Since Maskelyne only got fuzzy hints, Lucien dropped the idea of predicting the monster with the Mirror of Fate.

Holding the magic crystal ball in his left hand, Lucien swiped the Mirror of Fate with his right hand and cast the intricate spell.

The grey Mirror of Fate rippled, and a pair of numbers appeared among the waves.

"We have the coordinates of Thanos' laboratory now." Lucien smiled.

After a crack, the Mirror of Fate fell apart, but it disappeared into light instead of hitting the ground in pieces.

"We're going now?" Asked Rhine.

Lucien shook his head. "Time here flows as fast as the outside world. We must seize the chance to recover the legendary items."

While speaking, he picked up the torso of the puppet and stabbed the two arms and the leg back into it.

"I'll eliminate my weakness, too." Rhine nodded, leaning against a bookshelf.

After a few hours, the gold crown on Lucien's right hand emitted vague black air.

"The Primordial Mummy's crown? What's the effect?" Rhine opened his silver eyes, which were already back to normal.

Lucien clicked his tongue. "The Primordial Mummy did not leave any information. I can only tell that it can be transformed into gloves, armor or boots. It offers a physical defense that is close to the peak of legendary, as well as immunity to many negative legendary spells. However, one's head would be more or less slowed if they wear it."

The habit to leave information inside the magic items began from the Magic Empire, so that it would be easier for the future generations to take over the items. For example, Lucien picked up the Mirror of Fate after examination more than easily. The Primordial Mummy and the Lich King, as undead creatures, obviously did not have such a habit.

"It's a nice match for the Sword of Truth. After all, a knight does not need to think in a battle. As a matter of fact, the standard barbarian legendary warrior is also very strong." Rhine joked. "Should we wait until the Shield of Truth is repaired?"

"That's unnecessary. Now that we have super gear for defense, there's no need to wait for the Shield of Truth to be repaired." Lucien made up his mind. The Moon Timer and the Robe of Grand Arcanists wouldn't be restored in another half day. He couldn't afford waiting any longer.

While talking, he turned into a legendary knight and put on the crown as a pair of gloves.

Rhine stood straight and said, "Let's go!"

The heavy wounds caused by the monster hadn't feel healed, and he hadn't eliminated the weakness caused by Eternal Blaze yet. He could only carry out the strength around level three of legendary. He couldn't summon the Silver Moon for now, either.

After leaving Maskelyne's secret laboratory, Lucien and Rhine passed the grey halls and black gates as quickly as possible, ignoring the unusual worlds that showed up once in a while.

When they pushed one of the black gates, Lucien's Host Star of Destiny suddenly shivered, and he felt a strong sense of danger. So, he raised the Mummy Gloves without any hesitation.

From the other side of the gate, a solemn voice echoed. "Light of Judgment!"

Through the gap of the gate, Lucien saw 'Saint Ivan' and 'the angel of light'!

They had launched the attack the moment they saw that the gate was being opened!

An overwhelming beam of light descended from the heights, judging all the evils!

It was the second time that Lucien came across 'Light of Judgment'. Last time, it was performed by 'Geno', the reincarnation of the Lord of Hell, but it was carried out by the pontiff of the North Church right now!

In the surging sacredness, Lucien's metal gloves spread out intense black air, but it melted quickly.

The light hit the gloves, raising the most splendid fireworks.

The gloves cracked in huge noises. The 'angel of light' on the opposite side also performed the divine power: "Purging Spear!"

The brilliant and cold spear of light was thrown at Lucien who was resisting the Light of Judgment. At this moment, ten fair and long fingers appeared before Lucien and grabbed the spear of light, extinguishing it.

Rhine had come to Lucien's rescue in time!

As the Light of Judgment disappeared, Lucien felt that his hands were soft and knew that the gloves were too seriously damaged to be used again anytime soon. After all, the Light of Judgment countered the items of the school of necromancy.

"We have to escape as soon as possible, or we will die for sure!"

Countless thoughts occurred to Lucien, but his action was not affected. A silver pocket watch appeared in his right hand, and its ticking sound echoed inside the grey hall.

Crack. Lucien pressed the watch with his middle finger, and a hemisphere of void immediately appeared next to Ivan, slowing down his subsequent attack.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Lucien performed 'Accurate Teleportation'. As a portal of space was opened and closed, he blinked to another black gate, followed by Rhine.

Right when Lucien pushed the black gate, the wings on Ivan's back got rid of Gravity Collapse, flapping arrows of light at Lucien.

Before him was the unopened gate, and behind him was the scorching horror. Lucien gritted his teeth and knocked the black gate without dodging, lunging through it.

Pa. 'Elemental Skin' was damaged, 'Magic Absorber' reached the limits, and the effects brought by 'Magic Order' and 'Spell Sequencer' all collapsed!

Eventually, Lucien got rid of the remaining power of the arrows of light through 'Short-Distance Blink' in 'Spell Trigger. Together with Rhine, he opened the black gates and escaped aimlessly and unstoppably!

"Go after them!" 'Ivan' was rather infuriated after failing to kill a level-one legendary sorcerer in an ambush.

As he fled crazily, Lucien opened black gates one after another. Thanks to the rapid locational changes of the halls, they finally got away from 'Ivan' and 'the angel of light'.

"This gate looks somewhat weird. There are vague black-and-white patterns on it." After they were slightly eased, Rhine noticed a rather strange black gate."

Lucien calculated the coordinates and realized that it was not the spot of the laboratory. So, he speculated, "Perhaps there's a special world behind it. Let's run a few more grey halls. The distance is not long enough yet. 'Ivan' may still catch up with us."

His life was truly at stake just now. Even someone as calm as Lucien was rather scared when he thought of it.

Rhine opened the weird black gate with a smile. "Let's go to the world behind it."

As the gate was opened, infinite holy light leaped into their eyes, and they were surrounded by the beautiful hymns.

In the middle of the overwhelming holy light, a seven-floored, mountain-like world was vaguely appearing, with countless angels flying around it.

Lucien's mouth was widened, and he forgot how to close it.

Rhine's smile was frozen on his face. He murmured to himself in self-mockery:

"This is getting serious now…"

Chapter 633: Horns of Paradise

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

In the middle of the vast holy light and the pleasant hymns, the hallowed angels danced. Lucien believed that he would never forget such a shocking scene, if he could make it out alive at all.

Subconsciously, Lucien only wanted to say I'm sorry and this mail is for the next door… While all kinds of bizarre thoughts occurred to him, Lucien's actions were not affected. He turned around and shouted in the telepathic bond, "Run!"

In the meantime, the power of moonlight burst out, as he tried to shut the gate that was engraved with white patterns.

At this moment, a solemn voice echoed inside the mountain-like world of holy light.

"Evil invaders!"

On the sixth floor, an angel with six luminescent wings flew out and stared at Lucien and Rhine with his gold and blue eyes from far away. He then took out of a gold horn and put it next to his mouth.

Wu! Wu! Wu!

The magnificent sound of the horn immediately resonated throughout Mountain Paradise. The angels that were playing instruments and praising the true god were alarmed and swarmed out with their weapons.

Wu! Wu! Wu!

Hearing the horn that was both refreshing and full of determination to fight, Lucien secretly said 'crap'!

It an exact scene depicted in the Cannon of the Church. It was the horn of judgment and salvation, followed by the final ruling. It was the real 'Light of Paradise'!

Wu! Wu! Wu!

Along with the sacred horn, the seven-floored Mountain Paradise emitted clear brightness that spread out quickly, turning the whole world into an ocean of holy light and joyful paradise!

The speed of light was so high that Lucien and Rhine were drowned by the tide before they had the time to cast 'Accurate Teleportation' or 'Night Travel'.

The holy light was not concrete, but Lucien had the feeling that he had sunk into a deep ocean without any magic. It seemed that he would be drowned by the thick light any moment.

