615
Chapter 615
Nabu gasped for air as he regained consciousness and looked around in confusion.
"What? Where is this?"
They had been heading to the underwater city in Rue's depths before being swept up by a massive whirlpool. When she came to, the scenery was completely different.
Looking up, Nabu saw blue skies overhead. There were unfamiliar architectural structures all around, with the most distinctive being a floating tower in the city center.
The majestic floating tower emitted brilliant light, with circular canals surrounding the city in concentric rings.
Examining the city's layout,Nabu then realized.
"Wait! This structure. Could it be…?"
He summoned a book and checked something urgently before exclaiming:
"Good heavens! This is the legendary city of Atlantis!"
According to ancient records, this civilization had superior magic and technology but sank beneath the waves after angering the constellations.
"If this is Atlantis... how did we suddenly get here from Rue?"
Just then, Nigel appeared from between buildings. Nabu ran over:
"Nigel! Look at this. This seems to be..."
"Atlantis, you mean."
TSUTSUTSUTSU!
When Nigel handed over broken white metal fragments, Nabu was shocked again.
"This is orichalcon?"
Nigel nodded.
"Yes, it's scattered throughout the city. Legend says Atlantis achieved its ancient civilization by freely manipulating orichalcon."
Nabu asked, face turning pale.
"Wait, did we... did we die?"
Nigel struck Nabu's head with a water spell.
"Fool. And you call yourself a sage?"
Nigel pointed at the floating tower.
"Look at that. Remind you of anything?"
Nabu rubbed his head and looked up.
“Ugh, you’re like a cranky old woman with bad habits. What’s there to remember...?”
His eyes widened in surprise mid sentence.
"Wait. Is that... the same tower from Rue?"
Surprisingly, the tower they had passed through in the deep sea was floating in the air.
Nigel explained.
"This seems to be Rue. More precisely, we're in Atlantis - Rue's past"
Nigel continued.
"The Book of the Dead must be sealed in the city center, under the floating tower. Baron Draker likely headed there too"
Nabu took a deep breath.
"Let's hurry and stop him before he gets the book."
They summoned a magic carpet and flew toward the city center.
Shortly after they left, ripples appeared in that spot.
TSUTSUTSUTSU!
A black form changed into a crustacean insect and opened its mouth to send a signal skyward.
KIIIIIING!
The signal began spreading throughout the city.
The insect spread its wings and flew up with a long cry.
* * *
RUSTLE!
Thousands of black insects gathered inside a building in Atlantis.
The building was filled with a dark energy.
Baron sat in a chair placed on one side of the building, removing his gloves and dripping black energy onto the floor while staring at something.
In front of him hung a black cocoon wrapped in dark energy from the ceiling.
As Baron continued injecting dark energy into the cocoon, black insects gathered before him.
RUSTLE!
The insects crawled toward Baron and burrowed into the black swamp formed beneath his feet.
At that moment, one of the insects approached Baron's side instead of the swamp.
SCREECH!
It moved its antennae back and forth, conveying something to Baron.
Baron turned his head and interpreted the signal sent by the insect.
"So the High Tables have come this far."
Baron, who had come to Atlantis after receiving the call of the Book of the Dead, frowned knowing that intruders were still pursuing him.
He stood up and looked at the cocoon he had created.
Soon something squirmed inside the cocoon, and its surface bulged outward.
Baron stepped back, put his gloves back on, and carefully observed the cocoon's movement.
Soon tentacles began to extend from the bulging part of the cocoon's surface.
SCREECH!
The tentacles stretched out in all directions of the building, and the cocoon began to firmly anchor itself in place.
Then the middle of the cocoon split open and began to spread wide like a giant mouth opening.
GROWL!
The giant mouth with sharp teeth embedded in it pulsed and moved.
It was as if it were a living creature itself.
Then something began to emerge from the giant mouth, squirming.
RUMBLE!
Along with viscous bodily fluids, the giant mouth opened wide and an unidentified being wearing black armor walked out.
The tentacles gathered to create stairs in front, and the being in black armor slowly walked down those stairs.
But that wasn't all, other beings wearing black armor emerged in succession.
Baron spoke to the dozen or so Dark Knights.
"Forgotten heroes who lost their worlds and vanished. The God has given you a new opportunity."
At his words, red light flickered in the Dark Knights' eyes.
"Enemies are trying to stop God's great work. As knights of God, stop them."
The Dark Knights simultaneously nodded at Baron's words and then prostrated themselves before him.
