41 Book 3 Chapter 37 (1/2)
Atop the highest watchtower stood Peter, Lavos, and Shenlong's elite squad. Peter looked down upon the battleground, wondering if he missed anything. If there was, it was the lack of haven upgrades. Nobody had come across any blueprints, so the haven was still in its most basic form. Besides that, he felt he did his best.
Peter couldn't help but notice the lack of runes on the 'elite squad.' Turning to his companions, he voiced a complaint. ”I thought you guys would have multiple runes by now. Did you not kill any demons?”
”We did.” Shenlong paused, then added. ”Many.”
Peter raised an eyebrow, wondering where exactly the problem lay. If it wasn't the lack of essence, then what?
”Ugh! Fine.” Amara extended a delicate hand to Shenlong. ”Hand it over.”
After taking the group's essence gathered over the past week, Amara pursed her lips as black tendrils spread from the ball of essence. It formed a rune across the back of her hand. In total, the rune consumed over ninety percent of their savings.
Olivia gasped. ”You greedy princess!”
”Hmph,” Amara replied shamelessly. ”I'll pay you back, little shadow.”
With a flick of her finger, Amara showed everyone the details of her rune.
Spell Echo - Tier 1 Rune
5% chance to duplicate any spell cast at no mana cost. The duplicated spell has 20% of the original's power.
Passively adds +1% intelligence.
2,000,000 essence required to upgrade to tier 2.
���It costs twenty times as much to upgrade compared to mine,” Shenlong remarked grumpily. Did this mean his rune had less potential or was of lesser quality?
Lavos gave a soft snort. ”You're overthinking it. The cost of a rune is determined by how much it influences the world. Due to the specific focus of your rune, it will manifest its potential much faster than hers.”
Shenlong felt better after thinking it over. The cost scaled exponentially. Amara's rune required one million essence to upgrade to tier 2, so how much would it need for tier 3? Tier 4? While she would struggle to get her rune to tier 5, it was much easier for Shenlong.
All of a sudden, an invisible ripple came from the eye. It spread out to encompass the entire floor. When the ripple reached the haven, it hit the barrier and disappeared. While Jason and the others were safe, the demons across the floor were not. A nefarious will entered the monster's souls, compelling them towards havens across the world.
BOOM!
There was a tremor as one of the pre-placed traps went off, followed by a yelp. The ascenders on the walls ceased their discussions and focused. Only a moment passed before another trap exploded, this one magical. Then another.
In every direction, traps went off like popcorn in a microwave. At first, there was only a couple, but more went off with every passing second. In no time at all, all everyone could hear was explosion after explosion. They could no longer hear the monster's screams over the deafening blasts.
Sam stood on the northern watchtower, his eyes covered with mana as he peered closely at the miasma beneath him. With his exceptional eyesight, he was able to see deeper than most. At that moment, his expression changed as he screamed. ”Contact!”
The miasma churned as thousands of demons rushed out, their eyes filled with madness. Aside from their cruel appearance, no demon looked the same. They appeared to be the experiments of a mad scientist who loved making hybrids—a genius who took the strengths of different beasts and combined them to create horrific monstrosities.
In the face of this terrifying monster horde, everyone wore grim expressions. On top of the tallest watcher, Peter shouted. ”Activate the sigils!”
At his command, ungodly amounts of mana surged into the sigils engraved on the outer face of the wall. The sigils represented an equation and not a simple one. It took the most skilled engraver hours, along with countless resources, just to create a single one. But it was worth it.
Time seemed to stop. The haven trembled as hundreds of heavenly beams shot out from the wall, leaving only destruction in their wake. The demons couldn't mount the slightest resistance as they turned into ash, forever gone from the world.
”What the hell?!” Everyone's jaw dropped at the unexpected result. None of them expected the sigils to be so powerful.
”Hehe! Behold the power of my profession!” In the center of the haven, Ricky, the most talented engraver, cackled madly. However, just as his words entered everyone's ears, a tenth of the sigils abruptly collapsed, releasing a small explosion. The load was too high to bear.