novelonline Chapter 4049 The Shadow of Withering
Chapter 4049 The Shadow of Withering
Chapter 4049 The Shadow of Withering
No one objected to leaving, but Shad still consulted the small doll on his right shoulder. The doll, with beautiful golden hair, gestured for Shad to extend his hand, took his fingers, and gently kissed the tip:
"Go look at the bottom bottle in the corner to your right."
It was the most inconspicuous bottle in the entire room; one had to crouch down to examine it closely. Everyone crowded around, and they discovered that inside the slender bottle was a thin red snake, about two fingers long. Upon closer inspection, the front and back halves of the red snake's body showed a distinct difference in color.
After observing carefully, Xia De said somewhat uncertainly:
The Philosopher's Stone?
"No, it looks more like the Philosopher's Stone was mixed with the Blood Essence of All Things and then fused with the snake's original body."
Miss Feliciano swung her leg as she explained to everyone:
"This should be some kind of biological fusion experiment, attempting to use the Blood Essence of All Things to shape a body for some special purpose. The Philosopher's Stone probably plays a role in promoting the fusion. The specimen in this bottle is obviously a failed product; the snake is completely dead, but the Philosopher's Stone and the Blood Essence of All Things are still usable."
Although he knew greed was wrong, Shad still asked the witches:
"What would happen if we touched the collection in this room?"
Gina provided the answer:
"We'll be hunted down, and across rooms. A shadow will emerge from the door we came through and chase us. Although that shadow also has to go through a door, it ignores spatial distortions and can still find us even if we close the door."
But it will stop after chasing us for three rooms, so if we want to take the bottle, we need to run through three rooms.
How strong was that shadow?
The witches couldn't answer this question. The information they found only recorded this event; they didn't even know how powerful the person who left those records was originally.
So everyone voted by raising their hands on whether or not to touch the bottle. Miss Feliana did not participate, but the halfling girl said:
"I don't have any good ideas, I'll just abstain. That way, the three of us will definitely be able to vote and get a result."
Surprisingly, the usually cautious Mrs. Gustave voted in favor:
"Although the amount of [Blood Essence of All Things] here isn't much, it's still a considerable gain. Coupled with the [Philosopher's Stone], I think this adventure is worthwhile. After all, we'll still have to face unknown powerful enemies in order to obtain [Blood Essence of All Things] in the future. Moreover, the fact that an enemy can chase us across rooms might give us a clearer understanding of the rules here."
Gina, however, voiced her objections, and the Pink Dragon Girl's opinion was quite simple:
"We're almost at the next furnace room. I don't think it's worth the risk. Let's light the third furnace first; that's the most important thing right now."
The decision then fell to Shad, who could catch a glimpse of Miss Feliciano smiling at him out of the corner of his eye. Shad quickly gave his opinion:
"After lighting the third furnace, the road ahead will be even more difficult, not to mention we'll have to face the final possible 'new life' as an enemy. Even with Miss Feliana's help, we must be prepared to face troubles that even all of us combined cannot handle."
If we could obtain a copy of the Philosopher's Stone, at least we'd still have a chance to turn the tide. Therefore, I also agree that we should take this specimen.
Gina, the only one who voted against it, had no objection to it:
"Let's take a look at the next room first and see if it's easy to get through."
This was a good suggestion, so the specimen was left where it was for the time being, and the four of them went to the next door. After Mrs. Gustav opened the door, there was the "blood collection room" that Shad was most familiar with.
"This room appears the most frequently."
The old witch said, then looked at everyone:
"Let's follow Gina and charge forward. If we get caught, we probably won't have time to search the rooms."
“I’ll take that bottle. If anyone falls behind, I’ll be responsible for drawing the pursuers away.”
Xia De took the initiative to take on this responsibility, and everyone knew that although he was not high in rank, he was very powerful in combat, so they all nodded in agreement.
So the four of them stood at the door, and a chain shot out from Shad's sleeve. After the chain reached the specimen bottle, it circled the bottle three times without touching it.
"Ready?"
Xia De reminded him:
"Three, two, one, go!"
The chains tightened instantly, and the specimen bottle was yanked and flung towards Shad. At that moment, the four of them burst into the "blood collection workshop," and just before the chains and the bottle were about to fly out of the room—
Whoosh!
Another blood-red chain shot out from the door at the other end of the collection room, binding the bottle as well. The black and red chains wrestled against each other, forcing Shad to stop and look back at the room behind him. A dark figure draped in a dark red cloak had already passed through the door and entered the collection room.
