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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter Three Hundred Ninety-Five:
Without the special perception of Spirit, without any energy aura, without any fluctuations, and even without any physical sensations.
It was as if the two creatures in front of Freya were just air.
Stared at by these two Strange Creatures, Freya's expression grew increasingly grim.
Just when she couldn't help but want to take action, a crisp sound suddenly rang in her ears.
'Ding!'
Freya's vision suddenly blurred, and she opened her eyes wide.
The familiar black tent came into view, with the faint sound of horses whinnying outside, and she could vaguely smell the unique scent of burning campfire in the air.
"What is this?"
Freya's pupils slightly dilated, and after a long moment, she realized she was lying on a single bed inside the tent.
"Is this an illusion or a dream?"
She got up from the bed and rubbed her temples, still feeling an unreal sensation surrounding her.
It took a while for this feeling to gradually fade away.
Freya could still clearly remember that after entering the tent, she began to meditate, and then encountered those two strange creatures outside the tent.
It should be noted that ever since she was promoted to a wizard, she had rarely dreamed; her powerful mental strength allowed her to dismiss all unreal distractions, keeping her in a state of clear awareness at all times.
This itself is a characteristic of transcending lowly life forms.
"Could it be a high-level illusion? But when did I set up the warning spell?"
Freya lowered her arms and slightly squinted her eyes.
While pondering, she put on her clothes and walked out of the tent.
Outside the tent, the sky at dawn was gradually showing a hint of blue. Ron was still sitting on that rock, as if he hadn't moved all night.
The campfire on the ground had completely turned to gray ash, and the horses in front of the cart were gently snorting.
The cold air seeped into Freya's collar, giving her a chilly feeling.
She glanced around the edge of the forest; those dense Wilderness Shadows from last night had completely vanished without a trace.
After a pause, Freya walked to the front of the cart and looked at the horse's back.
Suddenly, her expression froze. She could clearly see two large light gray footprints on the horse's back. These footprints were exactly where that strange figure had crouched last night.
"Could it not be an illusion? How could this be?" Freya's face grew serious.
She glanced at Ron and walked over to him.
Noticing Freya's approach, the two red dots representing eyes in Ron's helmet suddenly brightened.
"Is there something wrong?"
"Did anything strange happen last night?" Freya asked calmly.
"No, everything was normal," Ron replied succinctly.
"Is that so?" Freya's brows furrowed slightly.
Although she hadn't seen Ron take any specific action and there hadn't been anything remarkable along the way, Freya had a feeling. This guy was not as simple as he appeared; at least the obscure aura around him was something she couldn't easily penetrate.
Even if he hadn't noticed any issues, then...
After pondering for a moment, Freya spoke directly.
"Although I only hired you as a guide and you are not responsible for my safety, it would be good to introduce the environment of this wilderness. That is part of your duty as a guide."
"Introduce the environment?" Ron's helmet paused slightly before he continued. "This wilderness has no name. Besides weeds, stones, and dead wood, there are hardly any creatures here. However, every now and then at night, Wilderness Shadows appear. These things have no physical form; only trees can block some of them. If you attack recklessly, it could lead to some unfortunate events. That's about it."
"Unfortunate events?" Freya raised an eyebrow. "What kind of unfortunate events?"
"I don't know the specifics, but anyone who has tried to attack these shadows has encountered some bizarre occurrences within ten days—illness, injury, encounters with monsters, or even some have died silently in their dreams. This has been confirmed over many years."
"Is that so?" Freya nodded.
It seemed she had read about such strange phenomena in a book before.
She turned to look at the sun gradually rising in the east, her gaze flashing with an inexplicable light...
Half an hour later.
The two of them simply ate some food and fed the horses before leaving the forest and heading towards the Toxic Fog Swamp.
The wilderness was vast, but it was filled with weeds and dead trees, just like Ron had said, with no signs of human presence.
The carriage moved quietly forward, and Freya, sitting inside, noticed that at some point she had acquired a light blue cube in her hand.
Inside the cube floated a wisp of white mist, seemingly twisting continuously with the jolts of the carriage.
Freya's gaze was fixed on the changes in the mist inside, her fingertips occasionally flickering with points of White Light.
After a while, the wisp of White Mist suddenly solidified and slowly coalesced into a semi-transparent human shape.
The figure sat cross-legged, arms crossed over its chest, its head aligned perfectly with Freya's line of sight, as if curiously observing her.
Looking at the transparent figure, Freya's expression darkened slightly.
"Is there indeed an unknown world leaking World Power into this wilderness?"
Each World Power is different; it can be considered a form of contaminated force under certain rules. If an unknown World Rift appears in a certain area, then the fusion of two different types of World Power may give rise to inexplicable and bizarre phenomena.
Most of these phenomena cannot be judged by common sense and are likely to pose significant dangers, though there may be rare instances where unknown benefits could arise.
Clearly, this wilderness was not an exception.
Thus, the strange creature that Freya encountered last night might have been influenced by this World Power.
"It seems that the ancient wars have had a far deeper impact here than in other places."
She put away the blue cube in her hand and gazed out the window. In her deep blue eyes, thoughts seemed to drift.
In the slightly dim sky, a bird occasionally flitted by.
There was little conversation along the way, and soon, as time passed, the colors darkened again.
However, this time there were no forests in the wilderness to provide a place to rest, so Freya had no choice but to drive the carriage to a relatively flat area.
She found some large stones and roughly surrounded the area, inscribing runes for isolation.
In front of the tent, a bright yellow campfire had been lit. Freya was cooking meat soup in an iron pot, while Ron remained as he always was.
This guy seemed unbothered by the cold and appeared to never take off his armor. Besides the pockets used for carrying Soulbugs, he had nothing else on him.
