Chapter 90: Black Death: Black Pyramid [VIP]
The suffocating dark confrontation lasted only a brief moment.
The moment the black cloud-like Pegasus disappeared, the clear sky was once again struck by an unpleasant change.
Thick and neat square darkness fell from the sky, and a huge pyramid-shaped black man-made object appeared out of thin air in the sky!
It naturally stands above the city, as if a dark devil's palace has descended upon the world, and the people shrouded in its shadow have fallen into extreme gloom, terror and anxiety.
The black pyramid dropped vertically and hovered in the air about ten meters above the ground, as if it was fixed by invisible strings.
Everything seemed so weird and chilling.
"W-What is this!?"
Miranda, the self-proclaimed Queen of Flowers, was horrified and pointed at the hovering black pyramid and shouted.
"Why did this strange thing suddenly appear in the sky? What is its origin?!"
"It's the master! The master is here!"
Dark magician Daru was panicked.
He crawled to the bottom of the black pyramid, knelt prostrate, and begged repeatedly: "Master! My only master! My loyalty to you has never changed! I will never betray you! I—"
There was no answer from within the floating black pyramid.
A beam of white light appeared below the pyramid.
A black figure emerged from the beam of light. It looked to be at least three meters tall, with a slender body that didn't look like a human. It was wrapped in a black hooded robe. The hem of the cloak hung vertically downward, and the shadow of the hood completely obscured its face, making it impossible to see the face under the hood or the torso under the cloak. It was as if what was wrapped in the cloak was not a human body but a dark demonic aura.
(Is this the Dragon Emperor? The one who suddenly appeared three hundred years ago, who transformed the East Continent, a land of numerous small nations, into a unified theocratic empire over two hundred years, and who proclaimed himself the eternal and sole emperor of the True Human Empire?)
Why is it that even though He is clearly standing before me, and exuding a powerful aura beyond any mage I've ever encountered, I feel like the "He" appearing in the pillar of light beneath the pyramid isn't a physical entity? Rather, it's...
Xiao Yun felt a strong sense of discomfort in his heart.
He had never seen such a building or such a creature before, but he instinctively hated it because—
(I understand... The reason I felt so uncomfortable was because his appearance was more like the commander of an alien army invading Earth in a science fiction movie than the appearance of a great demon in a fantasy story!)
(Considering that this world is suspected to have experienced a prehistoric nuclear war...)
Xiao Yun gripped the hilt of his sword firmly, his eyes fixed on the newly appeared dark figure who looked like the Dragon Emperor. "Who are you? Why are you here? The sudden appearance of the Black Death in Dalavia was your doing, wasn't it?"
[You dare to speak to me like that? You're courting death!]
The shadow's voice resounded in the minds of everyone in Ted City. As if in response to his voice, a terrifying movement, like a brewing earthquake, suddenly erupted from beneath the city. Then—
boom!
The white light of the explosion lit up.
With a deafening sound, a staggeringly large army of rats rushed out of the sewers and onto the ground!
It was dark and overwhelming, like a flowing dark flood!
"Oh my God! These things..."
"Why are there so many rats! Our city—"
"That black pyramid! What on earth is that black pyramid!"
"Rat! Rat! Rat!"
“…”
The entire city, including the army, was instantly plunged into chaos and panic brought by the rat tide.
These rats, big and small, that emerged from the sewers were running through the streets and alleys of the city like a flood, gnawing on all the food they came across and anything that attracted them!
“Help! Help!”
“Ahhhhhh—”
"No! I'll beat you to death, I'll beat you to death!"
"Someone come and help...Ahhhh!"
"I must be dreaming! This must be a nightmare!"
“…”
The crowd fell into chaos, grabbing everything they could find to fight the rats, but the army of rats pouring out of the sewers was too numerous...
Even the most well-trained army will inevitably be caught up in the vast ocean of fighting against rats!
…
"Oh my god! What do I do now?"
While Richard was leading his men in the battle against the rat army, he called out to Lance and the others who were also in a tough fight: "We can never kill all these annoying rats!"
"Stop complaining and just keep on fighting! Kill every nest you can!"
Monger roared, slashed down with his sword, and brought up piles of rats like waves!
At the same time——
Right below the black pyramid, in the square open space shrouded in dark shadows, the only standoff in the city of Ted that was not affected by the raging rat army continued.
The Dragon Emperor's slender black shadow "looked" at Xiao Yun who was holding a long sword.
【Things now, you
, you were the first to go against the world!"
Xiao Yun looked at the tall black shadow fearlessly: What does it look like? Where does it come from? What do you want from our world? I only know that if you try to harm our world, I must fight you!
