Chapter 415 - 412: Desperate Situation

Chapter 415: Chapter 412: Desperate Situation

The black book began to blur slightly.

Hilbert looked at the pendant in his hand. It was scalding hot, so he had to hold it by its chain.

"Do I need to bring the book into the association and have a Magic Controller or Master Sage help me decipher the Magic Patterns?"

"No, not right now!"

The voice responded swiftly.

"Don’t be hasty, Hilbert, don’t be hasty! I need to first verify whether you are of the direct bloodline of the Chakus Clan. After all, I am just a book, and the years have continuously drained the Magic Power from my pages. While I can confirm you share the family bloodline, I cannot determine its purity. This is of the utmost importance."

Zhao Kai watched Hilbert from the corner of his eye. He could clearly feel the temperature inside the car rising; it was because the pendant hanging from the chain Hilbert held was radiating intense heat.

The pages of the black book began to turn on their own, while Hilbert, oblivious to his surroundings, whispered in conversation with it.

As the vehicle sped along the right side of the road, the passenger’s side was mostly shrouded in the shadows of the trees outside.

This cast a faint, somber gloom over Hilbert and the book.

The sight filled Zhao Kai with a flicker of inexplicable unease. For a moment, it was as if he saw Hilbert take out a sharp little knife.

"Hilbert, what are you doing? Hilbert! Something feels wrong! Do you hear me?"

To Hilbert, Zhao Kai’s voice sounded incredibly distant, as if something were blocking him from receiving any other information, though he himself didn’t notice.

"On page 13, there is a black circle. Yes, right there. Cut your index finger, press it on that spot, and I’ll be able to know if your bloodline is pure. I’ll also be able to release the power of the Oath."

Qin Xiaoxia whispered from the roof of the car, watching Hilbert closely. The Magic Power hidden inside Hilbert’s body had already quietly seeped to the very edge of his soul.

’Hilbert, what will you do?’

Inside the car, Hilbert gently sliced open the index finger of his right hand, and crimson blood began to flow.

"Come, repeat after me: In the name of the direct bloodline of the Chakus Clan, I release what is within the Oath..."

Hilbert’s mouth opened and closed, his voice emerging along with the whisper in his ear.

"In the name of the direct bloodline of the Chakus Clan, I release what is within the Oath—"

"SCREEEEEECH—"

The sound of a violent screech of brakes tore through the air. Everyone inside the car felt the powerful inertia from the vehicle braking suddenly at high speed, but their superior physical conditioning kept them from lurching too far forward.

"WHAM!"

Zhao Kai slammed his fist into the side of Hilbert’s face.

"Snap out of it!! Hilbert!! What are you doing!!"

Hilbert felt the stinging pain on his face and shook his head. His bloodstained index finger was already pressed against the page, but the words he was speaking had been cut off midway.

"HSSSSSS..."

Thin wisps of an inky mist seeped from the seams of the book, only to evaporate and vanish a few inches away from its cover.

Hilbert gasped for breath as if he had just expended a huge amount of stamina. He was covered in a cold sweat.

"Thanks, Zhao. I was too impatient. Let’s get back to the association, quickly!"

Hilbert tucked the book back into his pouch.

Just as Zhao Kai was about to speak, both he and Hilbert heard a hoarse voice at the same time.

"It seems you don’t trust me, Hilbert. You have a good companion, but sometimes good intentions can lead to bad outcomes. Your blood tells me that you are indeed of the direct Chakus Clan line. Since you still don’t trust me, then go find the Dawn Sage!"

"But before that, you must run. The Book of Oaths imprisons a powerful Demon. You pressed the blood seal and activated the Book of Oaths, but you failed to release the power of the Oath. This has caused the aura of the Demon Cage to leak out... Run, now! The nearby Demons will be attracted to this aura. That Demon cannot be allowed to be released!"

The voice was filled with a sense of resignation as it repeatedly urged them to flee. Then, it went silent.

This, however, left both Hilbert, who had now recovered, and Zhao Kai feeling suspicious and uncertain. With a frown, Zhao Kai slammed the accelerator to the floor anyway.

"VROOOOM—"

They were thrown back into their seats as the vehicle shot forward again.

"Zhao, how much of that do you think we can believe?"

"I don’t know. I just hope I didn’t mess things up by interfering. In any case, we need to get back quickly. At this speed, we can reach the nearest Secret Realm in another hour."

The highway was surrounded by dense, towering vegetation, making it feel isolated from the rest of the world. The area seemed unnervingly quiet.

「More than ten minutes later.」

"SHREEEEEEEK—"

A piercing shriek grew from a distant cry to a nearby roar, making the car windows vibrate slightly. The sound sent a jolt of fear through the occupants’ hearts.

Zhao Kai and Hilbert exchanged a look. They could clearly see beads of sweat forming on each other’s foreheads.

Novices might not understand it, but both of them had Magic Power that had been injected into their arms by a Magic Controller. Right now, their arms had gone from slightly warm to scalding hot, a clear sign that a severe crisis was approaching.

...

Several kilometers away, a horde of more than a dozen Demons of various sizes stampeded forward, spread out over several hundred meters. Two more flew through the air above them.

Each of these Demons exuded a powerful aura, their high-speed charge accompanied by continuous tremors that shook the ground.

"ROAR—" "BOOM—"

A behemoth at the head of the pack didn’t bother to avoid a massive tree in its path, simply smashing through it with brute force.

Among the Demons was a Magic Creature, its entire body as black as ink. Its form blurred and shifted between that of a shadow and a quadrupedal beast. It continuously leaked Magic Power that obscured its shape, and the sharp, piercing shriek was coming from its mouth.