Chapter 1126: Prolonged Battle_2

Chapter 1126: Chapter 905: Prolonged Battle_2

Rule Fragment, he almost immediately recognized it as an Earth Element Rule Fragment, similar to the Light Rule Fragment he obtained before, containing extremely rich Earth Element Rules, as if an entire land had been compressed into this stone.

The entire process was just in an instant, and at the moment he closed the lid of the chest, the two combatants simultaneously stopped.

Rodrick was the first to sense something was wrong, he abruptly turned his head toward the chest, and his blood-stained eyes suddenly narrowed.

Jonathan was even faster, his rapier already pointing towards the chest.

Both of them saw the figure crouched beside the chest, Duke was just putting the key and the earth-colored stone into the Space Ring.

“Courting death.” Jonathan’s voice was soft, but his tone was as cold as ice.

He stepped forward, the silver-blue glow on his rapier lit up again, and he was about to rush towards the chest.

Rodrick, however, grinned, and with a backhanded slash, aimed at Jonathan’s lower back.

Jonathan was forced to turn back and block, and the two weapons clashed again, sparks flying.

“Get lost!” Jonathan shouted angrily.

“It’s you who should get lost.” Rodrick laughed somewhat madly, his face covered in blood, body dark red, like a hungry wolf that had seen red, “I saw the thing first, you can’t take it.”

The two were entangled once more, neither willing to let the other move a step ahead.

Demigod-level pressure pushed against each other, shattering the entire stone corridor into ruins.

Duke didn’t let this brief moment slip by, he lowered himself, transforming entirely into a wisp of wind.

World Tree aura followed closely, wrapping him and Vera together.

The two moved along the stone wall like a fine mist, passing through several twisting side paths, crossing two extremely narrow forks, disappearing in the blink of an eye into the intricate maze passages.

In the center of the stone platform, only the opened chest and the two still fighting demigods remained.

Duke’s aura had already melded with the cold stone maze, and by the time the two finally stopped and pursued, there was no trace left to be found.

The battle here did not stop due to Duke’s departure, the chest stood emptily in place, its lid askew, the dust lingering in the corridor yet to disperse, as Rodrick and Jonathan tangled again, two demigod-level pressures like two giant beasts ripping each other apart, plunging the entire space into darkness.

Short blades and rapiers collided at extremely high frequencies, the dark red blood energy intertwining with the silver-blue Knight’s Sword light, forming shattered light screens, each strike causing the remaining pillars nearby to tremble precariously.

Rodrick was truly ferocious now, half of his short robe shredded by the sword light, exposing his muscular body littered with scars, the wounds continuously exuding dark red energy like living things wrapping his arms, making each slash heavy as a thousand pounds.

He stomped and cracked the ground, the stone slab collapsing downward, using the force to spring up, double blades crossed aiming for Jonathan’s face.

Jonathan did not retreat a step, his rapier pulled horizontally before him, forming a silver-blue light wall condensed by Knight’s Will.

The blade edge grated against the light wall with an ear-piercing tearing sound, several cracks burst from the contact point, but did not penetrate.

Jonathan flipped his wrist, the sword tip glided along the light wall’s edge, forming a thin silver line aimed at Rodrick’s throat.

Rodrick tilted his neck to the side, the silver line grazing his neck and drawing a string of blood beads.

Not only did he not retreat, but in the fleeting moment of passing, he struck with an elbow towards Jonathan’s face, while the other short blade swept from below towards Jonathan’s ribs.

Jonathan leaned back, dodging the elbow with an angle nearly against the ground, while pressing down with his sword, the spine precisely blocking the upward sweeping short blade.

The two forces exploded at extremely close range, their centers of gravity swayed, and then they simultaneously lunged at each other again.

The stone platform had completely changed shape, the originally flat ground was pocked with innumerable pits and cracks from their movements, shattered stones caught by energy ripples fly up and crash down again, scattering like hail. Their speed was so fast it left only afterimages, the only visible thing was the light burst and dust raised with each cross.

