novelhk Chapter 460-459: The Revival of the Past 3
Chapter 460-459: The Revival of the Past 3
Chapter 460-459: The Revival of the Past 3
Not only was Kag on the verge of death, but Lina was still unconscious beside him, her scales appearing lifeless in the dim light.
"Hold on, Kag!"
Saruman's voice trembled without him even realizing it.
He quickly examined his comrade's injuries, and the more he examined, the more his heart sank to the bottom. Ordinary healing spells were completely ineffective when they touched those black lines; they were like water droplets falling on a red-hot iron, instantly evaporating and even causing the lines to writhe in a more violent backlash.
Meanwhile, Kag's life force is being rapidly devoured by this bizarre pollution.
"Damn it! I have to save you!"
We can't hesitate any longer.
Saruman's eyes sharpened and hardened. He whispered to Kag, "Listen, old friend, you can't die here. I need to use an unconventional method. It might be—painful, and it might have unknown consequences. But it's the only chance to save your life for now."
obviously.
Saruman had other forbidden methods he hadn't used.
He kept restraining himself, but it was useless.
It's probably because the cost of that method is too high.
"Uh—it's normal for me to return to my homeland. Don't do anything that will lead to utter ruin." Kag's unfocused gaze barely spun, and he saw the unwavering resolve in Saruman's eyes. He wanted to shake his head, to refuse a method that might put his dearest friend in danger, but he didn't even have the strength to lift a finger.
"No, if you die here, you will probably end up like the enemies we've encountered, imprisoned for eternity. I absolutely do not want to see you suffer that fate."
Saruman said no more.
He closed his eyes, placed his hands lightly on Kag's chest, and began to chant an ancient and difficult incantation.
This knowledge was not recorded in any orthodox magical texts, but rather fragments he learned from ancient scrolls considered taboo, which he discovered in some sealed ruins.
That's why they say archaeologists have so many methods.
Archaeologists in the wizarding world are incredibly knowledgeable and often possess magic unimaginable to ordinary people. Saruman, for example, directly used ancient dark magic.
The syllables of the incantation were distorted and blasphemous, and each note made the surrounding air grow colder. The eerie carvings on the corridor walls seemed to pulsate slightly with the rhythm of the incantation.
The unusual phenomena reveal that this kind of dark magic is probably exceptional even among dark magic, and is even darker than other forms of dark magic.
"Now that things have come to this, I can only blame myself."
Suddenly, an incredibly dark light, seemingly emanating from the depths of the underworld, emerged from Saruman's palm.
It slowly seeped into Kag's chest. It wasn't a healing light full of vitality, but a contradictory energy that carried the aura of death yet forcibly sustained life.
"Ugh—!" Kag suddenly opened his eyes wide and his body convulsed violently.
He felt a cold and powerful force forcefully injected into his body, not to dispel the black patterns, but to temporarily "suppress" them in a more domineering way.
At the same time, a clear life force belonging to Saruman, like a trickle, flowed through the dim light and into his nearly depleted body.
The pain subsided slightly, and his reason returned somewhat. Kag stared at Saruman in shock, his voice hoarse: "You—what are you doing?! Saruman! You're sharing your life with me?!"
He sensed it; it wasn't just magic, but something more fundamental—lifespan, fragments of the soul. The other party had actually used a life-sharing type of magic!
"Words are useless. Believe me, this is definitely the best way. You've all ended up like this because of me." Saruman's face paled, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead, but his hand on Kag's chest remained as steady as a rock. He forced a weary smile.
"Actually, if we can't escape, it doesn't matter how many lives we have left. Besides—" He paused, a silver glint flashing in his eyes, "having defeated those two ancient wizards in succession, my understanding of magic—"
I've already touched the threshold of legend. My life is still long. Sharing some with you is no trouble at all.
His words were understated, but Kag knew that this "sharing" was far more complex than he made it out to be.
This was forbidden black magic, and the price would inevitably be heavy. He wanted to struggle, to refuse, but the life force injected into him was like a sweet spring, giving his body, which was on the verge of collapse, a renewed vitality, and temporarily suppressing the pain and madness brought by the black patterns that were like a bone-deep affliction.
"You really have always been a madman. No wonder this place hasn't polluted you as quickly as you've ever done," Kag sighed, grumbling to his best friend.
Now that the magic was complete, he could only grit his teeth and remember this heavy sacrifice. After all, he couldn't very well come back to life and then slit his own throat.
That would be truly stupid behavior, not some Mary Sue stage play plot. Kag knew very well that he had to make the most of the life he had been given.
Even if Saruman were to slit his own throat now, the price he had already paid could not undo the damage. Although he was not a wizard, Kag's understanding of magic was more comprehensive than that of many ordinary wizards.
Again.
After all, being a member of an archaeological team, over the years, anyone who isn't intellectually challenged will have accumulated a considerable amount of relevant magical knowledge.
"Alright, let's continue searching for a way out."
After a brief period of stability, they had to continue. Saruman helped Kag up, then carried the unconscious Lina on his back, and stepped back into the seemingly endless corridor.
The journey that followed was a recurring nightmare of despair. The endless corridor seemed enraged by their resistance, revealing even more bizarre traps and enemies.
They encountered the "Dream Weaver," a creature whose form was elusive and who could manipulate fragments of dreams to weave deadly illusions; the "Abyssal Flame Demon," whose body was made of lava and obsidian and who could summon earth fire and sulfurous gas with a wave of his hand; and even the "Time Weaver," who could distort space itself and trap them in fragments of time loops.
"Perhaps, breaking through to the legendary level is my only chance of survival!"
Each encounter was a life-or-death wizarding battle. Saruman's power grew rapidly under extreme pressure, and his use of various elemental magic, mind spells, and even spacetime magic became increasingly refined and exquisite. Indeed, as he said, he was infinitely close to the legendary realm.
