October 3, 7:45 PM.
"It seems it's time to begin." VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth seemed to sense something, smiled slightly, and opened her eyes to look at Edrick.
"What is it? What's starting?" Edrick was sleeping lightly and woke up suddenly.
"My escape plan." VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth spoke, and the special handcuffs and shackles on her body automatically loosened. She smiled and pulled out a slender silver needle from her lower abdomen. The same silver needle had been removed from Lacus's body by Edrick earlier; it was a special device designed to restrict the abilities of extraordinary beings.
VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth looked at Edrick, and Edrick looked back at her.
Adrian and Lacus's plan definitely didn't include escaping! Edrick's mind raced—a VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth free from restrictions was too dangerous and too unpredictable.Based on his understanding of Lacus, the former bishop would never let him do something so dangerous. Moreover, Adrian had already left the Cult of Entropic Lies, and as enemies, it was impossible for either side to know the exact time of VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth's escape.
However, they had guessed that when things were chaotic at the textile factory, VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth would inevitably take action, so they sent Edrick to be near VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth to set up some kind of plan. They never expected VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth would choose to escape directly.
It was all because of that textile factory. Edrick had destroyed a wraith in the factory and taken the statue of the evil god, a series of actions that clearly provoked the various forces that had been watching the factory.
Soon, Edrick was convinced that it was just a coincidence and smiled sincerely, "I want to join the Cult of Entropic Lies, but please don't include me in the escape plan.
Edrick was arrested under his real name and was only supposed to stay for two days. If he really escaped, he would be homeless in Stellaxis.
For Edrick, survival was a very serious matter. It was difficult to live in this world without legal status. Of course, some people chose to become illegal adventurers, but that meant living rough and facing danger in the wilderness every day.
Before his time travel, Edrick was just a scholar. He knew very well that camping in this world was far from comfortable.
VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth stared at Edrick for a long time. Just as Edrick thought she was going to kill him, she finally revealed a seductive smile: "No problem. As the Jack of Clubs, I do have the qualifications to initiate you into the sect."
VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth spoke, then tore off Edric's prison garb without hesitation.
"Wait, I didn't join the cult to become a concubine..." Edric panicked, but VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth, who had regained her strength, was no match for him.
Edrick's upper body was exposed, and VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth's slender fingers traced across his back, causing searing pain to spread throughout his body. She swiftly etched a tattoo onto his back.
It was a two-headed serpent with its tail in its mouth, coiled around a melting copper mirror. Its body was wrapped around broken gears, and the edges of its scales shimmered with flowing golden light. Black flames and liquid runes seeped from the gaps between the gears. In the dim light, the serpent's scales melted and deformed like wax, and the conflicting staircases in the background flickered in and out of view. Golden lines flickered with Edrick's breath.
When VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth finished, the tattoo disappeared as if it had never been there. If it weren't for the stinging pain, Edrick would have suspected that it was all an illusion.
"You are now only an apprentice. To advance further in the cult, you must complete the novice task. As payment for the information you provided me, I have carved a path on the floor. If you can study it and understand it, you will be able to advance."VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth spoke, her seductive figure gradually fading away. "Currently, I have used illusions to disrupt the guards' vision. Once the illusions fade, this floor may become quite lively."
In the monitoring room, the crystal ball reflecting VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth's room flickered, and VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth, who had been lying on the bed, suddenly vanished.The female elf Velena FitzLobkowicz, who was dozing off while on duty, saw this incredible scene in the crystal ball and suddenly woke up with a start. She hurriedly picked up the loudspeaker connected to the communication channel and reported to the deputy warden on duty.
"Sir! VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth suddenly disappeared from the cell!"
"Assemble the team immediately, seal off the floor, and under no circumstances allow her to escape this floor. I will arrive within three minutes. Do not speak to her, do not look into her eyes, and above all, do not engage her in combat!" The authoritative voice of Deputy Warden Sebastian Bloodoath echoed through the communication channel.
Deputy Warden Sebastian Bloodoath was a veteran who had participated in the Tulip War. He was experienced and had personally faced all kinds of demons and monsters. Rumor had it that he might even qualify as a Golden-ranked Hero.
Since the previous warden died under mysterious circumstances, Obsidian Spire had been without a legitimate warden. As the deputy warden, Sebastian Bloodoath was now the highest-ranking official in the facility.
