Extraordinary Voyage-Chapter 601 - 528: Seeking Help and Puppet War

The maze is filled with grotesque and horrifying gray-white statues.

They are mostly composed of mist, bat wings, chunks of flesh, tentacles, eyes, teeth, exposed entrails, and other terrifying elements. A normal person would suffer extreme spiritual pollution just by glancing at them.

However, in one corner of the first layer of the maze, there is no such terrifying statue erected. Instead, there are two black beetles, quite common in the Material World, which makes people slightly relax their tense nerves upon arriving here.

Tap tap.. tap tap.. tap tap..

A series of hurried footsteps suddenly resounded in this dim corridor.

A young man dressed as a Sea Hunter, holding a Swift Sword in his hand, and wearing a monocle on his face seemed to be chased by something as he rushed forward quickly.

At a large turn, he leapt up with his feet, and with a slight tap on the wall with his toes, he sprang forward like a nimble monkey without slowing down.

Boom!

Subsequently, there was a loud bang.

Behind him, a blood-red gargoyle resembling a bat and a demon crashed heavily into the thick stone wall like an out-of-control war chariot.

Although the ground shook and stones splattered, it seemed inconsequential to this powerful demon.

The gargoyle shook its rat-like head, ready to continue the chase, but it didn't notice the thin steel wire tightly wound by two daggers that suddenly appeared under its feet.

With a misstep, its balance was instantly broken, and its heavy stone body fell face-down to the ground with a crash.

The thick walls shook along with it.

Instead of choosing to flee, the Sea Hunter, who had spread his limbs on the corridor ceiling, had a flash of light in his sharp eyes.

Seizing the opportunity, he leapt down from the ceiling, and the Swift Sword in his hand smeared with a layer of golden sword oil, silently flashed with dazzling white brilliance.

[Secret Sword Art: Evil-Breaking!]

Crack—

The sword light swept in a circle, flashing past the gargoyle's neck like a spinning wheel of light.

Grumble grumble...

Despite being made of stone, its fierce, blood-dripping severed head rolled to the ground.

Utilizing his professional instinct, he quickly confirmed that the opponent was truly dead, and that there was no loot on its body. The young man, granted with extra vision by the monocle, cautiously moved his steps forward.

As a prominent figure among Sea Hunters, although lacking the intelligence support that Aiven and his team had, his rich experience didn't hinder him from executing his plan to escape the maze step by step.

However.

This seemingly battle-hardened Sea Hunter had just walked less than two hundred meters when he suddenly felt the stone bricks underfoot subtly sink, and his keen hearing caught the sound of some mechanical structure operating behind the walls.

His face changed drastically, and he exerted force with his feet to lunge forward.

The thick rock walls in front and behind him crashed down, completely sealing his path. Then, like an endless tide, countless black beetles shrieked as they poured down from the openings reserved in the ceiling.

"Ah—!"

With a sudden and halted scream, the rock walls rumbled and rose again, leaving no trace of blood on the spot.

The seemingly already highly complex maze clearly not only spread with formidable monsters, wise "Blasphemous Cultists," but also ubiquitously deadly traps.

The tests for those chosen are everywhere, and the consequence of failing the test is only one... death!

....

But after just a few minutes.

Whoosh!

Another agile figure wrapped entirely in black suddenly appeared at the end of this corridor.

He jumped swiftly through the complex underground space, sometimes running on the ground, sometimes climbing rapidly on walls or even the ceiling, almost disregarding gravity.

He seemed like an extremely agile black spider, appearing so reckless that it almost seemed as if this was his territory.

Because along the way, no matter how he charged forward, he would always happen to avoid the monsters and dangers he encountered: human-faced rats, Blasphemous Cultists, blood stone gargoyles...

Even the insect-devouring trap that brought the Sea Hunter to his end seemed nonexistent to him.

Before he even realized its existence, he had already safely passed through this "minefield."

Clearly, this "big spider" was Milan, whose combat power was quite ordinary, but who could overcome the lingering "Angel" shadow in his heart and reopen [Talent Magic: Deceitful Fate]. Fortunately, he had survived previous major events, and the abilities of the "Prophet" had gradually improved.

While the effect of [Deceitful Fate] continuously improved, its side effects gradually decreased, making it meaningful for practical combat.

"Follow the feeling; this should be my best chance of survival."

Milan felt very fortunate that while absolute internal and external isolation and restriction of Spirit Realm Messengers were enforced, the use of any means, including his Divination Art, was not prohibited in this maze.

He had already divined that the exit of the maze was actually deep underground.

But he knew better that relying solely on his own ability to go there was a surefire way to death!

