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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Two Hundred Sixty-Two:
After the three left.
In the secret realm.
Under the dark red sky, everything was eerily silent, with only a faint scent of blood lingering in the air.
On the vast expanse of charred land, there were large amounts of ash transformed from the Black Bug, slowly drifting with the breeze.
Time passed, though it was unclear how long had gone by.
From beneath an inconspicuous pile of rubble, a faint rustling sound gradually emerged.
Suddenly, a small stone shifted slightly, and a gray insect resembling an ant with transparent thin wings crawled out.
The gray insect's body was semi-transparent, giving off a hazy sense of emptiness, with only two insect eyes that appeared to be dark Amber, within which a grotesque Face could be vaguely seen.
The Face continuously opened its mouth as if cursing something.
After crawling on the ground for a while, the gray insect looked around and, finding nothing, let out a hiss before transforming into several wisps of black smoke that dispersed with the wind.
...
Ten minutes later.
Not far from the Crimson Eagle, Freya stood by the pool next to the Exchange Tower, dressed in a white robe with red trim. A dark red leather case quietly rested beside her on the right.
The clear water of the pool reflected Freya's delicate face. Compared to her youthful appearance when she emerged from Dragon Harbor, she seemed not to have changed much; only her previously cold and unusual aura had softened considerably.
Her golden hair was simply tied behind her, and her deep blue eyes quietly observed the passersby around her, as if she were waiting for someone.
An hour passed.
Exchange Tower On the intersecting roads, a pitch-black carriage slowly approached from a distance.
The carriage was unremarkable, except for a special emblem of a Red Eagle Head engraved on its side. At the driver's seat was a young man dressed in blue Leather Armor, with fair skin and emerald green eyes. There were fine grooves on both sides of his cheeks, clearly indicating that he was not human, but rather from the Sea Tribe.
Before long, the carriage came to a steady stop by the roadside, and a woman with rare wavy blue hair, dressed in an elegant long gown, jumped down directly from the carriage.
Upon seeing her, Freya, who had been standing still, smiled and picked up the nearby suitcase to walk towards her.
“Freya.”
Kathy approached, lifting her gown.
“Why did you suddenly decide to leave? I just got the news and rushed over from the ball. Look at me, I didn’t even have time to change my clothes; it’s so embarrassing.”
Freya found Kathy's complaint amusing and replied softly, “I didn’t expect you to come see me off. After all, leaving was something I had planned for a long time. It was delayed because of the matter with the secret realm. Now that the three adults have resolved it, I’m proceeding as originally planned. Besides, Fira already approved it for me earlier.”
“Uh, okay then.”
Hearing Freya's explanation, Kathy realized that she had indeed gone to Fira to apply for it. At that time, she and Freya were just ordinary colleagues, so she hadn’t paid much attention to it.
“So when do you plan to come back?” Kathy asked with an awkward smile.
“Probably in about six months,” Freya thought for a moment and said. “You know my hometown is quite far from here; even taking an Airship takes some time.”
Since returning from the secret realm, their relationship had inexplicably become more harmonious, almost reaching the level of Transcendence ‘best friends.’
Freya speculated that this change in their relationship was due to Kathy's unique identity, which left her with very few true friends in Cloud City. Those she had were mostly there for her resource connections. Meanwhile, Freya was somewhat reclusive and held no prejudice against other races. They had also shared a tent during the secret realm incident, which contributed to their bond.
“Only six months? I thought it would be longer.”
Hearing Freya's response, Kathy shrugged it off.
Freya looked at her speechlessly.
Although wizards, due to their elevated life levels, do not place much importance on time, Kathy's attitude was quite rare. After all, not everyone is born with a lifespan of three to four hundred years.
As far as she knew, although Kathy appeared to be in her twenties, her actual age was nearing fifty. It was just that the growth cycle of Sirens and Bloodlines was slow, which resulted in little change in her appearance.