The transformation of legendary knight was canceled, the many magic effects on Lucien were canceled, and his spiritual power was suppressed. His lungs seemed to be filled with 'seawater', making him feel heavy and have trouble breathing. He was inhaling and exhaling 'holy light' through his nose, his mouth and his pores nonstop.

Thankfully, the light of paradise merely canceled the magic effects and suppressed his spiritual power but did not deprive Lucien the ability to cast spells or move his body. Stumbling, he opened the black gate and rushed away with Rhine.

Rhine was much poorer than Lucien. Black air was popping up from his body, making him more and more transparent. Had it not been for the protection of moonlight on his body, he would've dispersed in the light of paradise like any other vampire princes. However, he had basically lost his combat ability, and he was now changing into the shape of a human and that of a bat!

It was like the Congus Ring on Lucien's left hand, which had lost all the color and could not be put into use any time soon.

The spells of acceleration and flight were activated thanks to the ability to save spells in the Robe of Grand Arcanists. Dragging Rhine with him, Lucien passed the grey halls in a fuzzy shadow, opening the black gates nonstop.

This time, Lucien did not bother with what weird worlds were behind those gates at all. However weird and creepy they might be, could they compare to Mountain Paradise?

The horn stopped. The angel with gold and blue eyes looked at his five partners on the sixth floor and announced, "Chase after the evil!"

According to the Cannon, he was the Child of Light, the Angel of Judgment, the Angel of Justice, and the leader of all the angels except for the Angel King. He was close to the top legendary, and his strength would be improved by half a level if he were to fight within the influence range of Mountain Paradise.

Four of the five seraphs stood up and drew crosses on their chest. "Only Truth lives forever. Evil shall be purged!"

According to the Church's files, every seraph was in the third level of legendary, and three of them were almost at the peak.

The sacred wings behind the four seraphs flapped, allowing them to blink from Mountain Paradise to the grey halls. Immediately, the ocean of light seemed to have encountered someone it deeply loved. It turned into countless spots of light that surrounded them. Every spot of light was a tiny angel that was praising them wholeheartedly.

"The light of paradise lingers in the evils. They cannot get away. All that matters is which of us will catch them. Arvin, which direction are you going in?" A seraph with burning eyes and a red-cross sword in his hands asked.

He was Clement, the Angel of Fire. He was also known as the Godly Fire and the Purging Angel. He was at the peak of legendary.

A seraph whose eyes seemed to be a starry sky pointed at one of the black gates. "I'll go in this direction."

He was Arvin, known as the Godly Eye, the Angel of Inspiration and the Angel of Wind. He was also close to the peak of legendary.

"Why?" Clement asked subconsciously. They seemed well aware of the pattern of change in the Realm of Gates and not scared that they could catch up with Lucien and Rhine.

Arvin, gentle and handsome, smiled, "It's my intuition."

As he spoke, he flapped his wings and appeared before the black gate, but he did not open it until a few seconds later.

Clement did not ask anymore. Arvin was the Godly Eye, the Angel of Inspiration and the 'Acolyte' who was closest to the river of fate. His intuition was obviously a most convincing reason. Therefore, they went after the enemy from different directions.

The ocean of light ebbed, and peace and quietness were restored in the grey hall.

...

Breathing was more and more difficult. Watery holy light seemed to have filled the air, his blood and his internal organs, giving Lucien the feeling of the drowned that he would rather forget.

Vicente's medical box, Advanced Treatment, Air Filtering Bubbles and other spells were performed, but Lucien only felt that part of his symptoms were eliminated, and it would take forever long before he completely got rid of the illness. However, in this dangerous Realm of Gates, the creepy monsters, the powerful seraphs and the horrifying pontiff might be after them in the next second.

Time was very precious and was what Lucien needed badly right now!

As he cast his spells, Lucien also discovered that the light of paradise was corrupting and suppressing his spiritual power, making it difficult for him to carry them out.

"As expected of a demigod-level divine power supported by Mountain Paradise." Lucien looked at Rhine who had turned into an unconscious bat. None of the legendary items on him were activated, and he did not tell Lucien how to use them, either.

Holding the moonlight bat that Rhine turned into, Lucien rushed and treated himself with magic. Ten minutes. Ten minutes was all he needed to get rid of the light of paradise! After all, it was not backed by Mountain Paradise anymore!

The black gate was opened, and Lucien's pupils constricted abruptly. Inside the grey hall stood a sacred and handsome seraph whose six wings were flapping slowly with a touch of sunlight and a gentle breeze. A vast cosmos seemed to be lying in his eyes.

He stood here at such ease as if he had seen through Lucien's route and was waiting for him on purpose.

"The Angle of Wind!" Lucien recognized him and cast a spell without any hesitation:

"Vengeful Gaze!"

At such a moment, even the delay of one second would've killed him. He had to attack while looking for an opportunity to escape!

'Hand of Uncertainties' and 'Vengeful Gaze' were activated at the same time. Lucien's left eye became clear and bright like the most beautiful ruby, shooting out a red ray that hit the Angel of Wind!

After he launched the attack, Lucien suppressed the remaining holy light inside his body and activated 'Chaos Teleportation' on the Holm Crown Ring.

A gentle breeze whirled, covering and dissolving the red ray, which was soon gone before Arvin, the Godly Eye.

He sniffed softly, as if he sensed something weird in the spell that did not work. Then, he pointed at the enemy, "Confinement!"

Countless gentle breezes blew between the two grey halls, disrupting the space and eliminating waves. Lucien was unable to escape through teleportation!

"Space Staff!" At such a critical moment, Lucien could only react accordingly without thinking about anything else!

The ripples were gathered into the staff of a king. As Lucien tapped, all the gentle breezes were shattered. Then, he activated 'Grandeur Obliteration' on the Robe of Grand Arcanists!

Tiny black spots that contained the intense power of destruction appeared before the Godly Eye, but his face did not change at all. His six wings were fully unfolded, and the light of the sun filled the hall, neutralizing the Grandeur Obliteration.

"Regather!"

Lucien activated the life-preserving spell on him!

It was a legendary spell that was cast on his soul in advance, so it was not nullified by the light of paradise!

Disappearing from where he was, Lucien was ready to 'regather' with Natasha.

However, when he appeared again, he was still inside the hall, except that he was before another black gate.

There was indeed no space-time connection between this place and the outside world!

The disappointment did not crush Lucien, because he had got away from the Angel of Wind at least. His figure suddenly split into many Luciens who ran towards different gates.

Arvin sniffed. Playing Illusions in front of the Godly Eye?

"Godly Eye!"

Countless brilliant stars glowed in his eyes, breaking the images of Lucien and revealing the real Lucien who was about to open the black gate and escape.

Lucien had a silver, delicate pocket watch in his right hand. Sliding his thumb on the dial quickly, he slowed down the black second hand, and the time around was decelerated accordingly.

Hehe. Arvin snorted again. The sunlight and the gentle breeze that covered the whole hall burst out simultaneously, blowing away the change of time and space.

The Angel of Fate was naturally good at space and time!

"Sigh of Wind!" Arvin seized the opportunity and attacked with divine power.

A bluish wind rushed over with the air of judgment.

"Space Staff!" A dreamy staff was gathered before Lucien again, building a space barrier for him.

As the Sigh of Wind hit the space barrier, cracking sounds echoed nonstop, and it was broken after only one moment. Because of the gap of almost three levels, Lucien's Space Staff could not entirely resist the attack even though it was quite powerful.

Lucien did not give up in such a desperate situation. He planned to transform into a legendary knight and sought for a chance of survival with the Sword of Truth!

Cough. At the critical moment, the holy light that filled his lungs like water played their role. Lucien had trouble breathing, and his magic was halted.

Seizing the opportunity, Arvin announced solemnly, "Pacification of Wind."

Heavy. His soul became so heavy that Lucien found it barely possible to keep his eyes open.

I can't sleep! I can't sleep!

Clinging to the last bit of consciousness, Lucien made up his mind that he had to blow himself up in order not to be hit by the Light of Judgment!

Would he be resurrected in his magic tower if he detonated himself inside the Realm of Gates?