Normally, high-ranking officials like him would not stay in the duty room at all times, but this stern and rigid veteran practically lived in Obsidian Spire, and no one had ever seen him leave the rocky fortress.
Velena immediately gathered her men. She knew that the prisoners on this floor were all heinous criminals. She activated the defensive barrier on this floor. The soles of Velena's boots crushed the blood clots on the ground, emitting a faint, mournful sound as the barrier activated.
The living runes on the iron bars suddenly glowed red, and the spells carved into the prisoners' skin wriggled like parasitic leeches, crawling toward the bars and weaving a metallic net with a mercury-silver glow on the surface of the barrier.
The brass scales on the shoulder armor of the twelve mages on duty rubbed against each other, making a sound like rusty gears turning. The prison fire crystals at the tips of their wands cast distorted shadows, projecting the outlines of swaying gallows onto the damp stone walls.
In the darkness, a towering figure strode forward. The sound of Deputy Warden Sebastian's metal boots striking the ground echoed like the rhythm of nails being driven into a coffin. The miniature psychic cores on his shoulder armor glowed an unhealthy purple-blue, and the dagger at his waist emanated a bloodthirsty aura.
The bodies of two guards lay twisted at bizarre angles. The right hand of the one on the left was clawed and deeply embedded in the stone wall, with strands of indigo-blue hair embedded in the nail grooves, melting away. The edges of the wound bore corrosion marks resembling the tentacles of a sea monster.
The right guard's eyes were completely cloudy, and a half-black worm wrapped in iron shavings crawled out of the slit in his throat, each twitch bringing out a few drops of black blood mixed with gear fragments.
"Sir..."
The deputy warden didn't say anything, just waved his hand to signal the mages on duty to follow him. The group quickly rushed to the cell door, only to find two guards lying on the ground covered in blood.
The deputy warden and Velena leaned over to check on the guards. One of them was still conscious, but the other was clearly dead.
The deputy warden asked, "What happened?"
The guard pointed toward the stairs with a trembling finger: "It was... Yog-Moth... She suddenly... appeared outside the cell... and killed..."
Before he could finish, the guard's hand fell limply to the ground. Velena checked the guard's pulse and confirmed that both guards were dead. She shook her head helplessly at the deputy warden.
"Sir," Velena said, looking at her deputy warden with concern.
"It's under control. This floor is sealed off; Yog-Moth can't escape. Velena, go notify Watchpost and the police to reinforce the security."
Upon hearing the deputy warden's words, Velena's expression grew even more grim. Normally, if a prisoner escaped, they only needed to notify the police. Even if an extraordinary individual escaped, they would simply notify the military for joint enforcement.
After all, Obsidian Spire was a direct institution under the royal family. Any incidents were handled internally by government departments. Notifying the Church would imply that the royal family had failed in its duties and needed the Church's intervention.
"We actually have to contact the military department... Who exactly is VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth?" Velena hesitated, as this procedure was clearly irregular.
"Hurry up!" The deputy warden emphasized with an unwavering tone. Velena had no choice but to comply. As he turned to leave, he suddenly realized he couldn't move.
It wasn't just Velena. The dozen or so mages present were all high-ranking Pathseekers, and now they found that they couldn't move a single finger.
Only the deputy warden looked normal: "Yog-Moth, put away your tricks. You can't escape."
The corpse of the guard, which had been dead, suddenly began to move. Its joints creaked like those of a long-dead zombie coming back to life.
Indigo-blue hair on the tips of its fingers oozed a sticky liquid, emitting a sour, corrosive sizzling sound on the ground.
The elbow joints turned like rusty door hinges, and with the wet sound of torn ligaments, the forearm folded at an odd angle. Dark purple veins beneath the skin wriggled along the runic engravings, like maggots burrowing into rotten flesh.
After seven crisp cracks from the cervical vertebrae, the shriveled eyelids burst open, revealing cloudy eyeballs with bloodshot veins beneath the whites, like tiny hands scratching at the surface. The skin on the chest cracked open, revealing purple-blue rotting flesh with a pale, waxy glow. The grinding sounds of joints rubbing against each other echoed like a scalpel scraping against a ceramic plate.
The broken ankles twisted to support the body, and the stench of carbolic acid and metallic rot wafted toward the face. Black viscous fluid dripped from behind the ears, freezing the bricks, and the throat emitted a rasping sound like leather being scraped: "No wonder you're the deputy warden of Obsidian Spire, Sebastian Bloodoath. It seems your superiors have told you everything about me."
