"Vote … Tears …"
Although Salin didn't know anything about alchemy, he was well-versed in the principles of magic. The buildings around the tower obviously didn't match the original castle. Even though they were deliberately made old, and there were even traces of magic erosion, Salin could still tell that they were built later.
The four tall buildings built later made the tower a fortress that was easy to defend and hard to attack. There must be some secret hidden in the tower.
Since Ainphent dared to attack Baron Cook, he must know something about this place.
"Altar." After saying this word, Ainphent coughed violently.
"Is it dangerous?"
"Yes." Ainphent stopped coughing and said, "I'll let Flamingo go first."
The iron plate was almost completely corroded by the acid. A soldier fell into the fog and fell near Salin, motionless. He was completely dead. Flamingo waved his heavy sword and cut a hole in the iron plate. Salin released two fluorescent spells to illuminate the path below.
In the green fluorescent light, a tall figure was lying face down in the middle of the stairs. A bladed spear had pierced through his heart, nailing him to the ground.
The mercenaries from Nut Mercenary Group walked in front, Ainphent in the middle, and Salin at the back. They walked down more than ten meters. When they were about to reach the next floor, Ainphent stopped.
"Salin, the poison pill is still effective."
Salin casually released a Cleanse spell. This was a Level-0 spell. Usually, Salin used it to clean his body. In fact, this spell wasn't created for bathing or washing clothes, but to dispel poisonous fog. Like the Level-1 Fire Rinse spell, Cleanse was now considered a life spell.
The poisonous fog below was quickly removed by Cleanse. Ainphent was no longer surprised. Salin's use of magic was beyond his understanding.
This floor led to the ground, but the path had been completely blocked by the metal gate. It became an enclosed space. There were tables and chairs in the room. Ainphent directed Flamingo to push the table away, revealing the iron plate below. This time, complicated magic patterns appeared on the iron plate.
Magic lock? Salin frowned.
Magic lock was only a Level-0 spell, but its effect varied according to the level of the spellcaster. This was also within the scope of alchemy. Salin watched Ainphent crouching on the ground, studying the magic pattern, and felt a little regretful. If he had known that Ainphent was such a vengeful person, he wouldn't have allowed Ken to insult Ainphent.
Now that he was in the same boat as Ainphent, it was too late to say anything. Since he had already offended the baron, it would be best not to offend the Clyde family as well.
He wanted to turn back when there was no way out! Salin remembered another magical saying.
Salin liked to control the situation, which was a necessary quality of an excellent mage. However, Ainphent let the situation go out of control. Mages who only knew how to shoot fireballs weren't good mages, but they weren't the worst either. The worst mages make a mess of the situation. If Ainphent could endure until Salin settled the situation, he could take revenge later.
"How long will it take?" Salin was a little anxious. He didn't know how long Baron Cook could last up there.
"Fortunately, it's the Bode Gate." Ainphent smiled. He took out a key and inserted it into the hole in the middle of the magic pattern. He twisted the key gently, and the magic pattern split into three parts, revealing the entrance.
"Flamingo, you stay here. Kill whoever comes near," Ainphent ordered and let the rest of the Nut Mercenary Group enter the cave first. Flamingo had completely lost the will to resist. He answered woodenly, raised his heavy sword, and faced the stairs above the tower.
Entering underground, a cold wind blew, carrying the smell of decay. Salin immediately released a cleaning spell, trying to make the underground air less polluted. Then he added two more fluorescence spells, expanding the illumination range.
The stairs were wide and long. Salin counted in his heart. After walking down more than 1,400 steps, they finally reached flat ground.
This was a natural crypt, dark and wide. In the middle of the crypt was a square altar.
In the middle was a one-meter-tall stone platform. The rectangular stone platform was engraved with black magic symbols. There were also twisted lines between the symbols, which went deep into the stone and formed continuous grooves. Salin smelled blood. Nelis was even more sensitive. She swallowed and seemed to see the sacrifices of the past lying on the stone platform.
Black Mages liked to cut open people's blood vessels, put them on the altar, and let the blood drain slowly. The blood would flow into the collector along the grooves between the magic symbols as part of the sacrifice.
"How do we leave?" Salin looked around and didn't see any other passage.
"Provide the sacrifices, and there will be a way out," Ainphent answered calmly. He was more familiar with the history of the Qinyin Empire than Salin. He also had a thorough understanding of the black magicians' altars.
Sacrifices?
Salin looked at the four mercenaries of the Nut Mercenary Group, feeling sad for them. But Salin wouldn't beg for mercy for them. Baron Cook was probably doomed. When the scarecrow charged in, he would be finished as well.
Ainphent commanded the four mercenaries to lie on the stone platform of the altar. He took out a knife and suddenly turned back, asking Salin, "Do you think I'm too cruel?"
