“Let’s go! Even if it’s just a laboratory type of secret plane, there must still be a lot of valuable stuff inside. We’re also handing over a lot contributions to the higher ups. It’s enough for you to trade for a lot of resources!” Leylin said.
For these kind of small scale secret planes, every large Magi organisation has set up missions.
No matter if it’s Four Seasons Garden or the dark Magi organisation which the old witch belonged to, they all have the power to take it over. After which there naturally will be a lot of rewards for the finders.
If this was a resource type of secret plane then Leylin would put in some thought in order to pocket it himself.
Since it’s only a laboratory type of secret plane, he didn’t put much thought into pocketing it. After all even if he was to occupy it because it’s so small he couldn’t actually alter it that much. At most he would only have a small scale secret base to hide.
“The entrance to the secret plane is on the west side of this town, inside a two story wooden building!”
The old witch seemed quite familiar with the surroundings as she brought the three of them to a two-storey building made out of wood.
Compare to the small town, this place was even more remote. Weed were growing all around the villa and there were even two mole like animals quickly scurrying by.
“Originally this place was a lively street, but since 13 years ago the residents in this place kept dying one by one. Sometimes the town residents could hear sound of a woman wailing outside their homes, that’s why the rumors spread about it being a cursed or a haunted house. The surroundings ended up being overgrown!”
The old witch opened up the rusted gates while feeling rather satisfied with herself.
“I found this place during one of my explorations, after a couple of months of investigation, I’m sure that the unusual situations around here is cause by the deterioration of the defensive spells around the entrance to the secret plane, unwillingly leaking radiation …”
“According to calculations, after 13 years the defensive spells should have totally deteriorated. Leaving the entrance to the secret plane exposed…”
“Thusly I pretend to be an ordinary person and bought this building, plus I added a facade on the outside so other Magi couldn’t discover this place.”
Leylin was listening to the old witch while he was exploring the inside of this building.
The bottom floor wasn’t that big, it only contained 2 to 3 buildings. The hall was filled with a thick layer of dust and broken furniture. In the corner was a spiral staircase filled with holes. It was the only thing connecting these two floors.
Beneath this obvious state of decline, Leylin could feel a strong aura of negative energy.
This aura was extremely malevolent, and it carried with it a smell that Leylin was familiar with.
“Spirits! And they’re spirits that have been driven crazy from being vengeful!” The corner of Leylin’s mouth curved, “This old witch really found a nice place!”
“Follow me! Be careful not to touch the black mold on the walls, those are trigger points!”
The old witch was in front leading the while, bringing the three behind as they climbed the squeaky stairs to the second floor. She seemed extremely familiar with this place.
The area on the second floor was smaller than the large hall on the first, where the corridors only allowed 2 people to walk side by side.
By chance Leylin was walking beside Jaye, because the other person was entirely wrapped in a cloak and didn’t speak much. Leylin couldn’t even distinguish the other person’s gender.
“This oil painting is the entrance to the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect’s secret plane!”
By the end of the corridor, the old witch was pointing towards an oil painting that was hanging on the wall as she turned around and spoke to Leylin and the rest.
Leylin’s focus involuntarily shifted to the oil painting.
This oil painting depicted a richly dressed noble woman, using a delicate fan to cover half her face.
Due to time and age, there were a lot of dust on the walls. Even around the oil painting were a ring of thick dust.
The whole oil painting used green as a base color, and it didn’t seem to fit the picture.
Besides, maybe it’s because of the angle and line, but if he stared at it long enough, Leylin felt that the fan the noble woman was holding in the oil painting moved slightly.
Suddenly, the young woman inside the oil painting blinked her eyes!
“Is this oil painting alive?”
Leylin cried out involuntarily.
“You’re finally awake?” The old witch advanced as she cackled.
“Foreign intruders, speak the password!” The woman inside the oil painting blinked again as information directly entered each Magus that was present.
“Password? Your masters have all perished, and right now we’ve come to take everything inside the secret plane!”
