novellk Chapter 1419 The Old Bard's Recollection
Chapter 1419 The Old Bard's Recollection
“That’s exactly what happened in the beginning.”
Old Nick's eyes became more and more blurred. The soft light reflected on his face, making him seem to be back in the dark and damp Warcraft cave.
"At that time, under the leadership of two elite mercenaries, although those mutant black steel spiders that appeared and disappeared in the nest and the sticky spider webs all over the ground did cause us some trouble, but that was all."
"Until we cleared all the obstacles and reached the deepest part of the nest, the only injured member of the team was a reckless archer who fell down after his legs were entangled in spider webs."
"Finally, after a battle that was not thrilling, we successfully defeated the leader of the Black Steel Spiders and completely destroyed the entire nest."
"Just as we buried the bodies of several local villagers who had been eaten alive, and were about to confirm whether there were any survivors captured by the monsters, and were about to leave the lair, something unexpected happened."
Listening attentively to what Old Nick said here, everyone couldn't help but become more serious. It seemed that this should be the beginning of everything.
"In the storage room of the Black Steel Spider, I accidentally found an ancient portal."
A trace of regret welled up in Old Nick's eyes, and he continued to describe.
"That portal should have been there originally, but because it has been so long, it has lost its original function. However, the outline of the magic circle engraved on the ground is still clearly visible."
"At first, neither I nor the other mercenaries around me knew the specific function of the magic circle. It was not until I tried to inject a wisp of magic power into the long-dormant magic circle that the portal was reactivated, just like lighting a long-extinguished firewood."
At this point, the regret on Old Nick's face became even more intense, and he sighed heavily, "If I hadn't listened to my teammates and tried to activate the portal, or if I hadn't discovered the magic circle, then none of this would have happened."
Looking at Old Nick's regretful expression, Lei Xiao, knowing that he could not understand his feelings at the moment, did not say anything to comfort him. He just patted his skinny shoulders silently, and then signaled Xiaoyue to pour him a cup of hot tea.
"I am extremely grateful to Your Majesty for the tea!"
Holding the steaming cup of tea, Old Nick's emotions finally stabilized a little and he began to continue his description.
"I still remember clearly that in the depths of the dim and damp cave, when that ancient portal that was gleaming with deep grey light and leading to an unknown destination suddenly appeared in front of me and the other mercenaries, everyone was stunned at first, and then they cheered."
"You know, no matter which legendary poem or well-known heroic story, behind the strange portal there must be countless treasures, long-forgotten magic weapons, or extremely powerful skill scrolls. No matter which one it is, it is a wealth that ordinary mercenaries like me can never achieve in a lifetime."
“So, after not much discussion, I and other mercenaries could not wait to go in and find out what was going on. This was the real beginning of the nightmare.”
At this point, Old Nick looked at Gray Old Man with embarrassment, and said with a guilty face: "I'm sorry, Master President, according to the mercenary code, when we find such unknown portals or strange ancient ruins, we should report them to the guild, and then the guild will send a team of experienced strong people to assist in the exploration. After all, ancient ruins are often accompanied by unpredictable dangers and challenges, but I and my group..."
"Old Nick, there is also a rule in the mercenary code that in an emergency, we have the obligation to eliminate any unknown risks to ensure the safety of nearby villages. I believe you have also considered this."
Gray Old Man nodded slightly and said, "Please continue."
After thanking Gray Old Man, Old Nick's description rang out again.
"With great excitement, I followed the team into the portal. Before I could savor the wonderful feeling of lightness when I stepped over the threshold, I found myself in front of an unfamiliar underground ancient ruin."
"That ancient ruins is extremely huge. Even the magic light ball that I am good at can only illuminate a small part of it. The rest is completely dark and there is no end in sight."
"Also, the height of this underground space is extremely high. Even the flare magic fired directly out cannot reach it completely. It is at least four or five hundred meters high."
After hearing what Old Nick said, a trace of contemplation emerged on the old man's face. He nodded thoughtfully and said, "Is the cave wall at the top so high? In addition, it is connected by a portal. I'm afraid the ruins should be deep underground, right?"
"What the president said is absolutely right. Although my strength is limited, my perception of magic power is comparable to that of a third-level magician. According to my perception, there are abundant earth-attributed energy particles in this underground space. There should be an earth-attributed magic vein surging nearby."
Old Nick nodded heavily and continued, "However, at that time, my group's attention was not on these places at all. They just formed an exploration formation with excitement and began to move towards the location of the ancient ruins."
"However, just as we walked about a hundred meters with great anticipation and had not yet approached the main entrance of the ruins, an unexpected and horrible change occurred."
At this point, Old Nick swallowed involuntarily, and his body began to tremble uncontrollably again. It was obvious that he was recalling something terrible again, and even his lips turned purple.
Seeing this, Lei Xiao immediately signaled Xiaoyue to give him treatment. After a while, the other party finally calmed down.
"Thank you very much, Your Majesty!"
Old Nick bowed respectfully to Lei Xiao, and his eyes became blurred again.
"Without any warning, an underground river not far from where we were suddenly started to surge, as if it was boiling in an instant."
"Before the group could react, the river, which was originally clear to the bottom, suddenly became turbid as countless mud and sand surged into it, accompanied by violent surging and bubbling."
"Then, something terrible happened. The turbid water became thicker and thicker, and began to wriggle and merge with each other in an indescribable rhythm, as if it was nurturing some kind of life."
"This process happened extremely quickly, in the blink of an eye. By the time I came to my senses from this astonishing scene, the turbid fluid that was constantly squirming had actually begun to crystallize in a strange way. It soon became extremely smooth and delicate, just like polished marble or new skin."