He sat there dazedly next to the carriage with his black dinosaur-like mount.
After finishing dinner, Freya looked around. The Wilderness Shadows had not reappeared.
However, feeling uneasy, Freya still conjured a grove of trees around the stones just in case.
The strange World Power was very troublesome; even Freya did not want to provoke such things.
The sky gradually darkened. The earth returned to silence, with only some insects or animals hidden in the ground making rustling sounds.
Freya returned to her bed in the tent and fell asleep, with only the faint glow of the unburned campfire illuminating the wilderness.
‘Ding.’
Suddenly, a crisp sound echoed.
Freya, who had been sleeping, abruptly opened her eyes.
"Hmm?"
She quickly got up and looked out of the tent window.
In the pitch-black night sky, a massive silver moon hung silently, casting its silver light upon the earth.
Outside the tent was an open space, with no carriage and no Ron.
Even the stones she had piled up and the strange news from the forest were nowhere to be seen.
It was as if Freya had been transported to some unfamiliar place in the wilderness without realizing it.
For a moment, the feeling from last night returned to her mind.
"Is it happening again?" Freya's expression was somewhat peculiar.
She reached for the blue cube at her waist; at that moment, the transparent figure in the center had completely vanished, and even the wisp of white smoke was gone. The cube was empty and very clean inside.
Silently staring at the cube in her hand, Freya's eyes revealed a complex expression.
"Have I really left the Wizarding World? How is that possible?"
World Rift truly exists. If she really crossed into another world, she would definitely feel it. However, the display of this blue square has officially indicated that she is standing in a strange new world.
This phenomenon felt absurd to Freya, completely surpassing any knowledge she had learned.
Suddenly, the sound of urgent Hoofbeats rang out from outside, bringing Freya back to her senses.
Through the window, Freya could see that under the Silver Moonlight, a snow-white Carriage was rushing towards her from afar.
At the front of the carriage were two snow-white Steeds. The manes of the Steeds rippled with each stride, and on their foreheads stood long, sharp horns, resembling the sacred unicorns of Transcendence.
However, the seemingly holy Steeds had pitch-black eyes that looked like deep whirlpools, appearing very eerie.
There was nothing in the driver's seat, yet the Reins floated as if being held by someone.
"Is this what creatures in this world look like?"
Watching the white carriage galloping towards her, Freya thought for a moment and decided to go outside for a closer look.
As soon as she stepped out of the tent, the carriage that had been far away just moments ago was now right beside her.
With a whoosh, it swept past her.
Standing nearby, Freya even caught a glimpse of the ornate patterns on one side of the carriage before it vanished from sight in no time.
Freya stood still, gazing in the direction where the carriage had disappeared.
Just a moment ago, the area was still empty, but now, after the carriage passed, a circular altar gradually emerged.
The altar was exquisite, with a diameter of just over three meters, covered in large irregular circles, and in the center stood a massive statue shaped like a Black Crow.
However, compared to an ordinary crow, this statue had three eyes on each side, giving it a somewhat ferocious appearance.
Looking at the statue, Freya frowned slightly.
"An altar? Perhaps I can see what world this belongs to from here."
After a pause, she walked towards the altar.
As Freya approached, a cheerful melody suddenly filled her mind.
The rhythm of the melody was quick and joyful, played on an instrument she did not recognize, and it sounded very pleasant.
As a result, Freya, who had been feeling somewhat gloomy, seemed to be influenced by the tune and gradually became happier.
However, as she got closer to the altar, the cheerful melody became increasingly rapid and even somewhat grating.
At that moment, Freya wanted to stop, but she found that she could not control her body; even her mouth would not open.
Her feet kept wanting to step toward the altar.
When she finally stood beside the altar, the harsh melody seemed to stretch endlessly, like glass scraping against stones or a sharp female voice singing loudly.
"My dear baby, look! Mommy has already dug out his eyes, eaten her tongue, let blood cover her hands, and used a branding iron to reach into its entrails. His head has been pried open, revealing white brain matter. We take out the spoon..."
The piercing and sharp singing echoed repeatedly in Freya's mind.
Just as she felt her head was about to explode, the Black Crow statue in the center of the altar suddenly turned its head, and six black eyes blinked in unison.
"Ding!"
With a loud "bang," Freya shot up from her bed.
Her forehead was drenched in cold sweat, and she felt a chilling sensation creeping down her back.
Freya instinctively touched her ear, feeling a sticky substance.
When she lowered her hand to look, her pupils instantly contracted.
"Blood?"
A faint metallic smell stimulated Freya's nerves, but strangely, aside from the blood by her ear, there was no other abnormality; she felt perfectly healthy.
It seemed to still be night outside, with the campfire crackling away.
After a long while, Freya finally snapped out of her daze.
"Back again??"
This situation seemed to exceed her expectations; there was definitely something lurking in the Crimson Forest Trace, this eerie wilderness.
"Twice now. Did I enter that world again last night? What exactly is causing me to enter it?"
As Freya was contemplating how to gather some clear water to wash away the blood from her ears, a fist-sized hard object suddenly appeared in her hand.
Freya was slightly taken aback. She raised her hand and discovered that an unfamiliar black Raven Statue had somehow materialized in her grasp.
The raven was only the size of a fist, but strangely, each side had three eyes.
"Is this the statue from that altar?"
The statue felt somewhat cold to the touch, yet Freya sensed it was almost like a corpse.
After a brief pause, she suddenly exerted force in her hand.
Crack!
The Raven Statue immediately split open with a fissure.
However, Freya's arm also jolted with pain as a clear crack slowly extended from it. (To be continued...)
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