vncnus Chapter 488, Page 497: The Broken Cycle 7
Chapter 488, Page 497: The Broken Cycle 7
Chapter 488, Page 497: The Broken Cycle 7
There are indeed many misunderstandings.
What Ian just said was really just a simple warning based on facts.
This is the edge of the path leading to the sleeping core of the Great Old Ones. Even for him now, caution is necessary. For these three adventurers, none of whom are even legendary, and one of whom is a deeply corrupted burden, following them in is no different than jumping directly into the core of a star.
It's not just a physical danger, but a desperate situation where the spirit and existence are completely polluted, distorted, and assimilated. Ian's warning was absolutely well-intentioned.
however.
Perhaps because his deliberately profound gaze was misinterpreted as coldness, Ian's image became somewhat distorted in the eyes of Saruman and his group.
Who at Hogwarts doesn't know that Ian Prince is a great guy? Ian's comment, "You really shouldn't have come in," was really just a literal remark and a warning.
In his own whimsical inner monologue, the lines at this moment should be: "Guys, are you guys in the wrong movie set? This is the entrance to the final dungeon boss room, not the exit of the newbie village! And you're dragging along a teammate who's about to mutate—isn't this like delivering packages? And three of them at once!"
However, because he had traveled through many eras and suffered from adolescent delusions, he was used to maintaining a cold, aloof, and unapproachable demeanor in front of outsiders. Therefore, these complaints could only churn within him, while his face remained perpetually icy. Mainly, he felt this was more convenient and could scare away most trouble.
As a result, some of these misunderstandings have now become the cause of the problems.
His habitually cold expression was immediately met with the sight of the silver-robed young man opposite him, whose soul seemed to have just undergone an upgrade. His face turned as pale as a vampire's, the fear in his eyes almost tangible, and his lips trembled as if he had been electrocuted. The burly warrior beside him also looked as if facing a formidable enemy.
They looked ready to bravely sacrifice themselves at any moment.
Ian: "————?"
No, I just spoke the truth, is it really that big of a deal? Did you learn this facial expression control from those drama school freaks? He was a little annoyed by their prejudiced views.
Is it just because I have white skin?
Were we discriminated against by people in Africa?
Ian thought to himself that he was trying to warn them it was dangerous and to tell them to hurry back through the portal, but it seemed like they interpreted it as, "You saw something you shouldn't have, and now I'm going to kill you." Tsk, sure enough, different skin colors easily lead to misunderstandings. He inwardly scoffed.
He had clearly misunderstood the situation.
Of course, even if he hadn't misunderstood, he didn't intend to explain. Firstly, he felt it would be too troublesome to explain to these two terrified guys, and secondly—he hadn't actually figured out how to explain "I was just kindly reminding you that it's dangerous here" in a way that fit his "cold legend" persona.
Should we say, "This place is dangerous, retreat immediately"?
That's so low-class!
This doesn't fit the character Ian Prince created in ancient times!
Thus, in Saruman and Kag's eyes, the mysterious young legend fell silent after uttering that "death declaration," merely watching them "indifferently" with his cold eyes, as if admiring the prey's struggle before death, or as if pondering which method would be more "appropriate" to deal with them.
The pressure of that silence was more terrifying than any words. Saruman's mind raced, frantically searching for ways to survive, how to negotiate, even contemplating offering all his knowledge treasures for a chance to live. Meanwhile, Kag, as a warrior, had his nerves stretched to the brink of breaking under the extreme fear and pressure.
He couldn't take it anymore! He couldn't bear this silent oppression, couldn't bear the despair on his companion's face, couldn't bear Lina's increasingly faint breathing behind him!
"Aaaaaah!! We're all going to die anyway!!!" Kag suddenly roared like a wild beast, shattering the silence. "A warrior's destiny is the battlefield! Rather than dying a cowardly death, it's better to die gloriously in battle!!"
"Kag! No!!" Saruman's exclamation came a beat too late.
Kag was like a cannonball, his muscles bulging, and all the remaining fighting spirit in his body was burning wildly without regard for the consequences, forming a layer of blazing, crimson flames on his body!
Although the greatsword in his hand was damaged, it emitted a deep hum as it was infused with surging battle qi, and with an indomitable and devastating momentum, it slashed fiercely at Ian! This strike embodied all his combat skills, all his battle qi, and his will to die!
