cough.
To put it nicely, it's archaeology.
To put it bluntly, Saruman and his group's actions were indeed tomb raiding.
certainly.
Regardless.
Saruman embraced all things and indeed forged his own path.
Even with just a tiny bit of Magic Power, the spikes pierced the force field, but their power was completely destroyed, leaving only a tiny, insignificant hole in Saruman's gray robe.
It didn't even touch the skin.
Saruman's left hand continued to "grab" the nebula's light and mist.
He seemed to have calculated everything.
At this moment, the out-of-control light mist was guided over and Silencio covered the Black Robed Woman was momentarily stunned due to the failed surprise attack!
"Using the Magic Power Fluctuation and distraction caused by your opponent breaking your spells to launch a surprise attack—excellent tactical awareness." Saruman slowly turned around, facing the somewhat disheveled the Black Robed Woman slightly shrouded in the nebulous mist he had guided towards him. "However, he relies too heavily on specific routines and innate abilities."
"You overlooked a potential hidden trump card from your opponent, such as more advanced energy manipulation and neutralization techniques. This ripple field works by transforming point-like attack energy into a surface-like diffusion through high-frequency vibrations, then guiding it in a harmless direction. You need a broader approach to counter this."
Saruman certainly has the air of a highly skilled, elderly master.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~"
The Black Robed Woman stood amidst the dissipating nebula light and mist, panting heavily and drenched in sweat. The continuous high-intensity spellcasting, the constant dismantling of his tactical maneuvers, and the immense mental pressure had pushed him to his limit. He felt his Magic Power was nearly depleted, and waves of burning pain emanated from the mutated parts of his body.
That's a sign of overspending.
Before the incident, the teacher was truly too strong. Even when suppressing his power to a level lower than his own, even without launching an attack, his profound understanding of magic, absolute control over the rhythm of battle, and seemingly all-knowing wisdom left him feeling deeply powerless.
"Is it really impossible to harm the teacher in the slightest? Not even to make him move a single step? Or to leave the slightest trace?"
No! The Black Robed Woman suddenly raised his head, an indomitable flame burning in his vertical pupils. His teacher had taught him that Wizard's power lay in his mind!
He cannot rely solely on magic and strength!
The Black Robed Woman frantically recalled every detail of the battle, every word of his teacher's comments, the environment of the underground Chamber of Secrets, and everything he possessed—whether orthodox magic,
Ancient incantations, forbidden arts, or—the unique abilities bestowed upon this corrupted body.
An extremely risky, even somewhat crazy, idea suddenly flashed into view, like a spark ignited in the darkness!
He slowly lowered his wand, as if he had given up due to exhaustion. His body was slightly hunched, and his breathing became heavier.
Saruman watched him quietly, neither urging him nor letting his guard down, but like the most patient mentor, waiting for his student's final Hard Work or choice.
Just then, the Black Robed Woman moved!
Instead of raising his wand, he slammed it into the ground beneath his feet! Not to cast a spell, but to use it as a sturdy foothold!
At the same time, he let out a low growl, his muscles bulged, and the blood vessels beneath his gray-green scales sprang up. He poured the last remaining Magic Power in his body, along with the violent and corrosive alien energy brought by the contamination of R'lyeh, recklessly into his legs!
This is not magic; it is a pure, Magic Power enhanced physical outburst!
He hurtled toward Saruman like an arrow released from a bow—no, like a boulder launched from a catapult—with a speed that defied all the logic of Wizard combat, a purely physical, linear, and brutally powerful force!
In the instant of his sprint, the magic gem at the tip of his wand, which had been in a semi-activated state, was forcibly activated by his last ounce of Mental Power! It wasn't an offensive spell, but rather an extremely dazzling flash of light with a strong mental interference effect! Its target wasn't Saruman, but rather an inconspicuous stone slab inscribed with ancient purifying runes in a corner of the Chamber of Secrets's ceiling!
Stimulated by the overloaded Magic Power, the stone slab's subtle purifying power was briefly activated, emitting a pure energy fluctuation that was completely out of place with the lingering aura of R'lyeh that permeated the Chamber of Secrets!
All of this happened in the blink of an eye!
