The current location is the basement of the Middirburg Mechanical College in the Gap, but turning around to look behind, the wall covered in disgusting black slime had no door for Xia De to leave through, so the flame Sister Devlin provided was indeed very important.
Even indoors, the fog was pervasive; unlike the fog in the real world, the former was merely damp and cold, while the latter's chill could not be stopped by clothing at all.
At the same time, in previous forays into the Gap, only his physical condition was affected. But this time entering the Gap, the relic's unique effect on the mind finally appeared.
When he first stood still and conversed with “her,” he didn't feel too much discomfort. But when he started to move and walk out, with every step he took, that strange dizzying sensation, like not having woken up fully, became more severe.
When Xia De arrived at the basement steps, he had to lean against the wall to rest. Fortunately, the Divine Radiance state still protected him, coupled with the youthful immortality leaf, and the simple amulet he made based on elven Knowledge, he gradually adapted to the place after a few minutes of rest.
Knowing time was short, Xia De did not linger and hurriedly left the basement. Perhaps because all the corridor windows were broken, the thick fog on the first floor of the castle was even more exaggerated than in the basement.
The castle in the Gap was not exactly the same as the real-world castle, so Xia De did not waste time looking for the main door, but instead left the castle through a window and entered the overgrown castle courtyard.
Because he had learned a little about the plant species that could grow in the Gap when helping Corpus collect plants last week, Xia De was able to identify many rare plants among them, including Corpse Grass, Snakeheart Grass, and Rotten Soul Flower.
The flourishing growth of these plants also indirectly indicated that the forces of Life and death in the Gap had completely lost their Balance.
The distance from the location of Middirburg Mechanical College to the seal on the mountainside was actually shorter than to the Natural Church in the City center. However, Xia De believed that Joey Barton was more likely to appear at the foot of the mountain, so he still headed towards the City.
The further loss of control in the Gap caused significant changes in its internal space. Xia De discovered while dodging undead that the abnormal space even led to dangerous areas within the Gap, such as “Circular Alleys” and fractured spaces.
As he advanced, he encountered a Circular Alley, which was a seemingly infinitely long alley where he could never reach the exit that appeared to be right in front of him.
His keen perception allowed Xia De to notice the anomaly in time, and fortunately, he also possessed spatial power. At “her” suggestion, he drew a circle on the ground with the Night Watchman, then knelt on one knee, holding the sword hilt with both hands and thrusting it into the ground, his forehead resting on the hilt:
“Space Stabilization Aura!”
The clear sound of glass shattering appeared all around, and looking up again, the decaying alley in the white fog seemed unchanged. But after only a few dozen steps, he left the alley's range:
“As expected of an angel-level relic, what a pity.”
He swung the longsword a few times, making a sound of cutting through the air. Xia De solemnly sheathed it, then continued into the ancient City shrouded in thick fog.
The Gap suppresses the transmission of sound, so even if a steam bomb exploded in the distance, Xia De would likely not hear it. However, the white fog only has a normal effect on the transmission of light, so one can observe events happening nearby from a high vantage point.
The first large-scale anomaly Xia De encountered was a flock of crows flying overhead. At the time, he thought it was a dark cloud appearing above him, but looking up, he found it was dense, black birds.
He was standing on the spired rooftop of a marble building on one side of the five-way intersection, which was the Carson Rick Commercial Bank in the real world. While leaning against a gargoyle statue, trying to find his next direction, the flock of crows flew in.
Xia De quickly hid behind the huge gargoyle statue, squinting his eyes to see someone flying above the crows with them.
“High-Ring Sorcerer?”
The distance was too far to tell, but immediately after, he knew why the other party was flying at high altitude. Because deeper in the thick fog, a huge shadow quickly appeared, finally breaking through the fog layer and appearing above Xia De's head.
It was a giant skeleton with two wings on its back, a long tail covered in bone spurs, and red light flickering in its eye sockets. When it appeared, there seemed to be a gravitational pull around the skeleton that attracted all gazes; no sight could escape its body. And as an undead creature in the Gap, this bone dragon carried extremely terrifying corruption. Even Xia De dared not gaze at it for too long.