"You are very tough. I'm respectful of you even though you are evil. Few people have fought so long under the influence of the light of paradise." Arvin walked toward Lucien and extended his long and fair right hand. "Purging you will be my respect for you."

...

Inside the mysterious world of death…

Douglas and Fernando were suppressed by Benedict III who was transformed from the 'monster'.

Chapter 634: Twisted Face

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

The two top legendary sorcerers and one monster which was close to the level of demigod were engaged in such a fierce battle that the whole world behind the gate was shaking in its aftermath. The air of destruction spread out everywhere, and the space seemed to be collapsing at any moment. The weird and lifeless forest of death had become a real place of doom.

Similar to many legendary sorcerers from the ancient Magic Empire, Douglas' head was surrounded by brilliant gems that looked like artificial planets. Some of them were gold, some azure, and some were the purest red.

Those gems glittered and established terrifying 'domains' as he chanted and cast different spells.

His tailcoat turned into a black, grave long robe in the classic style of the ancient Magic Empire. Deep and dark brilliant flowed on the surface, blocking the ocean of holy light created by 'Monster Benedict III'.

Two things were floating before him. One of them was 'Lackluster Celestial Globe', his unique legendary item, and the other was a thick book that had a black background and silver patterns. As the pages were turned, legendary spells were cast nonstop.

Faced with the monster that could not be inferred with common sense, Douglas put all his legendary items into use. Two of them were top legendary, and two were level-three legendary!

Fernando's right eye left the redness and turned dark and gloomy, like a vortex at the bottom of the ocean and a source of destruction. It blew out high-energy storms and cast the weird curses in the cosmos.

That was exactly what turned the forest of death into a land of doom!

The red magic robe on his controlled everything around. He fought for the control of the environment with Benedict III that was transformed from Benedict III as if he were a master of the place. In his right hand was a dark scepter that Lucien had never seen before.

The scepter wriggled as if it were alive, but its movement was devoid of any pattern, leaving the impression of chaos as if a bottomless abyss was arriving. After every time Fernando used it, it would create a huge area of chaos in which everything including space itself would be destroyed.

The two top legendary sorcerers used all their trump cards, but they still could not defeat the 'headless pope'. Blessed Realm, Light of Judgment, Purging Spear, Horn of Paradise, Cleansing Fire, Saint Cross, Sigh of Wind, Godly Eye… He cast the most powerful divine powers casually and even suppressed Douglas and Fernando.

Douglas was slightly scared, not because of the monster's ability – even if it were the real pope, he would still be confident to return in one piece as long as the enemy did not perform God's Arrival – but because he did not understand the status of the monster! Generally speaking, such evil and creepy monsters were suppressed by the divine power by nature, but this monster could perform divine power like the real pope!

"This is truly a monster beyond imagination." Douglas observed in mixed feelings inside the telepathic bond.

Fernando had even more trouble dealing with the enemy, but he was not very anxious. "Let's find a chance to retreat towards the entrance. It cannot stop us!"

"Okay!" Douglas couldn't agree more. The plan of the adventure this time ended at the Furnace of Souls. There was no need to waste time on an unimaginably weird monster. Also, if Lucien hadn't been killed by the monster yet, he must be approaching the entrance while the monster was stalled by the two of them!

...

At the beginning of August, even the wind was scorching.

Inside the conference room of the Highest Council, Douglas, Fernando and Lucien, who hadn't returned yet, were discussed again.

"I believe we must organize another team to rescue them." Brook, the Emperor of Control, crossed his fingers and looked at other members. "I'll lead the team this time. What do you think?"

He was both exhausted and unusually excited. In the past few months, from the perspective that electrons were waves, he had vaguely touched another path to resolve the problems in the new alchemy. Had it not been for certain mathematical issues and part of the inexplicable experiments, he probably would've achieved something. However, at the moment of life and death for the Congress of Magic, he still dropped his experiment resolutely and decided to organize a rescue team.

Considering that the legendary spectres at the peripheral area of the Temple of Spirits had been mostly cleared by Douglas and his team, Brook believed that the Congress of Magic was strong enough to crush the rest of them now. What they needed to pay attention to was the people of the North Church, but that problem could be settled through communication and negotiation. After all, the Congress never intended to destroy the secret chamber where they were based. If they were also interested in the secrets behind the Furnace of Souls, it was possible that the two parties could even cooperate.

There are no eternal friends or foes but only eternal pursuit of interests. Brook believed that Lucien's remark was applicable for the North Church which was rather close to them in the first place.

"I suggest we wait for another month." Vicente, the Lord of the Undead, said coarsely. "The time flows particularly slow near the Furnace of Souls. I suspect that it's been only one day inside. Mr. President, Fernando and Lucien may be on their way to the entrance. Organizing a rescue team recklessly is actually a major risk for the Congress."

He craved the secrets behind the Furnace of Souls, but he was also scared of the unknown great danger.

"I agree with Vicente. We'll wait for another month. Then, I'll go with you, Brook." Oliver nodded his head and showed his attitude. It was not because he was a coward but because the operation was not necessary yet. Two top legendary sorcerers couldn't have been lost inside so easily, particularly not when the mysterious existence of the World of Souls had fallen asleep again.

Also, similar to Brook, he was at the critical moment of making a breakthrough on the wave function of the electron.

Hathaway looked behind at Natasha, who had been specifically invited for the meeting of the Highest Council this time, and said emotionlessly, "The Prophet does not have the vision that Lucien is in danger of death. If they do not return in one month, we must go to rescue them immediately. I'll join the team, too."

A consensus was soon made. Brook heaved a soft sigh and said to Hathaway, "You provided a genius idea about the atom model with two electrons. This is a victory of matrix mechanics. I don't doubt its value now, but I still don't understand the arcana significance behind it."

"It's not a big deal." Said Hathaway taciturnly.

Brook looked at Natasha again. "I hope you can understand our decision, because it's hard to confirm that they are in danger. Of course, I'll stay in the peripheral area of the Temple of Spirits in case they need reinforcements."

An adventure team could play a bigger role in a rescue operation, but an individual at the peak of legendary would find it easier to escape from dangers if they were alone. That was why Brook decided to pick them up on his own instead of organizing a team immediately.

"I understand." Natasha's face was resolute, and there was not the slightest waves in her silver eyes. She rose and said, "Mr. Brook, forgive me, but I have to leave now. I have to practice my blood power and my skills. Complaints can never solve any problem. I have to use what I am good at."

In Atom Institution…

Holding the latest issue of 'Arcana' in her hand, Katrina said to Annick in delight, "Ms. Hathaway has pointed out the path to resolve the atom model with two electrons. That's the brilliance of a genius. Haha. It also proves that correctness of our teacher's matrix mechanics."

"I thought about the problem before, but I didn't have the faintest clue. Is this an example of the gap between a grand arcanist and me?" Katrina remarked.

Annick, Layria and the other students had also read paper. They were amazed, too.

"Although our teacher's matrix mechanics is complicated and lacks actual significance, it is without a doubt the correct path from the perspective of the particle nature and the discontinuity." Said Sprint, his eyes glowing.

"We will find the actual significance someday." As she spoke, Heidi suddenly chuckled, "The textbooks of the Holt Magic College on the new alchemy have to be changed again!"

As per Principal and Professor Lucien Evans, she was now a glorious teacher of the college.

"Right, Annick, what are you and Sprint working on that is so mysterious?" Since they were close to each other, Layria asked curiously without holding her question back.

Annick did not keep it a secret. "We may have found an explanation to Brooks unusual splitting phenomenon by introducing the concept of electron spin whose quantum number is one half. However, there will be weird problems if we infer it based on that. The spinning speed of the electron surface will be much higher than the speed of light…"

"Huh?" Chelly and the other students were all confused.

"We have to ask our teacher after he is back." Sprint said, not very confident about his discovery.

Heidi, on the other hand, looked at the blue sky out of the window.

"When is our teacher coming back?"

...

Lance, the Holy City.

