They realized that they had narrowly escaped death.
This made Saruman realize that he needed to be more cautious.
He Hard Work to distinguish the mixed energy.
"There's one—filled with the stench of the deep sea and ancient resentment, like a living curse from the bottom of a deep trench—and another, carrying the coldness of stars and absolute nothingness, seemingly capable of freezing souls and annihilating existence—even more terrifying, I sensed a kind of omnipresent whisper and madness, seemingly without a fixed form, yet capable of constantly eroding the opponent's spirit and distorting reality in battle—"
The more he spoke, the more his heart sank.
These enemies.
None of them matched the characteristics of any Magical Creatures or otherworldly being he knew. The aura they exuded was more primal, more ancient.
Furthermore—it doesn't belong to the realm of what this world understands.
"No wonder—no wonder even a Legend is struggling so much—" Saruman murmured. He had been wondering whether the Legend was clearing out the "monsters" in R'lyeh City or fighting some ancient construct guarding a ruin. But now it seemed the enemy was no human creation.
Its strangeness and power are probably no less than those of the Legend itself!
In some ways, it's even more troublesome because their power attributes are so unfamiliar and blasphemous that dealing with them will inevitably leave you feeling helpless.
"Is that so?"
Karg listened to Saruman's analysis.
Looking at the eerie smoke and dust rising from the city and the flickering, deadly green light, his throat went dry. " Saruman —you say, that Legend —can he win?"
This was precisely Saruman's greatest worry. All their hopes—whether to escape this desolate land or find a way to save Lina —were now pinned on that unknown Legend. If he were to be defeated—the consequences would be unimaginable!
"I don't know—" Saruman said honestly, a rare moment when he was completely unable to assess the situation. "Judging from the total amount and level of Magic Power, that Legend still holds the initiative, and his Death Magic seems to have a strong restraining effect on these enemies. However—the number of enemies, and their unpredictable and seemingly endless attacks—this is more like a war of attrition, an ultimate test of will and endurance."
He paused, then added an even more alarming suspicion, "Moreover, I suspect—these enemies may not be the original guards of R'lyeh City."
"They give me the feeling that they were awakened by some force, or drawn from another dimension—if that's the case, it means the battle may never end unless the source is found." Saruman did indeed sense some real information.
What!
This speculation sent a chill down Karg's spine.
A battle that never ends? Facing an endless stream of bizarre, Legend enemies? This is the cruelest punishment in the world!
Just then, the childish voice rang out again from within the city, but this time, it was neither announcing magic nor expressing emotions, but rather a series of rapid and strange syllables, as if chanting something. The syllables did not belong to any known language and were full of distortion and incongruity.
But the Magic Power contained within was so immense it was suffocating! As the chanting began, the dusky yellow sky above R'lyeh City began to twist and spin, as if forming an invisible vortex! A grander, more ancient will seemed to have been briefly stirred!
"He's... harnessing the power of this world?!" Saruman exclaimed in shock, his eyes filled with horror.
This goes beyond the scope of ordinary magic!
This is interference with the rules of the entire "domain"!
This is a power that only Legend experts can achieve within their own domains, but here, in this Forbidden Land belonging to " R'lyeh," the opponent can actually do it too?!
All I saw was...
The green death Magic Power boiled to its extreme at this moment, mixing with the drawn power of heaven and earth to form a destructive torrent of color that pierced through the heavens and earth!
The torrent crashed violently into a core area of the city!
This time, instead of the sound of collapse or impact, there was a sharp, piercing scream, like shattering glass! Immediately following were countless inhuman roars and wails filled with pain and madness, as if thousands of evil beings had been severely wounded at the same moment!
"Boom! Boom!"
The aftershocks of the battle spread outwards like a tsunami, even forcing Saruman and Karg to retreat repeatedly, requiring them to erect Magic Shield and display their warrior aura to maintain their footing.
The light within the city gradually dimmed, and the surging Magic Power began to subside.
The battle seems to have come to a temporary end.