The other party was indeed a genuine shadowy figure; the face beneath the hood, the hand protruding from the sleeve of the robe, and the hem of the robe were all shrouded in black mist. Upon entering the room, the figure didn't walk, but rather glided towards the "thieves."
Where it passed, something resembling dim, yellowish crystals kept emerging from the ground. The moment he saw it, Shad felt as if the entire crimson space itself trembled; the crimson in his vision began to turn black, as if someone were shutting down the light source of the [Bloodstained Factory].
The second and third chains of sin shot out swiftly, vying for control of the bottle with the shadowy figure's red chains. In a three-on-one situation, the three chains successfully carried the bottle out of the room, where Shad grabbed it and stuffed it into his pocket. The shadowy figure then slid towards the door while raising its right hand, which resembled black mist.
The three witches also turned their heads and saw this thing. As Gina and Miss Bradvi looked at it, they also felt the same way as Shad: the entire blood-red world was turning black.
Mrs. Gustav was taken aback at first, then her expression changed drastically. She almost uttered the word at the same time as the doll on Shad's shoulder:
"Withering away!"
A dim yellow ray shot out from the right hand of the dark figure, and then the power of "withering" struck the door that Gina's tail had slammed shut.
But the shadowy figure quickly passed through the door and arrived at the "blood collection factory." Gina had already pointed out the location of the next door, and the old witch was leading everyone to charge towards it. The mummies in the workshop had already begun to step down from the blood collection platform and pounce on the group.
The shadowy figure's right hand then unleashed another beam of dim yellow light towards the thieves, while Shad, who held the AllSpark in his left hand, turned and extended his right hand behind him.
"Spell: Life Ray!"
The life force within the Spark Source was drawn by Shad and then burst forth from his right hand. The crimson light collided and annihilated with the dim yellow light, allowing the three witches to escape some distance further. Meanwhile, the golden-haired puppet on Shad's shoulder reminded him:
"The energy contained in your spark source is limited. This thing is suspected to be related to the authority of this factory. Don't get entangled in a fight with it."
"Yes, teacher—Moonlight Slash!"
The brilliant silver moonlight slashed forward, causing the dark figure to temporarily halt its advance. A transparent shield flashed in front of it, completely blocking Shad's attack. However, Shad took the opportunity to run a few more steps and catch up with the group.
"Let's go together!"
Gina turned around and grabbed Shad's right hand. After taking a deep breath, they both opened their mouths simultaneously:
"Roar!"
A burst of pure silver light and pink crystalline breath erupted together, engulfing the black figure and clearing away some of the following desiccated corpses. But after the two dragon roars ended, the black figure that had stopped merely removed the square transparent shield in front of it, and then continued its pursuit.
"Over here!"
This time, the door was very close, on the same wall as the door to the blood collection workshop. Mrs. Gustave had already opened the door, and Miss Bradwell, standing beside the old witch, called out to Shad and Gina:
"The next room isn't too dangerous, come in quickly."
"Gina, you go first!"
Shad stepped in front of the pink dragon girl, his moonsword slashing down at the dark figure that had reached him. The figure stopped again, its reappearing shield blocking Shad's attack once more. Then, a dim yellow ray representing the power of "Withering" emanated from it. This time, Shad had no time to cast a spell and could only dodge.
The light merely grazed the side of his right forearm, yet he immediately felt a strong sensation of atrophy and numbness throughout his arm. This enemy was clearly not someone a group of people could easily confront; the fact that the monster could ignore the differences between rooms and force its way through the doorway alone showed its importance here.
As the shadowy figure approached Shad, Shad felt his life force being suppressed. Its right arm reached for Shad's face, but was blocked by a violet-colored shield released by the doll on Shad's shoulder.
Although the light shield only lasted for three seconds before being pierced by the shadowy figure's right arm, Gina took the opportunity to carry Shad to the next room.
"Bubble Spell!"
Blood-red "rain" fell from the sky, and the bubbles Gina exhaled quickly enveloped everyone. The crimson, putrid liquid then pierced through Gina's bubbles, before being blocked by a huge metal plate assembled from metal parts by Miss Bradwell.
"This is the factory's blood purification workshop. We've been here before. Move through quickly without stopping. There are only two doors here, and they're just ahead!"
As the old witch spoke, she moved behind Shad and Gina:
"Here comes—Divine Spell: Destruction Ray!"
The light from the miracle element of the divine spell struck the dark figure that emerged from the just-closed door, but the latter only paused briefly before continuing to slide forward.