When Rhine opened 'the gate of Mountain Paradise', Mecantron, the Angel King who was inside a prayer room, suddenly opened his eyes. Gold fire seemed to be burning inside his pupils.

"Who is it?" He bellowed in fury. Thirty-six pure wings were unfolded one after another, filling the entire room. Then, spots of light emerged from his wings, making the room hazy and blurry like a dream.

Gradually, the dream was gone, and so was the Angel King.

Benedict III, in his library, did not do anything. He simply watched the void before him with a gloomy face, half amused and half infuriated.

...

"…Purging you will be my respect for you."

When he heard that from Arvin, Lucien, whose soul and head were both dizzy, had the illusion that the guy's voice came from a different world. It seemed that his life wasn't real anymore and was about to fall apart.

He could not delay anymore and had to blow up himself immediately!

Arvin walked to Lucien slowly and said in a low voice, "Are you planning to detonate yourself? But I'm afraid that it's barely possible for you to do that under the influence of 'Light of Paradise' and 'Pacification of Wind'."

"Sleep and rest. All your sins will be expiated."

He was very certain that Lucien had no ability to resist anymore.

Lucien tried his best to perform a suicide spell, but his spiritual power, corrupted by the light of paradise, like rusty gears and could not function at all.

No! I can't give up like this!

When Lucien was about to try again, he sensed heat on his chest as the Angel of Wind approached him. Then, the waves of 'Light of Judgment' before him were suddenly gone!

In his shock and suspicion, Lucien saw Arvin's twisting face with his blurry and shaking eyes. The guy struggled hard and pressed his head hard with both hands, while he spoke with an old and pained voice that was entirely different from the sacred and gentle tone a moment ago:

"The… Sun's… Corona?"

Chapter 635: Manufacture

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Lucien was half asleep and half awake right now. He felt that everything around him was floating, and all the sounds were extremely far away, as if they had reached his ears after passing through countless worlds.

Therefore, after the unusual and pained voice of 'Arvin' entered Lucien's ears, it took him several seconds before he realized what was going on.

"The Sun's Corona?"

"Arvin, the Godly Eye, knows the Sun's Corona?"

"Also, he is acting so abnormal and creepy!"

Countless spells seemed to be bursting out inside Lucien's sluggish head. A quake from the deepest part of his soul spread out and restored his consciousness briefly. He asked in a shivering, feeble voice of disbelief: "Mr… Maskelyne?"

"Ahhhhhh!" The moment he heard the name Maskelyne, Arvin covered his head and screamed miserably, as if he were struggling in the greatest agony.

The breeze and the scorching sunlight around him went out of control, sweeping across the whole hall as blades of wind and arrows of light.

Lucien's brief consciousness was suppressed by 'Pacification of Wind' again, he seemed to have understood something in his heart, but he found it impossible to think. At this moment, the blades of wind and the arrows of light hit him without any exception. Some even broke through the defense of the Robe of Grand Arcanists and injured his body.

Wounds opened on his body, but no blood flowed out, because it was either vaporized by the light or dried by the wind. The excruciating pain helped Lucien to suppress Pacification of Wind and Light of Paradise again. He was ready to knock into the black gate behind him and fight for a chance of survival. Arvin was clearly not in the best state for communication right now.

It was a pity that the Light of Paradise was a suppression in the level of demigod. Although it was not powered anymore and mostly resolved by the previous magic, Lucien still had no hope to eliminate its negative effects when he was severely affected by Pacification of Wind. Therefore, hardly had he opened the gate behind him when his spiritual power and his soul became slow again.

Pa. When the sound that Lucien knocked into the black gate entered Arvin's ears, his pained struggles came to an abrupt halt as if a crazy ringing clock had been closed. The wind blades and the light arrows in the whole hall were immediately gone.

Arvin raised his head. Arvin's face was still twisted, and his eyes that were as profound as cosmos were extremely hollow. Gold tears dripped from the corner of his eyes in vague sacred brilliance. He mumbled, "Don't come close to me! Don't come close to me!"

"What's the meaning of this?" Lucien thought with a slowed mind.

Arvin seemed to be trying to control himself and did not talk anymore. He flapped the six holy wings on his back, and the ivory holy light bathed Lucien like the love of a mother, warm and peaceful.

The drowsy feeling was instantly gone. Lucien was as refreshed as if he had just finished meditation. Arvin had canceled the effect of 'Pacification of Wind'!

Without its suppression, Lucien was able to overpower 'Light of Paradise' quickly. Although the influence was not entirely soothed, he was back to the state before he fought 'Arvin'. He was now capable of casting legendary spells or picking up the Sword of Truth as a legendary knight.

During only one minute, Lucien had been through hope, struggles and dawn again. He was fatigued after taking a turn at the edge of the precipice of death, but he had learned a lot of things, too.

"Arvin is probably Mr. Maskelyne, but judging from his appearance, he seemed to have been crafted by someone into a seraph alive. His shallow consciousness and memories were erased, and a brand-new personality was built with many curses and restraints. That's why he is in such conflict and such pain when his subconsciousness is awakened!"

After his head became clear, the thinking ability of a grand arcanist was also back, allowing Lucien to analyze the status of Arvin, or Maskelyne.

Lucien was chilled the moment he thought of what might've happened to the guy. His outcome wouldn't be any better if he were also captured by the 'monster'! He would rather die than embrace such a miserable ending. What could be more brutal than one's self-consciousness being wiped out, leaving the physical body to live as an empty shell?

He was certainly not Mr. Maskelyne, who had predicted that something might happen to him with the Mirror of Fate and therefore left the Sun's Corona behind, hoping to awaken the deepest consciousness at the root of his soul with it somebody. If Lucien ended like him, it would probably never be possible for him to recover.

"It seems that the Sun's Corona is associated with a lot of valuable memories for Mr. Maskelyne. That's why his deep consciousness was recovered the moment he sensed it." Lucien had carefully examined the Sun's Corona after he became a legendary sorcerer, and as far as he could tell, he was pretty sure that nothing else was hidden inside the Sun's Corona. That was why he made such a deduction.

It was like the props in a hypnotization session, and the hypnotized would be woken up the moment they saw the devices. "It seems that Mr. Maskelyne planted a lot of psychological hints in himself when he was crafted into a seraph."

"When he said don't come close to him, he was probably being literal. If a stranger comes too close, the defensive instincts of his body will be triggered, and the personality of 'Arvin' will overpower 'Maskelyne' again. In that case, I will be in grave danger again." Lucien analyzed the previous situations and decided that he must not stimulate 'Arvin' with his words. Weighing his tone, he said, "I got the Sun's Corona and the note from the Grand Cross lock, and I've come after I become a legendary sorcerer as I promised."

Arvin's eyes were hollow and unfocused, but his lips vaguely curled into a miserable smile. "You have finally come, the non-believer who roams between light and darkness."

His voice was as weary and poignant as before.

Hu. Lucien heaved a sigh in relief. He was finally confirmed that the guy was Maskelyne from his answer! By the same logic, the other five seraphs and the Angel King must be the other six legendary sorcerers. The number matched perfectly.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Lucien tried not to mention the monster, the Sun King or Thanos.

Maskelyne spoke, as if he were in a dream. "I only predicted what might happen, but I didn't know that it would be so strong. I can barely escape now that my real self is restored, and neither can you. Leave now. Come back again after you become a demigod."

"But I have already been stranded in this place by the monster. I have to know its secrets if I want to leave." While he talked, Lucien was prepared that Maskelyne might lose control of himself.

He must've been crafted into a seraph by the monster of the Sun King at the beginning, didn't he?

While Lucien observed seriously and attentively, Maskelyne pressed his head again as he expected. His face was hideously twisted, and he didn't calm down until a long time later. Then, he cast a divine power, "God's Gift!"

Vague holy light fell into Lucien's body with the pleasant hymn. The intense air of life convinced Lucien that it was a divine power to eliminate negative states and treat wounds. So, he did not resist it with the Space Staff.