Old Nick's face turned even paler, and he continued describing with trembling.
"Accompanied by the terrifying wriggling and continuous crystallization of the strange turbid fluid, countless terrifying brown spheres suspended in the air actually began to condense and take shape one after another!"
"Those terrifying brown spheres were the size of skulls, with extremely smooth and flat surfaces. They were in an indescribable translucent state, with turbid brown liquid or brown energy flowing crazily inside them."
"As the liquid inside surged crazily, some strange crystal clusters could be vaguely seen moving in a regular rhythm in the center, like some kind of organ. This undoubtedly shows that these strange things are obviously a terrifying and mysterious life form."
Old Nick was enveloped in the soft golden light cast by Xiaoyue. He drank the tea in the cup tremblingly, and then added tremblingly: "In short, those things look like, like..."
"Like some weird eyeball kind of thing?"
Before Old Nick could finish his words, Gray couldn't help but blurt out, "Old Nick, are they like some weird eyeballs suspended in mid-air?"
"Mr. President, how did you know that?!"
Old Nick was stunned at first, then he kept nodding and affirmed: "Yes, they really are like weird eyeballs!"
"Your Majesty, could this be..."
After getting confirmation from Old Nick, Gray Old quickly turned to Lei Xiao, his face full of solemnity.
During the battle of Dragon's Lair, both the parasitic puppet dragons and the opponents very similar to those described by Old Nick undoubtedly left an indelible impression on the old president who had been fighting beside Lei Xiao.
After all, at that time, these extremely tough opponents almost put us to death.
"Yes, although the color and the place where it appeared are different, it is definitely "Eclipse" without a doubt."
Lei Xiao nodded slightly and expressed what Hui Lao was thinking.
Hearing the sound, not only Gray Old Man, but even Ariel, Gail and Kelly who had also heard about the battle at that time all took a deep breath of the cold air, with extremely solemn expressions on their faces.
Lei Xiao also took a deep breath and nodded to Old Nick, saying, "Sir Nick, please continue."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Noticing that the atmosphere was becoming increasingly solemn, Old Nick tried his best to calm his mind and fell into his memories again.
"There were more and more strange brown eyeballs, densely packed together, and soon they completely surrounded the unsuspecting villain and his group. Waves of indescribable hostility began to surge from their bodies, making them feel as if they were falling into an icy cave."
"Faced with such a strange and sudden situation and a terrifying opponent that suddenly appeared, the mercenaries were stunned and quickly surrounded the villain and the archer in the center of the team. The two third-level elite mercenaries shouted loudly and shot forward together, choosing to fight the opponent head-on in an attempt to carve out a bloody path for the team."
"But what happened next made everyone present tremble with fear."
"Just as the two elite mercenaries holding sharp blades were about to approach those brown eyeballs, their bodies suddenly glowed with light, and countless long brown tentacles-like hairs suddenly sprang out from the lower half of their bodies, covering the whole sky and earth."
“Those brown beards moved extremely fast. Before the two elite mercenaries could react, they swallowed them up like a giant cocoon.”
"I have to say, that was the most horrific sight I have ever seen."
"After the giant cocoon was formed, the roots began to dance wildly in the air, as if they were extremely happy. The frantic beat and rhythm, coupled with the fact that each root was covered with deep and complex strange patterns, made me feel terrified and dizzy. I almost fainted. I could even feel a warm current flowing down between my trembling legs."
"However, I finally managed to pull myself together, gritted my teeth and chose to continue attacking with the other mercenaries around me in an attempt to rescue my teammates."
“But my elemental bullets, arrows, and swords were all unable to cause any damage to these sudden and terrifying opponents, and they did not fight back, just like playing with a few ants. Until I saw the two giant cocoons shrinking rapidly, and finally only a pool of black water flowed out.”
Old Nick's body began to tremble unconsciously again. He clenched his teeth and continued to describe.
"Immediately afterwards, the other mercenaries around me were also entangled by the crazy long beards. The hysterical screams and the sound of slime from the roots wriggling kept lingering in my ears, until finally I was the only one left."
"Just when the little man was about to be entangled by the roots, the brown eyeballs suddenly stopped moving, as if they were tired of the previous attack."
"This time, as all the brown eyeballs turned towards the little man, a white dot began to emerge from his body, like a pupil appearing from a lifeless eyeball."
"The moment I looked at those eyeballs in panic, an inexplicable chill that I had never experienced before suddenly rose from my heart, as if all the blood in my body froze instantly. It was an irresistible fear that penetrated my bones. The strange eyeballs around me seemed to become infinitely huge, while I was shrinking infinitely, like an ant."
"They seem to see through everything about the villain. They seem to be the supreme existence. They can crush the villain to death at any time. They despise the villain and they are dismissive..."
Old Nick's body began to tremble violently, so much so that even the chair he was sitting on was shaking wildly.
"Well, Sir Nick, there's no need to describe this feeling, but you finally made it through, didn't you? Your bravery is enough to make all of us proud."
Lei Xiao interrupted the other party in time, first comforted him, and then looked at each other with Hui Lao.
The feeling that Old Nick described was naturally the fear that transcends death.
During the battle in Dragon's Lair, I still clearly remember this feeling of fear that is difficult to describe in words.
At that time, let alone the fifth-level warriors, even the half-step sixth-level warriors such as Louise were shaking uncontrollably all over and could hardly think. This is a clear example.
Old Nick's strength is only at the peak of the second level, so it is not surprising that he becomes crazy.
"But how did he escape from the hands of those 'eclipses'? And where did he hear the term 'catastrophic'?"
When he thought of this, a hint of doubt appeared on Lei Xiao's face. (End of this chapter)