novelhk Chapter 477, Section 486: The Closed Loop of Fate
Chapter 477, Section 486: The Closed Loop of Fate
Chapter 477, Section 486: The Closed Loop of Fate (Part 5)
The elderly Saruman gently waved his fingers.
Then, the pale blue light flowed, and the scenes of memory began to move forward once again, slowly unfolding the encounter across time and space in the city of R'lyeh a thousand years ago and everything that followed.
"Later, I learned the boy's name—Ian Prince."
The pale blue light of memory shifts and dances, accompanied by the deep, clear narration of the elderly Saruman, as if imbuing this ancient tale with a definitive label.
The truth and the price will soon be revealed to the man in black, revealing its cruel and heavy side. As the elderly Saruman utters the name of Ian, the true protagonist, this name seems to possess a certain magic, adding a touch of realism to the image of the cold boy in his memory.
Although this dimension remains shrouded in the mists of legend and the paradoxes of time and space, within the memory, the young Saruman and Kag still hide behind the toppled pillar, their hearts pounding in their chests, barely daring to breathe.
The oppressive feeling emanating from Ian Prince's calm glance was like a cold blade hanging overhead.
For a long time.
"Am I going to die?!"
"I'm going to die!"
"He's watching us!"
Saruman and Kag felt their hearts stop, their throats tighten, and their tension reached its peak. However, the expected attack, questioning, or expulsion did not come.
Ian simply withdrew his gaze indifferently, as if he had only inadvertently caught a glimpse of a speck of dust in the corner of the wall, before turning all his attention back to the complex and enormous magic circle on the ground.
"This must be the path to Cthulhu's chambers, the place where he rests."
He frowned slightly, his fair fingers brushing across the engravings on the array diagram once more. The magic flowing from his fingertips became even more condensed, as if he were delving into the core nodes within.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"
The pressure has eased a little.
but.
Neither of them had calmed down.
Time ticked by in the deathly silence.
Finally, Kag's tense nerves relaxed slightly, and he couldn't help but ask in a very low voice through the weak mental connection maintained by Saruman.
"He—didn't he notice us? Or—did he not care?" Kag's mind was that of a typical warrior, so he couldn't quite figure out this question.
"I don't think it's like that."
Saruman's silver eyes were fixed on Ian's back, sensing the unfathomable magical fluctuations emanating from him, as well as his focused state of complete absorption in breaking the formation.
He remained silent for a moment before responding in a complex and enigmatic tone, also through the mental link: "Perhaps—the truth is that he discovered us but didn't care."
Saruman shared his opinion.
"Completely unconcerned?"
Kag still couldn't quite understand.
then.
Saruman went on to explain.
"Just like when we walk in the wilderness, we don't care if there are a few ants watching our footsteps, let alone stop to chase them away or explain."
A very detailed and vivid metaphor.
As a wizard, Saruman could easily understand why Ian was indifferent to discovering them, since only a wizard could comprehend this ethereal state of being.
"ah!?"
This metaphor made Kag feel stifled and humiliated.
He, Kag, a top warrior, Saruman, a genius wizard who touched the threshold of legend, was nothing more than—an insignificant ant in the eyes of that young legend.
This fact really upset Kag.
of course.
He's not really stupid.
After all, no one who reaches the top in a field is truly stupid; it's just that, relatively speaking, he doesn't have Saruman's quick thinking.
Not liking to use one's brain is one thing.
Kag still possessed discernment. Because of this, a cold voice deep within him told him that Saruman's analogy, though cruel, was undeniably true. How so? The level of power displayed by the other party, the gap between them and the other was perhaps even greater than the gap between a human and an ant.
"Damn it!" Kag only cursed under his breath, forcibly suppressing the anger and helplessness he felt at being slighted. Such was reality; before absolute power, dignity and pride sometimes seemed so pale. All they could do now was hide themselves and wait and see.
"That's how the wizarding world is; the slightest difference can make all the difference. And the wizards in the world are only divided into legendary wizards and other nobodies."
"In the eyes of legends, there is probably no difference between wizard apprentices and wizards like us." The young Saruman was also filled with turmoil.