Luck could only sway events in a direction favorable to him but could not substitute for brute force in a head-to-head confrontation. Meeting any Tier 3 Extraordinary could kill him without requiring a second punch.

However, in another direction on this layer of the maze, there was a chance for survival!

In fact, the location ahead was not far from where Aiven and his team were.

Although due to the influence of the Extraordinary Status, Milan found it difficult to divine Aiven's situation, he had no issue divining the option most beneficial to himself.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Skillfully passing through a spiral downward passage resembling a slide, he effortlessly evaded the transparent wires stretched taut like blades in the middle.

Like a gecko, Milan adhered his limbs to the ceiling, ready to continue moving forward quickly, when he suddenly noticed not far ahead a little girl from the Atrean people standing quietly.

Because of Apsuya, Milan doesn't have any prejudice or superiority towards Atrean people.

But the appearance of this little girl instantly made his back arch and his hair stand on end.

Only because in his sight, the little girl was in an upright posture, which means she was hanging upside down from the ceiling like him. And unlike his posture of limbs on the ground, the girl appeared to be walking normally, unaffected by gravity.

As she approached step by step upside-down, Milan could see more details, her eyes hollow and black, as if only a human-like shell remained.

Just as Milan hesitated whether to flee or attack.

The approaching "little girl" suddenly opened her similarly hollow mouth to him, uttering a spiritual text that was extremely dry, yet clear enough for him to understand her intention:

"I... I... need... help!"

"What?"

Milan was instantly shocked that this existence, seemingly like an evil spirit, still retained a conscious self-awareness and could even actively communicate with humans.

This surprise was stronger than the feeling of a ghost appearing before him; it outright defied the norms of the Extraordinary World!

For beings like evil spirits, filled with grievances, intelligence is fundamentally impossible.

Yet, before the "little girl" could speak further.

Glug glug...

A sound like bubbling from a muddy pit or a fermenting swamp suddenly entered Milan's ears.

Looking down.

A massive dark shadow slowly writhing had quietly appeared in the corridor ahead.

It was a nightmareish black shiny object with five degenerate fin leaves.

Its amorphous body emitted a strong stench, flowing and squirming forward like a blob of amorphous primordial ooze, emitting a faint green sheen, filling the entire tunnel with its massive body.

This was a "Bottom-dwelling Demon Fish" with at least Tier 2 Peak Extraordinary level.

Boom!

A stone wall on the way back had quietly closed.

Confronted with this creature, there was no escape.

Noticing that the little girl who had sought help from him had disappeared without a trace.

Milan: ....

MMP, it seems I am the one who really needs help, right?

He touched the Alchemy Bomb in his Magic Pocket, uncertain if this thing would collapse the hidden labyrinth and affect himself.

After all, his luck boost was temporary and not some absolute undying body.

As for rushing ahead and fighting desperately? This option was never in the Prophet's roster.

Just as he pulled out the Alchemy Bomb, ready to throw it.

Bang——

The head of the Bottom-dwelling Demon Fish suddenly exploded with a large hole front to back, blood mixed with decaying chunks smeared the entire corridor.

In the darkness opposite, Milan heard a voice, though with a teasing tone, it sounded like celestial music:

"Our team has double fighters and double mages, strong attack and robust health, missing one 'Prophet'. If you want to team up, hurry up!"

Stuck to the ceiling, maintaining his posture with hands and feet facing up, Milan shouted loudly:

"Me, me, me, no one knows prophecy better than I do!"

...

After forming a dream team with strong and balanced abilities, Milan had ample time to conduct a Divination Ceremony, confirming that the chosen ones among the Dragon Cavalry were only himself and these four people.

"Let's set out!"

Then.

With the mutual assistance of the Golden Compass and the Prophet, the maze攻略进度 swiftly advanced.

Even though the area expanded tenfold, the winding alleys and endless monsters doubled the traversal time, but this combination of double Tier 3 along with two official wizards still pushed to the first layer closest to the core in just an hour.

They also encountered a most difficult checkpoint.

On the gigantic chessboard.

Although appearing as large stone chess pieces, they were covered with various flesh proliferating tissues, neatly aligned as Reversi chess pieces.

Reversi King*2, Reversi Empress*2, Reversi Bishop*4, Reversi Rook*4, Reversi Knight*4, Reversi Guard*16.

Each piece bore a unique negative expression on its face, not looking like easy opponents.

"Defend the Kingdom, eliminate the invaders!"

"Kill!"

Their opponents were...

A total of three hundred toy soldiers divided into red and blue troops.

"Red team, blue team, all artillery units, fire!"

Boom! Boom! Boom!...