Chapter 458

A fourteen or fifteen-year- Youth Sarkaz sat on the ground, panting heavily.

He had many new wounds, and there was a large sword beside him that seemed disproportionate to his size.

Seeing this scene, Ines wanted to escape as quickly as possible, silently praying that she wouldn't be discovered. But the things you least want to see are the things that are most likely to happen.

As she turned around, she stepped on Dead Twig on the ground, and the unusual sound quickly alerted the other party.

Youth Sarkaz, fearing the sound was from an accomplice of the dead, immediately grabbed a crossbow from one of the corpses, aimed it at the source of the sound, and shouted sternly:

"Who's there? Come out!"

Ines hid behind the birch tree without saying a word, her back pressed tightly against the tree in an attempt to conceal herself.

Receiving no response, Youth Sarkaz immediately drew his bow and fired another warning shot:

"If you don't come out, I'll shoot!"

Ines was extremely annoyed. Why did she have to come and join the fun? She glanced down at the dagger with its Horn Cut, pondered for a moment, and then hid it in her sleeve. That way, if the other party got close, she might be able to catch them off guard.

After taking two or three deep breaths, Ines stepped out of the birch tree with her palms outstretched and hands raised. If she raised her hands high, the dagger in her sleeve would slip out.

Upon seeing that it was a Sarkaz girl several years younger than him, the Youth Sarkaz secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Phew, as long as he's not one of these people.

He noticed blood flowing from the other person's Blackhorn, and after taking a second look, he couldn't help but ask:

Were you abducted here?

Ines bit her lip, remaining silent.

Youth Sarkaz, probably frightened by the gruesome scene, asked again:

"Young lady, where do you live? Perhaps I can give you a ride home."

When her family was mentioned, Ines shook her head, her eyes dimming. Because she no longer had any family.

"Ha, me too. My family died in a riot, and our house was completely burned down. Later, I was picked up by a mercenary, and now I'm a trainee mercenary."

At this point, the Youth Sarkaz casually tossed aside his crossbow and began using his greatsword as a walking stick. He swayed slightly, as if he might fall at any moment.

The Youth Sarkaz approached, extending his left hand to shake Ines's hand. But seeing the blood on his hand, he immediately withdrew it. He quickly wiped it on his trousers, then extended his left hand again, grinning:

"If you're homeless, come with me. I'll teach you some survival skills, and you'll have no problem making a living. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Heredrey, what's yours?"

Shi Lei walked at the front of the group, followed closely by his three girlfriends, Texas, Mudrock, and Xi.

He looked at the thick White Mist around him, initially unsure whether it was a delaying tactic or an ambush. He then used his Psychic Scan and quickly discovered a group of twenty people fleeing northwards about a kilometer away.

It seems to be the former.

Anyway, the White Mist is non-toxic and poses no other risk except for slightly affecting visibility. With my guidance, I can lead everyone safely to the Shard Building.

Suddenly, the scenery before my eyes changed.

Shi Lei, who was originally enveloped in thick fog, suddenly found himself in another scene. Looking around, he realized he was back in his high school classroom.

I was surrounded by classmates who were both strangers and familiar, some of whom I had almost forgotten by name.

All I can remember are the bizarre nicknames they got based on their names, appearances, or embarrassing moments.

The top students were still engrossed in their books during breaks, while groups of boys and girls chatted about idol dramas, celebrity gossip, or Yu-Gi-Oh! —anything but studying.

"Ring ring~"

As the school bell rang, the students returned to their seats one after another. The prettiest girl in the class sat next to Shi Lei, and there was a line drawn between their desks.

There was a faint scent of shower gel on her body and in her hair, which could easily be mistaken by naive young boys for a pleasant natural fragrance.

Judging solely from the visual, auditory, and olfactory experiences, the illusion before me is quite impressive.

Shi Lei knew it was fake when the scene changed, but he still patiently let it all happen.

Looking back now, I realize I was quite naive back then and missed out on so much.

But if you miss it, you miss it; there's no need to regret it. You never truly possessed it, so how can you talk about giving it up?

Moreover, the Terra World after my transmigration was in no way inferior to the world I experienced while studying.