Baron's cold eyes flashed as he looked at them.
* * *
"Is this the place?"
Nabu entered the city center with Nigel riding on a magic carpet.
The city center where the floating tower was located definitely felt different from other places.
The powerful magical field spread in all directions could be felt throughout their bodies.
That's when Nigel spoke to Nabu.
"Looking at the structure of this magical field, it seems to be what the leader set up."
The leader had put up several layers of security to hide the Book of the Dead where the Demon King's soul was sealed.
Nabu nodded and took a deep breath.
"Hmm, do we have to break through that?"
At those words, Nigel stood up and drew his sword.
"Dive in. Then I'll cut through the magical field with my ultimate technique, and you enter through that gap."
At Nigel's words, Nabu gulped and controlled the carpet to descend straight down.
CRACKLE!
As they got closer, the powerful magical field could be seen layered dozens of times even with the naked eye.
Moreover, these were changing as the carpet approached.
Seeing this, Nabu shouted in disbelief.
"AAAACK! Wait, this is crazy! No matter what, this is too much!"
CRACKLE!
The magical field swelled up violently toward those descending on the carpet, causing a magical storm.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The gust mixed with magical power surged up and attacked the carpet carrying Nigel and Nabu.
Nabu quickly created a barrier with word magic to barely block the gust while shouting at Nigel.
"Old hag, what are you doing?!"
Beside him, Nigel had raised her sword and was concentrating.
Although she had received treatment from Zeke after breaking one seal, her internal injuries hadn't fully recovered yet.
Because of this, she carefully regulated her breathing and infused the power of her ultimate technique into her sword.
Simultaneously opening her eyes wide, she swung her sword at the magical gust.
SWOOSH!
With her single strike, not only the magical gust but also the dozens of layers of magical field were cleanly cut.
SIZZLE!
The problem was that the magical field, which was intricately composed like a net, quickly recovered by reconnecting with itself.
Nabu gritted his teeth and shouted.
"Damn it! Old hag! Hit it harder! I'll dive in!"
Nigel nodded and tried to concentrate her power again.
But at that moment.
RUSTLE!
Thousands of insects flew toward them in the air.
They weren't ordinary insects but monstrous bugs with sharp teeth, claws, and poisonous stingers protruding from their tails.
Nabu was horrified at this sight.
"GACK! Where did these come from?!"
Nigel turned his sword and swung it at the insects flying toward them.
SWOOSH!
The insects fell in droves from the sword strike imbued with soul technique energy.
The fallen insects' remains turned to ash and completely scattered upon touching the magic field net.
However, the swarms of black insects continued charging at them regardless.
Nabu controlled the magic carpet with one hand while pulling out a book with the other and shouted.
"Arrows of Light!"
With a short incantation, dozens of arrows made of light appeared behind his back.
Those arrows flew at high speed toward the insects.
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
The insects hit by the light arrows scattered and fell toward the magic field net.
But there were so many insects that this wasn't enough.
That's when Nigel spoke.
"Nabu, drive the carpet straight toward the magic field."
Nabu was horrified at those words.
"What? What if we get killed doing that?"
"If we keep fighting the insects, we'll run out of strength. We need to take a chance."
After contemplating Nigel's words, Nabu nodded.
He took a breath and drove the carpet straight down toward the magic field net.
Then a gust of wind arose from the magic field like before.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The insects chasing Nabu and Nigel were instantly swept away by this gust.
Nigel's desperate plan had worked.
The problem was that the dozens of layers of magic field nets were dangerous to them too.
Nabu shouted at Nigel.
"OLD HAGGGGG!"
Nigel thrust his sword straight at the magic field net.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The power of soul spirit energy split dozens of layers of magic field nets in an instant.
Just as Nabu cheered and tried to dive through that gap.
CRACKLE!
Surprisingly, there was another barrier inside.
Nabu ground his teeth and shouted.
"You crazy chief bastard!"
Nigel's sword strike hadn't reached the sturdy defensive barrier installed inside.
Just as the magic carpet carrying the two was about to crash into the barrier.
ZZZZZZING!
Suddenly the barrier split horizontally and a path opened leading to Atlantis's central city.
Nabu was startled by this sight and turned around as a thought struck him.
"Zeke!"
Without them noticing, Zeke had been standing behind Nigel with his sword raised.
He shouted at Nabu.
"Elder! Now's the time!"
At Zeke's words, Nabu drove the carpet at maximum speed to charge inside.