997 Black Dungeon Storm Part 1 (2/2)

The portal was six meters in diameter, and it almost transported him out of the cave immediately. He did not even bother bringing the summoned heaven angel with him.

Saleen was dumbfounded. He had never thought that Van Gogh would have had such a powerful scroll with him. Even though he did, however, there was no sign of their battle finishing any time soon. In his surprise, he thought… So… Van Gogh left, just like that?

Boom!

At that moment, the snakeheads emerged again from the lava lake. The lava sprayed out, shooting more than a hundred meters away, but was immediately blocked by Saleen's Darkness Shield.

It was only then that the two snakeheads within the lake showed their true form. The snakeheads were attached to a huge body, which had just climbed out of the ground. As Saleen saw that the two snakeheads were on one body, he gasped inwardly… A two-headed great fire snake!

Although he somehow managed to keep his composure, he still took half a step back reactively. At the same time, the ancient warriors moved to stand before him, while summoning the Vermillion Knights. While the Vermillion Knights might have been incapable of hurting the snake itself, they still could defend against its attacks. This was especially the case for the leader of the knights.

A great fire snake was a level ten elemental creature, and a two-headed great fire snake was a mutated superform of such a being. As such, no one knew what its exact level was.

Van Gogh did not run because of Saleen, but he ran because he was caught in a pincer attack. He could already feel how powerful the great fire snake could be based on the heavenly angel.

Van Gogh was not a warrior. While he might have been more fearsome than most golden grand swordmasters while wielding the Lance of Order, if he was to fight the snake after losing the lance, he might have as well hand his head over on a silver platter!

At this moment, Saleen blocked the exit to the cave. And, as there was no one he could handle if they attacked him from two sides, he had no choice but to run.

There was a huge island just south of the Tanggulasi Empire's waters. The island was covered by a thick, black smog all year long, so no one could see what the entire island looked like.

There were ships going in and out of the island occasionally, but all of them were made of pure metal. The surrounding sea was filled with unseen reefs, and there were also eerie magic beasts lurking nearby. Those beasts were all insane, and they were controlled by the island people, who used them as protectors of the place.

This place was known as the Black Dungeon of the Tribunal. It had about a hundred islands, the largest one serving as its main base.

There was a tall stone house in the middle of the largest island. As a divine light shone down upon it, Van Gogh appeared in the holy prose teleportation portal.

The wardens outside the stone house were instantly alerted of his presence. After all, the portal had hardly been used, as only the most important figures of the Tribunal were allowed use it. Upon seeing Van Gogh, the wardens instinctively knew to scatter and hide.

While Van Gogh had indeed been one of the more mild-mannered figures in Black Dungeon, none of the wardens intended to get themselves in trouble by dealing with him directly. After all, his ability to get to such a high position meant that Van Gogh was a brutal person nonetheless.

As Van Gogh walked out of the stone house, he had no idea where he should go. As he tried to plot his next move, he wondered… Am I supposed to go see the person the Tribunal left behind here? Or... Am I supposed to go see the head warden?

He hesitated for a bit before taking flight, heading for the southern part of the island. He flew for more than an hour before landing.

When he landed, he did not take off his silver armor, as if he only felt safe when he was wearing it. The battles moments ago had been too much to swallow, making him incapable of easing his mind and checking out of fighting mode.

”Van Gogh...” A fleeting voice penetrated his armor and went straight into his mind.

”Teacher!” Van Gogh turned around and looked at a compound at his left, where there was a huge crystal hanging above the compound. The crystal had hundreds of holy prose flowing within it, all of them casting a mild light throughout the entire compound.

”You suffered a defeat then? Come here,” the fleeting voice commanded.

”Indeed,” Van Gogh replied as he walked to the compound and pushed the door open.

There was quite a lot of fauna in the compound. It was rare to see such weak and frail plants on Black Dungeon Island. They would have all wilted if it was not for that floating crystal above the compound.

Van Gogh soon came before a two-story stone house. He put away his silver armor before knocking on the door.

”Come in.” After hearing a voice granting him permission to enter, Van Gogh pushed open the door.

The room was huge, and it had a bronze-colored furnace at its center. There were six sides to the furnace, each with an opening to be used for inserting materials in it. This furnace functioned differently than magic power furnaces, as the holy light glimmered within it, similar to a white fire.

There was an elder wearing a black robe, who was sitting on a chair and staring into the holy light of the furnace, while sending golden holy prose into it. The golden holy prose turned white after entering the furnace, then merged with the equipment within it.

Van Gogh thought for a bit, then said, ”Teacher, I've lost the Lance of Order.”

The black-robed elder's eye twitched as he sighed. He then asked, ”It's that serious, hmm? It looks like I will have to go and see the head warden myself.”

He then added, ”The head warden, he… Well… The head inquisitor was under a lot of pressure and had been hurrying us for quite a while. What you lost was too precious. If you aren't able to give sufficient reasons for it, I will need to have the elders speak up for you. The head inquisitor will not let this slide otherwise.”