This phase of the battle no longer featured any fancy moves, just pure demigod-level power collisions.

Every clash felt like several giant beasts were crashing into the walls in the depths, even the dome began to shed stone chips, the entire stone corridor seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

Someone might have sensed the change in the Dark Attribute Energy first, the change was so subtle, like an extremely faint rotten-gray smell suddenly appeared in the air.

The ancient patterns on the stone walls began to gradually dim as if the light was being drawn away from within.

Grayish-white mist seeped quickly from the cracks in the stone walls and the depths of the forks simultaneously.

Rodrick and Jonathan almost simultaneously halted, exchanged glances, eyes still filled with unextinguished battle intent, but their bodies had already reacted more honestly, retreating backwards.

In the gray mist, tattered black-robed undead demons began to drift out one by one, like weightless shadows.

Their appearance caused the temperature of the space to plummet, the two demigods did not hesitate, immediately turning and retreating in opposite directions.

Even a demigod-level mage wouldn’t dare to confront a group of level four undead element demons.

Moments later, the stone platform that had echoed with sounds of battle was completely empty, leaving only the increasingly thick gray mist, and the extremely light sound of skeletal fingers dragging across the floor.

Elsewhere in the maze, Duke and Vera were rushing along the passage.

The new key in Duke’s hand had been infused with magic power for activation, the Gate of Rules inside the stone wall responded by opening.

The two passed through the wall one after the other, disappearing like diving into water, leaving behind only a faint circle of golden ripples spreading in the gray mist.

The safe house stone chamber was small but stable, the weak light membrane seeping from the stone walls reflected the outside gray mist like a layer of deathly curtain.

Duke sat down against the stone wall, Vera followed suit beside him.

The two took advantage of the time to rest, watching the light membrane outside grow thicker until the outside turned completely chaotic.

Eight hours passed, the gray mist outside did not dissipate.

The light membrane on the inside of the stone wall still faced a deathly gray field outside, occasionally deeper shadows floating slowly past through the mist, spindly fingers scratching at the stone floor make subliminally fine scraping sounds.

Duke rested against the stone wall, his brows slightly furrowed.

He raised his eyes to look at Vera, the latter was also staring at the gray mist outside, her expression calm, but the tight line of her lips revealed some gravity.

“It’s lasted longer than before,” Duke remarked.

He recalled his previous records; each time the gray mist lasted exactly eight hours, like a fixed rhythm.

At that time, he was considering whether the gray mist was a third-layer mechanism, each time longer than the last, like a constantly rising water level, gradually forcing people out of the maze.

Now it had been ten hours, the mist not only failed to disperse, but grew even thicker, as if someone pressed the entire maze into a dead sea.

The air inside the safe house started to grow cold, breathing felt like inhaling extremely fine ashes.

“If the duration of the mist keeps increasing, the time window spent in the third layer will shrink further and further,” Vera said quietly, “We must obtain the fourth-layer qualification before the mist drives everyone out. But fortunately, you have the 48-hour key, at least this round you can hold out for a long while.”

Duke nodded, the time limit on the safe house was still long, presumably enough to last through this round of mist.

He focused his gaze into the depths of the mist outside the light membrane, where it was pitch-black, only occasionally a shadow flickered across the mist.

At that moment, his Life Rules suddenly moved.

In a very distant place, something completely defying the Life Rules was approaching.

Soon after, he saw the shadow.

Deep within the gray mist, a figure slowly approached.

His steps seemed leisurely within the mist, yet unlike the drifting undead demons.

He walked solidly, each step touching the stone ground, making an extremely light sound of footsteps.

This sound of footsteps was muffled by the dense mist, but was exceptionally clear to Duke.

Because in this world filled with death, those who can walk so freely in the mist are very few.

And when the figure emerged from the first layer of mist, Vera saw it too.

It was Morris.