Chapter 451: The Plague Messenger

Chapter 451: The Plague Messenger

The room was spacious, with a ten-meter-wide magic array at its center, emitting a faint green aura. Suspended in the middle of the array was a pale green leaf, floating up and down.

Within the array, a man and a woman, both clad in the robes of wizards from their respective schools, were busy with their tasks.

As soon as Ren entered, he felt a refreshing sensation in the air, as if the radiation that had been present earlier was now blocked by the green-glowing magic array.

The female wizard, seemingly in control of the array, was drawing new runes in one corner, her side profile serene but with fine lines at the corners of her eyes and strands of white in her hair, indicating advanced age.

What caught Ren's attention even more was the elderly man beside her, assembling a backpack-like device.

He had thick eyebrows and piercing eyes, and his aura suggested that he had reached the pinnacle of crystalized wizardry.

This must be Moriah, the master of the Bishu Construction School, Ren thought.

Albert bowed slightly to the elder, "Master, Ren has arrived."

"Oh?" Moriah and the elderly female wizard looked up at Ren, but their hands didn't stop working. However, in the next moment, they both paused.

Their expressions mirrored Albert's initial shock, with widened eyes and slightly agape mouths.

"You... you're Ren?!"

"You've already reached the pinnacle of crystalization?!" Moriah stood up abruptly and quickly approached Ren, examining him from head to toe.

"This is impossible!"

"Mogaro told me that you had only reached the second stage of liquidized wizardry a few months ago. How... how is this possible?"

The elderly female wizard stood up and smiled at Ren, greeting him respectfully, acknowledging his strength.

Albert, on the other hand, was completely dumbfounded.

He had only sensed that Ren was stronger than him, but he had assumed that Ren was at most in the early or middle stages of crystalization. He never expected that Ren had already reached the pinnacle!

Ren's strength was now on par with his mentor, the master of the Bishu Construction School, Moriah.

Albert's gaze towards Ren couldn't help but turn slightly resentful.

With such strength, was it really necessary to join a medium-sized wizard school?

If he were to join, it should at least be a large wizard school!

Ren had anticipated their reactions.

He had carefully considered whether to reveal his wizardry abilities.

Ren's decision was to inform the school about his progress in reaching the third stage of crystalization.

Firstly, if he disclosed his pinnacle crystalization strength, he would have a valid reason to access the fourth or even fifth layers of the Iron Heart Meditation Method if they were discovered within the ruins.

The school might even proactively grant him access to this knowledge without him having to ask.

This could potentially include some of the most prized fourth-rank spells.

After all, all spells of the fourth-rank Dawn Wizard level were exceptionally valuable, forming the foundation of a wizard school.

Secondly, for Ren, showcasing his crystalization progress was not the same as exposing his true strength.

A significant portion of his power came from the core skills of his profession, such as 'Dragon Soul Strike', and some from the transformations and mastery of top-tier ultimate arts granted by his mutated dragon bloodline.

In comparison, the contribution of a third-stage crystalized wizard to his overall strength was relatively minor.

Therefore, revealing his crystalization progress was far from exposing his true capabilities.

Most importantly, Ren's current strength was already sufficient to deal with most who harbored ill intentions or coveted his abilities.

So, Ren shared the prepared story, slightly embellished, about the ancient dragon soul potion, his journey into the Dragon Valley Secret Realm, and more.

Moriah and the others listened with awe and envy.

"The Dean of Winter Fortress Academy, Bartalof, I haven't seen him in years, but I know he's been collecting materials for the ancient dragon soul potion. I never expected him to succeed."

"But Ren, for you to obtain a bottle of the ancient dragon soul potion, which Bartalof treasures, is truly remarkable! I doubt even the rarest treasures could convince him to part with one."

Moriah reminisced with a bitter smile.

"Oh, right, Ren, I forgot to introduce you. This is Vice-Master Fiona." After a while, Moriah regained his composure and pointed to the elderly female wizard, introducing her with a smile.