Other than the legendary Art of Resurrection, God's Gift was the best divine power for treatment. Lucien felt that his wounds were healed at an unimaginable speed. The light of paradise that saturated his body faded quickly. Although its level was above 'God's Gift', it was not powered anymore, and it was being dissolved by a seraph who understood its features very well. Therefore, Lucien was completely out of its influence after only twenty seconds.

The divine power was so marvelous that even Rhine was cured, too. The effects of the Light of Paradise was gone, and he was not further wounded at all as the common divine powers of recovery would've done to him.

"I'm restrained by many powerful methods, and I cannot discuss certain things, or I will immediately be self-destroyed." Maskelyne spoke to Lucien's speculation. "Go to the laboratory. I left the Mirror of Fate exactly to navigate you to the laboratory. If you find enough notebooks and items, you should be able to resolve certain secrets and understand the way to escape."

Hu. Lucien took a breath in relief again. There was indeed a way to deceive or circumvent the monster!

"It's a pity that the critical part on your notebook is missing, or the whole thing wouldn't be as enigmatic as it is right now." Lucien observed with mixed feelings.

Maskelyne's lips moved, and his eyes glittered in fear again, as if he had recalled the most terrible nightmare. He shouted devastatingly, "It's not him; it's him! It's not him; it's him!"

He appeared to be out of control, and wind blades and light arrows were all over the hall again. However, Lucien was not as helpless as a moment ago. He forged a space wall with the Space Staff to defend himself.

It's not him; it's him? That was truly ambiguous… They were both the pronouns for males in the ancient language of the Sylvanas Magic Empire. That was not helpful for Lucien's analysis at all, because he did not know who Mr. Maskelyne's first suspect was.

A moment later, Maskelyne defeated 'himself' again. Taking out the leg of a puppet, he tossed it at Lucien. "Go to the laboratory. Go to the laboratory. One day, you will understand everything from the experiment log."

"Why do you believe that there are experiment logs in the laboratory? Aren't they destroyed yet?" Lucien picked up the leg of the puppet. It was indeed another part that McLeod left behind.

Maskelyne's lips curled, and he put on a miserable smile again. "The fact that you found my Mirror of Fate and my magic notebook suggests that part of the experiment logs are still left in the laboratory."

In the end, he added, "Sometimes, the enemy you think may turn out to be your best ally."

It was still intricate and perplexing. Lucien had absolutely no idea what to make out of Maskelyne final advice.

Maskelyne did not wait for Lucien to ask questions again. It seemed that he could barely suppress the personality of 'Arvin' anymore. He unfolded the angelic wings on his back and spoke solemnly, "God's Hourglass!"

A pure and sacred hourglass popped up in midair, in which brilliant sand fell from the top. The space-time around was immediately changed and became as fast as the outside world.

"Hurry to recover yourself. This only equals to several minutes in other places of the Realm of Gates. I am not strong enough yet and can only make the changes based on the main material world." Maskelyne struggled to open the black gate and walk out, obviously giving Lucien the time to recover himself. Perhaps, he would be Arvin, the Godly Eye, when he returned!

Several minutes in the Realm of Gates… were enough for the Moon Timer, the Robe of Grand Arcanists and the Shield of Truth to be restored!

Lucien was refreshed with hope and ambitions again. Thanos' laboratory, I'm coming!

Chapter 636: Threat

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Perhaps because Maskelyne covered for them, nobody disturbed Lucien and Rhine's recovery, which helped them survive the most difficult moment smoothly.

"Although the Mummy's Gloves are not usable, the Shield of Truth will do. Sometimes, the Shield of Truth provides even better defense." Lucien took out the Shield of Truth from the alchemical cottage and inserted the Mummy's Gloves into it.

In terms of pure physical defense, the Mummy's Gloves were better, but the Shield of Truth's defense was based on time and space and was less likely to be breached. Also, it wouldn't slow down his mind as the Mummy's Gloves would, which was definitely not an enjoyable feeling for an arcanist who couldn't survive without his brain.

Rhine regained the look of a human. He cleaned his collar and his silver long hair, as if he were about to go to a dinner. "I'm mostly recovered save the wounds caused by the monster at the beginning. Even if we run into Ivan, there's still a chance that we can flee in one piece."

"Then, let's get out of here fast. It will probably be Arvin who returns later." Lucien checked the Robe of Grand Arcanists, the Moon Timer and the Congus Ring again to confirm that they were in perfect condition.

Rhine nodded his head. "Although I'm not scared of fighting Arvin right now, we may be attacked by the six seraphs together after we are stalled by one of them, considering that they have a deep understanding of the Realm of Gates. Also, with Mountain Paradise nearby, it is much easier for them to summon projections. Almost every one of them is half a level stronger here."

"I didn't know that Mountain Paradise lies inside the Realm of Gates…" Lucien opened the black gate. Sensing the slowed time, he stepped out.

Rhine followed him. "Essentially speaking, Mountain Paradise is a beautiful wish of most human beings about their afterlife. It's sort of a death custom, too. Hehe. From the deepest and heaviest death and darkness, the most sacred and exuberant life and brightness are born…"

"But the question remains whether Mountain Paradise came into being naturally or had to do with Thanos and Mr. Maskelyne's experiment…" Lucien spoke of his speculation. In the meantime, inside his cognitive world, the Host Star of Destiny began to spin, and the black swirl that seemed able to swallow all rays of light moved to the front, absorbing, deviating and disrupting all the traces.

Rhine seemed to have sensed something. He moved faster and walked next to Lucien. Turning his head to the side, he said, "I feel that your track of destiny became fuzzy and disordered…"

"Mr. Maskelyne is one of the greatest prophets of the school of astrology, and he is now empowered by the 'God of Truth' and 'Mountain Paradise'. We have to be prudent, or we may see Arvin waiting for us in the hall behind this black gate after we open it." Lucien smiled but did not explain the things about the Secretive.

Passing through the grey halls, Lucien and Rhine approached the place as hinted by the Mirror of Fate.

...

Successfully getting rid of the 'headless pope', Douglas and Fernando returned to the entrance according to the pattern of coordinate changes, leaving a lot of secret marks for Lucien on their way.

After they opened a black gate, Douglas suddenly looked around in confusion, "I've sensed a familiar smell."

"Not Lucien's…" Fernando identified it carefully, before he suddenly remarked, "It's Mecantron, the Angel King!"

"Why was he here?" Douglas found it hard to believe. "Was he fabricated by the monster?"

He examined the owner of the smell with his 'Lackluster Celestial Globe', adding the monster as a variable this time.

After a while, Douglas said in a self-mocking smile. "There's an 80% chance that it was the Angel King, and a 20% chance that the monster fabricated him. Does astrology help at all? My conclusion would have been the same without it."

He knew that his prophecy had been severely affected because the monster was too powerful. It was also partly because he hadn't prepared enough.

Looking at the black gate where the smell disappeared, Fernando proposed, "Should we try to trace him?"

Having encountered the monster twice, he was now more confident in escaping from the danger. Also, he was still worried about Lucien.

"Are you not worried that you will see Mountain Paradise and meet the God of Truth in this place?" Douglas said jokingly. "The Angel King must've only just crossed this hall. We can try to trace him, but we must not be delayed too long. If we don't find anything in ten minutes, we will return immediately. Perhaps, Lucien is waiting for us at the entrance."

"Alright." Fernando knew that he was only using tracing the Angel King as an excuse to continue the search for Lucien.

...

"It's not far away from Thanos' laboratory now, and we haven't met a single enemy on our way. I'm starting to think that we are not so unlucky after all." Rhine was more and more skilled in calculating the changing coordinates. He made fun of himself and Lucien.

Remember how 'speak of the devil' worked, Lucien chuckled, "Mr. Rhine, you must not make such a statement when we haven't arrived yet, or we may encounter an enemy after we open this black gate."

Rhine's lips twitched. "I can't be so unfortunate, can I?"

As he spoke, he opened the black gate.

