Chapter 653 - 468: Spatial Riot and the Mountain Giant Gadrul
Chapter 653: Chapter 468: Spatial Riot and the Mountain Giant Gadrul
"Tell it I want every Demon under its command sent out at once. They are to search every corner and crevice of the Black Stone Mountain Range!"
"Find the one that has reemerged from its burial place, unearthed by the spatial storm..."
"Phillips’s Mobile Alchemy Workshop!"
ROAR!
The Sun let out a draconic roar, spread its Dragon Wings, and flew high into the air, vanishing into the northern horizon as a streak of golden light.
...
The night was as black as ink.
Under the Moonlight, the Black Stone Mountain Range resembled a dormant, ancient beast. The continuous mountain ridges were its exposed bones, the vast forests its dark hide.
A sharp, high-pitched screech shattered the silence of the mountain forest.
A Black Dragon, over a hundred meters long, spread its massive Dragon Wings and launched itself into the sky from atop the highest peak.
Its draconic eyes scanned the vast territory below, filled with savagery and greed.
This was none other than the overlord of the Black Stone Mountain Range, the "Black King."
At his side, a Domain Level Dogman Wizard rode a Bat Dragon.
On his other side, a Domain Level Harpy followed silently. It was none other than the Harpies Queen, "Erin," whom the Black King had recently subjugated.
Behind it, tens of thousands of Demons poured out from every corner of the mountain range like a black tide.
Bloodthirsty Jackal-Wolf Folk brandished crude Bone Axes, letting out a chorus of bloodcurdling howls.
Hordes of Kobolds drew their Bone Bows, and their densely packed arrows reflected a sinister, cold light under the Moonlight.
Ogres pounded their chests, their massive Wolf Fang Clubs whistling through the air and making the surrounding trees tremble.
Bat Dragons, Red Fire Demon Crows, Harpies...
An endless swarm of flying Demons formed a massive, dark cloud in the sky, blotting out the moon and stars.
"ROAR!"
The Black King roared once more.
The king of the Black Stone Mountain Range had issued its command.
The next moment, the massive army of tens of thousands of Demons split into countless groups and poured into the depths of the Black Stone Mountain Range. Like a fine-toothed comb, they began an unprecedented search that covered the entire mountain range.
They had only one objective.
To find Phillips’s Mobile Alchemy Workshop!
...
To the east of Black Stone Territory, a behemoth lay prone.
Two figures hovered above the giant whale’s head, emitting no fluctuations of Magic Power.
They were none other than the two Legendary Mages, Delin and Wendel, who had rushed over upon hearing the news.
"What a fascinating creature."
Mage Wendel’s Spiritual Power, like the finest of probes, carefully touched upon the giant whale’s vast consciousness.
"Its sea of consciousness is as vast as a true ocean, yet as simple as a child’s."
Mage Delin, an elderly man always dressed in a crisp formal suit, stood with his hands clasped behind his back.
"It is simple because there are not enough threats in its world."
His voice was transmitted directly to Wendel via Spiritual Power.
"I’ve sensed fragments of its memories. They’re quite interesting."
Wendel’s voice was filled with the excitement of someone who had just discovered a new toy.
"This ’Cloud Sea Realm’ possesses an ecological cycle completely independent of our Prime Material Plane. These giant whales were once the apex predators there."
"Once?"
Mage Delin seized on that word.
"Yes, once."
Wendel’s Spiritual Power wavered slightly as he pulled a blurry, terror-filled scene from the depths of the giant whale’s memories.
In the scene, the sky above the endless Cloud Sea was ripped open, forming a massive tear.
An indescribable giant claw emerged from the tear.
The massive claw blotted out the sky and sun, each of its talons like a mountain range.
With a casual scoop, the giant claw easily snatched up an adult Cloud Sea Giant Whale, just as a human might pluck a fish from the water.
"The Celestial Claw."
Mage Delin’s voice was grave.
"That’s what the creature is called in the giant whale’s memories."
"It means ’the giant claw that tears the sky!’"
Wendel explained.
