Chapter 2308: Maze Lock: Sea of Darkness

Chapter 2308: Chapter 2308: Maze Lock: Sea of Darkness

The wings fluttered, and the girl with blue hair gently floated up in the air. She stretched out a hand forward, and as the Core Spirit Rune emitted a glow, an extremely complex circular rune formation appeared vertically above the riverbank with her palm as the center.

"Elven Rune Lock!"

Emilia immediately recognized it, and Shard nodded, watching the rune lock hidden in the air become fully visible.

The rune lock is a type of spatial sealing created by a ritual that can only be opened with a specific key, which consists of particular spells and gestures. Otherwise, it can only be forcibly unlocked by Shard’s Arcane Technique - Key of the Door or a Relic - Master Key.

And it was obvious that this rune lock composed of Ancient Elvish Language was more complex than those examples mentioned in the "Basic Runology" and "Runology From The Beginning" courses.

Even though Miss Eles mastered the correct way to unlock it, it was her first time trying to open it. So, as she softly hummed what seemed like an Elvish song, the Ring of Fate on her back cooperated with her gestures to slowly channel her spirit, causing the orange phantom locks within the rune lock to open not very quickly.

"Emilia, go and help."

Shard whispered, and the elf girl nodded gently, then cautiously went to the edge of the stream, pricked her finger, and dropped a drip of blood into the water. Then she slowly knelt down on one knee and prayed softly with her hands clasped to her chest.

Emilia’s prayers blended with Miss Eles’s chants, resonating together, and the vibration of spirit and elements generated by this caused the large ritual circle floating in the air to transform more quickly.

After a full five minutes, Miss Eles fell, her feet once again touching the ground, and Emilia stood up from the riverbank, patting her skirt.

Meanwhile, in the center of the clear stream originating from the mountaintop, a not very large stone platform had risen.

The stone platform slightly protruded above the water, supported by stone pillars at the base, and there were three statues on it.

The statue on the left was of an elf girl with a flower crown on her head, standing and shyly reaching out her right hand forward, while holding a stone magic wand in her left hand; the right side was another elf girl kneeling on one knee, draped in a cloak, with a stone longsword placed at her feet.

Her left hand supported the outstretched right hand of the standing elf girl, while her right hand held a stone ring, attempting to put it on the hand of the flower-crowned elf girl.

And beside them, in the direction away from the riverbank, was a stone statue of a two-winged angel.

The angel had its arms open, with wings spread as if to envelop the two elf girls. The angel’s form was in a relatively classic style, wearing a white robe and barefoot, without any discernible gender.

Because the three statues had just emerged from underwater, each one still had water droplets remaining on them. The sunlight shone down from above the valley, causing the stream to glimmer, and the statues seemed to flicker with glimmering light because of the water droplets.

"These are statues of the nameless dragon-slaying heroes of the Fifth Era, a relic left by the elves to commemorate them."

Miss Eles explained, which also clarified why the two statues beside the angel were female.

"Elves can receive a blessing when they come here, but it has no effect on other races. So for many years, there hasn’t been much local legend about this small relic."

She continued, and the pointy-eared elf girl nodded softly, looking at the three statues on the creek in the distance with envy and reverence:

"Ancient elf heroes..."

"Ang~"

The little unicorn nudged her, so Emilia sat sideways on the unicorn’s back, Shard used "Water Walking," and Miss Eles directly strolled on the water—ships don’t sink, and the three walked towards the stone platform holding the three statues.

In the tranquil mountain creek valley, the statues of the nameless heroes bathed in the afternoon sunshine. Shard didn’t even want to speak too loudly, fearing he’d disrupt the moment’s atmosphere.

Yet as he approached the statues, besides looking at the right arm of the angel statue, he also looked at the angel’s left arm.

The left hand of the statue had a metal box on it, and if Shard’s eyes weren’t deceiving him, the engraving on the front of the box was clearly the family crest of the "Wood Family," one of the Seven Great Families of Moon Bay.

"What is this thing?"

Shard asked the girl beside him, but Miss Eles also didn’t know.

The two walked in front, and Emilia rode the little unicorn behind them. Shard intended to examine things up close but was surprised when the box suddenly began to vibrate on its own.

He stopped, advising the girls to be cautious. Then, as a beam of light flashed across the sky, the space beside the stone platform crumbled into a rift, and a human hand emerged from it, grabbing the box. Then, a man appeared from the shattered space, someone Shard had never seen before:

"Who is so kind to help me unlock this elven seal?"

The newcomer looked to be in his forties, similar in age to Dr. Schneider. He wore a black formal suit as if ready for a banquet, sported a sophisticated mustache on his chin, held the box with his left hand, and stroked his mustache with his right.

