Chapter 1146: Section 1147: Inscription on the Door
The profound darkness ahead was like the terrifying gaping maw of an unknown behemoth, waiting for its prey to come.
The darkness swallowed all light and shadow, and even though he knew that continuing forward might plunge him into deeper darkness, the rumbling sound coming from behind left Angel with no other thoughts in his mind, his only option was to keep running without stopping.
His speed was fast, like a fleeting light, skimming past shadows.
Along the way, just as the Scouting Puppet had seen before, he encountered no obstructions. The underground tunnel was spacious and dry, the only sounds he could hear were the increasingly close rumbling from afar and his footsteps below.
Finally, Angel reached the core of Lassudral—the very bottom of the Void Tower.
Upon arrival, the narrow tunnel suddenly opened up, as if he had traveled from Gulliver’s land of the small to a world of giants.
Not long after entering the negative distance of the Void Tower, Angel saw its end.
Previously, the feedback from the Scouting Puppet was that there was a giant metal door here. This was indeed the case, but only when Angel truly stood in front of the door did he realize the extent of its width and intricacy, which exceeded his imagination.
Illuminated by the dim light of Fluorite, Angel could see that the door was entirely made of Abyssal secret gold.
Abyssal secret gold, a high-grade material from the Abyss, even a mere gram of it would be frantically bid on at auctions in the Wizards’ Realm, yet here it was used to construct such a massive door! In terms of volume, this door must be measured in tons!
Even Angel couldn’t help but feel his heart race at the sight of such an abundance of Abyssal secret gold.
However, Angel was well aware that the current situation was critical, allowing no room for such extravagant thoughts. With a great effort, he suppressed the avaricious flicker in his heart and continued to examine the door.
In the glow of the Fluorite, the door reflected the dark golden light characteristic of Abyssal secret gold.
It was at this point that Angel noticed something unusual about the door—when the Scouting Puppet had looked at it before, the front of the door had appeared seamless, but standing here now, he discovered that there were actually very subtle indentations. These indentations formed a series of Patterns, and the Patterns together made up an image.
This image was like a mural, telling a strange story. Angel could not decipher the meaning of the story, but he could see that the image included elements of “code, punishment, Demon,” and more.
Beyond that, Angel felt that the Patterns making up this image were very similar to the Pattern of light spots he had seen previously, suggesting that this image should also be an Inscription.
Nevertheless, the Inscription had no energy fluctuations and was probably no longer effective.
Under normal circumstances, Angel might have tried to study this Inscription, but unfortunately, the timing and location were all wrong, and he couldn’t muster the interest.
Right now, his only thoughts were on how to get out and how to stay alive.
The rumbling in the tunnel continued unabated and seemed to be spreading faster. Judging by the distance of the sound he could now hear, the entrance where he had been before was probably already in ruins.
It wouldn’t be long before it spread to this location!
With time pressing, Angel turned around and took a deep breath in front of this door.
Now, with no other paths in this place, he decided to try pushing the door.
He placed his hand on the door, and the Abyssal secret gold beneath his palm transmitted a chilling cold that penetrated to the marrow of his bones.
With veins bulging on his arms, Angel exerted all his strength, fiercely pushing the door inward… yet it did not budge an inch.
Angel paused for a moment before making a second attempt. This time, as he pushed the door, he not only exerted his full strength but also conjured three Hands of Magic, all pushing against the door together.
The result of the second attempt was still a failure.
The door had not moved at all, and Angel even began to wonder whether the door was meant to be pulled rather than pushed. He tried pulling the door towards him, but still, there was no effect.
After several attempts, Angel had tried every method he could think of, yet none were successful.
If the door had even slightly moved, Angel might have gleaned some information, but it stood as immovable as a mountain, steadfast and unyielding.
“Not a push, nor a pull… Could it be knocked?” Angel recalled some strange tales from folklore, which featured similar plotlines: when ever effort to open a door failed, one might as well try knocking.
However, if knocking really opened this door, Angel thought he would be absolutely terrified. Whatever could open this door from the inside would probably not be something he wanted to encounter.
The rumbling in the tunnel was now very close, and the ground was starting to tremble. Hesitant, Angel still went ahead and knocked on the door.
