Chapter 1170: Section 1171: Return
“Only the birth of the Primeval Flame could drive Komodo into such madness, it seems that the night innkeeper has succeeded.” Fafnir’s ethereal voice reached Angel’s ears.
So it was the night innkeeper.
Angel felt a moment of trance, and upon reflection, indeed, only the night innkeeper could cause such a commotion.
Remembering the overwhelming terror from before, Angel still felt a sense of trepidation.
However, why would the night innkeeper Ascend the Throne and appear at the summit of the Void Tower?
Angel cast a puzzled look towards the summit, where under the joint attack of Komodo and the humans, the light Pattern had become nearly transparent.
Then, Monty, transformed into an ice giant, suddenly stepped forward, drawing out the colossal sword formed from the Frostmoon silver crown; with both hands on the sword, he aimed it at where the light Pattern was.
“Whoosh—” With a great shout, boundless frosty power converged, and a shimmering blue glow covered the great sword; Monty appeared to exert the strength of ten thousand, slashing forward with the colossal sword!
A terrifying sword radiance, accompanied by endless white frost nova, surged towards the light Pattern like a crescent moon!
The Pattern surrounding the tower’s summit, already nearly transparent from the assault of Komodo and the other Wizards, was on the verge of reaching its threshold. Monty’s slashing strike was the blow that broke the deadlock!
Clang!
As if colored glaze had shattered, the light Pattern circling the summit of the Void Tower completely dimmed, fractures spread throughout, and the play of light and shadow turned into myriad splintering points of light that merged with the sparks in the wind before finally dissipating…
With the Pattern’s disappearance, the view at the tower’s summit was fully exposed.
“That is…”
“Impossible?! There is a vortex forming on that painting!”
“Could it be that the painting really is the work of the Magic Painter Wizard?!”
From above the drifting ice, a series of astonished gasps could be heard, but they quickly turned to fear.
Because from the vortex at the center of the painting, countless extremely dense flames burst forth, like a dense rain of fire that would incinerate upon contact!
A Demon that was too close, a fire-type Demon at that, turned to black ash the moment it was touched by the flames!
Witnessing this scene, Maher cried out in terror, “Ward up! Quick, activate the defenses!”
A frantic scramble ensued above the ice, and Angel, too, was startled by this turn of events. When the Pattern receded, he had expected to see the night innkeeper, but instead of the innkeeper’s presence, he saw the painting named “Night.”
The painting now appeared pitch black without any firelight, but a vortex instead.
As Angel closely observed, countless terrifying flames flew out from the vortex. Such flames could burn even fire-type Demons, and Angel dared not touch them.
Fortunately, Fafnir was at his side. With a casual wave of her hand, the Domain of Wind enveloped both her and Angel.
The flames that emerged from the vortex slid to one side upon meeting the Domain of Wind.
Angel sighed with relief, but at that moment, he heard Fafnir groaning in pain. Looking back, he saw that Fafnir, usually so serene, now wore an expression of anguish, beads of sweat covering her forehead.
The Domain of Wind, until now steady under Fafnir’s control, began to waver for the first time!
“Lady Fafnir,” Angel murmured softly, “are you… are you all right?”
“These flames, originating from the Primeval Flame Nursery, the civilization’s origin… that indescribable world, so resisting them is quite difficult…” Fafnir’s voice came out in halting fragments.
Angel was stunned for a moment. The world of the Primeval Flame Nursery? Could it be that these flames were the Primeval Flame?
Angel instinctively looked at Aoluxiya and Komodo, whose goals were both the Primeval Flame. Aoluxiya was on top of the tower, but it, along with Greerwu and Tandin, was at the edge of the painting and hadn’t been struck by the flames. Aoluxiya kept its gaze fixed on the vortex at the center of “Night,” seemingly unbothered by these leaking flames. Komodo, on the other hand, had turned into a nebulous Fire Element, forming a shield to stop these flames.
It seemed, these flames were not the Primeval Flame.
Angel looked around once more; if even Fafnir found it difficult to resist, the defense of the drifting ice had no chance at all.
The floating ice in the sky, under the inferno, evaporated directly into gas. It disappeared into the air at a visible rate.
Sanders was also warding off the flames, sensing the terrifying power within, he now understood why Nitotipu suddenly withdrew her rain clouds earlier… Even if her umbrella was a Mysterious Object, facing these flames directly, it would likely sustain damage.
Fortunately, the release of flames from the vortex didn’t last too long.
After a minute, the cascading flames gradually vanished.
Looking back, Maher saw that far away, the ‘black cloud’ formed by Demons had lost quite a few in the blaze. Yet, not many human Wizards had perished.