Salin looked into the eyes of the four mercenaries. These people hadn't completely lost their minds. There was fear in their confusion, which was their attachment to life.
"In this world, no one is innocent," Salin replied indifferently.
"What if my sacrifice will increase the power of black mages and awaken the devil?" Ainphent pressed his finger on the mercenary's neck, looking for the veins. Under the illumination of the fluorescence spell, his sickly face looked a little gloomy.
"It's better than us dying here." Salin's tone had a hint of hostility. Ainphent was too cautious and was still testing his bottom line.
"When the devil appears, the people will be in misery …"
Ainphent's knife flashed coldly. He pressed it against the mercenary's neck and looked at Salin.
"Ainphent, if you keep dawdling, we won't live to see the day when the people are in misery." Salin looked into Ainphent's eyes and heard the sound of weapons clashing above. Flamingo had encountered an enemy. He didn't know if it was Baron Cook or the Headless Horseman.
Salin's eyes were clear and cold. He didn't struggle in his heart. He wasn't a martyr. Even if the devil was really resurrected because of this sacrifice, Salin didn't plan to give up.
To die or to escape, that wasn't a problem. But he didn't dare to answer Ainphent directly because he didn't know all the secrets of contract magic. Salin became vigilant after learning from the mistakes of the Nut Mercenary Group.
Ainphent smiled. The knife in his hand pierced the meridians of the mercenaries. Blood gushed out and flowed into the stone trough, gradually gathering in a magic circle on the stone platform. Ainphent's hands were abnormally steady. He cut open the mercenaries' necks one by one and threw the knife away in disgust. He hated black magic from the bottom of his heart, but in order to survive, he had to use blood to open the door of the altar.
More and more blood flowed into the stone trough. The magic circle emitted a dim light that enveloped the entire stone platform. The heavy sound of metal machinery rang out, and the stone platform split into two. A dark cave was revealed.
Black magic didn't rely on the power of the elements. Therefore, in the era of black magicians, many alchemists were captured to serve the black magicians. Even though most alchemists refused to cooperate, there were always people who were afraid of death who created some mechanisms and equipment for the black magicians.
"It doesn't seem to be troublesome." Ainphent pretended to be relaxed. He raised his weapon and waved it a few times. Flames spurted out from the hollow parts on both sides of his weapon, illuminating the situation in the cave.
According to the description in the Book of Taboo, the passage behind the altar was a place for black magicians to enter and exit. People who believed in black magic used blood as a sacrifice to open the door of darkness. Only then would the black magicians appear and grant their believers the power of the devil.
Therefore, magicians refused to admit that this was magic. They thought it was a type of divine art.
Suddenly, there was a strong tremor in the cave. The surrounding stone walls also began to tremble. Cracks appeared on the smooth stone walls, and one by one, boulders broke off and fell to the ground. Following which, these boulders grew hands and feet and slowly climbed up, gradually forming human-shaped stone statues.
"Hurry, it's the stone statue formation!" Salin shouted. Ainphent didn't dare to stay any longer. Regardless of whether there was danger in the passage, it was safer than staying in the stone statue formation.
Ainphent quickly walked into the passage. Shika followed closely behind him, purposely separating Ainphent and Salin. She felt that Ainphent was a dangerous person. Although Ainphent was a low-level magician like Salin, and he didn't even have a magic string, Shika didn't dare to let her guard down.
After the short passage, there was a stone room. It was very clean, and there were no ruins. In the past, the black magicians had waited here for their believers to offer sacrifices. There was another exit behind the stone room. The black magicians didn't understand the principles of the transportation formation, so Salin and the others could leave smoothly.
The tunnel was dark, and cracking sounds could be heard under their feet. Salin couldn't help but look at the ground. He saw white bones everywhere, all smashed into pieces in the passage. These bones didn't give off any phosphorescence. Clearly, they had been refined by black magic before this.
"Ainphent, why is there a Path of White Bones!" Salin didn't know much about black magic, but the Path of White Bones was famous. This altar might really be a place that could awaken a demon. Salin became nervous. Why wasn't this place completely destroyed? It would be a disaster if it was left.
"How would I know? It wasn't written in the book!" Ainphent's expression turned even uglier. The appearance of the Path of White Bones had made him lose confidence. The layout here was actually the highest level of black magic altar.
There were many forks on both sides of the Path of White Bones, but they were all dead ends. Legend had it that it was used to hide soldiers. The four of them walked quickly. After walking for more than ten minutes, they probably left the vicinity of the ancient castle. Only then did they arrive at a huge cave.
The weapon in Ainphent's hand spat out flames, illuminating the entire cave. Wind blew, and the flames fluttered. Everything in the cave could be seen at a glance. Even Shika's expression changed.
In front of them were hundreds of Headless Horsemen. In the middle of the Headless Horsemen, a huge monster stood quietly. Its eyes reflected golden light under the illumination of the flames.
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