Chapter 368 - 353: Succubus

Chapter 368: Chapter 353: Succubus

In Golden Ears City, the atmosphere was stretched to its breaking point.

The sounds of battle cries, impacts, and the explosions of Combat Skills from the city walls were clearly audible, filling every street with panic.

Messengers ran by with frantic expressions, logistics personnel scurried to transport defensive supplies, and squads of soldiers rushed toward precarious sections of the wall in desperate need of reinforcement, all under the bellowing orders of their officers. Everything was chaotic and hurried.

However, amidst this chaos, some of the more observant soldiers and the Extraordinary Professionals remaining in the city began to notice something strange.

The noble leaders, who on any other such momentous occasion would have certainly made an appearance to pontificate and display their presence, had now vanished into thin air, nowhere to be found.

Their personal guards were still present, but not a single one of the great figures who gave the orders could be seen.

This unusual silence was more unsettling than the sounds of slaughter outside the walls.

Just as this eerie atmosphere began to spread, Duke Anno appeared on the road leading to the western part of the city.

Completely out of place with the surrounding haste, he walked with a leisurely gait, as if strolling through his own courtyard rather than approaching the razor’s edge of a life-and-death battlefield.

There was no trace of tension on his face, its features having softened to an almost delicate degree. A faint, almost imperceptible curve even played on his lips as he ignored the panicked crowds brushing past him.

His destination was clear.

The newly completed High Tower.

The tower stood in the relatively secluded western district, constructed from a dark-hued Giant Stone. It was much taller than any other building in the city, its spire seeming to pierce the lead-gray sky.

The outer walls were carved with intricate and unfamiliar patterns that pulsed with a faint light even in the daytime, exuding an unwelcoming aura of Secret Technique.

Anno stopped before the closed tower gate, not rushing to enter.

He tilted his head back slightly, his gaze sweeping over the esoteric Runes on the tower’s body before finally resting on the great door, which was cast from some unknown metal and covered in sealing patterns.

Reaching out, his fingertips brushed across the cold surface of the door, feeling the faint fluctuations of Magic Power emanating from it. The imperceptible smile on his face deepened.

"The time... is about right."

He whispered, his voice as soft as a sigh, yet it carried a chilling anticipation.

Pushing open the heavy metal doors, Anno stepped inside the High Tower.

The space inside the tower was far more expansive than it appeared from the outside. The air was thick with the acrid smell of sulfur, the scent of dried herbs, and the indescribable odor of dust.

The walls were embedded with Fluorite that cast a pale green glow, illuminating a massive and complex Array carved into the floor.

Several figures in dark robes were gathered around the Array, making final adjustments.

Their robes were mostly old, some even torn.

Hearing footsteps, one of them looked up, revealing a wrinkled but sharp-eyed face from beneath his hood.

He had a short, graying beard. He was the temporary leader of this group of Wizards, a man named Mars.

"Your Grace."

Mars’s voice was hoarse, tinged with fatigue, but filled more so with suppressed excitement.

"You’ve come at the perfect time. The ritual is ready, and the Energy flow of the core Array has stabilized."

He stretched out a gaunt, bony-knuckled hand and pointed toward the tower’s dome.

Through some clever optical design, a swirling mass of visible Magic Energy could be seen converging at the tower’s spire.

"Once the ritual officially begins, the ’Guiding Prism’ at the spire will be able to lock onto King Morne’s uniquely powerful life force and Fighting Spirit fluctuations."

Another, slightly younger Wizard added, his tone hurried and laced with nervousness.

"The [Maze Technique] will act directly upon Morne himself, banishing him to the Chaotic Maze within a crevice of Space-Time. No matter how overwhelming his Power, he will never find his way back in a short time."

Mars nodded, then, as if remembering something important, turned to Anno and asked cautiously.

"Your Grace, everything is prepared. It’s just... regarding His Highness, Prince Lucius, what are his instructions?"

"Once the ritual begins, there is no turning back. We need His Highness’s final approval."

Hearing the name "Lucius," an extremely subtle expression flickered across Anno’s face.

It was not surprise, nor sadness, but a fleeting, almost mocking amusement.

"His Highness..."

Anno said in a steady, emotionless voice, his gaze not on the Wizards but fixed with great interest on the glowing Array.

"...has entrusted me with full authority. His promises all stand. Begin. Don’t miss the opportune moment."

His words carried an undeniable certainty that easily dispelled the last trace of doubt in Mars’s mind.

"As you command, Your Grace. Please just watch from here. The Energy fluctuations from the ritual may affect those who get too close."

Mars bowed, then turned to the other Wizards, his expression turning solemn.

"Everyone, to your positions! Activate the Array!"

The Wizards quickly dispersed to several key nodes of the Array, raised their hands in unison, and began to chant an esoteric and incomprehensible Spell.

Anno, meanwhile, calmly crossed his arms and leaned against the cold stone wall.

The Shadow fell perfectly to conceal half his face, leaving only his eyes, which glinted with an inhuman light in the gloom.

As the chanting echoed through the tower, the lines of the Array carved into the floor suddenly lit up.

First, it was a faint fluorescence, which quickly intensified into a brilliant glow. A spectral blue light flowed along the patterns like a living thing as powerful Magic Power gathered and vibrated within the Array.

The Fluorite embedded in the walls seemed to be stimulated as well, flaring to life and bathing the entire hall in an eerie light.

The concentration of Magic Power in the air climbed sharply, emitting a low hum.

The swirling Energy at the tower’s spire grew more violent, faintly pointing toward a powerful presence outside the city.