Saruman and Karg stood rooted to the spot, breathing heavily, their faces still showing lingering shock. They exchanged a glance, both seeing the same question in each other's eyes:
An enemy that even a Legend capable of manipulating the power of heaven and earth struggled so much, requiring him to use his trump card to temporarily quell the situation—
What exactly is it?
And deep within this city of the dead, known as " R'lyeh ".
What great terror slumbers beneath the surface?
After this attack erupted, the earth-shattering roars and howls within the R'lyeh City were abruptly cut off by an invisible giant hand.
An absolute, chilling silence, like thick ink, spread rapidly, drowning out all the previous clamor. This silence was not tranquility, but a more unsettling stillness after a storm, as if the entire city had fallen into a brief shock after some ultimate collision.
Of course, it could also be brewing a deeper level of terror.
Nobody can say for sure.
Beneath the dim, yellowish sky, the twisted green stone city lay silently, no longer flashing with magical light, no longer echoing with the crashing of collapsing buildings, even the eerie whispers and grinding sounds that had previously lingered like background noise had vanished. Occasionally, a faint, indescribable odor drifted from afar, a mixture of sulfur, ozone, and some other indescribable...
The stench, reminiscent of rotting marine entrails, served as a stark reminder of the reality and brutality of the battle they had just witnessed.
"So~" Karg's tense muscles slowly relaxed, but his grip on the sword hilt did not loosen at all. He listened intently, but could hear nothing except his own heavy breathing and Lina's faint, wet panting.
"Is it... over?" His voice was hoarse and uncertain. This sudden calm was more chilling to him than the fierce battle before.
Saruman's brow was also furrowed, his silver eyes filled with vigilance and contemplation. "I don't know—but the energy fluctuations have indeed subsided. That Legend —seems to have temporarily suppressed the enemy, or—resolved the battle."
He dared not draw a conclusion; Legend battle was beyond his comprehension, and any possibility existed. Perhaps it was just a temporary ceasefire, or perhaps the enemy was completely annihilated.
Or perhaps—that Legend also paid a price.
However, even though the battle seemed to have subsided, the two looked at the desolate city that resembled a sleeping behemoth, yet their feet seemed rooted to the spot, and they dared not venture forward rashly.
Even today.
Only then did the two of them truly realize the weight of the Legend.
Moreover, the ancient and unchanging aura of madness and blasphemy emanating from the city, originating from the buildings themselves and from every green boulder, did not diminish in the slightest with the cessation of the battle. On the contrary, it became even more prominent in this absolute silence, like an invisible barrier, preventing any living being from stepping in.
"We can't go in."
Saruman finally shook his head, his tone resolute, "To rush in without fully understanding the situation inside the city, and without knowing the Legend's attitude and state, would be tantamount to suicide. That silence—it's too eerie."
Although Karg was eager to find clues to their escape or a way to save Lina, he also knew that Saruman's judgment was correct. He nodded, his gaze returning to the broken stone tablet.
"Then—what else can we do? Just sit here and wait?"
He sighed.
"No!"
Saruman turned back to the stone tablet that held the secrets of R'lyeh, his gaze sharp and focused once more. "We still have it. The previous deciphering was just the tip of the iceberg. This stone tablet must hold even more truth about this place, perhaps—the key to how to enter safely, or how to leave!"
He took a deep breath, suppressing his curiosity and unease about the situation inside the city, and devoted all his Mental Power back to deciphering the stone tablet.
This time, he no longer limited himself to those relatively clear and simple symbols, but instead set his sights on those that were more complex, more distorted, and even stung his eyes just to look at them.
A deep passage filled with confused thoughts.
"Alright, I'll protect you." Seeing Karg, Kag didn't bother him any further. He silently stood guard by his side, keeping a watchful eye on the city and the surrounding environment for any disturbances.
He took even better care of Lina.
He noticed that the edges of the scales on Lina's arm seemed to shimmer with an even more ominous, fluorescent glow, while the black markings on Karg's own arm also emitted waves of light that were clearer than before.
It feels like tiny insects crawling under the skin, causing a tingling and stinging sensation.