"Adult Celestial Claws descend from beyond the void to the Cloud Sea Realm to birth their young. They then hunt Cloud Sea Giant Whales for their offspring to eat. Once the young are capable of hunting independently, the adult Celestial Claws lead them away, tearing through space to return to the void."
The two Legendary Mages fell silent for a moment.
If they fed on Catastrophe Level Cloud Sea Giant Whales, one could only imagine how terrifying an adult Celestial Claw must be.
"It seems the void holds far more secrets than we imagined," Mage Delin remarked with a sigh.
...
「One day later.」
「Lord’s Mansion—The Study」
The Flame in the fireplace burned quietly, letting out a soft crackle.
For a change, Sun had taken the form of an orange cat and was keeping Raylo company in the room along with Moonlight and the other little ones.
The study door was pushed open gently by Ed, the Personal Guard Captain.
"My Lord, the guest has arrived."
"Show him in."
Raylo nodded.
Ed stepped aside, and a short figure walked in from behind him.
The visitor wore an oversized human cloak that enveloped nearly his entire body, giving him a somewhat comical appearance.
The cloak’s hood was pulled down low, obscuring his face.
He walked to the desk and stopped, then used a pair of withered, scaly claws to pull back his hood.
Beneath the hood was a face covered in fine black scales—the face of a Kobold.
A cunning light glinted in its murky eyes.
A Domain Level Dogman Wizard.
It bowed deeply to Raylo, its posture one of extreme subservience.
"Respected Human Lord, I, a servant from under the throne of the Black Dragon King, offer you my most profound respects," the Dogman Wizard said.
Sun was beside him, translating.
Raylo said.
"Speak. What news did the Black King send you to deliver?"
"In response to your question, esteemed Lord."
The Dogman Wizard’s posture became even more deferential.
"My King has followed your command. He has mobilized all his subjects to conduct a sweeping search of the Black Stone Mountain Range."
It paused, seemingly organizing its words.
"Just this morning, a troop of Jackal-Wolf Folk made a major discovery in a valley in the central Black Stone Mountain Range."
Raylo’s fingers, which had been tapping on the desk, fell still.
He looked at the Dogman Wizard, gesturing for it to continue.
"A mountain peak there collapsed because of the spatial storm from a few days ago."
The Dogman Wizard began to speak more quickly.
"Beneath the collapsed mountainside, a building was revealed... a structure made entirely of metal."
"The architectural style is very strange, and it’s covered in Alchemy Patterns that we cannot decipher."
"My King believes that it must be what you are looking for: Phillips’s Mobile Alchemy Workshop."
A brief silence fell over the study.
The Flame in the fireplace leaped.
’They’ve found it.’
A sharp glint flashed in Raylo’s eyes.
The Mobile Workshop of Phillips, the Legendary Alchemy Master—missing for hundreds of years—had finally seen the light of day once more.
"Excellent," Raylo said.
"The Black King has done well."
A look of pleasure crossed the Dogman Wizard’s face at the praise.
"However..."
Its tone shifted, and its expression became fearful.
"My King says... there is a... complication."
"Speak."
Raylo bit out a single word.
"That place..." the Dogman Wizard said cautiously.
"That place happens to be on the edge of a great one’s lair."
"A great one?"
Sun yawned, its tail flicking impatiently.
"Besides the Black King, what other ’great one’ is there in the Black Stone Mountain Range?"
The Dogman Wizard swallowed hard and said dryly.
"It... it is Galur, the ’King of the Mountains.’"
The moment the name was spoken, even Sun, who had been lying down, snapped its head up, a flicker of surprise in its golden eyes.
"The Mountain Giant that sleeps in the depths of the Black Stone Mountain Range?"
Raylo’s brow furrowed slightly.
"Yes, My Lord."
The Dogman Wizard bowed its head even lower.
The Black Stone Mountain Range was a vast region, its internal balance of power intricate and complex.
The Black King’s rule was limited to the outer and eastern regions of the mountain range.
But in the heart of the Black Stone Mountain Range, in its most treacherous central region, dwelled a being that no one dared provoke.
A Mountain Giant who had lived for untold ages, its power reaching the Catastrophe Level.