"Vice-Master Fiona, it's a pleasure to meet you." Ren smiled and bowed slightly.

"Greetings, Lord Ren. Although this is our first meeting, your reputation precedes you," Fiona said gracefully.

After some pleasantries, the group sat down within the green-glowing magic array to discuss business.

Moriah explained, "The peculiar radiation here has a unique and powerful effect on the Jawed Golems, but fortunately, this promotional effect diminishes as the golems' strength increases."

"Currently, the enhancement is most significant in the early stages, but it slows down considerably as they approach the quasi-legendary level, requiring decades or even centuries of accumulation."

"For legendary-level Jawed Golems, relying on this level of radiation for improvement becomes even slower. The only option is to venture deeper into areas with higher radiation intensity."

As Moriah spoke, he pointed out the window at the densely packed entrance of the platform below, where countless Jawed Golems gathered.

"Now it makes sense why so many Jawed Golems are gathered at that entrance," Ren nodded in understanding.

Even he would need to rely on the transformation of his dragon bloodline to deal with such a vast number of Jawed Golems, but it would consume a significant amount of his attribute points.

"Exactly, that's the problem right there."

"That place is also the route we must take to reach the core area of the Valzig School of Magic, and although we've devised a plan to lure away most of the Jawed Golems, there will likely still be a small number remaining." Moria continued.

"The current level of radiation would require a mid-stage second-rank Liquidized Wizard to cast protective sorcery at full strength to cope."

"It's safe to assume that if we were to enter the core area, even a third-rank Crystalized Wizard would struggle to handle the intensity of the radiation."

"Over the past six months, we've also used small puppets to scout, and inside the entrance, apart from some defensive sorcery arrays, there are also some rare War Golems that can still be activated to attack intruders. Their power is astonishing."

"In other words, if we venture deeper, we'll likely have to withstand increasingly intense radiation while also dealing with various combat situations. Even the psychic energy of a third-rank Crystalized Wizard wouldn't last long under such conditions."

At this point, Moria gestured for Fiona, the Deputy Master, to continue the explanation.

"Moria and I have been racking our brains for a solution and conducting numerous sorcery tests. We've found that Nature-based sorcery provides the best protection."

Fiona smiled slightly at Reyn and picked up where Moria left off.

"These are Ancient Tree Leaves. When activated by a sorcery array, they can balance the current level of radiation, preventing the consumption of psychic energy in casting protective spells. This is how we've managed to stay here for an extended period."

Fiona pointed to the green leaf floating in the center of the sorcery array.

"This also proves the feasibility of this approach."

"Of course, if we want to go deeper, we'll need more powerful Nature-based artifacts. For instance, we estimate that the 'Ancient Tree Core' can significantly reduce or even completely negate the radiation damage in the core area."

"I see." Reyn nodded.

No wonder Moria, the Master of the Sect, was in urgent need of the Ancient Tree Core.

"Unfortunately, something seems to have happened with the elves recently. Our contact there suddenly went silent. We had two more members in our exploration team, but I've sent them to investigate the situation nearby."

Moria furrowed her brows, expressing her concern.

It was frustrating to have spent so much time and effort to find a solution, only to be hindered by the limitations of the required materials.

"Hmm, Master Moria, I might be able to help with this. I brought the Ancient Tree Core with me." Reyn smiled slightly and took out a wooden box from his pocket.

It was the same wooden box that Elder Druid Aldran, the mayor of Bashalan Town, had given him.

"Hmm?"

When they heard Reyn's words, Moria and the other two seemed to have question marks etched on their foreheads.

However, when Reyn opened the box, the two oval objects emitting a strong Nature-based energy wave instantly answered their doubts.

They hadn't misheard!

