Chapter 378


A sphere of light rose into the air, the orange-yellow glow driving back the darkness.


The space was silent, as if devoid of life.


Before entering, Iros had already dispelled the [Detect] spell from his eyes.


The black cubes in this Abyssal Chamber were highly condensed, concretized information; directly observing them with [Detect] would produce a mental shock similar to physical contact.


When he had first accidentally broken in here years ago he’d suffered badly because of that—yet from misfortune came benefit, and he had glimpsed the faint threads of the “Ark Plan.”


Although he could not use [Detect], Iros had other methods. He crushed a crystal; the mana field around him suddenly spasmed violently.


Though the disturbance lasted only an instant, any magical trap or concealment ought to reveal itself in that brief ripple.


However… nothing showed up.


Immediately afterward, a ring of fire expanded from Iros’s feet, spreading ten meters out.


Iros advanced slowly, using that moving fire ring to sense the direction of his mark.


He stopped only when he reached beneath the massive trunk of the Divine Tree.


He could sense the mark was nearby, yet it remained fuzzy and hard to pin down.


“Did they use the information cubes to interfere with perception…” he murmured.


But he did not hurry to search for the artifact; instead he once more surveyed his surroundings cautiously.


Though he found no trace of that cunning enemy, Iros saw the “greeting” they had left.


Two elves lay unconscious, jammed in the crevices of the Divine Tree’s rough bark.


Both were people Iros knew: Seldan, the disciple he’d left at the entrance to keep watch, and Pelagel, the Ark organization’s previously missing senior member.


Both were covered in wounds, as if tortured—gravely injured and barely clinging to life.


Rather than killing them outright or using them as hostages, the enemy had displayed them before Iros, clearly to send a warning.


Or perhaps the plan was to force him to divide his attention to protect them when the fight began?


If so, that calculation would fail.


What could be sacrificed and what must be obtained—he already had his answer.


Keeping his guard up, Iros laid the two down.


He cast [Awaken] on them. Seldan groaned in pain but kept his eyes tightly shut as if trapped in a nightmare. Only Pelagel stirred and slowly came to.


“I… where am I…” Pelagel looked around bewildered, clearly not understanding the situation.


“Pelagel, who held you?” Iros asked directly—the very reason he’d freed them.


“Chief?! Everything… it was all Saryan’s plot! He planned it all!” Pelagel suddenly shouted.


“Saryan?”


As Iros paused in astonishment, Pelagel staggered forward and lunged, plunging the dagger smeared with poison into Iros!


But several vines from within Iros’s robe moved faster and restrained Pelagel’s every motion.


Iros didn’t even look at Pelagel; instead he scanned the surrounding dark. “Only use one Diamond-ranked to ambush me?”


“Hahaha! Only one?”


At the next moment, a massive surge of energy burst from Pelagel’s body.


“For the boss!”


“This can’t be—!”


Boom—


An explosion far beyond the normal enveloped the three of them.


At the center, a translucent shield had formed before Iros, but it was too late—half his body was flayed, his robe shredded.


As for Pelagel and Seldan, there was no way they could have survived such a blast.


It wasn’t that Iros was careless—he simply could not have imagined an elf would self-detonate like that!


Magic could indeed accomplish such an effect, but the preparatory mana fluctuations would be detectable; he had the power to respond.


Such an instantly triggered self-destruct had to be an innate talent!


In other words… Pelagel had awakened Self-Destruct?


The conclusion was absurd.


And a Diamond-ranked elf using it without hesitation?!


Iros could not sort out what had just occurred, and there was no time to dwell.


At the instant the blast ended, a mass of pujis poured out from the information cubes and swarmed him.


Countless Artillery pujis struck his shield and sent ripples across it.


They had been hidden inside the information cubes!


The earlier mystery was solved, but more questions came fast.


Information cubes had no physical form—dead objects like artifacts, sure, but living beings?


Whether magical pets or constructs, anything that went in either exploded or lost contact when inside!


How had the enemy done this?


And even if they were magical beasts… there were far too many. The once-empty chamber was now packed with pujis.


The “pud-pud” patter of their steps filled his ears and set Iros on edge.


Vines swept through, but the pujis detonated before being struck.


A single sweeping pass left even the toughest vines shredded and useless.


The pujis’ Artillery kept firing without pause. Though they couldn’t break his shield, they constantly drained his mana.


Iros immediately realized the opponent’s intent to wear him down—he couldn’t play into that plan!


He reinforced his defenses, then stood his ground to prepare a large-scale spell.


The pujis charged without hesitation.


Yet whether exploding, bombarding, or using blade-whips, none of it could penetrate Iros’s vine-and-shield defenses. ɪꜰ ʏᴏᴜ ᴡᴀɴᴛ ᴛᴏ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴍᴏʀᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs, ᴘʟᴇᴀsᴇ ᴠɪsɪᴛ novę


But… standing still? Really underestimate the mushrooms.


A group of pujis dragged out an ultra-long Resonance Cannon.


Unfortunately for them, even amid the chaos the enormous mana fluctuation from the assembled Resonance Cannons caught Iros’s attention.


Sensing the danger, Iros stopped the spell he was preparing despite the nauseating mana reflux, and dodged the cannon’s blast.


The huge mana explosion confirmed his choice—such power might well have broken his layer of shield.


He hurled a Fireball to destroy the strange combined monster, but many pujis used a collective [Mana Shield] to block it.


He could force the shield with magic, but that would cost too much mana.


Finally he closed in, strangling the combined creature with vines, then resumed preparing his previous spell.


When the second Resonance Cannon emerged and forced him to abort his casting again, Iros was close to losing his temper!