“This is the place.”
“...is the place.”
“...the place.”
“...place.”
“...ce...”
In the massive, empty cavern, the rough voice of the Dwarven King, Herbert, echoed continuously.
He raised a thick, rough hand, turned back to look at Irene, and pointed in a certain direction.
“That is the teleportation array leading underground.”
Irene, who had been following closely behind, also stopped. She scanned her surroundings warily.
The area they were currently in was a chamber carved by hand into the heart of the mountain.
It was roughly the size of a football field.
The entire chamber was shaped like an inverted bowl, its rock walls polished exceptionally smooth. Two meters above the ground, recessed niches were carved into the walls every few meters, each holding a yellow candle.
The candles cast a dim, eerie glow, illuminating the entire chamber.
Judging by the fact that they produced almost no melted wax as they burned, these candles were likely magical items similar to everburning lamps, capable of providing light for a long time.
Irene's gaze then shifted forward, looking in the direction Herbert was pointing.
There stood row upon row of massive, light-gray stone pillars.
The stone pillars were densely carved with strange symbols and runes, radiating intense spatial fluctuations.
They encircled the center of the cavern, spaced about two to three meters apart, forming a nearly circular magic array.
Beneath the stone pillars lay a complex array composed of countless geometric shapes. The array gleamed a dull silver-gray; its absolute center was a square, followed by a hexagram, with the patterns becoming increasingly intricate further outward.
Combined, they seemed to contain some profound, esoteric mystery.
It was knowledge of space—a domain that only Legends could master and comprehend.
As a dragon who had ascended through the cheating method of using the power of faith, Irene had not even reached the Gold Rank yet, so she naturally could not comprehend how profound the array's creator's spatial attainments were.
But that did not stop her from using it.
Stepping forward, Irene walked toward the teleportation array.
Arthas followed closely behind.
Christine hurriedly followed.
However, as he passed by Herbert's side, his wrist was suddenly grabbed. This caused Christine to stumble, his ample chest swaying wildly as he nearly fell to the ground.
He quickly stabilized himself, only to hear a whisper in his ear:
“By the hammer! What's going on with you? Didn't you say you were going back to reunite with your two dragon hatchlings? Why does it look like you've been captured by her?”
The Dwarven King lowered his voice, his deep eyes half-hidden under thick eyebrows casting a glance at Irene's back. Seeing that she hadn't heard, he continued to mutter in a low voice, “And why have you turned into this appearance again? Looking at you like this makes me sick to my stomach! By the hammer, what a nightmare! You don't even have that sexy white beard anymore!”
“Uh.” An awkward expression appeared on Christine's face. Cupping his chest, he bent down slightly to bridge the height gap with Herbert, turning his head to whisper, “It's just that some unexpected things happened. I want to give the two kids some time to adjust.”
“Hmm...”
Glancing at Arthas walking ahead and seeing that the lich hadn't noticed, Christine hesitated for a moment. Smelling the stench right under his nose, he added, “I still think you should have shaved that filthy beard of yours a long time ago. The smell is honestly too strong.”
“By your hammer! Do you know how long I've been growing this beard!” In his excitement, Herbert's voice rose by several octaves. By the time he realized it, Irene, who had already taken half a step into the teleportation array, had turned her head. Her puzzled gaze fell upon the elf and dwarf who were practically “clinging” to each other.
“Haha, it's been a while!” Herbert reacted quickly. Immediately putting on a smile, he slapped Christine hard on the back several times with his broad palm, acting like they were the best of buddies.
The force was so great that Christine secretly gritted his teeth in pain. Yet, he still narrowed his eyes slightly, wore a sweet smile, and played along, reaching out with a slender hand to pinch Herbert's back viciously. “Yes, it really has been a while...”
“We can talk about whatever it is when you get back.” Irene raised an eyebrow, her gaze sweeping over Christine before she looked at the Dwarven King and asked:
“Your Highness Herbert, do you know when the reinforcements from the other continents will arrive? Looking at the current situation, I'm afraid relying solely on the forces of the Eastern Continent might not end well.”
“Reinforcements?”
Hearing those words, Herbert's face stiffened. Then, returning to his raging persona, veins popped on his forehead. “Those cowards only talk a big game!”
He reached out and pointed at the teleportation array, his expression contorted. “This array was originally prepared for the reinforcements from the other continents.”
“And the result?”
“By the hammer! Not a single continent is willing to send troops!”
“They are even preparing to completely seal off the entire Eastern Continent, just like they did with the Southern Continent, once it falls!”
Hearing this, Irene was slightly surprised, but upon closer thought, it made sense.
After all, the tragedy of the Southern Continent was still fresh in memory. Back then, less than one in ten of the experts who went to help returned alive. This had once caused a massive gap in the high-end combat power of the entire plane and its surrounding auxiliary planes, a loss they still hadn't recovered from.
It was also from then on that demigods had practically become a myth, and Legends became the high-end combat power that most factions could only dream of but never reach.
This is getting a bit troublesome, Irene muttered to herself. It seems that if we can't solve this, I'll have to find a way to leave the Eastern Continent.
Right at that moment, Arthas, who had remained silent the entire time, walked over. Irene turned around and stepped into the array first.
The stone pillars arranged around the array seemed to sense an intrusion, and the runes on them began to glow with a dim luster.
Once all three of them had entered the array, Herbert tried his best to calm his emotions. He stepped forward, placed his hand on one of the stone pillars, and asked with a serious expression, “Are you ready?”
Seeing them nod one after another, he wore a look of determination. “Then... may you return safely.”
In the next instant, the ambient mana drifting in the cavern froze before frantically surging toward the stone pillars surrounding the teleportation array.
The runes on the stone pillars lit up one by one.
Irene felt a faint buzzing in her ears, and the objects before her eyes began to tremble slightly, as if space itself was vibrating.
The array beneath their feet slowly lit up, starting from the outermost runes and rapidly spreading toward the center.
This process was incredibly fast.
In just a single breath, the entire array radiated a bright, silvery glow.
Whoosh!
The candle flames in the wall recesses flickered.
The entire cavern dimmed for a split second before returning to its bright state, and the teleportation array went back to normal.
However, the three figures within had completely vanished, as if they had never existed.
Staring at the empty teleportation array, Herbert exhaled a long breath, turned around, and walked out of the cavern.
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