Chapter 686 The Death Scar (2/2)
Half a day later, the trees around the fissure swayed as a dozen elven warriors in green armor arrived on the scene. They quickly discovered the nature's mark left near the gorge. After a simple examination of the mark, they split up their forces. One group guarded the mark while the rest split up and headed toward different areas.
Another half a day later, a large group of elves arrived from the central mountains riding flying magical beasts. They set up a basic camp around the nature's mark and sent groups of elves to break into the underground to search for the locations of Elder Antoril and the witches.
This once unpopulated and desolate Death Scar turned lively once more!
…………
Greem and the rest only arrived at that location five days later.
Along the way, the flying s.h.i.+p had to travel by night and make multiple detours to sneak into the vicinity without catching the eyes of the elves spread around the place.
Mary's aura had disappeared around this area.
After hiding his flying s.h.i.+p, Greem led Alice and Witch Uzzah out of the vessel. The three adepts hid in the forest and slowly approached the Death Scar under the guidance of their spells.
The Death Scar spanned several hundreds of kilometers. There was no way the elves could keep a close guard on every single part of the rift. Thus, after finding an unguarded spot, the three of them silently snuck into the fissure.
Unlike what they had expected, the underground world was not a place of death where all life was void.
The dark black soil, twisted plants, and the countless nameless beasts; for some reason, here in the Death Scar, the three of them felt as if they were back in the Black Forest of the World of Adepts.
Crimson Demon Tree, Manhunter Vines, Three-Headed Hulks, Greenfeather Snakes, Twin-headed Lizards, Man-eating Lashers…
The geography of this place and its ecology possessed a surprising similarity to the Black Forest.
Still, the density of magical aura here couldn't compare to the World of Adepts. As a result, the magic-affected plants and beasts here were all comparatively weaker. They were not as ferocious or sinister as the magical creatures and plants of the World of Adepts.
More importantly, the planar consciousness that had been suppressing them all this while weakened the moment they set foot in the caverns. It allowed them better control over their powers.
An interdimensional s.p.a.ce?
The feeling that this place gave the three adepts was that of a miniature interdimensional s.p.a.ce. Its aura was utterly different from the planar consciousness of Faen. In fact, it was directly contradictory to the natural powers of the forest elves. The common sense surrounding the development of a plane dictated that such an odd interdimensional location should not have been born in a planar s.p.a.ce where such powerful deities resided.
If this place hadn't formed naturally, it meant that an extraordinarily powerful source of foreign energy existed within the depths of the fissure. It was the constant corruption of this energy that had allowed the area to escape the grasp of the planar consciousness, turning it into an interdimensional s.p.a.ce where the elves didn't dare enter.
The forest elves living upon Faen lacked sufficient knowledge and theory of the planes and were thus incapable of recognizing this place and its true nature. However, Uzzah, Alice, and Greem were all individuals of vast knowledge and experience. They had already picked up on the abnormal structure of the s.p.a.ce after mere kilometers of exploring the Death Scar.
They could no longer sense much of the Faen Plane's aura and consciousness here in this underground world. Instead, there was a trace of an extremely thick smell of death.
The further they progressed in the tunnels, the more they could see magical creatures and plants of the death attribute.
Ghost Trees, Withervines, Bloodsucking Vines, Poison Moss, Human-Faced Flowers, Magical Konjacs, Snakehead Fungi, and countless odd undead.
Indeed, this place had become a lost paradise of the undead!
These undead might all have been disguised as magical creatures and plants, but that pungent and a.s.saulting origin of death within them could not escape the senses of the three adepts. Greem and the others detected undeniable signs of artificial modifications on their bodies.
That meant that these undead had not been born of natural causes, but instead were created through the mysterious means of some great existence.
All along the way, these undead had been lunging wildly at Greem and the two witches. They were almost like loyal dogs trying to stop the intruders' progress into the depths of the underground world.
Trying to get past the obstruction of these undead unharmed was merely a dream. The only choice left to them was to fight their way through!
Naturally, Uzzah couldn't be bothered to lift a finger against these beings that were only approximately at First Grade. Meanwhile, Alice had already lost all of her magical powers. Thus, Greem became the only laborer of the group. He could only silently open a road forward.
To avoid the loud explosions of his powerful fire spells from alerting potential enemies, Greem chose to use his most silent and reliable method of murder– the Ring of Fire.
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