“Oh, my Mia, a bone dragon!”
Compared to the bone dragon Xia De encountered in the Dead Silence Valley of the fifth epoch, this one was significantly smaller and less oppressive. But even so, this was a genuine bone dragon, the most powerful undead creature one could generally encounter in the modern sixth epoch.
“I knew the Between Life and Death wouldn't only have evil spirits.”
He tried to shrink his body as much as possible, hoping that neither the flock of crows nor the bone dragon above would notice him. But as if in response to Xia De's thoughts, the terrifying undead flying overhead, amidst a muffled roar, raised its neck and swayed from side to side, then spewed out black, deadly breath forward.
The flock of crows was too slow to dodge and fell from the sky in large swaths, like wheat reaped by a scythe. And the man flying with the crows also fell to the ground; although he used a spell similar to “Featherfall” at the last moment to slow his descent, he appeared to be severely injured.
Very coincidentally, where he landed was directly below Xia De's rooftop, at the five-way intersection.
Holding a large book with a yellow cover, the man barely stood up, supporting himself on the ground, then immediately summoned his Eleven-Ring Destiny Ring, ready for battle, and the flying bone dragon also descended.
It flapped its wings, gliding at low altitude, lowering its head and spewing black breath onto the long-stoned ground. Even though Xia De was far away from it, he could clearly feel how terrifying that breath, containing the power of death, plague, and curses, was.
The five-way intersection was very large, and the surrounding shops looked abandoned for a long time, making it easy to dodge left and right. But the breath swept from left to right, so the unfamiliar High-Ring Sorcerer could only defend in place.
He held up the book in his hand, opened a page, and made an eggshell-like protective layer block around him, completely taking the hit.
“A very familiar Miracle, is it the Heaton Seal of the Sun Church? No, it looks more like something from Zaras School of Spellcraft. Oh!”
The bone dragon, which had already spewed once on the ground, re-ascended. While the black mist on the ground had not yet dissipated, it spotted Xia De, who was huddled behind the gargoyle, from high above.
Boom!
Its body rotated in the air, and its huge tail with sharp bone spurs swept over fiercely. The rooftop was only so big, Xia De couldn't dodge at all, and could only leap into the air. Behind him, the spired rooftop of the marble building was completely destroyed.
Adjusting his posture in the air, he instinctively wanted to use the Sunlight Ray, or rather, the “Sunlight Cannon,” to hit the bone dragon's head with the sword in both hands. But then he realized that there would be many more battles to come, and he absolutely could not waste too much spirit here.
“Raglai's Leap.”
The bone dragon's huge head opened its mouth to bite Xia De, but Xia De had already disappeared from the air, appearing against the wall of the building on the southeast side of the street. He pushed off with both feet, using the power of the spell to spring away, dodging another tail whip from the bone dragon. While leaping in the air, a chain shot out from his sleeve, wrapping around a flagpole protruding from a window of the southwest building.
He swung hard using the chain, circling halfway above the five-way intersection, then rolled on the ground to dissipate the force before getting up and standing steadily on the ground.
The bone dragon's breath on the ground had gradually dispersed, and the Eleven-Ring Arcanist, suspected to be a Zaras professor, was indeed still alive, but lying on the ground, struggling to get up, appearing severely injured.
Xia De quickly ran a few steps and pounced on him, then the two of them rolled a few times on the ground, dodging the bone dragon's swooping claws. Those claws left two deep scratch marks on the already broken ground.
“Sir, are you alright?”
He appeared poisoned. Xia De helped him, wanting to hide in a building by the street, while rummaging in his pocket for a branch to detoxify him. Upon closer inspection, the book the Eleven-Ring Arcanist held in his hands indeed bore the Zaras School of Spellcraft's crest.