Suddenly, his face changed, and his body collapsed into countless little bats that flew in the hall.

A long black scythe, mixed with a mysterious air, passed space and time and slashed where he stood just now, and pale flames arose on the ground, melting the grey bricks into weird, transparent liquids.

"An enemy is really here…" Lucien did not know what he should say about Rhine and his luck. Two legendary spectres were drifting in the grey hall. One of them was wearing a black cloak, with surging black air on the surface and a pair of eyes that looked like red fire, and the other was a rotten dragon dozens of meters long that was spewing out grey fire. "The Servant of Death, the Dragon Lich…"

The former was a level-three legendary spectre and a Life Reaper who specialized in head-on battles but had the assistance of many quasi-magic abilities. The latter was a standard mage but was also not bad at melee fighting.

Without any hesitation, a delicate silver pocket watch appeared in Lucien's right hand, whose thin chain was connected to the button on Lucien's clothes with vague metal colors.

Crack. Before the Servant of Death and the Dragon Lich cast any spell, Lucien already pressed the button with his thumb.

Pure paleness infiltrated the greyness in the hall. The dancing bats in the hall seemed to have been confined by invisible shackles, and the giant scythe wielded by the Servant of Death moved forward one frame after another as if it were in slow motion like in a movie. The Dragon Lich and the grey fire next to its mouth were frozen where they were.

Cracking (Advanced)! Cracking (Advanced)! Lucien did not bother with the Dragon Lich but cast Cracking (Advanced) on his own and with what was stored inside the Moon Timer after attaching 'Hand of Uncertainties' to them. Then, he performed 'Evans' Maze of Quizzes' that was enhanced with magic delay and Hand of Uncertainties!

After doing everything, Lucien transformed into a legendary knight, picked up the Sword of Truth, and slashed at the Servant of Death!

At such a moment, he could not consider saving his trump cards but had to defeat the enemy and finish the battle as quickly as possible!

The frozen paleness soon dispersed. The swarm of bats was recovered first. They flew to the Dragon Lich and bit its body and soul from all directions.

Rhine seemed to have guessed that Lucien would deal with the Servant of Death first, so he stopped the Dragon Lich for him in cooperation.

The weird scythe hit Lucien, only to cut an illusionary shadow apart. When the effect of Advanced Time Stop was about to be over, Lucien had already changed his location with the Shield of Truth in hand.

The darkness flowed from the black cloak of the Servant of Death, nullifying the spells of Cracking (Advanced) that Luxury Cracking cast. Suddenly, the darkness burst out like fireworks. One of the many 'Hands of Uncertainties' finally worked and destroyed the defense of the Servant of Death!

Crack, crack, crack. The sound of items being broken echoed around the Servant of Death, which almost made Lucien feel sorry. In the meantime, he regretted that he hadn't learnt 'Luxury Cracking', or it would have been dissolved into nudity and only had the legendary scythe left!

Then, the silver sword flashed, and a terrifying crack appeared on the black cape, tearing apart the last defense.

Because the cloak blocked the attack for a moment, right when the Sword of Truth was about to chop the Servant of Death, its body suddenly turned transparent, before it became smoke and fled away, dodging the fatal attack.

"Ahhhhh!" The Servant of Death's most regretful cry of his losses burst out. The pale smoke was gathered. Holding the gigantic scythe, it slashed down unpredictably in an even more mysterious atmosphere.

Pu. When the scythe hit Lucien's Shield of Truth, only a dull noise was raised.

Lucien, who seemed to be in a different world, felt that a cold breeze was blowing at him. It passed the Robe of Grand Arcanists and his physical body and blew directly at his soul. He couldn't help but tremble in the coldness.

"According to Adol's files, the scythe of the Servant of Death purely attacks the soul and is extremely difficult to resist. Had it not been for the Shield of Truth, I probably would've been injured." Lucien thought to himself.

Now that the scythe missed the target, the Servant of Death became a pale fire that surrounded Lucien in the waves of void. It also dispersed now and then to dodge the attack of the Sword of Truth.

The Moon Timer's cooldown was over. Lucien put back the Sword of Truth and held the ticking pocket watch with his right hand again.

At this moment, the Servant of Death suddenly turned into smoke and rushed to where Rhine and the Dragon Lich was fighting, before it went to the black gate and left with the Dragon Lich in panic.

"He's gone?" Lucien hadn't even pressed the button of 'Advanced Time Stop' yet when he discovered that the Servant of Death had disappeared. As a level-three legendary expert, it was surely a fast escaper!

Rhine landed and chuckled, "'Advanced Time Stop' plus 'Sword of Truth' is truly an unreasonable way of fighting. Also, your 'Advanced Time Stop' was launched by the Moon Timer, your unique level-two legendary item, which had the power of almost level three. The Servant of Death was greatly affected by it and would've been killed completely if it stayed any longer."

He thought that the Servant of Death was reduced to 'nudity' because Lucien brought certain gear that had the ability of Luxury Cracking with it, or it wouldn't have been scared of the Sword of Truth's attack as much and would have resisted it with its own defense.

"I'm very satisfied that I can scare a level-three legend away." Lucien put his Sword of Truth back with a smile. It was certainly for the best not to waste the ability in his Moon Timer. Who could tell what other dangers were lurking inside the laboratory?

Rhine looked around in the grey hall. "When we discovered them, they seemed to be examining something, didn't they?"

He checked the environment with his abilities. Lucien also canceled his transformed and helped him with magic.

"The smell of Sard, and the marks of the mysterious trace…" Rhine suddenly stopped.

Chapter 637: Hello My Old Friend

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

"Sard…" Lucien confirmed Rhine's judgment from the feedback of his magic.

Although the former Grand Cardinal of the Orvarit parish and the ambitious schemer had lost his body and his soul under God's Arrival and only had a mysterious piece left, there were still plenty of secrets surrounding him. For example, why could he use God's Arrival, what did he obtain from the Realm of Gates, why could he escape from the monster, how he cooperated with the Angel King, and what the mysterious piece was exactly.

Rhine smiled, "I came to the Realm of Gates to track him but lost clues after I encountered the monster. However, now that I've given up and I'm devoted to the mysteries of the monster, his traces have unexpectedly shown up again. What a treacherous thing fate is."

"I believe that the most important thing for us right now is to go to Thanos' laboratory and figure out the secrets of the monster." Lucien was interested in Sard's piece, too, but they had to stay focused in this dangerous Realm of Gates without being distracted easily.

Rhine did not object. He smiled in self-mockery. "You open the gate. I'm worried that I'm still haunted by bad luck."

Lucien meant to say that they were the same, because it was he who opened the gate when they encountered Ivan. However, he remembered that what lay behind the gate Rhine opened was 'Mountain Paradise', which was definitely much more severe. So, he nodded his head and said, "Alright. At the very least, the enemy that we encountered after I opened the gate could still be gotten rid of."

The rest of their journey was peaceful and quiet. The terrifying monster seemed to have forgotten them. As they approached Thanos' laboratory, Rhine suddenly halted and said in confusion, "The traces left by the mysterious piece again…"

Sard had only a mysterious piece left and was incapable of covering his traces. It was only reasonable that he was sensed by the people who entered the same hall. However, the odds were few to none for them to enter the same hall in the Realm of Gates!

"Is Sard's destination Thanos' laboratory, too?" Their first encounter might've been coincidental, but now that they'd met again, Lucien couldn't help but wonder if they were going the same way, and the only reason why they were going the same way was that they had the same destination!

Rhine maintained his graceful smile. "Possibly. I'm very curious about his past. How did he pick up God's Arrival? Perhaps the secret lies within Thanos' laboratory."

After three grey halls, they discovered Sard's smell and traces again, which further assured them of their speculation.

Several minutes later, Lucien and Rhine stopped before a black gate that seemed no different from others.

"Is Thanos' laboratory behind this gate?" Not confident about his calculation ability, Rhine asked for confirmation from the specialist.

Lucien nodded his head solemnly. "Mr. Rhine, be prepared. Great dangers might be looming inside. My Host Star of Destiny keeps giving me premonitions."