"This is indeed the Ancient Tree Core! There's no mistake. This level of Nature-based energy wave cannot be compared to that of an Ironwood Heart or Ancient Tree Leaf." Deputy Master Fiona exclaimed in surprise, losing her composure.

"Haha, wonderful! And there are even two of them, amazing!"

"Reyn, you're the lucky star of the school. With you here, the biggest problem is solved!" Moria patted Reyn on the shoulder and laughed heartily.

At that moment, Reyn felt the thin plate in his pocket vibrate, so he slightly bowed his head and apologized, "Sorry."

He walked to the side, took out the thin plate, and infused it with a bit of psychic energy.

"This is Reyn."

"Ssss...Master Reyn, the Regional Plague Messenger..."

Due to the strong radiation interference, the voice coming from the thin plate, Olenna's voice, was barely audible.

"Hello?"

"Ssss..."

The call was cut off.

However, Reyn managed to catch a few key words: 'Regional', 'Plague', and 'Messenger'.

Recalling the task he had given Olenna—to investigate the activities of the Plague Cult near the Valzig Ruins—Reyn immediately made a connection.

"Could this be the Plague Cult's area of operation?" Reyn wondered to himself.

Please...collect...book...6...9...!

As Reyn turned and sat down again, Moria had already started placing the Ancient Tree Core into the backpack-like device she had prepared earlier.

After inserting one Ancient Tree Core, the backpack soon emitted a visible spherical protective barrier, with a diameter of less than three meters, but more than sufficient to protect a single person.

"The Ancient Tree Core is extremely valuable. I thought it was impressive that you managed to obtain one, but I never expected you to have two. Reyn, why don't you join me in entering the core area?" Moria invited with a smile.

Reyn couldn't help but glance at Deputy Master Fiona, who had invested a lot of effort in exploring the ruins earlier, and in his opinion, she should have priority.

However, before Reyn could say anything, Deputy Master Fiona smiled and said, "Master Reyn, I will be fine. Master Moria is well-versed in most things. And with your superior strength, you are the more suitable candidate."

"Alright then." Just as Reyn was about to say something, suddenly, footsteps sounded from the doorway.

The wall shifted again, revealing two male wizards in the school's standard robes rushing in.

"Master, bad news!" They exclaimed, "We've discovered that the nearby elven town of Ruthlan has been occupied by the Plague Cult. I'm afraid obtaining the Ancient Tree Core will be difficult."

"What?" Moria and Fiona's faces changed in unison, not because of the Ancient Tree Core, but because the situation was more dire than they had anticipated.

The Plague Cult's operation was on a massive scale.

As the two male wizards approached, Reyn suddenly frowned and stopped them, "Wait!"

"You two seem to have..."

"Hmm? Who are you?" The two wizards looked surprised, clearly not recognizing Reyn.

"Not good, there's a psychic energy mark on you, you're being tracked!" Deputy Master Fiona's expression turned solemn.

"No, it's a curse. Both of you are cursed," Moriah's face changed as she spoke.

At this moment, under the faint green sorcery array in the room, a fist-sized, thin black fog appeared above the heads of the two.

This caused both of them to change their expressions, as if they had realized something.

But before they could explain, their faces suddenly turned red, and they began to vomit blood profusely.

"Boom!"

A loud explosion followed, and the wall near the tunnel was blasted open.

"Hahaha, not bad, not bad at all. I didn't expect that by following two little fish, we'd discover the ruins of an ancient wizard academy," a hoarse, mocking voice echoed from the other end of the long tunnel.

Five figures clad in black robes and hoods appeared at the opening in the blasted wall.

"Plague Cult!" Moriah's expression turned stern as she noticed the large pot symbol with green bubbles on their robes.

"Hmm? Crystalized Peak?" The leading hooded figure, upon seeing Moriah and Ren, also changed his expression and exclaimed.

Obviously, he hadn't expected to encounter two high-level wizards at the Crystalized Peak stage while following two late-stage Liquidized wizards.

