Chapter 1162 - Door of the Fantasy World (1/2)
“What a huge door.”
Looking at the door ahead, Mini Bubble Gum couldn’t help but exclaim in surprise. At a glance, they were surrounded by pure, white walls like a barrier erected between heaven and earth. What caught their attention was the enormous door ahead. It was tens of meters tall, standing upright on a spacious platform connected to the pitch-black steel bridge. The defenses here were also seemingly the strongest. Not only were there four to five watchtowers, but there were also about 100 armored guards. It could be seen just how important this door was to them. At that moment, the door was closed and sealed entirely. But instead of treating it as a door, it was more like a carved mural that resembled one. If it weren’t for the tight security, Rhode wouldn’t have believed that he had come to the right place.
“What should we do next, Rhode?”
Gazing at the heavily-guarded platform, Canary asked softly. In fact, with their strength, it wouldn’t pose an issue for them to eliminate everyone here. As long as Canary swung her arm and splashed the lava on them, the people on the platform would be scrambling for their lives. But this way, their position would be revealed immediately. This wasn’t the biggest problem. Instead, Rhode didn’t know how to activate and open the tightly-sealed door. But fortunately, he had some tricks up his sleeve.
“Wait.”
Upon hearing Canary’s question, Rhode gestured with his hand. Then, he contacted Marybelle spiritually, at the same time transmitting the image over.
“Marybelle, are you able to open this door?”
“Let’s see… Yes, Your Majesty. That is indeed the entrance to the Seven Fantasy Boundaries. As long as we open it, we can head to the Seven Fantasy Boundaries. You don’t need to worry about the door as deity wardens can definitely open it.”
“Great.”
After hearing Marybelle’s answer, Rhode finally nodded in assurance. Then, he asked.
“By the way, how’s your group doing?”
“No issues at the moment, but we didn’t find anything useful as well… We’re moving ahead right now. Those people seem to also be guarding something. I suppose we can reach the destination without wasting too much time.”
“Good, keep in contact. Inform me immediately if you discover anything and head back at our starting point.”
“Okay, Your Majesty.”
Upon receiving her affirmation, Rhode came up with an idea. He lifted his head, gazed at the two young ladies, and said, “We need to head back and meet up with the others before making a decision.”
“Alright, Rhode.”
“Okay, Leader.”
It was obviously pretty uneventful for Mini Bubble Gum since they sneaked in successfully and now, had to head back without taking out anyone. However, Canary didn’t show any signs of discontentment. She nodded quickly upon hearing Rhode’s command and extended her arm. Shortly after, the lava surged once again and brought them back where they came from. But this time…
“Ooo———!!”
Suddenly, an emergency siren blared, stunning the trio. Canary stopped her hand movement abruptly and proceeded to conceal their presence in the lava. Mini Bubble Gum and Rhode prepared themselves for battle as they stared at the surroundings. No one knew why the siren sounded all of a sudden.
Could it be that something happened to Marybelle and the rest? Or perhaps the follow-up forces got into a battle with someone else?
At this thought, Rhode pulled himself together and activated the spiritual communication quickly. But what surprised him was that Marybelle and the other group was completely fine. In that case, what exactly was that siren about…?
Shortly after, Rhode received his answer.
As soon as the ear-piercing siren sounded, the patrolling guards lined up by both sides of the path. After a few moments, the siren stopped. Rhode witnessed three figures being escorted as they sauntered ahead. Rhode made a hand gesture and upon seeing it, the dazzling rune in Mini Bubble Gum’s hands diminished its radiance and a thin layer of mist erupted from it, shrouding the trio entirely in a faint red hue.
At that moment, Rhode got a clear view of the three mysterious figures.
Unlike the heavily-armored soldiers, the three figures could be said to be constructed by dark, shadowy flames. Be it their facial features, hairs, or bodies, they looked like human-shaped beings coalesced from black flames. However, Rhode sharply detected the aura of Chaos exuding from those strange ‘people’. But for some unknown reason, Rhode felt like he had seen them before somewhere.
He didn’t see them in Marybelle’s memories, but rather from an even earlier period…
“Ooo… Ooo…!”
Shortly after, the emergency siren sounded yet again. Rhode witnessed the red warning lights by the edge of the platform flashing rapidly. Shortly after, the three people strolled toward the center of the platform and came to a halt in front of the black stone column. Then, they raised their arms in unison.
“…!”
Along with this action, a deep, unknown rumble erupted. The ground shook and lava spilled over. It sounded like the bellow of a certain beast, and even Canary and Mini Bubble Gum couldn’t help but cover their ears due to this resounding roar. At that moment, Canary frowned.
“Rhode, that thing is moving!”
Without the need of Canary’s warning, Rhode had witnessed it already. The huge mass of shadows lurking at the bottom of the lava that puzzled Canary earlier began to move. It constantly extended to both sides like a cell dividing into two. Looking at this scene, Mini Bubble Gum and Canary tensed up instantly. They couldn’t care less about what was happening on the platform anymore. They stared at the constantly-squirming shadow and shortly after, the massive shadow passed directly under them as though it didn’t detect their presence. The trio followed its movement and stared blankly after taking a closer look at the scene.
The swirling and flowing lava erupted all of a sudden. Two gigantic tentacles like burned skewers burst out from the lava lake, discharging a putrid smell. The layers of rotten flesh on them had revolting, grain-sized spores that made one’s hair stand on end. Rhode couldn’t look straight at them, not to mention Mini Bubble Gum and Canary.
However, the pair of tentacles apparently had no regard for others. It wriggled and wrapped around the door ahead. Shortly after, the pure, white walls darkened as though they were injected with pitch-black ink. Not only that, but the high temperature of the scorching lava was also seemingly overwhelmed.
“This is the power of Chaos…”
Rhode gnashed his teeth. He sensed the power of Chaos in the two gigantic tentacles permeating the pure, white door. The walls of the door were completely smeared in black. As Chaos invaded, the surroundings became unsettled. The scorching lava plummeted in temperature. The boundary between reality and illusion became indistinct. The door that resembled a carved mural shuddered and opened gradually to the sides with several golden rays escaping the gap. Looking at this scene, the soldiers raised their arms, bursting out in loud cheers. Amongst the cheers, the three people standing beside the black stone column stepped forward in large strides. Then, they vanished into the door that was forcefully opened. The door closed behind them and the pair of revolting tentacles that were wrapped around the door descended gradually, returning into the depth of the lava. As the tentacles withdrew into the lava, the black, contaminated areas on the white walls faded away. After a few moments, everything restored to its original state.
“Let’s go!”
At that moment, Rhode’s expression was no longer grim, but ashen instead. He swept a glance at the seemingly harmless shadow that shrunk back and lowered his voice to give a command. On the other hand, Mini Bubble Gum seemed to be terrified by the two tentacles. She simply nodded and didn’t say anything. Meanwhile, Canary maintained her silence as she controlled the lava for their retreat.