"Of course. The laboratory of a top sorcerer must be carefully defended." Known as the 'Observer', Rhine had abundant adventure experiences.

Hardly had he finished his sentence when a black gate nearby shivered and creaked.

Lucien and Rhine had been wary that somebody might break in. They almost attacked with their instinct, but the gate remained closed after the creak, showing no sign that anybody was coming, as if it was just their hallucination a moment ago.

"I smell Sard." As a vampire prince, Rhine had a particularly keen smell about living creatures.

"He wanted to come in?" Lucien corrected himself subconsciously. "No, he just left."

In the final hall that led to Thanos' laboratory, Lucien and Rhine also discovered Sard's traces and inferred that he had already entered the laboratory, but as it turned out, he went to a different place and intentionally made a noise?

"Is he tricking in order to ambush us?" Rhine speculated Sard's purpose.

Lucien shook his head. "Is it necessary? He could've ambushed us inside Thanos' laboratory. It's the place that we have to go to."

Suddenly, Lucien had an uncanny intuition. So, he brought out his crystal ball and performed astrology. Out of his expectation, he got a fuzzy result. "Follow Sard…"

"Well?" Lucien and Rhine looked at each other, equally surprised.

"Should we try following him? We will return in three minutes whatever happens. It will not delay our exploration in Thanos' laboratory." The sorcerers of the school of astrology all pay enough attention to their prophecy. That was why Lucien made the proposal.

After completing the general theory of relativity, his ability of astrology had greatly improved and was as good as the level-one 'Prophet'.

Thinking for a moment, Rhine fell into a weird silence and nodded his head. "Alright."

Therefore, the two of them opened the door where the noise came from and, within their expectations, found the remaining scent of Sard. Then, following the scent, they passed two grey halls and stopped before a black gate that showed no anomalies.

Having been calculating the coordinates all the time, Lucien suddenly said in surprise, "Behind this gate is also Thanos' laboratory!"

"We're back after a detour?" Said Rhine in amusement. Had they been tricked by Sard?

Lucien shook his head. "This should be another entrance."

"Sard wants us to enter through this entrance?" Rhine stopped smiling and opened the black gate warily, his legendary items all prepared.

As the gate was moved backwards, a magnificent and splendid laboratory was unfolded before them. Mysterious patterns, cubic models, weird magic circles, and broken mirrors that were embedded on the grey hall could be found everywhere.

The laboratory was as huge as the entire Nekso Palace, with many pathways that led to different rooms. Broken pieces were scattered on the ground.

The laboratory gave a feeling of devastation because almost everything was damaged, as if a legend of battles once broke out in this place, and the laboratory was not destroyed as a whole only because the strong defense. Even so, most of the patterns, magic circles and divine power circles had been wiped out. The alchemical platforms had been razed to the ground, too.

Pure and scorching brilliance flowed around the laboratory. It was the boundary of the defense, but there was a path before Lucien and Rhine through the defense. It seemed to be a secret channel that somebody established before.

"Sard wanted to save our time in destroying the defense?" Rhine walked into the laboratory.

Lucien followed him and observed the surroundings. "But his scent is gone from here."

"Leave him alone. There should be experiment logs in the rooms that weren't destroyed." Said Rhine calmly.

At this moment, the door of one of the grey rooms was opened.

Similar to other places in the Realm of Gates, the doors here blocked the spread of spiritual power. Unable to identify who was coming out, the two of them split and prepared their attack.

Inside the grey room…

Banham, the Original Fire, heaved a long sigh in relief. He gnashed his teeth half in joy and half in fury, "I've finally recovered… Lucien Evans? Natasha Orvarit? I won't let go of you. You made me lose all my legendary items. I count on the last thing I would like to use to avoid the utter demise!"

As for Derrick Douglas who gave him the final death blow, he subconsciously chose to forget it, because their gap was too huge.

"After I return to the Holy City, I'll apply to His Holiness for a legendary item." Thinking of his future arrangements, the Original Fire opened the door and was ready to leave.

The Church had collected many legendary items after killing many legendary experts. Since the Original Fire lost his possessions during a mission, he certainly should be compensated.

Hardly had he opened the door when the projection of the Original Fire's Host Star of Destiny trembled, giving him a strong sense of danger. In the meantime, his pupils constricted violently, as he saw the handsome man in double-breasted long suit standing inside the 'main laboratory'. The guy was smiling at him warmly with a monocle on his face.

Such an attire and such gentleness did not befit this place but a lively dinner hall!

"Lucien Evans…" The Original Fire moaned to himself. He almost thought that he was hallucinating because he hated and 'missed' the guy too hard.

In the next, with his abundant battle experience, he split into five shadows and fled without any hesitation, casting 'Chaos Teleportation' to every shadow.

"Space Staff." The broken brilliance was gathered in Lucien's hand into a rippling staff. As he pointed the staff, all the space ripples in the laboratory were calmed down, forcing the Original Fire to withdraw from the void. He hurried to chant, "Fire of Clones!"

Suddenly, his body turned into a pale fire that surrounded Lucien.

His original body, in the meantime, blinked to the entrance of the laboratory and opened the gate in delight.

However, his face was frozen after the gate was opened, because it was another Thanos' laboratory behind the gate, except that it was not Lucien Evans but a handsome man in a black shirt and a red coat who stood at the center. Smiling, he bowed gracefully, with vague moonlight spreading out of his silver pupils.

"Are you satisfied with my Real Dream?"

The Original Fire stopped in shock. Lucien's voice echoed behind him. "I'm very curious why you are here. If you choose to accept my magic restraint, maybe I'll consider letting you live."

Before him was Thanos' laboratory, and behind him was still Thanos' laboratory. The Original Fire did not know which side was reality and which was a dream at all.

Hearing Lucien's words and looking at the delicate pocket watch in his hands, the Original Fire changed his face gloomily. In the end, he finally nodded his head and said, "Alright, you can use magic…"

Hardly had he finished his sentence when his face was twisted and his eyes were bloodshot. He clutched his own neck brutally and roared in disbelief, "W-Why?"

Sensing the drastic changes in him, as if a powerful being was about to arrive, Lucien knew that it was not good and simply cast the spell, "Vengeful Gaze!"

Lucien's left eye was crimson and clear. A ray of light shot out. Enhanced by 'Hand of Uncertainties', it hit the Original Fire who hadn't been completely transformed.

They were on the same level, and the enemy was just recovered. The Hand of Uncertainties worked out, allowing the red ray to pierce through the defense and transfixed the forehead of the Original Fire who was still struggling.

Rhine also splashed into countless bats that swooped at the Original Fire who had collapsed, covering him completely.

By the time the black bats dispersed and regathered into Rhine, there was nothing left on the ground anymore, and the power that intended to arrive failed.

"Who could it have been?" Lucien looked at Rhine in confusion.

Before Rhine replied, noises echoed in Thanos' laboratory again, and a familiar scent spread out.

"Sard? The mysterious piece?"

Chapter 638: Peculiar Magic Circle

Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations

Lucien and Rhine looked at each other, both noticing the surprise on each others faces. Sard was intentionally exposing himself? Where was he leading them to?

Although he hadn't recovered the ability to summon Silver Moon Alterna because of his wound, Rhine felt that he was still in good shape, and 'tycoon' Lucien was rather confident about himself now that he had all his equipment. Therefore, the two of them split and approached the corridor where Sard's scent spread out in full wariness.

Sard's scent began to move among the pathways, until it reached an inconspicuous grey room that could've been easily neglected.

The door of the room was not closed, allowing Lucien and Rhine to see clearly what was inside from the outside. At the center of the room was a deep pit. There were countless unimaginably eerie magic patterns, mixed with the symbols and divine power, at the bottom of and near the pit.

Those patterns and symbols were not superficial but extended below the floor, beyond the wall, and into the void, spreading nonstop. The whole room seemed to be covered in a magic model, giving both a sacred and weird feeling.