He had to admit this fact, especially after experiencing so much, he could feel even more how big the gap was between himself and the legend.
of course.
The bitterness in one's heart is one thing.
His mind was more focused on curiosity and speculation about Ian Prince's behavior at that moment.
"What is he thinking of doing? Is that the teleportation array for the exit?"
The same goes for Kag.
"It's a teleportation array, but I don't know where it will teleport you to."
Saruman responded, and the two watched as Ian slowly walked around the magic circle, sometimes stopping to trace several shimmering runes in the air with his fingertips and imprint them in specific positions on the circle; at other times he would mutter some strangely syllableed incantations that he couldn't understand at all.
The incantation seemed to resonate with the whispers of the city, causing the surrounding space to tremble slightly.
What shocked Saruman even more was the occasional, almost inaudible muttering of Ian to himself that he caught. The voice remained calm, yet carried an unwavering resolve.
"—The energy node is here——Hmm, the weak point of the seal core—"
"—Cthulhu—is definitely not in good condition; he's weaker than I expected—"
"—Before it fully wakes up——kill it—and be done with it—"
Cthulhu!
Saruman suddenly remembered the "Sleeping God" and "Great Old Ones" mentioned on the stone tablet! Could this name, which was mentioned so casually by the other party, be the true master of this city of R'lyeh? The terrifying entity whose mere existence was enough to distort spacetime and corrupt all things?
And what is this legend doing? Unlike them, who only wanted to escape, the other party was trying to decipher the magic circle that sealed or summoned this terrifying being!
The implication was that they intended to take advantage of the weakened and dormant state of this being called "Cthulhu" to launch a preemptive strike and eliminate it?!
An indescribable sense of shock and absurdity swept over young Saruman. They were still struggling with how to survive...
While racking his brains and struggling to escape, this legendary young man has set his sights on the source of all this disaster and intends to eliminate it in the most direct and violent way.
And thus, everything will end!
This can no longer be described as brave; it's downright insane! It's a problem-solving approach that can only arise from absolute confidence in one's own abilities, a kind of overarching perspective!
"As expected—the way legends handle problems is truly—terrifyingly simple and direct," Saruman thought bitterly to himself. He realized that the gap between himself and a true legend was not just in strength, but also in vision, courage, and a completely different attitude when facing ultimate terror.
However, it was perhaps Ian Prince’s undisguised murderous intent toward Cthulhu and his attempt to break the spell that triggered some sensitive mechanisms deep within R'lyeh.
Just as Ian seemed to have found a key point, his fingertip gathered a point of extremely condensed, dark light that seemed to be able to pierce through the void, preparing to point it at a distorted star-shaped symbol in the center of the magic circle.
A sudden change has occurred!
"Roar roar roar roar!"
A howl, indescribable in any known language and filled with extreme madness, resentment, and blasphemy, suddenly resounded from all directions of R'lyeh!
The sound, of course, did not travel through the air, but acted directly on the soul, as if countless cold steel needles were piercing the brain at the same time, stirring up all reason!
"Damn it! Those horrible polluted creatures!" Young Saruman and Kag groaned simultaneously, feeling a splitting headache and their vision going black as they nearly fainted.
no way.
Realizing that they are being contaminated.
Saruman had to immediately activate his "Mental Barrier" at full power to barely stabilize his mind, while Kag bit his tongue hard, using the excruciating pain to resist the impact on his soul.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!~"
Even with Saruman's help, Kag was still feeling somewhat unwell.
They all looked into the distance with suspicion and uncertainty.
The howl seemed to be a signal, a rallying cry.
Suddenly, the distorted shadows of the buildings surrounding the plaza began to writhe and lengthen violently. Visible ripples, like waves on water, spread through the air. Then, countless creatures, even more bizarre in form and more terrifying in aura, seemed to be "squeezed" out of the void!
They are no longer the relatively "low-level" derivatives we encountered before.
Some are enormous, like small hills, covered with thick, slimy carapaces from which countless waving, sucker-like tentacles emerge; others are elusive, like condensed shadows, with only pairs of eyes burning with mad flames flickering in the darkness, radiating a powerful field of mental pollution.