A crisp knocking sound echoed as Angel fortified himself with a Defense Spell while waiting anxiously.
——After a long while, the door still did not open.
Angel wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or frustrated and annoyed. At least it indicated one thing—the other side of the door was likely empty.
The relentless rumbling approached from behind, and in the pitch-black tunnel, Angel could even see the Dust rising.
Collapse was imminent.
The terrifying rumble, like the footsteps of the Grim Reaper, could signify that, when the sound reached his ears, it might be time for the Reaper to harvest.
In this moment between life and death, Angel tried to enter the state of absolute logic once again, hoping to analyze the current information and find a way to survive.
As billowing dust filled the tunnel behind him, Angel remained unaffected, his gaze calmly fixed on the door before him.
During his previous search for the “door-opening mechanism,” he had touched every part of this door from top to bottom without finding anything out of the ordinary. The only part that seemed possibly suspicious to him was the inscription pattern in the middle.
Angel didn’t understand inscriptions, nor did he know what this pattern signified.
All he could guess was that this inscription pattern might be the key to opening the door; only by activating the inscription could the door possibly open.
But the inscription on the door had obviously lost its effect; it might not be possible to activate it at all.
Angel decided to proceed with his own idea, using the Magical Energy Array’s approach and employing Magic Power to trace the inscription, to see if there was a way to activate it.
By this time, rubble had already rolled near the door.
Ignoring the falling debris, Angel extended his finger, magic swirling at his fingertip, and then slowly fused the Magic Power into the patterns on the door…
The pattern on the door flickered, but darkness suddenly enveloped Angel’s view.
Then, the next second, Angel saw an eye opening in the darkness and looking towards him.
What kind of eye was it? Angel couldn’t even begin to describe it; it seemed to see through everything in the world, fraught with wisdom, yet beneath the wisdom lurked an unrestrained malevolence and bloodthirstiness.
When that eye was observing him, Angel was not only unable to move but felt as if his entire being was seen through.
Whether flesh or Soul, in the gaze of that eye, he was utterly exposed.
Suddenly, a familiar itch emerged on Angel’s shoulder, and with the itch, the sensation of being seen through gradually dissipated… It was as if a layer of Mist had appeared before him, not only obscuring him from the view of the other but also preventing Angel from seeing the eye behind the Mist.
Thus, he missed the flash of surprise that passed through the eye.
The darkness gradually faded away, and the eye disappeared along with it, the light from the Fluorite reappearing before Angel’s eyes.
Angel didn’t know how long he had been in the previous darkness, but when he came back to his senses, he was surprised to find the roaring sound had vanished, and the world had returned to silence.
Angel looked at his intact hands and then at the door before him.
The door remained closed, but his body was unharmed? What was going on?
He looked back, the ground covered with rubble and minor cracks in the side and ceiling walls, but, fortunately, there was no collapse in this area.
He walked a distance towards the tunnel, soon coming upon a thick pile of rocks and soil, blocking any further passage.
Angel estimated the distance and successfully located his current coordinates from the mental sandbox in his mind: The collapsed tunnel stopped right below the Void Tower.
Angel had a moment of realization, seemingly making sense of the situation.
After all, if the tunnel where he was currently located had collapsed as well, wouldn’t the Void Tower above ground suffer damage too? Even if it didn’t collapse, it would become a Leaning Tower of Void.
It appeared that his previous worries had been overblown.
However, the real problem was still in front of him; how was he to get out?
Angel walked back in front of the door, which remained closed; reflecting on his previous experience, he felt something strange.
What exactly was with this door? And what was the deal with that eye before?
He looked at the pattern on the door – it was the same as before with no change.
Angel felt puzzled and could only shake his head with a sigh.
Then, as a matter of routine, he checked his shoulder with his spiritual power. The place where it had itched before showed no sign of anything unusual, so he let his guard down.
Concerning these trivial matters, Angel didn’t probe any deeper but instead contemplated the most practical issue at hand: how to leave this place?
The first thing that came to Angel’s mind was to dig through the pile of soil outside.
Since the tunnel had already collapsed, shouldn’t it be possible to dig a path to the outside?
With this thought, Angel extended a wisp of spiritual power through the gaps in the pile of soil, wanting to scout the situation first.