[…Lucien, you know nothing about the true nature of the world, yet you act so fearless… Should I praise you for your justice and courage, or should I laugh at you for being a hot-blooded idiot?!]
"A brave idiot with a passion for justice, sounds like a good idea."
Xiao Yun said fearlessly.
Miranda and Godalu began to tremble.
Fearing the possibility of his wrath being directed at him, Godalu screamed, "Do you even know who you're talking to?! You have no idea how powerful the Master is! The price of disobeying the Master is horrific!"
Miranda folded her wings and showed a submissive attitude: "Your Majesty, I am willing to submit to you and be the most docile flower at your feet! Please allow me to leave here and hunt for more delicious food for you!"
【Shut up! 】
The tall black shadow shouted, and two rays of light suddenly fell from the hovering black pyramid, covering the fawning Miranda and Godalu.
"ah--"
Miranda screamed and flapped her wings desperately to try to escape from the prison of light. However, the air in the light column was thicker and stickier than glue, and her two pairs of wings that she was so proud of couldn't even unfold smoothly!
"Give up, Miranda. You and I are as helpless as newborn babies in front of our Master."
Dark Mage Brother Daru spoke slowly, the third eye on his forehead swelling and bulging like a balloon about to burst.
He looked at the tall, thin shadow in fear, fawning madly: "Master! Master! The most respected and greatest master! I have always done things for you according to your requirements! Please allow me to continue living!"
[You don't have to be afraid of death. You will be perfectly integrated into my body along with your third eye, and you can live forever!]
“I…I…”
Godalu stared at the tall, thin shadow in fear, motionless as if he had been electrocuted.
Miranda gradually gave up struggling, and together with Godalu, she rose up along the light column like unconscious corpses and flew into the black pyramid.
Xiao Yun on the ground watched everything happen quietly, holding his sword tightly, waiting for the slender black shadow to attack.
At this moment, he suddenly felt an uncomfortable feeling called weightlessness - under the power of the black pyramid, his feet actually left the ground and his body floated in the air.
The traction force became stronger and stronger, and he was getting closer and closer to the black pyramid. He could see that the bottom of the black pyramid was engraved with a large number of complex and precise patterns.
(LA, what's going on now?)
[Host, please rest assured. He cannot forcibly remove me from your body.]
(good!)
Xiao Yun raised his head and questioned the tall black shadow, "What are you going to do to me? And what is this black pyramid? Is it your magic domain or a flying machine built with technology far beyond our time?"
[You don’t need to know the answer, because you and the mysterious energy within you are about to become a part of me…]
The slender black shadow declared forcefully, dragging Xiao Yun into a black pyramid that was deeper than the darkness.
Outside the shadows cast by the black pyramid, the bitter battle between the Dalavians and the rats continues.
…
…
Xiao Yun knelt on one knee in the darkness and looked around. Even in the extreme darkness, the "Golden Blade" that still emitted a faint golden light became the only source of light for a moment.
The situation was very bad, but he was extremely calm, like a sculpture that had lost the ability to perceive the strange things that had happened and the misfortunes that were about to happen.
(Is this the interior of the black pyramid?)
[Yes, the host is now trapped within the black pyramid.]
(Is He going to devour me? Or...)
"He cannot devour the host, but if the host cannot leave the Black Pyramid in time, it will be taken to the distant Eastern Continent... Even if it successfully escapes, it will have to cross half of Ella before returning to Gola or Maga..."
(That won’t do!)
Xiao Yun blinked violently.
(My brother is in a very difficult situation right now. If I weren’t by his side, he might...)
Xiao Yun felt a strong sense of uneasiness in his heart.
All the suspicions and speculations about Yaris that he had been trying to suppress suddenly grew wildly like weeds in the wilderness.
(Yaris he... he...)
“—Help! Help! Someone, please save me! Where is this place?!”
The girl's helpless voice suddenly sounded in the depths of darkness.
Xiao Yun swung his sword, and with the faint light brought by the "golden blade", he saw the Kukuchia girl Lina sitting on the stone slab with her knees hugged, crying helplessly.
(Conspiracy? Bait?)
Xiao Yun frowned.
The girl trapped in the darkness suddenly saw the "Golden Blade" in Xiao Yun's hand.
Sniffling, she stood up and crawled towards the only light in the darkness, asking as she walked: "...that light...golden light...is that Lucien? Is that your light?"
"Yes, it's me."
Deciding to take advantage of the situation, Xiao Yun responded to the girl and walked towards her: "Just like you, I don't know where this place is or why we were brought here! But I will do my best to keep you safe and send you home!"
"Lucien..."
The girl was so moved that she clasped her hands together and placed them on her heart: "You are a true angel!"