"The pollution hasn't affected me that much anymore."
With his temporarily stabilized body and unwavering will, Kag repeatedly wielded his greatsword, using his warrior's methods to buy Saruman the opportunity and space to cast spells.
They fought, they won, and they trudged through the corridors, their bodies battered and bruised.
This was a perilous experience, yet hope, like a flickering candle in the wind, was repeatedly ignited, only to be blown away by the cruel reality time and again.
No matter which direction they go, no matter how many traps they overcome, no matter how many powerful enemies they defeat, they will always eventually circle back to that despairing "origin"—near the niche carved with a giant octopus relief. The corridor is truly infinite, a true prison.
one day?
Two days?
Many days?
In this dark and sunless underground, no one can accurately calculate how much time has passed, because any device capable of recording time will simply malfunction and become unusable here.
In short.
Food and water had long been exhausted, and they were barely surviving by Saruman using magic to convert energy.
Lena's corruption was slowly but steadily deepening. In the occasional moments when she was awake, her eyes had completely lost their human color, leaving only emptiness and madness.
Despite the suppression of Saruman's life force, the black markings on Kag's body continued to slowly erode, and with each battle, the suppression would loosen a little.
but.
For the time being, it seems there won't be any major problems. Saruman's dark magic is dark enough to withstand Cthulhu's corruption, which is truly unbelievable.
of course.
This is also largely due to Saruman's own life form being very close to legendary, and his significantly enhanced resistance to contamination from higher life forms.
Kag, who shares the life of Saruman, can also enjoy the benefits brought by the life-position of Saruman.
However, even so, exhaustion, despair, and the constant whispers and buzzing continued to erode their spirits like a dull knife cutting flesh.
"Is there really a way out?"
Until one day, during a brief rest, Saruman leaned against the cold wall, his empty gaze sweeping over the eerie carvings that seemed eternally unchanging.
His brain was working at an unprecedented speed.
Every experience, every detail, every battle, and every change in space after entering the ruins was reassembled and analyzed in my mind like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
"No! No! I know!" Suddenly, a thought that he had ignored or subconsciously avoided flashed through the fog of his mind like lightning.
Saruman suddenly opened his eyes, his silver pupils flashing with shock and understanding.
"Kag," his voice was hoarse with excitement, as if he had discovered something extraordinary, "we—we might have been wrong from the very beginning."
Saruman's tone was extremely aggressive.
"What?"
Kag looked up at him wearily.
"Obviously, there is no way out in this corridor. However, every time we encounter the enemy, every time this place tries to stop us, there is one thing in common."
"Haven't you noticed? It's always when we go back to that place, back to outside the stone gate." Saruman took a deep breath, pointing in the direction they came from, the direction they had circled back to countless times: "We must go back. Back to where we first entered—the stone gate."
Kag was stunned, his face filled with confusion and resistance: "Why? That's a dead end! We tried, that stone door can't be opened from the inside! What's the point of going back?"
"Just as I said, there must be a reason why this place is blocking our way." Saruman stood up, his eyes filled with a terrifying determination, as if he had grasped at a last straw: "The only way out may not be hidden at the end of this endless corridor. The only way out—most likely—lies hidden inside that stone door."
He paused, looking into Kag's confused eyes, and said, word by word, "We thought that stone door was the entrance to somewhere, but perhaps it's the real test. We thought escaping this corridor would get us out, but perhaps this entire corridor was just a way to keep us away from that door, making us overlook its true secret."
"Go back to that stone gate entrance. That's our only way out." Saruman wasn't looking for answers, but rather to verify his guess about the way out.
Kag looked at the unwavering resolve in his best friend's eyes and fell silent. Despite his inner turmoil and unease, he knew that Saruman's wisdom was their only guide.
"Alright."
He nodded heavily. And so, in this seemingly endless corridor from which there seemed to be no end, the two wounded men leaned on each other, and with a companion corrupted by the power of the deep sea, they began to move against the footsteps of their countless futile attempts, toward their initial and final destination—the entrance to R'lyeh.
They had no idea what was behind the door.
It's just that the exit is hidden there.
So they turned back with great difficulty, still holding onto hope.
I guess you could say ignorance is bliss.
They didn't know what slept behind the stone door, nor did they know the name "Cthulhu." For the two of them, all they knew was that this was their last and only direction in their despair.
The journey back was even more arduous than the journey forward.
It wasn't because the journey had become more dangerous—the eerie traps and ancient wizard phantoms were still there, and they still needed to be on high alert to deal with attacks that could occur at any time.
The biggest difference is actually the completely different mindset.
As you move forward, a faint hope lingers in your heart that "perhaps the next turn will lead to the exit." But turning back is to actively embrace the known despair, to admit that all previous efforts were misguided, and to walk back step by step towards that unknowable and indestructible gate of death.
Every step.
They may all be standing on the ashes of fading hope.
If you can't find a car in that place.
There was almost nothing left but to accept one's fate.
This is what makes people most anxious and uneasy.
"Be careful, this place might be trying to stop us. It's conscious and could very well have overheard our conversation and our guesses."
Saruman walked silently ahead, his senses spreading out like a spiderweb, alert to everything around him. The continuous battles and the use of forbidden magic had cast a faint, undetectable shadow over his originally silvery radiance—a mark left by excessive exposure to the knowledge of the abyss.
Nevertheless, his gaze was sharper than ever before, like tempered iron. In his mind, every detail about the stone gate—the reliefs, the materials, even the energy fluctuations he felt when he pushed it open—was repeatedly recalled and analyzed.
The child's brain is operating at high speed.
He only hoped to find the gas to open the stone gate and return to the human world before he returned. But if only things were that simple.