14: Altar Relics

I rushed to the stone coffin, and Wizard Wedell pulled me inside.

This was likely a cenotaph, as the stone slab at the bottom of the coffin had been lifted, revealing a descending staircase.

The treasures inside the stone coffin were either pushed aside or scattered on the steps.

Wizard Wedell's withered hand clamped onto my wrist like an iron vice, and as he led me down the stairs, the loud sound of the golems breaking through obstacles in the stone hall echoed from above.

The passage beneath the stone coffin was only wide enough for one person, and Wizard Wedell and I gradually descended deeper into the ground, one after the other.

The old mage's breathing, like a broken bellows, was exceptionally clear in the narrow stairwell.

His magic robe brushed against the stone wall, kicking up fine dust that danced like stardust in the halo of his magic staff's tip.

"Watch your step," the old mage's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing.

I looked down and saw scattered fragments of gems, gold coins, and magical items on the stone steps, clearly having fallen when the coffin's bottom slab was opened.

When we finally stepped onto the last stair, the sounds of fighting above were muffled and indistinct.

The corridor stretching before us was equally narrow, and the bas-reliefs on the stone walls flickered in and out of the light, the distorted humanoid creatures seemingly peering at us.

Wizard Wedell suddenly stopped, his staff striking the ground heavily, and the moonstone at its tip burst forth with silver-blue ripples.

"Three physical mechanisms, five layers of magic barriers," his cracked lips moved slightly, and the hem of his magic robe stirred without a breeze.

The old mage took out several rune stones from a leather pouch at his waist; they floated in the air, forming a hexagram array, disarming all the traps ahead.

After passing through the long corridor, we arrived before an ancient stone door, and Wizard Wedell's fingers trembled slightly as he chanted a spell in elvish.

Inside the door was a stone chamber, and in the distance, at the very back, stood a stone altar.

The green crystal enshrined on the altar had a translucent quality and emitted a mysterious aura.

The air in the stone chamber was like solidified jelly, even the floating dust motes were suspended motionless in the air.

When Wizard Wedell's detection magic swept across the ground, three blood-red runes suddenly emerged from the stone slab; they twisted and crawled, like startled vipers.

Additionally, the altar was enveloped by a purple spherical magical shield.

"Ryan, you stay here." Wizard Wedell turned and looked at me, his trembling hand gripping my shoulder.

"Remember your oath. There are mechanisms in here that I can't avoid, but... wait for me. And also,"

Wizard Wedell paused for a moment, then continued:

"After I get the holy relic, take all the magical equipment we've left behind along the way, whatever you can carry.

Don't be greedy; only by escaping can you survive."

"Okay," I nodded in agreement.

"When I return with the holy relic, shoot an Explosive Arrow behind me." I was about to speak but he interrupted, "Only then can I hand the holy relic to you. Promise me!"

The old mage looked into my eyes, unsure if he was waiting for my answer or trying to see something through me.

I couldn't refuse.

"Okay," I replied, then took the short bow from my back and an Explosive Arrow from my quiver.

Wizard Wedell took the arrow from my hand and cast an unknown spell.

"May the Goddess of Magic bless you, wait for me to come out." He returned the arrow to me.

I stood at the entrance of the stone chamber, watching Wizard Wedell turn and walk inside.

After disarming the three traps on the ground, the old mage walked to the altar.

Then, he cast several protective spells on himself.

Finally, he took out a high-level scroll, unrolled it, and began chanting a spell.

After several minutes of the lengthy incantation, a strange magic filled the stone chamber.

I saw Wizard Wedell slowly reach his hand towards the green crystal, extending it into the translucent purple sphere in the air.

The moment the green crystal left the altar, yellow-green mist began to seep from the corners of the entire space within the stone chamber.

Wizard Wedell held the green crystal and turned to walk towards me.

The yellow-green smoke behind him was densest, curling like slowly unfurling petals, sweeping towards him.

Everything happened very slowly; the scene was as if the flow of time inside the stone chamber was different from outside.

The sensory dislocation caused by time distortion made everything seem even more terrifying.

I nocked the Explosive Arrow to my bowstring, aimed it at the altar behind Wizard Wedell, and shot.

The arrow, wrapped in a shimmering, iridescent halo, shot forth.

Soon after the arrow entered the stone chamber, I saw its speed also slowly decrease.

Only then did I realize that Wizard Wedell had cast time-related spells on both the interior of the stone chamber and this Explosive Arrow, only the time flow on this arrow was faster than inside the stone chamber.

As Wizard Wedell took his second step towards me, the yellow-green smoke had already coiled around his magical armor, beginning to sizzle as if corroded by sulfuric acid.

Seeing his magical armor being completely corroded by the smoke, the old mage had only taken three steps.

When more smoke coiled around the mage, a bright light burst from Wizard Wedell's body, generating another shimmering force field and a blue magical energy shield.

In Wizard Wedell's slow-motion run, the smoke corroded his defensive spells layer by layer at an even faster rate.

Just then, the glowing arrow I shot finally struck the altar.

"Bang... thud... whoosh..."

The sound of the explosion also seemed to slow down. It sounded like harsh notes being infinitely stretched.

The deathly smoke was consumed by flames, and the yellow-green space behind the old mage was gradually replaced by blooming, bright red "fireworks."

The shockwave caused by the Explosive Arrow appeared liquid-like within the time barrier, and bright red energy ripples spread like an oil slick.

The instant the flames touched the old mage, a red protective shield lit up around him again.

Wizard Wedell was thrown into the air, like an octopus, slowly and strenuously maintaining his balance.

Using this force, the old mage was propelled to the center of the stone chamber.

However, the "fireworks" gradually dissipated, and the smoke re-gathered, possessing a strange vitality; they wove into a net-like structure in the air, like a predator's tentacles, chasing the old mage.

Wizard Wedell's protective spells made a sound like shattering glass under the erosion of the mist.

As the smoke, like the fingertips of death, touched the old mage's robe, he first threw the staff in his hand towards me.

Then he cast Mage Hand, gripping the green crystal in the magical energy's "hand," and it flew rapidly in a straight line towards me.

I watched everything slow down inside the stone chamber, quickly slung my short bow onto my back, and prepared to catch the items.

The spread of the death smoke was much faster than the old mage's speed.

The thick smoke had almost covered his back, and tendrils of mist, curling like tentacles, had already spread from his sides to his front.

The old mage finally took off the spellbook hanging from his waist and forcefully threw it towards me.

The flight trajectories of the three items in the air were crystal clear in my eyes.

The first to fly out of the stone chamber was the green crystal held by the Mage Hand; I caught it the instant it flew out of the stone chamber, and the Mage Hand dissipated with it.

I tucked the green crystal into my embrace.

Next to fly out was Wizard Wedell's staff, which I also easily caught.

I looked into the stone chamber; the thick spellbook was slowly flying towards me along a parabolic trajectory.

Behind it, Wizard Wedell's form was already enveloped by the smoke. His exposed skin was visibly corroded and dissolved, muscles, blood vessels, and white bones gradually becoming apparent.

The cruelest part was Wizard Wedell's final smile.

As the yellow-green mist devoured his face, the slowed time froze this expression into eternity: the curve of his lips held relief, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were filled with regret.

As his flesh and blood gradually disappeared, his lips were still slowly opening and closing, but I couldn't hear what he said last.

Tears blurred my vision.

When I caught the spellbook, Wizard Wedell had already turned into a pile of dust, and his magic robe, like a light, dancing butterfly, slowly fell to the ground amidst the mist-filled chamber.