If his power hadn't been suppressed in the Gap, this professor, even if he lost, wouldn't have lost so badly. Xia De remembered that in Dead Silence Valley, Miss Olanorde, the Thirteen-Tier Witch, defeated an opponent even more ferocious than the bone dragon above with just one “Moonlight Greatsword” attack. Even if the current Arcanist system is not as good as the Witch system, an Eleven Ring is not without the qualifications to fight a bone dragon.
“I'm fine, this thing appeared too suddenly, and I'm not good at dealing with flying things.”
The brown-haired middle-aged professor said, spitting blood.
The two had already hidden in a building by the intersection that looked like a haunted house, and the bone dragon, which had re-ascended, had not yet discovered them, but also hadn't left, instead circling in the thick fog above the intersection.
“Where did this thing come from?”
Xia De asked curiously while detoxifying him, but the bone dragon's poison was not something he could deal with. After some thought, he found the answer in elven Knowledge. So he pulled out a fresh green leaf from his pocket, wrote elven runes representing Health and Strength on it with a pen, and then used the leaf and branch together as casting materials to detoxify.
Doing so was equivalent to casting a “Potent Detoxification Spell,” and although the consumption was a bit high, the effect was very obvious.
“Thank you. I am Raven Oglai. That dragon flew down with me from Sicar Mountain. The Chosen One summoned it; that terrifying dwarf is crazy, he's trying to merge with a Class 0 relic. Although human souls have limits, he can indeed control a few powerful individual undead at once. This dragon originally slept deep within Sicar Mountain; according to records, it was killed by a Witch in the early fifth epoch.”
The professor said, looking at the masked young man, not concealing these matters. Xia De frowned slightly:
“Joey Barton is on the mountain?”
The green light emanating from his hand was expelling the poison, and the professor's complexion looked much better:
“Although I don't know who you are, you are indeed here for the Chosen One. Yes, he's on the mountain; the Church has already seen him. His goal seems to be the summit.”
“I guessed wrong?”
Xia De was a little surprised, but then he thought that things shouldn't be so simple.
“However, the Witches have also sent word that Joey Barton has also appeared near the mountainside.”
The professor added, and Xia De nodded, knowing he couldn't jump to conclusions yet.
“Professor, is it alright to tell a stranger like me these things?”
The middle-aged professor, leaning against the dirty wall, smiled.
“Even if I tell you, what can you do? The Gap is already in chaos. If you’re willing to go up the mountain and stop Joey Barton, wouldn’t that be for the best? Besides, you saved me, and I should repay you.”
“Alright then, is there a way to deal with that dragon outside? We can’t leave until it’s gone.”
Xia De said, then added,
“My level isn’t high; I can’t defeat it.”
“First, answer me a question. You speak with a disguised accent, as if you have something in your mouth. You appeared alone in a dangerous place, wearing a black coat, and have a normal build. Are you a Summoner?”
“That question is irrelevant now.”
“You’re right.”
The powerful Detoxification spell finished. The Zaras professor tried to stand up but held his forehead, as if feeling dizzy.
“I have a keeper-level relic that can deal with it, but it requires preparation time, which is why I didn’t use it earlier. Take it and defeat that bone dragon. As payment, the relic is yours, but you need to swear to the deity you worship that you will deliver a letter for me to the Natural Church in the Gap.”
Xia De pondered slightly.
“I’m glad you trust me. That relic is my reward for saving you, and my payment for delivering the letter is that I get to open and inspect its contents.”
The professor hesitated slightly.
“Alright.”
He opened his large book, which looked to be hundreds of pages thick, and stopped at a slightly later section. The left page was covered in dense, tiny script, while the right page depicted a white crystal with a dragon inside, drawn with extremely fine strokes.
He placed his hand over the right page, then suddenly grabbed, actually “pulling” the white crystal out of the page. At the same time, the small script on the left page and the drawing on the right page all disappeared. This Eleven-Ring professor, using unknown means, sealed the relic within the book.