"Alright, alright." Seeing Freya's speechless expression, Kathy waved her hand. "Just send me a message when you get back. I was thinking of bringing you and a few other friends to my place for sightseeing in two months."
"Hehe, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future," Freya replied with a smile.
When she joined Crimson Eagle, she had left a trace of Soul Resonance within it, which had a validity period of fifty years. Unless something unexpected happened during this time, it would be impossible for her to leave Crimson Eagle directly unless her soul underwent some kind of change.
After chatting by the pool for a while longer, Kathy tossed her a blue ring and then left.
Freya watched the carriage leave quickly while touching the ring on her finger. This ring was likely something that could reduce unnecessary troubles if she encountered the Sea Tribe; it seemed to be a token of some sort.
After waiting by the pool for a while longer, soon a Gray Robed Apprentice Wizard approached Freya.
He bowed slightly and then respectfully said, "Lady Freya, the Gray Hawk you ordered is ready."
"Mm." She nodded lightly, glanced again at the massive building in the distance, and picked up her suitcase. "Let's go."
...
Two hours later.
Under the azure sky, a massive Black Airship slowly ascended into the air.
A large, elongated hot air balloon hung above a black, exquisite ship, where several elegantly dressed figures stood on the deck.
Freya stood by the gunwale, watching the increasingly distant scenery below.
In the distance, the massive structure of the Crimson Eagle and the tall white Exchange Tower gradually came into her view.
The headquarters of Crimson Eagle covered a vast area. Although she had been there for almost two months, Freya still hadn't fully explored it. From this high vantage point, it felt quite peculiar, as if the layout of Crimson Eagle resembled a giant eagle spreading its wings.
The direction of the Rune Department was located at the eagle's legs.
As she observed the overall structure of the eagle, Freya suddenly had a realization.
"Is that a magic formation? No wonder it's a top-tier Wizard Organization; they truly spare no expense."
This enormous magic formation, depicted by numerous buildings, required more than just a simple architectural layout; it also needed mental power and an incalculable amount of Magic Stones.
She estimated that to activate a formation of this magnitude, it wouldn't just require mental strength; the quantity of Magic Stones needed would likely be measured in tons.
With a light sigh in her heart, she watched as the Crimson Eagle gradually faded into the hazy clouds below as the airship ascended higher.
Some grayish-white dots appeared in her line of sight; those were various towns belonging to Cloud City Division.
After swiftly passing these residential towns, vast expanses of green forests came into view.
In just five minutes, the airship had sailed past the incident point of the secret realm.
At that moment, a thin wisp of black smoke began to rise from within the dense forest below.
"A forest fire?"
Freya speculated lightly as she gazed at the black smoke.
However, whatever it was had little to do with her standing on the Airship.
The Airship had already ascended to a high altitude, and the surrounding air was somewhat cold. After admiring the scenery for a while, she returned to her personal room.
Most of those who could board the Airship were wizards, and even the few ordinary people present had intricate connections with wizards.
However, due to the location of their destination, there were not many people on this Airship—only about ten—so the large Airship was relatively quiet.
Upon returning to her room, she lightly snapped her fingers to activate the temperature-regulating Rune Array, instantly warming the cold air.
Freya walked to the table, where some experimental materials and half-finished items were laid out.
In addition to these, there were two pitch-black elongated keys, one long and one short.
"Mysterious Key," she softly murmured the name of the keys.
The shorter key had been obtained from the Countess's castle in Raymond City. After multiple entries into the Ruined World, it had been significantly consumed.
The longer key was collected inadvertently after such a long time since leaving.
The origins of these keys were unknown, their materials were unknown, their functions were also unknown, and they were extremely rare. Even wizards who possessed them treated them merely as collectibles.
If it weren't for Freya's fortuitous encounter, she wouldn't have known that this item called 'Mysterious Key' could be used to traverse worlds and appeared to belong to a consumable category.
Moreover, perhaps due to the influence of the Ruined World, her Liquefaction side effect manifested as two delicate horns growing from her head.
