Chapter 14: Unknown Enemy
Entering the small stone building, there was a winding staircase leading downward. Following the stairs, an old elevator appeared ahead.
A tower guard pulled a metal lever beside the elevator, and the sound of gear friction came as an elevator slowly rose from the dark shaft.
The tower guard pulled open the iron gate of the elevator, made a gesture of invitation, and then stepped inside.
Clatter, clatter, clatter~
The sound of metal gears grinding filled his ears as the elevator descended. Su Xiao looked at the tower guard beside him.
"Sir, please don't make eye contact with me. I am very battle-hungry, and encountering a strong person like you puts me at high risk of Source transformation."
The tower guard spoke, his voice somewhat muffled due to the bloated hood.
"Source transformation?"
Su Xiao leaned against the inner side of the elevator, waiting for it to reach the bottom while casually chatting with the tower guard.
"Turning into a monster driven by Source. The residual scent on you tells me you've seen them. Is that how your companion obtained the Dragonheart Axe? A commendable warrior."
"By that logic, your aura is not far from Source transformation."
"I will hold on until the very end, and then my comrades will help me find rest. This is our oath with the Edri royal family."
Saying this, the tower guard raised both hands and removed his bloated hood, revealing a face covered in scars and crisscrossed with blue veins.
"Her Highness Edri Beph. As a tower guard, I welcome you home."
The tower guard bowed to Liu. Although Liu was puzzled, she stepped aside.
"Big-headed freak, you've mistaken me for someone else."
"I am not mistaken. Your return means you still bear the responsibility of the Edri royal family in your heart. The only royal member we haven't met is you. Please do not doubt. The oath between the tower guards and the royal blood allows me to sense the royal blood flowing within you, and also..."
The tower guard put his bloated hood back on, seeming to let out a sigh.
Clatter~
The elevator stopped. The tower guard pulled open the iron gate, revealing a stone platform ahead. This platform was not high, with three steps around it, forming a circle. A stone slab was embedded in the center.
On the other side of the platform, another tower guard in similar attire was leaning against the wall, snoring under his bloated hood.
"Where are you headed? The royal capital or Kodo Eisen?"
"The royal capital."
Su Xiao walked onto the stone platform and looked at the stone slab in front of him. Within this slab, he sensed the energy of a deity, which relieved him. The ancient deity was indeed a type of deity, not an impostor.
"There will be a bumpy sensation along the way. Please don't open your mouths."
"Why?"
Liu, standing on the platform, looked puzzled.
"You'll bite your tongue."
As the tower guard spoke, he gripped a disc in front of the platform. It had 14 markings, all indicated by patterns, one of which was a crown.
"I wish you success, Her Highness Edri Beph. I hope to witness your inheritance of the crown with my own eyes, provided I haven't lost control by then."
With a click, the disc was pressed down. Spatial force surged, and white light filled Su Xiao's vision. A bumpy sensation appeared, feeling like being inside a box that a giant was shaking vigorously. A hazy feeling surrounded them, severely affecting Su Xiao's perception, making him alert. He had often performed spatial teleportation or movement but had never encountered such a situation.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Su Xiao heard a strange cry. It wasn't Bubu Wang, Baha, or Liu. As for Amu and Qifu, that was even less likely.
Hearing this strange cry, Su Xiao's hand instinctively went to the sword hilt at his waist.
When the surroundings stabilized, Su Xiao was standing on a larger stone platform. Not far away were three tower guards.
"Woof!"
Bubu Wang barked, twitching its nose as it searched the surroundings.
The unique fluctuation of spatial teleportation appeared, and Baha materialized. Its dark blue-black feathers were somewhat disheveled, as if it had been thrown into a chicken coop and beaten up by a group of angry roosters.
"What kind of teleportation array is this? It's too unstable. It almost threw me off."
Baha was still shaken. If it had been thrown off, that would have been ridiculous.
"Amu... where is he?"