Though the flames were fierce, they only caused damage in the current world; one only needed to hide in an alternate space to be relatively safe.
However, with the spatial energy of Lassudral in chaos, Demons could not enter alternate spaces, and Wizards could not open Exile Space, but Wizards had one advantage—the Witchcraft Garden.
Just as the floating ice had melted, Monty had packed all the wizards into his Witchcraft Garden—the Everwinter Garden.
Now, all the wizards had been released, only a few, in their panic, had not made it into the Everwinter Garden in time, and were struck by the flames and turned to ash. The rest of the wizards were safe and sound.
Although the wizards were safe, unfortunately, the floating ice was no more.
As Maher was taking out his personal vehicle, feeling regretful, a commotion suddenly arose among the wizards around him. Puzzled, Maher looked in the direction of the noise, only to see the painting at the top of the distant tower, lighting up with a bright glow once again…
…
Fafnir had cancelled the Domain of Wind, wiping sweat from her forehead, her eyes fiercely glaring at Komodo in the distance.
Although the flames were indeed difficult to ward off, the main reason she felt pain while sustaining the Domain of Wind was the injury she had previously suffered in her fight with Komodo. Otherwise, she would not have been in such a sorry state.
However, as Fafnir was glaring at Komodo, she saw Komodo suddenly charging towards the top of the tower.
Fafnir’s gaze followed Komodo’s movements to the top of the tower. There, the painting atop the tower burst into a scorching light once again from within the vortex.
But this time, Komodo didn’t display caution as he had before; instead, he looked excitedly at the light.
On the other side, Aoluxiya was also deeply staring at the light.
Seeing this scene, a flicker of doubt crossed Fafnir’s eyes, “Could it be, the light within the vortex…” is the Primeval Flame?
As Fafnir speculated, the vortex finally underwent a second transmutation. Previously, it had leaked out a vast amount of flames, but this time, no flames flowed out from the vortex.
Yet this change was, if anything, more daunting to everyone present than the previous one.
Because—
A giant hand suddenly reached out from the vortex.
At first, it was just fingers, gradually, the entire hand became visible. The size of the hand was like that of a giant’s, but it was not rough like a typical giant’s hand; rather, it was smooth as jade.
The hand gleamed a bright red throughout, reminiscent of red-hot colored glaze.
As the hand emerged from the vortex, all living beings felt that same terrifying intent as before, and the flames across the sky rose and fell in tandem.
By this time, everyone understood that the owner of this hand must be the source of that terrifying intent.
Monty had prepared to take advantage of the situation to ambush Aoluxiya, but with the appearance of the hand, a look of alarm flitted across his eyes, and he involuntarily stepped back.
The hand from the vortex kept extending slowly, as if there was some barrier preventing it from fully entering this world.
“I’ve heard from Odeclass before that one must completely transform into fire to travel to that world, a step that is akin to dispersing everything,” said Fafnir softly, “And to return from that world, one has to make the dispersed reunite into a solid form, a process named Reshaping.”
“Right now, its movement is very slow, which is indeed the process of Reshaping.”
Angel turned his head back, “Does Lady Fafnir mean to say that the owner of that hand is… the Night Innkeeper?”
Fafnir nodded, envy in her eyes. The Night Innkeeper was much younger than her, yet he had taken that step so swiftly, it filled her with emotion.
Once Angel was certain the hand belonged to the Night Innkeeper, joy flickered through his eyes.
Regardless, the Night Innkeeper had indeed offered him considerable help before. Seeing the Night Innkeeper reach this milestone, Angel truly felt happy for him, despite their different races.
However, as he watched the slowly protruding hand, Angel was once again reminded of Feng.
Feng seemed unrelated to the current events, yet Angel always felt his presence lurking everywhere, as if even the Night Innkeeper’s final step involved Feng’s influence.
Not to mention that the Night Innkeeper was now emerging from Feng’s very painting.
What role was Feng playing in all this?
As Angel’s mind churned with thoughts, the Night Innkeeper’s forearm finally “struggled” its way out of the vortex.
Just as the forearm was completely revealed, a strange fluctuation suddenly radiated outward.
Angel was also drawn to this vibration; it was indescribable, but his heart began to throb rapidly, pounding as if craving a table of exquisite delicacies.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed that as the Night Innkeeper’s forearm emerged, it had inadvertently brought a sprig of flames from that ineffable world with it.
At the end of the Night Innkeeper’s forearm, right where it was as red as if ablaze, a little white flame was now burning.
This small flame seemed unremarkable, yet it caught everyone’s attention.
Because it was the origin of all the fluctuating waves!