"The rumors are true. There are people in Watchpost who fear you." The deputy warden grinned, "The fearless Cult of Entropic Lies, Block J, actually has a weakness."
The zombie's expression was grim, though one couldn't expect a dead man to look cheerful. The deputy warden's words had clearly hit a nerve. It paused for two seconds before speaking slowly: "Sebastian Linen Bloodoath, there's really no need for this hostility. I know you've been working diligently here all this time for a reason. In this matter, our interests don't conflict."
"The sweet talk of a cultist." The deputy warden said as he swung his sword and cut off the zombie's arms. His sword was so fast that in the blink of an eye, it was back in its sheath as if it had never moved.
The zombie felt no pain: "Hehe, sweet talk? You really look down on our Cult of Entropic Lies.I've told you, we don't need to be enemies. I can even help you hide the traces of those... um, immature sacrifices in the second basement."
Sebastian Linen Bloodoath's face remained expressionless, but he didn't refute the zombie's proposal. The two stood there, one human and one zombie, in a standoff for more than ten seconds.
Sebastian Linen Bloodoath spoke slowly, "You know too much."
The zombie emitted a hissing sound, as if it were laughing: "No, no, no, no, my friend. Threats are useless against me. I'm simply offering you a deal—a fair deal. I guarantee that neither of us will come out on the losing end."
Sebastian Linen Bloodoath's voice grew colder: "I could kill everyone here right now and still keep the secret."
The zombie shrugged its armless shoulders: "You can do whatever you want with this corpse, but rest assured, you will never find me before the shift change tomorrow. You can bet on it. Besides... if you kill everyone here with your own hands, do you think the police and the military are all idiots? Or do you want to frame the Ripper again, just like before?"
The deputy warden's face showed no sign of weakness, but inside he was a little anxious. There were many prisoners in Obsidian Spire, and VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth was definitely not the one with the most serious crimes, but she was definitely the most difficult to deal with.
As the square J of the Cult of Entropic Lies, not a single punctuation mark could be trusted in this woman's mouth!
Yet she held the key to his greatest secret—and perhaps the greatest secret of the entire Obsidian Spire.
"Why now?" Sebastian Linen Bloodoath asked.
"Because the time has come! My little treasure reminded me that the harvest is ripe!" The zombie spoke, its body slowly beginning to rot and melt. First the armor and clothing, then the skin and muscles, falling off in pieces onto the ground.
"Take this message to the people above. You know who I mean. Tell them it's time to shut down the textile factory. In addition to this message, I will keep your secret. How about it? All you have to do is nothing."
Sebastian Linen Bloodoath glanced at the mages around him who were frozen in place. "These people cannot live, nor can they die by my hands."
"It was nice working with you." When the zombies melted down to nothing but skeletons and entrails, they exploded like bombs, instantly engulfing the entire floor, including the prisoners in the cells, the immobilized mages, the terrified Velena, and the expressionless Sebastian Linen Bloodoath.
The only exception was the room that had originally belonged to VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth, which remained intact.
The shockwave collided with the barrier sealing off the entire floor, causing it to shake violently but failing to break through.
Before her consciousness and physical form were torn apart by the explosion, Velena's gaze locked onto Sebastian Linen Bloodoath's emotionless eyes.
October 3rd, 7:45 PM.
In the duty room, Velena woke up with a start as if she had had a terrible nightmare. She vomited violently and complained, "Damn it, no matter how many times... I still can't get used to it... Fortunately, I saved some resurrection coins in advance. I knew this mission wouldn't be so easy!"
In Velena's field of vision, a system panel displayed a dialogue box: S-rank mission, the wraiths of the textile factory.
On the surveillance crystal ball, VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth's figure vanished from the cell.
"The secret of the second underground level, huh... Sebastian Bloodoath, VolumeVoid·Yog-Moth, this isn't over!" Velena said, getting up without hesitation and leaving the monitoring room. With her current strength, she had no chance of defeating either VolumeVoid or Sebastian. Her only way out was to escape Obsidian Spire first.
At the same time, in a dilapidated temple shrouded in mist on a mountain peak, the Flower Maiden tilted her head slightly, and a smile appeared on her pixelated face: "That tricky ability has appeared again."
"Why do you look so happy?" asked the Wealth-Scattering Lad in confusion.
"Because it's more fun when it's a little difficult."