These are all advanced pollutants.
of course.
The more severe the pollution, the better.
The greater the power, the more distorted the form becomes.
A glance reveals that some are entirely composed of irregularly writhing chunks of flesh and eyeballs, constantly splitting and merging, emitting nauseating, sticky sounds. Without exception, these creatures exude an extremely intense, ancient, and mad will, originating from the same source as R'lyeh but far more profound and ancient.
They were enraged by Ian Prince's schemes and provoked by the murderous intent directed at "Cthulhu." They were guardians who swarmed out from the depths of the city's "dream" and from the edge of the sleeping god's subconscious. Or rather, they were part of "Cthulhu's" instinctive defense mechanism!
That's why they only had one target—the black-robed boy standing at the edge of the magic circle, emanating an aura of death that they found utterly repulsive and terrifying!
"You've come at the perfect time. My improved Avada Kedavra curse is the perfect counter to you."
Faced with this terrifying torrent that surged in from all directions like a tidal wave, enough to instantly drive any being below the legendary level to despair, Ian Prince merely tilted his head slightly.
His calm eyes showed not even the slightest ripple.
It was as if the monsters rushing towards them were not countless terrifying monsters comparable to great wizards.
It's just a bunch of annoying mosquitoes.
Well, as he said, the original Killing Curse might not be very effective against creatures corrupted by Cthulhu, but he had been in this place for some time after all.
During this period of time.
As a magically gifted individual of unparalleled caliber, he thoroughly researched the life essence of these polluted creatures, and thus created the highly targeted Killing Curse.
Judging from the previous battle record, the effect is indeed outstanding. Of course, since this is the memory of the elderly Saruman, the young Saruman and Kag in the memory do not know this.
They only heard young Ian's mutterings.
Faced with a surging influx of polluted organisms.
The boy didn't even stop what he was doing; the dim light gathered at his fingertips continued to steadily point towards the star-shaped symbol at the center of the magic circle.
Then.
Just as the first mountain-sized carapace behemoth swung its massive claws, powerful enough to shatter mountains, crashing down, the first wave of Shadow Wraiths' mental shrieks were about to engulf him, and the first wave of fleshy, eyeball-like monsters spewed forth torrents of highly corrosive acid—Ian Prince casually waved his free left hand to his side.
There were no incantations or complicated spellcasting actions.
There was only one cold, utterly calm declaration: "Avada Kedavra—Withering."
It is not a "death-taking" targeting a single individual, nor a "plague" spreading, but "withering"!
With the trajectory of his wave as the boundary, a gray-green magical ripple, seemingly representing the ultimate destiny of all things, spread out silently like ripples stirred up by a pebble thrown into a calm lake.
Well, the origins of Avada Kedavra, a forbidden magical variant that has never appeared in the magical world, can of course be traced back to the ancient and insidious Avada Kedavra.
Unlike the latter's iconic green light, Avada Kedavra's advance is more like a green mist carrying withered leaves and frost. Wherever it passes, it not only takes away life, but also causes the surrounding flowers and plants to lose their color instantly, and wooden objects to show signs of decay. It is the product of Ian's considerable brainpower.
He reconstructed the energy structure of the original spell with ingenious magical loops.
and so.
This is clearly completely different from the ordinary Avada Kedavra.
It even incorporates entirely new mechanisms.
This created a completely new magical power.
only.
Such an evil power, Ian certainly wouldn't name it after himself; after all, who would want to be remembered as a dark wizard by future generations?
Ian Shin-chung has high standards for himself.
In the magical canons and in the casual conversations of ordinary wizards, Ian's image must always be closely associated with pure silver light and warm healing spells.
History should record that he once drove away rampant dark magic creatures in the northern wasteland and also lifted curses on Muggle villages free of charge.
Those who have been saved by him always use words like "merciful" and "bright" when they talk about him. The title "White Wizard" should be branded onto his identity like a mark.
and so.
In Ian's view, Avada should bear the blame.