The old witch was staring at the woman in the oil painting, “If you choose to comply, there might be a place for you inside my storage room!”
“Password incorrect!” The woman inside the painting said. Leylin was keenly aware of that the fan which the noble woman held inside her hand closed slightly.
“It’s only a being conjured by spells, yet it dares to disobey me!”
The old witch’s eyes emitted green lights, and a ring of green fireballs emerged flying directly toward the oil painting.
*Bam!*
As the green fireballs burned the oil paint, the noble woman’s fan closed entirely exposing the face behind it.
Leylin didn’t expect that under the beautiful half of the noble woman’s face was a nose and mouth composed entirely out of bones.
This appearance was as if the flesh and blood below the noble woman’s eyes had instantly disappeared.
A feeling of discrepancy and wrongness suddenly assaulted Leylin’s thoracic cavity.
*Scree!*
Following that, the shrill sound of a woman flooded the whole corridor.
The green fireballs started to crumble, turning into small spark of green fire. Following which it directly extinguished in the fluctuation of the air.
[Beep! Host is being attacked by sound waves. Resemblance to banshee wail 67%. Abnormality in muscle coordination, spiritual force circulation rate lowered by 89%…]
The A.I. Chip projected the status with red color in front of Leylin’s eyes.
“Banshee wail? Could it be that there is a genuine banshee trapped inside that oil painting?” Leylin was startled, immediately a layer of crimson membrane appeared outside his body and isolated the sound.
Even though his ears still hurt, but his body has regained his mobility.
At the same time, a couple of blood red tentacles like intestines protruded from the oil painting and they headed for Brass Ring.
“Damnable thing!” Brass Ring cursed as his body protruded countless bone spikes. The red intestines was directly pierced and was severed.
“Bone Spike Arts?!” Leylin was startled, “He actually solidified this kind of innate spells onto himself, is he a masochist?”
Bone Spike Arts was a rank 1 spell, and was quite formidable. But its activation process was quite a hassle. It needed to be grown from a Magus’ own skeleton then pierce the Magus’ own muscle before attacking his opponent.
This kind of spell was literally hurting oneself before hurting your opponent, only maniacs and masochist would pick this.
“I’ll tear you damnable thing to pieces!”. One could see that Brass Ring was quite enraged since he was forced to use his innate spell.
Presently, his whole body was covered with bone spikes. It gave one the impression that he was like a white sea urchin.
At the same time, a green light spread from below his neck to his whole body, initiating blood staunching and similar effects.
“Stop!” The old witch’s body started to emit countless tran
slucent spirit bodies, and every one of them circulated around Brass Ring’s body, making his speed drop.
“There is a spell effect on this oil painting, if you tear it apart the whole entrance to the secret plan will also collapse!”
The old witch’s expression turned serious, “Let me do it!”
When the previous Banshee wail had struck, the bodies of both the old witch and Jaye emitted a black colored membrane. It seemed like neither of them suffered any injuries.
“Your Banshee wail was pretty good, it is a shame that the matching spell formation has been half collapsed due to the passage of time. What’s left isn’t something than can affect us official Magi…”
The old witch looked upon the Banshee within the oil painting with pity, as she stroked the surface of the painting with her hand.
Following which tiny dark purple dots originated from the old witch’s palm and spread continuously. Like someone was adding a coat of paint.
“Come forth! My baby!”
The old witch said softly, her voice sounding tender and flirtatious.
As soon as these words were uttered, the Banshee within the painting turned fearful, as if she had encountered her natural enemy.
Chapter 177 – The Spirit Devouring Moth
After the black purple colour extended throughout the entire oil painting, the banshee disappeared without a trace.
“That’s a pretty good entrapment method! Did you buy this just for this purpose?”
Leylin approached the old witch, “I’m rather interested in this banshee. Can you sell it to me later? I’ll buy it at twice the market price!”
“Once we’re done exploring the secret plane and we find what I want, I can just give it to you!”
The old witch flashed Leylin a glance.
At the present, in the middle of the oil painting a small dot of silver light suddenly appeared.
