The Uncertain Calamity Descends

Chapter 55 The Uncertain Calamity Descends

Rorschach stared at the water and slowly said, "Can't we leave here?"

"The surge of the Boundless Crystal Sea has arrived, and you are powerless to stop it."

A withered, slender hand emerged from beneath the grass-leaf robe, its finger touching the water. The scene zoomed in, and Rorschach saw countless pink crystals swirling and scattering like a sandstorm, instantly disintegrating into even smaller particles of light upon contact with the ground. Not only that, the soil beneath the ground also distorted, liquefying or cracking, somewhat resembling the earth element Rorschach had activated; viewed as a whole, it appeared as if the earth was boiling.

A small animal appears in the scene, trying to dig a burrow to escape the "sandstorm." Soon, it gets covered in crystals, its fur turns pink, and then it swells up. The crystals keep hitting its body and spreading, causing parts of its body to swell, ulcerate, and become sunken, followed by pus and growths.

Finally, the original form of the small beast became completely unrecognizable, leaving only a pool of bright pink flesh writhing and evaporating, collapsing into tiny specks of light like falling crystals. In the end, a small pink cluster of light gathered together, hopping aimlessly until it disappeared into the deep valley.

Rorschach glanced at the pink orbs of light surrounding him, then looked up at the towering deer-headed creature: "You know we've come here, and you know we can't go back."

"Do not be angry. I can only communicate with you in your dreams and cannot warn you in time. But there is a glimmer of hope for outsiders."

The water surface changed again.

A complex pattern was drawn, composed of rough, haphazardly piled-up lines. It was far more complex than a magic seal, lacking the regular geometric shapes and outer circles of a magic array. Once the pattern was complete, the Deer-Headed God raised a finger, and the mark floated into Rorschach's body.

"Use your blood to outline it, and it will protect you." The deer-like eyes darted around. "I know you won't remember, but when you draw it, recite my name: Delyuaz, and you will be guided."

"You didn't give me a timer," Luo Xia thought to himself, but still said aloud, "Thank you for your help."

"I don't need your thanks, I need you to do one thing for me."

"Just what I do?" Rosyat noticed that Dryaz didn't use "you all".

"Only you. I will bless you to kill me, to kill the remains of Dryaz in the Realm, or else the Crystal Tide will continue until the remains are buried again."

Luo Xia refused to be forced into the dungeon boss fight: "Can't we wait for the Crystal Tide to recede on its own?"

"You and other more powerful exorcists have fallen into the error of believing this place has always been peaceful." The deer-headed creature's expression remained unreadable. "If my remains try to break free, the crystal wave will arrive; if my remains are buried, they will cease to exist, perhaps for a hundred years, a thousand years. Can you possibly escape?"

These archmages' methods of investigation are so weak! Luo Xia really wanted to spit on every high-level mage who had entered the sub-plane in the past year, and also spit on that fat guy who promised not to cheat his students—he's shameless!

Hold fast to it, and it will guide and assist you.

Rorschach now held a warm, smooth stone in his hand. He looked up and saw it was amber, encasing an insect with intricate patterns.

"Disaster is coming, may you succeed." Blue light bloomed, and Rorschach involuntarily fell into the spring.

Broken once again.

It was all a dream. Rorschach thought before waking up.

"Master Rorschach? Master Rorschach? Dinner's ready."

François woke Rorschach.

"François, what time is it?" Having just woken up, Rorschach felt the bed was too hard, and his body was still a little sore. Only after his mind cleared did the fragments of his dream begin to resurface.

"François, what time is it?" Rorschach grabbed his arms nervously.

Comparing the two questions, the boy visibly became nervous, which François found strange about Rorschach's behavior: "It should be twelve o'clock in the prime material world; the clock just struck nine. If you want to know the exact time, I have a pocket watch, but only if you let go of me."

Rorschach released his grip: "Why didn't you wake me up in the morning?"

"You didn't wake up on your own. The clock is set to chime loudest at six o'clock, and you were still sound asleep." François was a little angry. "So don't blame me. Ms. Ina said you were too exhausted from mastering the new spell yesterday, so we kindly let you continue sleeping."

Looks like I need to buy an alarm clock. It's such a hassle! These days, clocks are luxury items, "accessories" and "decorative objects" that only fashionable gentlemen would play with. Rorschach saw that it takes more than a dozen gold clocks to set an alarm, but since there was a free clock tower bell-ringing and tower spirit wake-up service, he had never spent the money.

"Excuse me, François, I have an emergency and need to speak with Team Leader Nemo!"

"Team Leader Nemo took the apprentices out this morning," François said, patting Rorschach on the shoulder. "Thanks to you, our construction is progressing faster than expected. The leader went to scout the surrounding terrain to prepare for the next settlement. The rest of us stayed behind to continue digging."

Luo Xia didn't care about any more of that. He pulled François outside, asking as they walked, "Who can contact him now? What about Mage Ina?"

"I'm here." Three huge tables, all made of red clay, had appeared outside the camp at some point. The workers and the remaining apprentices were all eating, like an open-air canteen. In a corner of the "canteen" near Rorschach's cave, Ina was sipping her tea.

"Did you rest well, Master Rorschach?"

There was no time to express gratitude. Luo Xia went straight to the point: "Mage Ina, is there a way for the team leader to communicate with you immediately after you left to stay behind? We've encountered a very urgent situation!"

Rorschach briefly recounted his dream of being summoned by a self-proclaimed deity called "Dryaz," focusing on the scene of pink crystals falling from the sky.

To avoid causing panic, Rorschach addressed only the other two mages present. Ina's expression grew increasingly serious, and François asked worriedly, "You mean the magical pattern between the hand seal and the magic circle? Can it be reproduced now? Can we call upon His name as He instructed?"

Ina immediately stopped her: "There are powerful beings who communicate with Rorschach through dreams. Whether they are gods or not, it's dangerous to call upon them rashly. Besides, outlining with blood looks like a sacrifice. As far as I know, the fallen forest god should be Sylvanas, not some Dryujaz."

Ina didn't just sit and wait for her fate. She channeled magic into the brass pendant on her wrist, and the pendant lit up, flashing red light.

"I have already sent a warning to team leader Nemo, and he will bring the rest of the team back."

Rorschach recalled the scene in his dream: "I remember that when the pink crystals touched the ground, they would also cause changes in the soil, but it should only affect the shallow layer. We can expand the cave dwellings to build shelters."

"Rorschach, this is a last resort. Are we really going to blindly obey a guy from a dream?" François slammed his fist on the table. "Let's try to activate the teleportation array back first!"

(End of this chapter)