Su Xiao looked around but couldn't find Amu.
"It hurts so much~"
Liu crouched on the ground, unable to stand from the pain. On her back were rising cold air and a patch of ice crystals.
"This damn teleportation array lost Amu. Amu got lost again? Huh? Why did I say 'again'~"
Baha's expression was quite interesting. Meanwhile, somewhere in the Tarin Kingdom.
In a muddy swamp, Amu sat in the muddy water, its dazed expression seemingly asking: Where am I? Who am I? Did I eat today? What did I eat?
Bloodstains appeared on Amu's body, but they stopped bleeding and began to heal within seconds. It stood up from the ground, and after the initial confusion, it recalled what had happened.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Three dark figures appeared near Amu. Their skin was pitch black, as if smeared with non-reflective black paint, and each held a straight sword covered in serrated edges.
"Ptooey."
Amu spat out the blood in its mouth. A nearly two-meter-long ice battle axe appeared in its hand.
"The master has ordered: kill anyone, no matter who!"
The three dark figures lunged at Amu. Ice appeared, freezing the swamp within a one-kilometer radius.
More than ten minutes later, Amu grabbed one of the dark figures by the head with one hand. White mist rose from Amu's hand as the extreme cold instantly caused the enemy's brain to necrotize.
Amu dropped the corpse in its hand, then exerted force from its back. A serrated straight sword was pushed out by the ice energy inside it, spinning and embedding into a tree behind.
Within Su Xiao's team, in terms of overall combat power, Amu was definitely the second strongest.
...
Royal Capital, Teleportation Tower.
Three tower guards were asking Qifu something. Before today, teleportation between towers had never had any accidents.
"What did you feel just now?"
Su Xiao stood behind Liu, observing the frozen marks on her back. These were left by Amu, freezing only Liu's clothes without harming her skin or body.
"Cold."
"Before the cold."
"Let me think," Liu frowned in thought. She also sensed something was wrong. The three tower guards said that before today, the teleportation tower had never had any accidents. As a member of the Edri royal family, she had just arrived, and an accident occurred.
"It felt like a hand was grabbing my back, and then it was pushed away."
Hearing Liu's words, [Soul's Whisper] appeared in Su Xiao's hand, and he cut open a piece of cloth on Liu's back.
"You, you, you, what are you doing!"
Liu was about to flee but was grabbed by the shoulder by Su Xiao.
Su Xiao looked at Liu's back. Two cyan finger marks were slowly fading. A crystal layer climbed onto his hand, and his finger pressed on one of the finger marks.
In an instant, the finger marks on Liu's back disappeared, but Su Xiao had already captured them. He remembered this energy carrying spatial fluctuations.
What had just happened was no coincidence. They had only just arrived at the royal capital, and the "greeting" from an unknown enemy had already arrived, targeting Liu. Amu had been very close to Liu just now, and with Amu's powerful physique, it was unaffected by the spatial bumpiness. It pushed Liu away with one hand, or Liu would have died.
How formidable was Amu? With its stubborn temper, encountering such an attack, it naturally wouldn't let it go easily. So it grabbed that hand.
The person who had interfered with the spatial teleportation had a fragile body. After being grabbed by Amu, one of their arms was likely crippled. The combination of immense force and extreme cold caused that person to let out a strange cry—the one Su Xiao had heard earlier.
"Who is it!"
A tower guard shouted, and the next moment, he suddenly disappeared. One of his arms turned dark blue-black and pierced into the wall.
With a crack, stones flew everywhere. A corpse was pulled out from within the wall. Just moments ago, it had been in an alternate space.
This corpse was emaciated all over, with half of its right arm missing. The remaining half was covered in ice, spreading up to its face.
As soon as the corpse was pulled out of the alternate space, it quickly turned into blood and evaporated, leaving no trace. The plan had failed, so they directly silenced the witness. This showed how ruthless and decisive the person behind this scheme was.