The only downside is the frustrating Hedgehog Cat System. You can only gain more points by guiding and cultivating your Personal Faction after you advance to the Archon Realm.

To be honest, when a person becomes powerful enough, whether they do good or bad things, they will attract a certain group of people to gather around them. This naturally forms their personal power.

It seems that only when his power is strong enough to delegate all government affairs to his subordinates can he return to retirement and enjoy life in peace.

Shi Lei knew that everyone was still waiting for him on the streets of the Central City District and probably wouldn't have time to listen to the lecture here.

He stood up abruptly, immediately drawing a question from the English teacher:

"Shi Lei, what are you trying to do, kid?"

Hey, you know what, the tone is quite similar.

It's estimated that this illusion is a scene extracted from Shi Lei's past memories. If it were fabricated by himself, it definitely wouldn't include content from before his time travel.

"Alright, that's enough."

Without lingering, Shi Lei unleashed his powerful Psychic Power, causing the surrounding people and objects to tremble violently before quickly dissipating.

"Um?"

After the illusion shattered, he was not able to return to the streets of the Central City District. Instead, he found himself in front of a completely unfamiliar Cave Entrance where the temperature was below zero.

Is this an illusion layered upon another illusion, forming a nested, Chain Illusion?

Shi Lei didn't particularly miss his high school classes, and he certainly wouldn't linger here for even a moment longer. After unleashing his Psychic Power, he discovered that he couldn't shatter the surrounding space.

No, it's a physical object.

When Shi Lei scanned the vicinity and found no signs of human habitation within a six-kilometer radius, he quickly understood what was going on.

This isn't about creating an illusion within an illusion; rather, it's about being teleported to an unknown location after the illusion ends.

That's interesting. Are there even combo techniques like that?

The blizzard outside the Cave Entrance was unusually fierce, suggesting that it was in the Northern Ursus.

Shi Lei closed his eyes, trying to sense the Rock Constructs he had distributed to his girlfriends, but he couldn't detect anything.

It felt as if we were thousands of kilometers away from Londinium, so far that we couldn't establish any connection.

He stared at the howling wind and snow outside, then turned to look at the cave that led deep underground.

After a moment's thought, he decided to venture deeper into the cave to see if there was a quick way back.

Shi Lei is currently at the Seven Archons Realm, and his physical abilities have long surpassed those of humans. He can see normally underground, even without any light source, as if he were in daylight.

To save time and get back sooner, he Yu Kong into the Passage Entrance. After about two or three minutes, he finally arrived at the end of the Underground Cave.

This is a very vast space, roughly estimated to be tens of thousands of square meters. The temperature is still bone-chillingly cold compared to the Cave Entrance, but there is not a breath of wind.

Crystal-clear Ice Crystal overlapped and blended with the brown rock walls. Time seemed to stand still here, quiet and without a sound.

Shi Lei arrived at the deepest part, where there was a Giant Tree buried deep underground. Its huge branches were intertwined with the rock strata, proving that this place had endured a long period of time.

The Giant Tree was brownish in color, with not a trace of green. It was more like an ancient stone sculpture than a towering tree.

Shi Lei could sense that there was a life form inside the Giant Tree that was different from humans, and it was extremely large.

This piqued his interest, and he reached out to touch the Ancient Tree in front of him, wanting to scan its interior for a clearer view.

The instant he touched it, a sudden, uncontrollable image flooded into Shi Lei's mind.

He saw massive cities turn to ashes and the land transform into an endless Snowfield.

A Giant Creature, forty or fifty meters tall, its entire body enveloped in flames and lava, swung Flame Greatsword as it rampaged across the ground.

Shi Lei found the sword somewhat familiar, very similar to Surtr's Reine des Neiges. Only the size didn't match; that sword was much smaller.

Directly in front of the Flame Giant was an even larger Ice and Snow Beast. There was no pre-match trash talk; the battle was about to begin.

The Ice and Snow Beast spread its arms, withstanding the fierce attack of the Flame Giant. Then it lunged forward, trying to extinguish the rolling flames on its opponent with the ice and snow on its body.

The Flame Giant was immediately at a disadvantage and began to panic. Because of that moment of hesitation, the Ice and Snow Beast seized the opportunity and gave it a bear hug.