However, as one of the three Plague Messengers, Gaelsi was also at the Crystalized Peak stage, and so the battle abruptly erupted.

"Plague Messenger's Curse!" Gaelsi immediately cast his spell.

With a whoosh, he waved his bone staff, and five black fog clouds the size of millstones rushed towards Ren and his group.

But as the black fog entered the center of the pale green sorcery array in the room, its speed slowed down. However, the green leaves in the center of the array also visibly dimmed due to the influence of the black fog.

"Too arrogant!" Moriah hastily cast her spell.

Ren also raised his right hand, and a silver metal ring appeared in front of him, shooting towards the black-robed figure opposite him with a 'whoosh'.

Sensing the extraordinary power of Ren's spell, the leading Plague Messenger, Gaelsi, shouted, "Get out of the way!" Two of the black-robed figures reacted swiftly, but the other two were a beat slower.

Perhaps they believed that with the protection of the black swirling defensive sorcery, they would be safe.

But with a 'shh!' sound, their black swirling shields were penetrated as if they didn't exist, and their flesh was also affected.

"Ahhhh!"

The two black-robed figures felt a sharp pain in their waists and looked down in disbelief, their bodies trembling as they screamed.

"Thud! Thud!"

Two heavy objects fell to the ground, and two half-bodies dropped, but their strong vitality kept them from dying immediately, and they continued to struggle and wail.

Seeing this, everyone in the room, friend and foe alike, looked at Ren in horror.

It was as if they were saying that the power of the silver metal ring was too great.

As for Plague Messenger Gaelsi, his heart sank. He knew the strength of these two subordinates better than anyone, and before entering, they had cast the third-rank defensive spell 'Shadow Guardian'.

Yet, even with that, they couldn't withstand the silver metal ring for even a second! No wonder he felt a warning bell go off when he first saw the young man casting the silver metal ring.

Just as everyone was astonished by the power of Ren's spell, suddenly, another scream came from a black-robed figure hiding behind the wall.

At the same time, the wall made a 'shh' sound and split open horizontally, and the silver metal ring pierced through, returning to Ren's side.

"Hiss~"

This scene caused everyone in the academy, including Moriah, to gasp in shock and take a sharp breath.

The power and flexibility of this spell were incredible!

The key was that practicing such a difficult spell to the point of near-instantaneous casting was an immense challenge.

"Damn it!" Gaelsi felt angry upon witnessing this.

In just two seconds, Ren's spell had eliminated three of the elite members Gaelsi had brought, leaving only him and another.

However, Gaelsi didn't think he would lose, because the Plague Cult's specialty was not individual spells, but group spells and curses.

"Plague Fog!"

Gaelsi's bone staff skull tip exploded, and a meter-wide dark green fog appeared out of thin air, quickly drifting towards the Byss Armory Academy group's position.

The fog's power was immense, and as it passed, it directly corroded most of the already dim green sorcery array, then continued towards the group.

"Get out of the way!" Moriah shouted, quickly sidestepping.

He was well aware that some of the Plague Cult's evil spells were area-of-effect attacks and extremely nasty. If hit, they might not be immediately fatal, but they would put one in a highly disadvantageous situation.

"Sizzle!"

The large dark green fog had incredibly strong corrosive and toxic properties, and although it didn't hit Ren and the others, it corroded a large hole in the wall at the end of the room.

It should be noted that the room was like an extension of the half-airborne crane arm, suspended directly above the platform below.

For the past six months, the academy members had been working cautiously in the room, but the intense spell energy fluctuations during the recent battle had already stirred up hundreds of stone-jawed golems below.

Even the giant stone-jawed golem chief, who had been leaning against the entrance railing with half-closed eyes, opened his fierce yellow-brown vertical pupils and looked up at the room ten meters above.

In an instant, thousands of vertical pupils focused on the space above.

Happy New Year to all bookworms! May 2025 be smooth and successful!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end