In Saruman's perception, the Black Robed Woman's Magic Power suddenly plummeted, and his movements became rough, straight-line collisions, as if he had run out of tricks. But at the same time, a faint, yet opposite, purifying fluctuation appeared in the corner, interfering with his consistently stable perception model of energy flow in the environment.
Although the overloaded flash spell wasn't strong, it caused an extremely subtle, perhaps almost negligible, "light pollution" interference to his " Mind's Eye " reliance on pure energy perception for a fleeting moment.
But! But!
It was the ripples created by the superposition of these multiple factors that caused Saruman to experience a perception "delay" and "misjudgment" that even Saruman himself had not anticipated—a one in a billion chance!
By the time he realized what was happening, the Black Robed Woman, whose body had gathered all his remaining strength and even dared to draw upon polluting energy, had already rushed to within two steps of him!
The powerful wind generated by the charge even ruffled his gray beard!
"Hmm?" Saruman instantly made the most correct response—he no longer tried to use sophisticated energy manipulation to neutralize it, but instead instantly condensed the Magic Power that he had been controlling at an extremely low level in his right palm, preparing to use the simplest " Magic Power shock" to shake the Black Robed Woman away, avoiding the unknown risks that might arise from the direct impact of his body, which was contaminated with energy.
However, just as he raised his right palm and was about to unleash his Magic Power, the Black Robed Woman's charging body, at the last moment, defied the laws of physics, using the wand stuck in the ground as an axis and the momentum of his forward charge to make a near-twisted, slight, and millimeter-thick sideways change of direction!
This isn't magic; it's the result of a warrior pushing and controlling their body to its limits in dire circumstances!
It was this slight difference that caused Saruman's predicted " Magic Power impact" to deviate slightly from the target of the Black Robed Woman's collision!
"Bang!!"
A muffled thud!
The Black Robed Woman's scale-covered shoulder slammed solidly into the outside of Saruman's raised arm! A force arose, a mixture of pure brute force, depleted Magic Power, and a corrupting, corrosive power!
Saruman's body, a body that had been as solid as a rock for thousands of years, actually swayed slightly and took a small step back in this meticulously designed, multi-layered, and ultimately impossible impact!
At the same time, the subtle polluting energy attached to the scales on the part of the Black Robed Woman that struck him also successfully penetrated the gray robe's defense in Saruman's arm, leaving a negligible, light gray-green mark on Saruman's arm skin that was almost instantly purified and dispelled by the stronger power within him.
certainly.
even so.
The damage has already been done.
Upon impact, the Black Robed Woman was thrown back like a puppet with its strings cut, staggering several steps backward. He coughed up a mouthful of blood tinged with black smoke, unable to hold on any longer, and collapsed to one knee, barely managing to stay upright with his wand stuck in the ground. He felt as if every bone in his body had been shattered.
His Magic Power completely dried up, and the pain from the pollution washed over him like a tidal wave, blurring his vision. But he did it! He really made his teacher—move!
And it left traces!
"Good."
Saruman stood still, looked down at the rapidly disappearing gray-green mark on his arm, and then felt the slight shift in his footing as he took a half-step back.
Then, slowly and clearly, he smiled. That smile was no longer one of relief or reassurance, but one filled with genuine, heartfelt joy and appreciation.
"That's it—that's right—"
He spoke in a low voice, which was not loud, but it clearly reached the ears of the Black Robed Woman.
" The Wizard's greatest strength always lies here—" he raised a finger and gently tapped his temple, "—in our minds."
"You're very good—even better than I expected." Saruman's smile widened, a smile of satisfaction at seeing his most outstanding work finally shine.
"Now." He stopped smiling, straightened his back, let his hands hang naturally at his sides, tilted his head slightly, and his face regained that calm and expectant expression.
"Send me on my way."
He spoke softly, as if inviting his students to draw back the final curtain on a grand adventure.
The Black Robed Woman, enduring excruciating pain and dizziness, stared at his teacher's unguarded posture and his calm, contented face. Tears mingled with blood, blurring his distorted vision. Yet, his trembling hand remained remarkably steady as he gripped the wand plunged into the ground once more.
He knew this was the final step, and the most important thing he could do for his teacher.