Its power far exceeds his usual peak strength!
This unexpected turn of events instantly cheered up Ian, who was initially feeling down about being misunderstood again!
"Oh?" A barely perceptible glint flashed across Ian's cold eyes.
It wasn't because of how strong the attack was, but because of the form of energy that erupted from Kag—battle aura!
He'd never seen anything like this at Hogwarts! The restricted section of the library did mention that some ancient knights and warriors could cultivate something similar, but the descriptions were vague. The last time he'd seen a similar power was with that talkative, armored guy who called himself the "Eternal King."
However, that guy's battle aura was golden and shiny, like a giant light bulb, quite different from the crimson battle aura in front of us, which was full of a fierce fighting spirit.
"A superhuman warrior? Interesting!" Ian's inner voice was already rubbing its hands together in anticipation. "That old bastard King Arthur really did have a trick up his sleeve!"
"Saying the way of chivalry isn't suitable for me is just a way of saying they're afraid I'll learn it and beat them up!" Seeing this "novel" power system, Ian's research-obsessed and combat-loving interest was instantly piqued. His hands were itching to fight, and he no longer cared about maintaining his "legendary wizard" persona.
of course.
Deep down.
Perhaps Ian was more arrogant than most legends.
He didn't consider whether this was a time-space rift, Cthulhu's doorstep, or a suitable place for fighting—to him, anywhere was a training ground, as long as he was interested. So, amidst Saruman's horrified gaze and Kag's reckless defiance, Ian did something that left them speechless: "Come on, show me."
He neither cast the terrifying "Avada Kedavra" spells nor used any flashy magic.
He simply raised his hand casually, and a sword appeared out of thin air in his hand—it looked ordinary, without any magical fluctuations, and even looked a bit like the standard training swords held by the armored warriors in the Hogwarts corridors—an ordinary longsword.
Then, holding this ordinary longsword, he slightly shifted his body, flicked his wrist, and the tip of the sword drew a simple and precise arc, meeting Kag's imposing crimson greatsword that seemed capable of splitting mountains!
"clang--!!!"
A crisp yet exceptionally loud clang of metal rang out in this distorted, crevice-like space!
The anticipated scene of the ordinary longsword being instantly shattered and Ian being sent flying did not occur.
On the contrary, Ian's seemingly casual sword strike landed precisely on the most crucial point of the power flow of the Kag Greatsword, the delicate "node" where the old power had just been exhausted and the new power had not yet been generated!
Instead of a head-on collision, he used an incredibly skillful and subtle technique, like using four ounces to deflect a thousand pounds, to gently deflect Kag's ferocious downward strike to the side!
Kag felt a strange force flowing through the sword, causing his full-force strike to involuntarily deflect. The greatsword, glowing with crimson battle aura, grazed Ian's side and crashed down, striking empty air and creating a chaotic energy ripple. Kag himself, due to the excessive force and being misled, staggered.
"What?!"
Kag's eyes were filled with disbelief. His desperate attack had been so easily deflected by his opponent using an ordinary longsword?!
How is this possible?!
"Again!"
Ian didn't care whether he was shocked or not. With a flick of his wrist, the ordinary longsword seemed to come alive, drawing a series of swift and fluid sword flowers, sometimes striking like a viper's tongue, aiming straight for Kag's vitals.
Of course, the best course of action is to avoid fatal blows.
He would sometimes deflect Kag's furious counterattacks with the grace of willow catkins.
His footwork seemed casual, yet he always managed to avoid the range of Kag's battle aura bursts at the last second, or step into the gaps in the flow of energy.
The swordsmanship Ian uses is not from any particular school in this world. It's a set of "Ian-style practical swordsmanship" that he came up with while he was bored at Hogwarts, combining the basic knightly swordsmanship he had been pestering King Arthur with his own understanding of various human biomechanics and energy flow.
It may not be particularly elegant, but it's definitely efficient, precise, and effortless, targeting weaknesses and critical points. Right now, it's perfect for dealing with a warrior like Kag who is strong but relatively rough in technique.
Ian's figure flickered, and an ordinary longsword in his hand seemed like a divine weapon. He always managed to cut in from the most unexpected angles, interrupting Kag's attacks and forcing him to scramble for cover. Kag's crimson battle aura was indeed powerful, but it appeared clumsy and sluggish in the face of Ian's exquisite swordsmanship and terrifying physical abilities.