“This is yours. The keeper-level relic, the higgs dragon head stone. It can only be used when slaying a dragon. The target must not only possess the ‘dragon’ attribute but also be at least ten times the size of the user, otherwise its properties cannot be triggered. Hold this stone, remain still, and gaze at the target for more than ten seconds to use a single Dragon Roar.”
He paused.
“Yes, it’s exactly as you imagine, and the consumption to yourself is extremely low. The breath attack is only effective against dragons; it only has a startling effect on non-dragon targets. The negative characteristic is that there is a certain probability of irreversibly transforming into a mad dragon-headed human after using the stone, but this probability is very low. The containment conditions are simple: just place it in pure salt.”
The surface of the white crystal in his hand was very rough; gripping it tightly even caused pain. And if one carefully observed the cloudy interior of the crystal, besides the lifelike, white-furred dragon that seemed to be shrunk and sealed within, one could even discern a line of small text. It was unlike any writing Xia De had encountered, appearing not even to be a script used by human civilization.
“If you are a dragon, that would be wonderful.”
“Are you sure that a Dragon Roar used by a human can defeat that bone dragon? This is only a keeper-level relic?”
Xia De asked again.
“This relic specifically counters dragons, especially mixed-blood dragons, undead dragons, and other impure dragons. Moreover, even the lowest-level relic, if used in the right scenario, can defeat the highest-level relic. However, I must warn you, the attribute of the dragon breath you exhale is related to your own power. If you are proficient in powers like fire, poison, or lightning, using the relic might make your throat hoarse and severely damage your lungs.”
This relic was truly reasonable.
“It’s fine, I have healing abilities.”
“Now, you can also become a dragon-slaying hero.”
The professor said jokingly, then flipped through the book again to find a potion to treat himself. He had not only poison but other injuries as well. The battle on Sicar Mountain was more intense than in the City.
Xia De, however, shook his head.
“What kind of dragon-slaying hero am I? I heard that the Chosen of Balance truly slew a pure-blooded dragon.”
“I heard that too. But she is the protagonist of the epoch, a destined hero, someone fated to write an epic. How can we compare to her?”
Clutching the Dragon Head Stone in his hand, Xia De left the building and returned to the five-way intersection. He looked up at the mist-shrouded sky, catching sight of the circling bone dragon in the fog.
“Ten.”
The dragon did not immediately notice Xia De and continued to circle overhead.
“Nine.”
It still hadn't noticed Xia De, but Xia De already felt the stone in his palm heating up, and his lungs felt a bit hot.
“Eight.”
The dragon’s flight became slower. It took three seconds to finally notice Xia De.
“Seven.”
Seemingly confirming its target, or perhaps gathering strength, the bone dragon did not immediately pounce but roared from within the dense fog. The sound, suppressed by the Gap, was unusually muffled. Xia De immediately felt a mental pressure, and a primal panic emerged in his heart. This was a dragon’s innate ability, but of course, it had no effect on him.
“Six.”
The dragon swooped down, and Xia De felt his lungs burning with pain.
“Five.”
The bone dragon flew extremely fast, falling like a plummeting meteor. If it were hit head-on, even with Xia De’s current physical strength, he would probably be shattered beyond Mia’s recognition.
“Four.”
The dragon was almost upon him. The wind pressure and mental pollution descending from the sky made Xia De instinctively want to dodge. But he suppressed this urge, then kissed the Moonlight Stone Ring on his left hand and pointed it upwards.
“Bewilderment!”
“Three.”
The clear yellow Moonlight scattered into the sky, and the chaotic power affected the bone dragon’s judgment as Joey Barton’s summon. Its descent speed noticeably slowed, but because the bone dragon’s own power was too strong, the Miracle 【Bewilderment】 did not make it turn against Xia De.
“Two.”
Xia De retracted his left hand, his eyes fixed on the dragon suspended in mid-air. He felt his chest expanding, and an overwhelming urge to vomit made his entire upper body incredibly uncomfortable. The higgs dragon head stone in his left hand was empowering Xia De with whisper element, a very dangerous act. A slight misstep and he would fall into madness, truly transforming himself into a dragon.