The Black Robed Woman gripped his wand tightly, its tip pointed at Saruman's unsuspecting chest. Tears streamed silently down his distorted face, mingling with the undried blood at the corner of his mouth, dripping onto the cold ground. His vision was blurred by tears and exhaustion, but his teacher's serene face was etched with unparalleled clarity into the depths of his soul.
There were no incantations, no dazzling magical light.
He poured the last remaining trace of pure arcane Magic Power (not the corrupted alien energy) into his wand. A faint but steady, silvery-white light, like a cold star, shone from the tip of the wand.
"Teacher, have a safe journey," he said hoarsely, using the last of his strength.
Then, he closed his eyes and steadily pushed his wrist forward.
"Pfft."
A very faint sound, like a sharp object piercing rotten wood.
Those silvery-white stars, like weary birds returning to their nests, disappeared into Saruman's chest beneath his grey robes, into the space of his heart.
There was no explosion, no burst of light, and not even much blood. Saruman's body only trembled slightly, and the calm and expectant expression on his face remained unchanged, as if he had only been gently touched by a breeze.
He slowly, very slowly, fell backward, his movements as gentle as an autumn leaf falling. His simple gray robe unfurled as he fell, like a cloud that had lost all its vitality.
Thump.
With a dull thud, the old Wizard's body fell to the cold ground, curled up as if in eternal slumber. His empty eye sockets stared at the dim ceiling of the Chamber of Secrets, and a faint smile seemed to linger at the corner of his mouth.
In the Chamber of Secrets, only the Black Robed Woman's heavy, painful breathing and the frantic pounding of his own heart could be heard.
He staggered forward a few steps and knelt beside Saruman's gradually cooling body. His trembling hand reached out, wanting to touch him, but froze at the last moment. He dared not; he feared that his touch would desecrate this sacred sacrifice, and he feared feeling the coldness of life's complete demise.
Just then, an unusual phenomenon occurred.
Saruman's body did not show the usual changes after death.
There was no rigor mortis, no smell of decay. On the contrary, his body began to emit an extremely faint...
It was a soft halo that seemed to be formed from countless tiny starlight. This halo did not originate from the body, but rather seeped out from the depths of his brow, heart, and limbs, like the morning sun piercing through the clouds.
These tiny specks of light, as if possessing their own consciousness, drifted and converged slowly in the air, eventually flowing like an invisible stream towards Saruman's left hand, which he held tightly until his death—or more precisely, towards the thing lying quietly in his palm.
It is entirely black Raven tail feathers.
"The soul of a teacher! That is it!"
The Black Robed Woman was extremely excited.
The sadness I felt earlier has dissipated somewhat.
The moment the last glimmer of light entered the feather, the feather, which had already been emitting an ominous glow, suddenly lit up! It wasn't a blinding light, but a deep, dark silver light that seemed to draw in sight and soul. Every single hair on the feather seemed to come alive.
Mysterious runes and light flowed across it, and it began to float up slowly in a way that defied the laws of physics, hovering about a foot above Saruman's corpse.
Rotate slowly.
As it spun, the feather itself began to become transparent and ethereal, as if it were being "peeled" away from the world. Meanwhile, the dark silver light grew stronger, gradually outlining an extremely blurry shape around the feather.
A constantly distorted and shifting outline.
The outline looked dreamlike, yet also carried a hazy, high-definition quality, vaguely resembling a large bird about to take flight.
Of course, the reason it is described as having a hazy, high-definition feel is that it looks very lifelike, yet it is full of an illusory, non-physical quality.
"The teacher was actually right!" The Black Robed Woman held his breath, watching everything intently. He could feel an extremely ancient, extremely obscure power emanating from the feathers, a power completely beyond his comprehension. It was a ripple of time, the sound of the threads of Destiny being plucked.
A few seconds later, the spinning feathers and the illusory bird-shaped outline suddenly shrank inward, transforming into a single, extremely concentrated dark silver light.
Then—like a candle flame blown out—it vanished completely, Silencio.
No trace was left behind, and no disturbance to space or energy was caused, as if everything just now was an illusion. Apart from the Black Robed Woman, only Saruman's body, which was gradually losing its aura and reverting to that of an ordinary old man's remains, lay quietly on the ground.
This proves that what just happened was not an illusion.