A Sorcerer’s Journey

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Grimm, Wicky, and Claudia landed on top of a square.

What was once a massive palace with all its glory had now been reduced to rubble, scorched by the fires of battle. The sacred grounds on which the faithful sang their prayers had been dyed in the color of blood. One could not find a complete brick on the ground.

“Is this… is this what used to be the Dark Destroyer Temple?”

A hundred-meter tall divine statue had been pulled down during the war by the Demon-Hunter Sorcerers. Although it had not completely crumbled due to its use of structurally-tough material, it had lost all signs of dignity.

Shattered rocks covered the ground. Pages of holy books, dyed in blood, were fluttering in the wind.

“Hmm? This stone statue…”

Wicky stopped in front of the Dark Destroyer’s statue that had been toppled over. The stone body of the statue was the size of a small hill; an impressive sight to behold.

Wicky’s hand, stout as granite, pressed upon the rock statue. A mysterious energy, as if from mother nature herself, flowed through him from the ground and into the rock statue like blood transfusion.

“Haha, hahahaha! Grimm, you said that they’re underneath?”

Wicky suddenly burst out laughing as he asked raucously.

Grimm looked at him from beneath his Mask of Truth along with Little Myna who was perched on his shoulder. In a deep voice, he said, “That’s right, Millie and the rest of them found the coordinates of the huge underground chamber.”

Claudia’s feet had not completely touched the ground yet and she seemed to have made a discovery. She turned around gracefully towards Grimm and Wicky and said, “The entrance is here, it’s clearly underneath!”

Grimm was delighted. He flew a little bit higher and looked at where Claudia was looking.

The temple wall was dilapidated and the floor had crumbled, faintly revealing a huge underground entrance. There were remains of Acraepoid clerics scattered around the entrance.

“Hahaha, I’ll see you guys down there later.”

Wicky laughed unabashedly. He turned around and sat on the collapsed Dark Destroyer statue. His plate mail and helmet produced a huge clang as he said to them in a delighted manner.

Grimm and Claudia seemed to be thinking about the same thing as they looked at Wicky in disbelief.

Could it be that this guy’s trying to…

“Caw? You’re not going down with us? I’ll say it first, if there are treasures underneath, I won’t…”

Grimm signaled for Little Myna to stop talking. He nodded and said, “Okay, let Little Myna accompany you then.”

“Caw!? Master, I want to go down too, it’s not fair…”

Grimm led Claudia towards the underground entrance. A cold air that had been undisturbed for years gushed towards them, as dense as the bone-chilling air in the treasure chamber they were in.

Grimm picked up a shattered piece of ice that had an eyeball of a monster sealed within. He was a bit taken aback but soldiered on with Claudia as if nothing had happened.

***

Deeper into the underground caverns.

A dense, cold air covered the place. Occasionally, a tiny flicker of azure blue flame would burst in mid-air to blow out the cold patches of air.

“There must be some terrifying creature sealed away in the inner seal underneath this huge seal array. I sensed an overwhelming presence over there just now, this mysterious dark energy that consumes light must have originated from over there.”

The Level-3 sorceress said in a hoarse voice. There was a red-eyed macaque the size of a palm sitting on top of her shoulder. Beneath her loose cloak, her face was covered in wrinkles.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…

Within the depths of the darkness, there were red-colored eyes that glided along the surface of the cavern walls which disappeared in a flash. These monsters appeared to be exceptionally strong and agile. Sometimes, they could hear clashes between Demon-Hunter Sorcerers and the monsters.

“Hmph! I think it’s better if we report this back to the Battle Command at the fortress. I’m not sitting well with the air here. Although this is a Rank-2 Honor Badge mission, but if there really is a World Lord sealed in here it is no laughing matter.”

Lightning and flame converged together, producing a crackling sound at the tip of her blonde hair. They were quickly consumed by the flame as her eyes lit up in the color of gold.

The cold air around them was rejecting this energy concoction of flame and lightning, suppressing the air around her with the power of the natural element.

“Arghh….”

A painful wail of a Demon-Hunter Sorcerer could be heard from a distance. As his body was impaled by a giant tail, one could hear the sound of wings flapping and monsters dividing their share of meat.

Some of the Demon-Hunter Sorcerers who were not adept in darkness attempted to light the cavern with their elemental lights. The lights did not reach very far and became dim after a few meters as if consumed by the darkness.

“Hmph, these monsters that walk in the shadows!”

Within the huge underground cavern, the only light source came from the Level-3 Demon-Hunter Sorceress that was grumbling coldly. The light only gradually disappeared after reaching hundreds of meters in range.

At the end of the lighted pathway, one could faintly see huge bat-like creatures crawling along the cave walls before disappearing quickly.

Plop!

A charred remains of the crawling creature that had wings attached to it fell down beside the Level-3 Elemental Light Sorceress. Its wrinkled black skin started to smell like charred meat. It seemed like they were very afraid of light.

Buzz, buzz, buzz…

Occasionally, dark energy ripples would pass through. They seemed to be how the monsters navigated around the place.

Unlike the great Level-3 sorcerers who could manage on their own, the relatively low-leveled Demon-Hunter Dark Sorcerers could only manage to stay alive within the light-consuming darkness.

Millie summoned Ice Breeze.

The ice phoenix had a wingspan of almost fifteen meters and complemented the Giant Lava Bird on which a sorcerer was seated.

“Damn it, you’ve summoned us to face the incessant onslaught of these creatures?”

The sorcerer on top of the Giant Lava Bird roared out in a wrathful manner. The darkness that consumed any hint of light made the sorcerer who was weak at sensing felt like he was surrounded by the unknown. There was tremendous pressure on him.

Bzzzt…

A blue flame exploded into ice flakes mid-air. For the Giant Lava Bird, it was like a drop of ice water falling into a boiling pot of hot oil. A burnt spot could be seen faintly before sparks appeared in a crackle.

Whoosh, whoosh…

Solumn flew in from a distance with an azure-colored sword in his hand. There were hideous-looking eyes around his body which was a terrible sight to behold. He shook his head and said, “They haven’t decided if they want to open up the inner seal.”

Unleashing the inner seal could set forth a terrifying monster. None dared to shoulder the responsibility.

But still, it was necessary to go into the inner seal to completely destroy the Ancient Seal Array.

“Ughh…”

Another sorcerer’s agonizing moan could be heard far away. Though he was wounded, it sounded like he was able to kill the ambushing creature.

“Hopefully Grimm will get here soon. With his Rank-1 Honor Badge authority, he can at least make a decision so that we wouldn’t have to stick around here indefinitely.”

Rumble…

The grounds shook. The terrains appeared to be moved by some kind of huge mechanism.