In no time, endless ice and snow covered the flames on the Flame Giant's body. The Ice and Snow Beast seemed to want to trade its life for its opponent's, Ice Seal here.

The only thing the Flame Giant could do was forcefully throw its Flame Greatsword. It was immediately covered in ice and snow, completely frozen in place.

The scene abruptly ends there.

Shi Lei scanned through the Ancient Tree and confirmed that inside were two Giant Creature frozen in Ice Seal.

Surprisingly, they still showed signs of life. It seemed that as long as the ice and snow covering their surface melted, they could unleash the Flame Giant.

Could this be the owner of Reine des Neiges?

Surtr is currently in Lungmen taking care of her child. I'll go see her after I'm done with things in Londinium.

After confirming that there was nothing else in the Underground Space, Shi Lei turned and flew out. At the same time, with a thought, countless Rock Constructs were created out of thin air. In less than two minutes, the entire vast space was filled.

With so many Rock Constructs marking the way, it will be easier for him to bring Surtr to visit this place later.

Finally, Shi Lei out of the Cave Entrance, intending to go up into the sky to check his current location.

Unbeknownst to everyone, they were trapped in an illusion amidst the thick White Mist. Xi was the first to return to normal.

She was an expert in illusions, and once she realized something was wrong, she tried a few more times and she was out of the predicament.

Xi looked up ahead but didn't see Shi Lei. She knew her lover's skill level very well and wasn't worried that he would encounter any accidents. She guessed he had discovered the person who set up the illusion and had given chase after them.

The most urgent task is to help others escape.

Looking around, Xi noticed that everyone trapped in the illusion displayed different emotions.

Mudrock represents sorrow, Texas represents ferocity, Broca struggle, Logos represents indifference, Amiya represents worry, W represents anger, Ines represents forbearance.

Only the Doctor, wearing a hooded mask, had his facial expression obscured. However, he leaned slightly forward and clamped his legs together, suggesting he had encountered something within the illusion.

"Texas, Mudrock, wake up."

Xi first shook the two people closest to her, trying to pull them out of the illusion by calling their names.

Based on her personal experience just now, Xi deduced that the content of the illusion originated from her own memories.

Such methods aren't particularly sophisticated. However, using White Mist for guidance is quite ingenious, and even the person involved didn't notice it beforehand.

Looking at Texas's face, it seemed as if she was trapped in a hallucination from her time with the Syracuse mob. Mudrock was probably trapped in a hallucination from before she met Shi Lei; she was said to have been the captain of an Infected Squad back then.

Before she could wake them all up, Logos was the second to wake up. Seeing that Xi had woken up even earlier than him, he nodded slightly and gave her an approving look.

"The King of Scavengers and the Blood Demon Great Lord couldn't create that illusion, so there's probably another force helping the Sarkaz. You should wake them up first; I'll take care of the Doctor and Amiya."

Xi only speaks normally in front of familiar people; she doesn't dare to utter a sound when strangers try to talk to her.

She nodded, preparing to continue waking Texas and Mudrock, when she noticed the Magic Array drawn beneath her feet.

Um?

Logos also noticed the anomaly and crouched down to investigate. There were incomplete circuits on the ground, like Magic Array that had been constructed in one go.

The fog has thinned out, and the huge Blood Crystal on both sides of the street are now clearly visible. The vivid color gives one a sense of foreboding.

"This Magic Array looks familiar..."

Logos frowned, seemingly recalling the idea. After a moment's thought, he quickly came up with the answer:

"They are liches, the liches of the Ten Royal Courts! Their race is extremely afraid of death and never takes sides. No matter how many waves of Sarkaz Demon King die, they always survive."

"I never expected that these guys who like to hang out in the library would actually work for Theresis."

Xi didn't know how to respond to that, so she didn't reply.

Logos didn't care, took out a Bone Whistle, put it to his lips and blew it lightly, instantly waking everyone up.

Even after returning to reality, several people remained standing in the same spot with solemn expressions, demonstrating the extent of the lingering effects.

Once everyone had recovered and was preparing to head to the Shard Building, they discovered that their leader was missing.

"Hey, where did Doctor Zhongli go?"

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