“One.”
The bone dragon swayed its tail in the air, its crimson skull eye sockets staring down at Xia De.
And Xia De tightly closed his mouth, took a deep breath, and brilliant silver light shot uncontrollably from his eyes, nostrils, ears, and even the Gaps between his lips.
“Roar!”
The sound appeared first, followed by a shockwave caused by the sound waves, sweeping across the entire block. From Xia De’s mouth, opened towards the sky, a brilliant silver Moonlight beam shot straight into the sky like a light cannon. It directly struck the bone dragon with overwhelming force, making it completely disappear in the light. Then, the Silver Moon’s Dragon Roar shattered the white mist in the sky, leaving a huge hole in the dense fog.
The silver light trail in the sky lingered for a long time, as if the light had left a permanent mark in the air. As the shattered bone fragments silently fell to the ground, Xia De bent down, pressing his hands to the ground, and coughed painfully.
“Cough, cough! Oh, I feel like my entire lungs are burning. Shouldn’t Moonlight’s power be completely harmless to the human body?”
“You are human, after all, not a dragon.”
“She” chuckled, seemingly very satisfied with the result.
“If this 【Dragon Head Stone】 could be used on any target, this thing would at least be rated Sage-level.”
He pulled a water bottle from his pocket, drank two mouthfuls of water treated with Gluttony's Feast, and only then did the cool sensation finally make his lungs feel a little better.
Turning around and returning to the building, Professor Oglai of Zaras was still concocting potions to heal himself. His injuries were not simple external wounds, so Xia De couldn’t help him.
“You are indeed a Summoner. Although you are deliberately suppressing your power, that silver Moonlight cannot be mistaken.”
Seeing Xia De return, the professor looked up and said. Xia De shook his head.
“Give me the letter, I need to go to the Natural Church as soon as possible.”
“Is that your original destination?”
“Precisely because there’s no answer, I can only trust my own speculation.”
“Here is the letter. I actually suggest you cooperate with the Church to deal with Joey Barton together. As long as you show sincerity, the Church would be delighted to have another Thirteenth Ring helper.”
Xia De shook his head, turned to leave, but hesitated, then asked,
“Excuse me, do you know where the headmaster of Saint Byron’s, Professor Andrew Pigman, the ‘Silver The Watcher,’ is currently?”
Professor Oglai picked up a conical glass bottle and asked softly,
“Then please answer one of my questions, Summoner, this time, will you summon a deity?”
“I don’t have an answer either.”
The professor nodded.
“Then I understand. Professor Pigman has not yet entered the Gap; he is in Middlesburg in reality.”
“The Church’s three Thirteen Ring Sorcerers, and the College’s Thirteenth Ring, didn’t even come to the City in the Gap?”
This seemed unreasonable no matter how he thought about it.
“Once the Holy Tree Mark ritual succeeds, as long as the Gap doesn’t collapse at that time, it can at least postpone Middlesburg’s problems for three years. Therefore, enough High-Ring Sorcerers are needed at the core of the ritual on the mountain. Moreover, the Natural Church’s seal is theoretically the most secure seal. The Natural Church has occupied this place for thousands of years, managing the Gap since the beginning of this epoch. Do they really have no extra means at all?”
As he spoke, he tilted his head back and drank the purple potion in his hand. From his expression, it tasted terrible. But immediately after, the professor, with a deep frown, actually threw the thumb-sized glass bottle into his mouth and crunched it, his expression incredibly ferocious.
“I added a potion catalyst component to my wartime potion bottles to make the ingested potions more effective. Oh, this isn’t glass; it just sounds like glass. I’m spitting blood, not cut by the bottle.”
He smiled at Xia De, his mouth full of blood, and waved another bottle in his hand.
“Want to try it? This is my unique invention. Although few people are willing to use it, it’s absolutely very useful. The College has already accepted my patent application, and it’s in the final approval process. I plan to research a few more flavors—”
Xia De turned and ran, hoping that this “unique invention” would never be popularized.