The silvery light grew bigger and bigger and the surrounding void started to ripple. Finally, it settled into a corridor filled with a silvery sheen.
Resentment, wailing! A strong aura of dark spiritual power poured out constantly from within the corridor.
A faint mist started to rise around the whole wooden building and the sound of people of all ages started to sound all around.
This kind of scenery, if the old witch didn’t previously put everyone in the town into slumber, would most likely have caused quite a commotion in the town.
“Even though there is no chance of encountering any ancient Magi inside the secret plane, but there are still some lingering curses and traps that are still working. We better be careful… considering that the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect was a Magi organization famous for researching spirits, one must prepare accordingly.”
The old witch warned specifically.
“By now you should reveal to us what you’re really looking for right?” Leylin locked the old witch with his gaze.
“Heuheuheu… relax, you’ll all know when that time comes!” The old witch just cackled manically as usual.
“Speak the truth. Old Devil if you still won’t we all will feel insecure…” This time, Brass Ring sided with Leylin, “If you don’t tell me now, I won’t be able to keep my former promises…”
“You guys…” The old witch was quite anxious but suddenly broke into a coughing fit. Her originally crooked body seemed to bend even more as if her waist was about to break.
“Sigh… Alright then!”
After a long while the old witch recovered her breath but her complexion was turning paler.
“It’s an altar-like thing. There is only one of it in the whole laboratory. You won’t be able to miss it!”
The old witch spoke with an impatience.
“Then what? Only this much information?” Brass Ring immediately asked.
“What else do you think there is?” The old witch’s eyes emitted green light as her gaze bore into the body of Brass Ring, “I only found some clues from some ancient information that this altar might be inside this secret plane, how could I know any more specific facts?”
As if he was afraid that the old witch would again lash out at him, Brass Ring chose wisely not to ask any further questions.
“Then what’s the altar’s function?” After Brass Ring went silent, Leylin asked instead. “Don’t tell me that you don’t even know how to use the altar and still went to look for it.”
“Of course not!” The old witch tried to calm her expression but still chose to speak at last, “That altar is a product made by the Ancient Spirit Slaying Sect during their later periods, and is called the Spirit Altar. It has great benefits towards alleviating my current conditions. There is even a chance that it might directly cure it…”
“If you all help me get to it, then Blood Rogue’s materials, Brass Ring’s thunder fire stone, Jaye’s gasping lakewater will all be given, not one gram less!”
The old witch guaranteed once more.
Leylin didn’t completely believe it — it was apparent that the old witch had some other tricks up her sleeve.
“You and I are old friends, if I won’t help you then who will?” Among the rest of the three Jaye was the first to speak. The voice was neither masculine nor feminine and carried a weird pitch.
“Alright! I was just asking!” Brass Ring also started to concede.
“What about you Blood Rogue?” The old witch looked over Leylin.
“If you are not planning to exploit us and make us risk our lives for your cause, I don’t have any other objections!” Leylin sneered.
“That’s good!”
The old witch looked at the corridor which emitted silvery light and said, “Alright, the corridor should be completely stabilised by now, let’s us proceed!”
Following which the old witch’s eyes radiated a fervent hunger as she stepped into the corridor.
Leylin and the rest looked at each other and followed.
The dazzling silvery light suddenly expanded and swallowed the four people completely.
“Buzz buzz!”
Leylin scanned his surroundings.
What he saw was a black corridor which seemed to be constructed by some unknown metal. The wall could strangely enough reflect their shadows.
But the shadows appeared twisted and seemed to emit a bone-chilling laughter.
“Illusion materialization technique?” Leylin smiled coldly. Black light flashed in his eyes and he was able to break out of the illusion immediately.
Following which he heard some buzzing sounds.
Following the sound a large grey cloud appeared. Once it got closer, Leylin discovered that this dark cloud consisted of densely packed, moth-like organisms.
Fur grew on these organisms, and the image of a huge eye was depicted on each of their huge wings. It seemed quite eerie.
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