This set off alarm bells in his mind; time seemed to be truly not on their side.
"Hurry up."
Karg couldn't help but urge him on.
"Good!"
Saruman's codebreaking efforts entered a more difficult and dangerous phase.
Those deep symbols seemed to possess a life of their own, resisting being understood. Every inch his Mental Power penetrated deeper, they were met with an even stronger spiritual backlash.
The hallucinations became more pronounced and terrifying.
At times, he felt himself floating in an endless, cold void, surrounded by shadows that were so large they were indescribable and slowly writhing; at other times, he felt as if he were sinking into the bottom of the ocean, with huge, slippery tentacles brushing against his body, and indescribable whispers resounding directly in the depths of his soul, tempting him to abandon thought and merge into that eternal madness.
"Damn seduction!"
Saruman's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his body trembled slightly, but he gritted his teeth and persevered with extraordinary willpower and self-control.
Then.
The man constantly switched between various decryption techniques and mind-protecting spells, as if walking a tightrope over a bottomless abyss. Time passed slowly, and deathly silence enveloped everything.
Finally, after countless mental shocks and resistance, Saruman made another breakthrough. He deciphered several even more chilling messages.
"----Do not call its name----Do not conjure its form---- The Sleeping God dwells in the city----To dream of eating is a curse----"
Cannot call its name?
Its form cannot be visualized? Sleeping God? Saruman felt a chill creep up his spine; did this refer to a specific being within the city?
"----Time and space distort here----The non-living----Mortals remain----Flesh and blood are different----The soul will return to the Eternal Dream ----"
Staying will lead to alienation? To returning to the Eternal Dream? He suddenly looked at Lina and Karg, his heart trembling!
"----The positions of the stars----are both the key and the shackle----When the stars return to their places----the slumbering will awaken----"
R'lyeh will rise from the deep sea----"
The Stars Align? R'lyeh has risen? This sounds like some kind of... doomsday Prophecy? Saruman's mind raced wildly as he continued his deciphering.
"----Those who peek into the truth---- will pay the price----Knowledge and madness are two sides of the same coin----" These fragmented messages, like cold poison, dripped into Saruman's heart. He combined them with the words he had previously deciphered, such as " Great Old Ones " and "Eternal Nightmare".
A blurry but extremely terrifying image gradually took shape in his mind.
The R'lyeh City is not a simple ancient ruin; it is the sleeping place of one or more terrifying beings known as the " Great Old Ones," beings Superman comprehension!
Simply knowing of their existence, calling out their names, or even just sketching their forms in one's mind can lead to irreversible pollution and madness!
Even more terrifying is that this place itself is permeated with an invisible, assimilative force. Any life that does not belong here, if it stays for too long, will have its flesh and soul gradually eroded and distorted by this force, eventually transforming into a non-human monster, or having its consciousness pulled into the so-called " Eternal Dream," becoming part of madness.
Lina's mutation and the worsening of the markings on Karg's body are conclusive evidence that this assimilation process has already begun!
They thought they had escaped the Infinite Corridor, but in reality, they had stumbled into an even more desperate trap where they would slowly die! Staying here would not only result in being killed by monsters!
It means turning into a monster!
How could this happen!
Saruman's face turned ashen.
He abruptly raised his head, looked at Karg, and said in a voice filled with unprecedented urgency and a hint of despair, " Karg!"
We can't stay here any longer! We must leave this area immediately!
Karg was startled by Saruman's violent reaction and quickly asked, "What's wrong? What did you find?"
Saruman quickly and concisely relayed the terrifying message he had deciphered to Karg, emphasizing the warnings that "staying will lead to alienation" and "the soul will return to the Eternal Dream."
Karg listened.
He looked down at the black lines on his arm that seemed to come alive and slowly wriggle, then looked at Lina, whose scales glowed eerily in her unconscious state.
A chilling despair instantly overwhelmed him.
"We're doomed!"
He had hoped to find a way to save Lina here, or at least to wait safely for an opportunity, but little did he know that this place was actually a slowly taking effect gas chamber!