Although hidden beneath her hair and not easily noticeable, they ultimately had an unknown connection to that world.
Previously, with events unfolding one after another, she had no spare time to study it.
Now, during this stable period, her mental strength did not need excessive growth.
"Just in time to verify many of the various spatial theories obtained from Hegel's Grimoire," Freya murmured.
Outside the circular window, the colors were gradually dimming; it was around five or six in the afternoon.
After a simple meal, she prepared the items she had brought.
Then she took out a Charcoal Pencil and quickly sketched a Rune Array.
Before long, a dagger-shaped rune was drawn.
Freya touched this long-lost magic circle, applying a gentle force. With a soft sound, she easily pulled out the dagger within.
Glancing at the two Mysterious Keys hanging at her waist, she paused for a moment before suddenly stabbing towards her chest.
'Crack!'
The dagger shattered within her Heart.
In Freya's vision, the entire room seemed to dissolve into red ashes with a whoosh.
Surrounding her was not the high altitude of ten thousand meters, but a street in a Ruined City.
Under the dim sky, a blood-red sun hung in the west, as if about to set, casting the entire street in a crimson hue.
Freya stood still, slightly squinting her eyes as she felt the hot wind blowing around her. She lowered her head to look at the keys at her waist.
The originally slender key's tip was now emitting a hissing sound, releasing wisps of dark smoke as if it were being consumed.
These smoke particles did not dissipate but instead formed invisible granules that clung to her body.
Noticing her physical condition, she nodded knowingly.
"It seems that this key is indeed allowing me to walk in this world. Therefore, this time, I must find something valuable."
After estimating the duration the key could sustain, it seemed that each traversal could last about half an hour.
Time was a bit tight, so she adjusted her robe and strode towards the center of the street.
With each step, her black leather boots felt as if they were stepping on cotton, providing a soft sensation.
The street was filled with signs of decay; tall buildings occasionally scattered dust. Compared to the places she had traversed before, there seemed to be no moving objects here.
After observing the state of the street for about five minutes, Freya finally spotted a shop that appeared to be in relatively good condition.
The sign of the shop had fallen to the ground. Freya walked over and kicked away the thick dust on it, revealing crooked letters.
"Eh? This isn't any language I’ve learned before? This doesn’t seem to be the Hell World I previously speculated about. How strange."
With a sense of suspicion, just as she was about to reach out and push open the shop door, suddenly, the door creaked and instantly turned into a pile of ashes that completely dissipated.
Frowning at the scattering ashes, Freya still stepped inside.
As expected, the inside of the shop was in complete disarray, with scattered tables and chairs, a counter, shattered glass behind the counter, and various incomprehensible texts.
Freya scanned everything in the shop and accidentally noticed a large mirror on the left wall that was cracked in half.
The mirror reflected her figure perfectly.
Two pairs of sharp long horns stood on either side of her head, her golden hair slightly flared out, and her crimson eyes had strange slit pupils in the center. Moreover, there was suddenly a slender golden crack on her forehead, as if she had gained an extra eye.
"Hmm? What is this?"
Looking at this unfamiliar image, Freya vaguely felt a sense of déjà vu.
"This isn't my own imprint image, is it? What is going on?"
As she pondered the connection, a sudden sound of glass falling unexpectedly reached her ears.
'Crash'
She turned her head sharply and discovered that a heavy black shadow had appeared on the counter without her noticing. The shadow seemed human-shaped and was picking up the shards of the glass.
The crimson sun outside gradually descended, and the once desolate street began to appear clearer.
Thick ashes started to dissipate, and round lights slowly illuminated along both sides of the street.
Sinister black figures slowly emerged, wandering aimlessly down the street.
"Changes?"
Watching the bizarre transformations unfolding in the world, Freya subconsciously sensed something was amiss.
The entire ruined city seemed to awaken, slowly becoming clean, tidy, and lively.
"Customer, would you like something to drink?"
Suddenly, a sharp voice sounded from behind her.
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