At the bottom of the pit, the fuzzy, translucent grey piece was pulled into the shape of a human, who toddled towards the center.

"This is the most complicated and incomprehensible magic model that I have ever seen." Lucien had 'Eternal Blaze' that only level-three legends could learn, the 'Hand of Uncertainties' that was beyond the imagination of the arcanists today, and he had witnessed the defense of Allyn. However, this magic circle eclipsed all of them in terms of complexity. Also, it was only the tip of the iceberg. Lucien believed that the patterns that disappeared into the void, the floor and the wall were not really gone but connected to the whole Realm of Gates and World of Souls in a certain way. They were of the same structure!

Lucien was confident to make such a statement as a grand arcanist.

Rhine looked rather weird, as if he had remembered something. In the end, he said, "I once saw part of the pattern from Thanos. I didn't know that he had already begun the studies on such things back then."

Sard walked very slowly at the bottom of the pit, not nearly as swift as just now. So, Lucien had the time to consider whether or not to stop him, as well as the time to ask curiously, "Mr. Rhine, you and Thanos were good friends?"

"I like to make friends with talented young men and watch them grow. I will even transform my favorites into vampires. So, I have a lot of good friends, and Thanos was one of them. Of course, he was also the most monstrously brilliant one. Hehe. You are already better than him in terms of arcana." Said Rhine in a smile.

Lucien thought for a moment and said with mixed feelings. "As expected of the Observer. When you open the history book and point at a random name, you can say that you knew him and watched his growth. That must be a special and enjoyable feeling."

"That's one of my few hobbies now." Rhine said, "It's a pity that I didn't witness the growth of Douglas, a great person who can compare to Thanos, if not even better. After all, he established the path of arcana through the greatest difficulties and rescued magic. After only four hundred years of development, his group has reached the level that the ancient Magic Empire achieved after thousands of years, and it has an equal number of top legends to that in the prime days of the Magic Empire."

"Why? I admired Mr. President the first time I read his inspiring questions and believed that he was one of the greatest people. I don't think that you didn't see it, Mr. Rhine?" Asked Lucien in confusion. That was an Observer who supported many young men.

Rhine shook his head. "Douglas was not very distinguished in the last years of the Magic Empire and in the beginning of the War of Dawn. Perhaps because of his habit of asking questions and his unusual mindset, he was not appreciated by any other sorcerers in Antiffler. Also, he was not very strong himself and only advanced regularly. Naturally, he was eclipsed by the many geniuses at that time. That's why I overlooked him and didn't get to know him at all."

"The arcana system he established, on the other hand, is the domain that I don't have the slightest clue about. So, the grand arcanists and the legendary sorcerers who were raised in the Congress of Magic were not witnessed by me at all, except you."

Lucien's curiosity was satisfied. Seeing that Sard was about to reach the center of the pit, he asked, "Should we stop him?"

"Can you identify its function? I believe that this magic circle is the pivot of the laboratory, but we cannot test it ourselves. However, if the magic circle transforms subjects into monsters, Sard will definitely attack us after his transformation…" Rhine seemed eager to find out what Sard wanted.

Lucien shook his head. "I can only tell that it is associated with resurrection, as can be seen how the Original Fire came back to life after he was smashed by 'Fateful Meteor'. As a matter of fact, it is common sense in magic that the more delicate, complicated and powerful a magic circle is, the more easily it can be sabotaged during the operation. We can see what Sard is up to first. If anything goes wrong, we will interrupt it at the critical moment. If the magic circle is defended the moment it begins, we will destroy it immediately!"

"Alright." Rhine hated Sard in the first place. He couldn't agree more after hearing Lucien's explanation.

The shape of the human transformed from the grey piece that lay inside the hexagram at the center of the pit. The magic lines around him glowed one after another, emitting pure silver brilliance.

After all the magic lines were illuminated, the intense, frozen air of death surged in along the patterns on the floor and the wall, bringing in silence and coldness.

"It indeed takes advantage of the power of the World of Souls." Lucien took the opportunity to record and analyze the magic circle.

Right then, the patterns that stretched out to the void was painted with sacred and overwhelming light. A holy and vast tide also flooded into the pit.

"The power of Mountain Paradise…" Lucien couldn't have been more surprised. Death and life? Evil and holy?

He was not bold enough before. That was why he failed to infer that the magic circle would extract power from Mountain Paradise!

The monotonous black, white and grey and the pure brightness were melted with Sard's translucent figure as the center. Then, they entangled in an unimaginably weird state. As Lucien's observed, they now revealed the frozen black, white and grey, and now revealed the lively and agile ivory brightness.

Enshrouded by them, Sard's body changed quickly. It was now extremely dim and now seemed to be blessed with flesh and blood. Gradually, the feeling of flesh and blood was stronger and stronger.

"It's really resurrection?" In the telepathic bond, Rhine asked.

Suddenly, the most overwhelming and supreme light surfaced inside Sard's body, and the pleasant hymns resonated in the room. The entanglement of life and death was immediately disrupted, and the line between evil and holiness was drawn.

Sard's body was reduced into a grey piece again, which seemed to be made of infinite regrets and desperation.

"I deserve better…"

In the vague, miserable cries, the grey pieces collapsed all of a sudden, and Sard completely disappeared from this world.

Both Rhine and Lucien were rather taken aback by such a change. It was not until a long time later that Lucien finally remarked, half in mockery and half in shock, "Sard attracted us to come to this place with so many efforts, just so that he could die in front of us?"

Rhine hated Sard's guts in the first place and was only puzzled by his sudden death. He was immediately amused by Lucien's words. "He was probably really trying to die before us."

After the mockery, Lucien reviewed what he saw and took a deep breath. "At least, I have a basic speculation about the effect of the magic circle. It should be more than resurrection… Was Sard trying to tell us the function of the magic circle with his resurrection?"

"What a pity. He didn't know that God's Arrival was so powerful that it lingered to this moment. He was such an ambitious, brilliant and stealthy schemer, but he could only cry that he deserved better in the end." Rhine felt rather complicated that the schemer who once deceived him ended up like that.

Lucien shook his head. "His biggest problem was that he did not recognize the trend of history. The Congress is developing faster than he imagined, but he went against the trend. If he had truly decided to divide the South Church, it's possible that he'd already be a top legendary pontiff right now. The trend of history is unstoppable. Whoever stands in its way will be crushed."

After the observation, Lucien suddenly sensed something wrong. "Mr. Rhine, if Sard were confident about his resurrection, there wouldn't have been no need for him to attract us to come. He could've got in touch with us after he was resurrected, because either of us might've killed him when we lose control of ourselves. If he were not confident about his resurrection, he could've told us what he wanted to tell us in advance."

Reminded by Lucien, Rhine was deep in thought, "Are you implying that he attracted us to come under somebody else's instruction for the purpose of letting us see this magic circle, and that it didn't really matter whether Sard survived or died in the end?"

"Yes. The guy who instructed him must be the guy who enabled him to use God's Arrival." Lucien nodded his head. "But I can't figure out who it can be. The Angel King is incapable of God's Arrival himself…"

Looking at the magic circle that had stopped, Rhine said, "What's your opinion about the function of this magic circle?"

"Let's find the experiment logs first. I need to confirm my thoughts." Contemplating, Lucien left the grey room and opened the other ancillary laboratories and libraries, searching for all the files that remained.

Just like Maskelyne suggested, although the main laboratory had been destroyed, some of the experiment logs were preserved. They were arranged by Lucien and Rhine in the order of time.

On the intact mirror in one of the rooms, Lucien and Rhine's image was reflected. They began to read the intermittent experiment logs, because many of the logs had been ruined, from the beginning.

Some of the experiments were Thanos', some were left by Maskelyne and the other legendary sorcerers earlier, and only the last of them were written after the explorers entered the Realm of Gates.

"Phase of Preliminary Preparation: We accidentally captured a strange creature in the alternate dimension that was similar to the gods in the tales. Perhaps we can call it 'fake god'."