"Don't be so quick to thank me. I'm not sure I can get you away safely."
Xiao Yun said indifferently, took out the magic lighting ball from his arms, activated it and lit it up, then handed it to the girl with bright eyes.
"Hold it carefully."
"Thank you, Lucien."
The girl took the lighting ball with both hands and held it high.
With the help of the light from the lighting ball, Xiao Yun discovered that this was an unexpectedly spacious hall.
The pure black floor, which matched the black pyramid, was polished to be extremely flat and smooth, but the surrounding walls and the ceiling above were all white and full of bumps and depressions, like a clay slab that a child had played with. As the light from the lighting ball moved, the shadows formed by the depressions and protrusions on the wall repeatedly lengthened and shortened, appearing both strange and crazy.
Moreover, apart from the two of them—if Lina beside them was human—there were no other signs of living creatures here, and it was quiet to the point of being dull.
"What on earth is this place?"
Unable to bear this dullness, the girl wrinkled her nose and muttered.
Xiao Yun said nothing and looked at the narrow road leading to the exit of the hall.
It was a trap, but he had no choice.
He must find a way to leave before being taken to the East Continent by the mysterious black pyramid, and at the same time find out the real intention of the Dragon Emperor in arranging "Lina" to appear in front of him.
"Lina, it seems that our only option now is to move forward."
"I'll go ahead and lead the way for Lucien!"
The girl said without hesitation: "Lisa and I were saved by Lucien. I don't want to be a burden to you at any time."
"You've done very well."
Xiao Yun stretched out his right hand and touched the girl's head.
(The Golden Blade didn't react, indicating that Lina in front of him was human, but...)
Taking a deep breath, Xiao Yun smiled and told the girl: "Okay, let's go."
"Um!"
…
…
The passage leading out of the hall was wide enough for three people to walk side by side. Both walls were covered with strange wrinkles that kept wriggling in some odd rhythm. The air was filled with a warm but fishy, disgusting smell, as if they were walking among the internal organs of some oversized creature.
[Master guessed correctly, we are now walking in the tube leading to the other stomach of the giant beast.]
The system gives a positive answer.
Xiao Yun endured the discomfort and warned Lina: "If you feel uncomfortable, stop immediately. This place is not normal."
"I'm glad I could help you."
The girl said seriously, holding up the lighting ball to illuminate this weird and disgusting world.
…
At the end of the corridor, a hot and foul smell was as full and disgusting as the heat that hits your face when you walk out of an air-conditioned room, instantly offsetting the joy that people feel when they walk out of the narrow and enclosed space and into the spacious and clean hall.
"This doesn't look like a good place..."
Xiao Yun muttered to himself.
The girl nodded nervously. "I feel like this place is even more dangerous than before."
"So we—"
Before she finished her words, the lighting ball in Lina's palm flew out of her hand as if it encountered some irresistible attraction, flew to the highest point of the hall, and illuminated the dark space with a dazzling light that was at least ten times beyond its power limit!
"What's going on here?"
The girl screamed.
"have no idea……"
Xiao Yun answered dully, taking the opportunity to look around the illuminated hall.
Unlike the previous hall, with its smooth black floor and undulating white walls, this one looked like a stalactite cave. They stood on a small slope leading deeper into the hall. The lower half of the slope was immersed in a warm but foul-smelling liquid. The space was filled with stalactite columns and stalagmites that hadn't yet formed complete columns. The air was filled with the sound of dripping, sticky water.
"This place is even stranger than the previous one..."
As if to verify the girl's complaint, the lighting ball that had flown to the highest point suddenly fell straight down and landed in a corner that was almost perfectly covered by the shadows of the stalactite columns.
Then--
Xiao Yun saw a huge humanoid head soaked in liquid.
The creature's hair and face were rotten beyond recognition by the sticky liquid that kept dripping from the air. The other party's identity could only be vaguely judged by the third eye on its forehead that had not stopped flashing.
"——'Three-Eyed' Godalu?"
"Yes! It's me! I'm about to melt!"
The head opened its mouth with only one-third of its lips left, and made a resentful sound.
"My master said I betrayed him and swallowed me into his body, corroding and melting me... But I know that he took me in as his apprentice just to eat me... He trained me because he needed the power of the 'Third Eye'... He... He..."
"Do you hate Him?"
"What do you think?"
Godalu turned the third eye on his forehead. The two eyes in the eye sockets had long been corroded by the acid, leaving only two dark holes embedded in his cheeks with half of his bones exposed.