Seeing the ritual proceed so smoothly, with the Array’s Energy climbing steadily, irrepressible looks of excitement and ecstasy appeared on the faces of the Wizards.

Mars’s heart, in particular, was pounding with excitement.

His group were all "Wild Wizards" who had never had the chance to study in an orthodox Wizard Tower, self-taught by excavating ancient texts or piecing together fragmented traditions. They were typically discriminated against and starved for resources.

If they could successfully help Duke Anno and Prince Lucius overthrow King Morne, they would surely receive unimaginable rewards and status. They would no longer have to live as fugitives, looked down upon by orthodox Wizards!

Success seemed to be within their grasp.

As the Wizards’ chanting grew louder and more fervent, the Magic Power gathered in the tower reached its peak.

The spectral blue light of the Array cast their sweat-drenched, eager faces in a ghastly, phantasmal glow.

Energy surged toward the spire like a tide. At the center of the swirling vortex, a point of extreme white light was forming, just about to lock onto the distant target.

At that critical moment...

Something went terribly wrong!

At the edge of the Array, on a previously inconspicuous auxiliary node, a blindingly bright point of white light suddenly erupted, completely out of sync with everything else.

This light clashed with the spectral blue of the Array, like a red-hot stone dropped into a calm lake.

"Wh-what is that?"

A middle-aged Wizard was the first to notice the abnormality, pointing in horror at the flashing point of light.

Mars’s heart sank. A sense of foreboding instantly seized him.

He tried to guide the Magic Power to stabilize the abnormal node, but it was too late.

The point of light was not a simple Energy overflow; it was like an iron wedge driven precisely into a set of delicate gears.

The orderly torrent of Magic Power was thrown into complete disarray by this sudden interference.

The spectral blue tracks of light twisted and shuddered violently like a nest of startled snakes, and the entire Array began to hum as if under immense strain.

The immense Magic Power spun out of control, crashing wildly within the enclosed tower and dissipating, only to be forcibly constrained by the Array’s basic structure. Unable to vent, it was chaotically re-condensed.

Dissipating, condensing, dissipating, condensing...

With each cycle, the Array’s light grew more unstable, its color shifting from spectral blue to an unsettling mixture of deep purple and dark red.

The smell of sulfur in the air suddenly intensified, becoming acrid and unbearable, now laced with the faint stench of blood and decay.

"No! Stabilize it, quickly!"

Mars shouted himself hoarse, but any Spell he cast to control it was like a stone sinking into the ocean, having no effect.

Faced with this out-of-control storm of Magic Power, the strength of these Wild Wizards seemed insignificant.

Just as this repeated, destructive oscillation of Energy reached a critical point...

In the very center of the Array, where the targeting component for the [Maze Technique] should have been, space itself was violently torn apart...

A point.

A tiny, dark point, seemingly capable of swallowing all light, appeared out of thin air.

The moment it appeared, all sound in the tower—the Wizards’ cries of alarm, the roar of Magic Power—seemed to be sucked into it, plunging the room into a deathly vacuum.

Immediately after, the black point began to expand at a visible rate, spreading like a drop of thick ink in clear water.

It wasn’t flat, but deep and three-dimensional, leading to some unimaginable, distant place.

An aura thick with sulfur, blood, and the malice of pure Chaos surged out from it.

At the same moment the spatial singularity began to expand, Anno, who had been leaning in the Shadow, suddenly straightened his body.

He threw his head back and let out a long, satisfied moan.

The sound no longer held any human restraint but was filled with a primal pleasure and release, like a fish trapped in the shallows finally returning to the endless sea.

As the Energy, filled with the essence of Chaos and depravity, poured through the newly formed channel and gathered madly toward him, his face, which had been merely soft and delicate, began to visibly transform.

His skin grew smoother and paler, the lines of his features becoming sharper and more refined.

An unnatural charm that transcended gender and struck directly at the soul began to radiate from him.

More significant changes occurred on his head and behind him.

A pair of curved, jet-black horns with dark patterns broke through the skin of his forehead, emerging from his hairline and rapidly growing to their full size.

At the same time, a long, flexible tail extended from his tailbone.

Its tip was shaped like a sharp heart, twitching restlessly in the air.

His human disguise was rapidly fading away, revealing the true form hidden beneath.

"It’s... a Suc... a Succubus!"

The sudden turn of events left the Wild Wizards stunned.

"Your... Your Grace... You are..."

Mars’s voice trembled with extreme fear.

He couldn’t imagine how a high-and-mighty human Duke could be... could be a Succubus!

He couldn’t fathom that a vile creature from ancient texts would appear before him, alive and in the flesh.

Anno...

Or rather, the Succubus, as it now was, slowly turned its head.

Its eyes, now a pure amber with slitted pupils, swept over the ashen-faced Wizards with an amused and cruel smile.

It ignored their terror, instead taking a deep breath of the familiar and delightful chaotic aura.

"I have wandered this world of thin, bland Energy for too long... This unexpected ’journey’ has finally shown me the way home."

Its whisper was like a viper’s hiss, and the twisted smile on the Succubus’s face, no longer needing to be concealed, bloomed in full.

It watched the ever-expanding spatial singularity with satisfaction, as if admiring its own greatest masterpiece.

And from the depths of that expanding dark hole, there first came a dense, grating scraping sound that set one’s teeth on edge, as if countless claws were scrabbling over rock.

This was followed by a series of low, suppressed roars filled with greed and violence.

Growing closer, and clearer...