"How could this happen!"
Kag was completely baffled.
He certainly wouldn't know, after all, he had never seen a true legend, a body nourished by legendary magic. A legend was no longer within the realm of normal humans.
His legendary physical abilities far surpassed those of most warriors.
This is a more advanced form of life.
"He cultivates both magic and martial arts! He cultivates both magic and martial arts!"
It's no wonder that Kag was so horrified.
Often, just as Kag's greatsword is raised, Ian's sword tip is already aimed at the joints through which he must exert force or the weak points in the flow of his battle aura, forcing him to change his move to defend.
For a moment, the two of them actually started fighting back and forth in this strange space-time gap!
Of course, this "back and forth" is based on the premise that Ian uses only swordsmanship and suppresses his strength and speed to a level similar to Kag's.
This scene made Saruman, who was standing next to him, almost pop his eyes out!
A wizard! A terrifying wizard who can casually unleash legendary death magic, manipulate the power of heaven and earth, and ignore the corruption of R'lyeh! And now he's actually using swordsmanship to fight a top warrior in close combat?! And he's fighting so—skilled?! So—effortlessly?!
This completely overturned Saruman's understanding of "wizards"! In his mind, powerful wizards might learn some self-defense skills, but they would never devote a lot of energy to close combat, let alone reach such a high level of swordsmanship! What amazing body control, combat intuition, and grasp of timing and distance required?
What alarmed Saruman even more was that, during a lull in the fighting, Ian seemed to offer a few comments with great interest: "His strength is decent, his explosiveness is good, but he's too straightforward."
"The flow of battle qi is sluggish, and the three inches below the left shoulder is a weak point."
"His footwork can't keep up with the sword's momentum, and his lower body is unstable."
Every comment pinpointed Kag's problem at that moment, as if he were not a fighting opponent, but an apprentice whose movements were being corrected by his mentor!
Saruman's back was soaked with cold sweat. Just how many more incredible abilities did this legend still possess?
What kind of person is he?
Just then, after easily parrying Kag's horizontal slash, Ian seemed to be getting a little carried away with the fight and muttered something under his breath, his voice not loud.
But it clearly reached Saruman's ears, whose senses were exceptionally sharp due to extreme shock: "Tsk, the power generation technique is better than what King Arthur taught me. Damn, I knew King Arthur was holding back—" Ian was just complaining about his old friend in the hazy illusion.
but.
He did not realize the significance of the Eternal King.
King Arthur!!!
These three words were like a thunderclap, instantly exploding in Saruman's mind!
He suddenly grasped the key word, and his heart almost stopped beating!
King Arthur! The almost mythical king who exists in ancient British legends, the symbol of chivalry, and a legendary figure who is said to have co-founded an era with Merlin!
According to the hidden records in many magical books, King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table did indeed seem to possess a unique and powerful "supernatural power" that was very different from the current magic system, but it was mostly regarded as legend or exaggeration by later generations!
This mysterious young legend actually knew King Arthur?!
And to so casually call someone "old bastard"?
So, it seems that the other party even—had fought with King Arthur and had a relationship with him?! A terrible, dizzying association, like a crazy vine.
This thought instantly gripped Saruman's mind. Could it be—that this Ian Prince wasn't from some lost ancient magical civilization—but rather—a being from the same era as King Arthur and Merlin, perhaps even closely related—an ancient being who has lived from that mythical age to the present day?!
Is that why he possesses terrifying power and knowledge that transcends his time, despite being so young?
That's why he knew King Arthur and possessed such amazing swordsmanship.
That's why he became interested in Kag's "battle aura"?
This conjecture is more shocking and closer to some buried epic truth than any previous hypothesis about "ancient legends" or "time-space distortion"!
Saruman felt as if his breath was about to stop.
Various ideas kept popping into my head.
Wizards are all like that.
They have more and more ideas, and the smarter the wizard, the more they can fill in the blanks.
Therefore.
In his gaze toward Ian, besides fear, there was an indescribable sense of horror and bewilderment, as if he had glimpsed a corner of the truth beneath the dust of history.
"He... he couldn't possibly be Merlin, could he?" Saruman couldn't help but overthink it. If it were true—
So what level of vortex have they been drawn into?!