"I hate Him! I wish I could kill Him! But if you think I will cooperate with you because of my hatred for Him, that's ridiculous! No magician can resist the temptation of taking you for themselves! Just like no one can resist the temptation of making your brother their own! You have energy within you that rivals that of a star! And your brother... your brother... your brother's body..."
"What secrets are hidden in Yaris's body?"
"Become a god!"
Godalu uttered a note as vicious and terrifying as a vengeful spirit.
"You should have sensed something was amiss long ago. No matter how beautiful Yaris is, it's impossible for everyone in the world to fall head over heels for him! Everyone wants him for themselves! Ordinary people might like him because of his beauty, wealth, temperament, and knowledge... but what truly makes him so unique, and why almost everyone wants him, is the secrets of the gods and immortality hidden within him! With Yaris, my master will be able to complete the most crucial transformation, from being comparable to a god to becoming a true god!"
"—And, the secret of eternity and immortality that can turn a person into a god must be given by him willingly. This is the so-called true love and chaste blood in the rumors!"
(So that's how it is... To this world, my brother is the most fragrant and tender elixir of immortality, the flesh of Tang Monk... No wonder all the powerful magicians, including the Dragon Emperor, flock to him... No wonder the gods impose all kinds of restrictions on him, like a forbidden delicacy, locking him in a golden cage... No wonder my brother says his body is more precious than a hundred times its weight in gold...)
"By devouring you, I will gain the power to control the entire sun... and by obtaining his heart, I will become an immortal god..."
Godalu murmured repeatedly: "I want power, I want eternity, I..."
"—You idiot! You actually believed this baseless, fabricated nonsense! Anyone with a bit of common sense would have thought, if Yaris has the power to make you immortal, why doesn't he use this power on himself? To allow his fragile body to live beyond the age of thirty!"
“…”
Godalu was silent for a moment.
But soon, he burst into roar again.
"Oh! Even if Jarris doesn't hold the secrets of God and immortality, he's still invaluable as your brother! Lucien, there's never been a shortage of conspirators craving power and immortality. Once they're convinced he can't make them immortal, they'll immediately stop flattering him, seize him, and use him as a hostage to blackmail you. They'll torture him right in front of you in every way imaginable, leaving you wanting to kill him yourself and end his suffering!"
“—Shut up!”
"I am about to completely melt and become a part of His body. My consciousness will then dissolve into His sea of consciousness. What will happen next? It's so hard to guess! Hahahaha! Hahaha!"
Godalu laughed like a madman, and his already disfigured face became even more hideous.
Xiao Yun glared at Godalu: "For my brother's safety, I will never let you merge with Him!"
"What are you going to do? What can you do? You...ah!"
Godalu, who was lying in the slime and grinning, let out a quick cry of surprise.
His only remaining and most important third eye was pierced by Xiao Yun's "golden blade"!
"H-How do you know... That's not right! The fact that the Three-Eyed Tribe's weakness is their third eye... is known to many people, but, but... How could your weapon shatter my third eye! My third eye is both my weakness and my strongest point! You, you, you... What is your origin? What's in your body... Ah!"
With another short scream, Godalu's head sank completely into the mucus, and the most important third eyeball was taken away by the "Golden Blade".
Swish——
The "Golden Blade" turned into golden light and entered Xiao Yun's arm. After leaving Godaru's body, it immediately crystallized into a gem eyeball and fell steadily into Xiao Yun's palm.
"Is this the third eye of the Three-Eyed Tribe?"
Xiao Yun held the gem that shone with golden light and looked at it repeatedly, as if admiring a burning gem.
(What's so special about it? Why is it worth the Dragon Emperor spending so much time and energy to cultivate it?)
At this moment, "Lina" beside him suddenly stretched out her hand: "Lucien, can you let me touch this shining gem? It looks so beautiful."
"sure."
"real--"
"But wait until we get to a safe place."
Xiao Yun said vaguely: "It's too dangerous here, and this gem itself is also dangerous."
"But……"
The girl's voice trembled slightly, and her big eyes flashed with loss, looking extremely pitiful.
Tick! Tick!
Above the hall, strange mucus that can corrode the human body continued to fall.
Xiao Yun, vaguely sensing the approaching new danger, put his third eye into his waist bag and prepared to continue on his journey.
At this moment, "Lina" suddenly pointed at the darkness ahead and shouted, "Ah! What is that! What is that thing!"
"Let me see—"
Xiao Yun pretended to be attracted by her shouting and looked in the direction of the sound.
“—Go to hell!”
The flower demon Miranda, no longer in disguise, revealed her true face. She pushed Xiao Yun hard with both hands, and her back cracked, revealing wings that had transformed into four rows of sharp, densely packed blades.
"Godalu's third eye is mine! Mine!"
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