After obtaining the metal box, he looked inquisitively at the three people.

His gaze met Shard’s, and Shard hesitated slightly:

"Thirteen Rings?"

The stranger nodded slightly:

"People call me the Light Chaser. Thank you for helping me unravel the sealing here. I’ve always known this thing was in this seal, but the Ancient Elvish Language is really difficult, isn’t it?"

"Light Chaser..."

Shard pursed his lips and reached behind him, while the man holding the box looked at the girls behind him:

"A unicorn and elves... Pardon my asking, is this young lady the one who drew the Sword of Light from Belindel Big Bell last weekend?"

Seeing no one answered him, he shook his head regretfully and looked down at the stone platform underneath his feet. No one spoke, and in such a quiet Creekland, only the sound of the babbling stream and the wind brushing the tree tops was so distinct.

And as the "Light Chaser" raised his head to look at the three again, three egg-sized white lights had already appeared before them.

Shard’s left hand had originally touched the [Calamity Card: Shadow of the Deep] attempting to suppress the "Light Chaser" with "Dark Magic," but someone was faster than him.

Miss Eles, who had transformed again into her Dragonborn form, surprisingly reached out to grab the three exploding white lights, then, to Shard’s shock, she put the "Light Chaser’s" Arcane Technique into her mouth without being affected.

"Remember? I was born in a place without light."

Her blue eyes glimmered, the Dragonborn Girl asked with a smile, then flapped her wings, flying towards the sky along with the serious-faced "Light Chaser."

Shard and Emilia looked up together, watching the Twelve-Ring Life Ring and Thirteen-Ring Life Ring manifest in the sky. Countless colorful light bullets left light traces in the air, intersecting, and within seconds the first round of engagement was over. The exploding light balls and Dragon Flame colliding in the valley even caused a strange aura to rise to the sky.

After the exploratory engagement came the real battle. As Shard rushed towards the angel statue on the stone platform, behind the "Light Chaser" his Life Ring, Miracle-"Giant" and Enlightenment-"Light" gleamed together:

"Magic - Incarnation of Light!"

The airborne man suddenly transformed into a ball of light, which then quickly expanded above the valley until it became a Glimmer Giant standing in the valley.

This is the signature move of the Thirteen-Ring Sorcerer "Light Chaser," and the girl with dragon wings was not flustered.

She easily evaded the giant hand of light that slapped toward her, while the rock cliff behind her was penetrated by the hand. She raised her right hand, causing the sky to turn dim, and cold, strange rain fell from above.

As if the sun was extinguishing, even the light on the Light Chaser’s Glimmer Giant dimmed significantly. When the Core Spirit Runes on the Twelve-Ring Life Ring behind Miss Eles connected brilliantly, the sound of crashing waves grew louder.

Though it was a clear summer afternoon, a sense of vast moisture approached. The Glimmer Giant stretched its hand towards the glowing girl in the air again, only to be slapped back by a spray of water suddenly appearing in the sky.

Looking again around them, where was the tranquil river valley of Creekland? On the Sea of Darkness, the sky, ocean, and the whole world were black.

The light from the Glimmer Giant was constantly being drained by this world. Its Life Ring, also enlarged behind it, tried to summon more Spirit to perform Arcane Techniques to solve the current predicament. But quite unfortunately, this Arcane Technique happens to counter all light:

"What is this?"

Core Spirit Rune - Miracle - Ship, Core Spirit Rune - Miracle - Dragon, Core Spirit Rune - Miracle - Dream, Core Spirit Rune - Whisper - Undead, Core Spirit Rune - Whisper - Calamity, Core Spirit Rune - Enlightenment - Ocean, Core Spirit Rune - Enlightenment - Light of Extinguishing——

This is her story of birth, her place of death, also her rebirth hometown. With all the Core Spirit Runes as her bone, with the story that symbolizes her "beginning" as the skin.

This Arcane Technique required no intentional learning from her, it was instinctively branded within her unique soul when her soul truly formed, when she suddenly awakened from chaotic confusion knowing "I am me."

The howling gale and raindrops approached fiercely, and the violent sea waves lashed across the boundless sea.

Then, amid the roaring noise, a giant cruise ship covered in Blue Dragon Scales emerged from the tempest, its wings spread on either side of the vessel. With her blue eyes glowing, Ms. Glimmer stood on the deck, her black hair fluttering wildly in the wind behind her.

She shouted loudly, colliding with the ship in the Sea of Darkness towards the chest of the Glimmer Giant——

"Maze Lock: Sea of Darkness!"