Chapter 1133
Rules Reversed
Chapter 1133 Rules Reversed
Today, Ariel is also riding a wave of vibrant colors.
It's just different from the surging crowds on the floating island.
This wave is nothing but dazzling and extravagant colors.
Crimson, lemon yellow, indigo, peacock green, violet, asphalt, and other colors are layered and blended together to form colorful patches.
Even Ariel himself was painted like an oil painting, with the edges blurred and bearing traces of a few brushstrokes, and his movements were disjointed, frame by frame.
Everything seemed both real and illusory.
Because this is the world depicted in the painting.
Just now, Gavin finally approached Ariel.
And finally, they "saw" where he was.
The pale plaster statues on the ceiling were piled up in layers, pressing against each other, but there was an unnatural gap in the place where Ariel was hiding.
The gap was too conspicuous.
So more statues crowded in.
The rules are eroding this gap.
A teeth-grinding friction sound filled the air, as if entities were pushing against each other, their boundaries about to be crushed bit by bit.
And the one inside...
"Once I find you, it will be your turn to be the ghost, you know that?"
Gavin grinned maliciously, his voice brimming with excitement.
Judging from his strange physique and increasingly bulging belly, "Dang Gui" is clearly not a good thing.
That pale, bluish, tiny hand slowly extended, disproportionate to its body, reaching towards that area and grabbing hard—
But all I got was empty air.
Fingers pass through the air.
The next instant, that childlike face contorted rapidly.
He pounced on the area with his hands and feet, like a gecko clinging to the dome, dragging the other plaster statues along with him as they searched the area.
There really is nothing there.
"You actually ran away? My friend! Looks like you're really good at hide-and-seek."
So... where are you?
Gavin's colorful, turbulent eyes slowly moved downwards, sweeping across the dark red carpet and peeling wallpaper, finally settling on the paintings on both sides of the corridor.
A slender figure darted past quickly among them.
Gavin grinned.
"I never expected you could hide here. I really underestimated you."
Just now, in the predicament of being crushed by the rules, Ariel finally discovered a pattern—these paintings avoided the statues, but at the same time, when these statues climbed up to the ceiling, they also avoided these paintings.
It seems that the two have some mutually exclusive properties.
And that may be the source of his survival.
Without hesitation, Ariel jumped off the ceiling.
With a twist of her body, she silently fell into the painting on the wall—
This is one of his abilities, the [Inverted Temple].
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[Name]: Ariel
[Type]: New Human (Ultra-High Rank)
[Effect Description]:
(1) Inverted Temple:
Unfold an inverted temple, incorporating a portion of the space into the temple's order; entry and exit are not permitted unless one is a member of the same faith.
Anyone inside the temple must follow the temple's rules and regulations; those who violate them will be considered "blasphemers" by the temple and will suffer corresponding divine punishment.
Within the temple's area, the temple owner's base attributes increase by 100%; fellow believers' base attributes increase by 50%.
(2) I am the temple:
Using itself as a temple carrier, it can actively and temporarily invert external rules. The inversion effects that can be activated include, but are not limited to: top-bottom inversion, inside-outside inversion, subject-object inversion, and virtual-real inversion.
【Important Notes】:
(1) The temple must have clear boundaries: such as doors, walls, roofs, corridors, steps, etc. In a completely open and boundless area, the skill effect will be greatly reduced; if the boundaries are severely damaged, the temple will be forced to close.
(2) The more complex the inverted rules are superimposed, the stronger the backlash the caster will suffer, which can easily lead to confusion of direction, front and back, and inside and outside.
(3) When applying rule reversal to a living target, the stronger the target, the easier it is to trigger mental pollution and organ backlash;
(4) The temple is not permanent, but a temporary domain of rules; the longer the "I am the temple" lasts, the easier it is for the caster to be assimilated by the temple.
(5) The amount of [Faith Link] consumed depends on the temple's coverage area, the number of life forms involved, and their rank.
[Influence Level]: ? ? ?
[Comment]: Have you ever wondered—what would the gods in a temple be like if they were turned upside down?
And what Ariel is using now is precisely the "reversal of reality and illusion".
He transformed himself into a "virtual" form, which allowed him to naturally enter the painting.
In an instant, the world depicted in the painting unfolded before his eyes.
The vibrant colors almost filled the entire field of vision.
He felt a little out of place and couldn't tell which way was which.
My hands and feet felt like they were stuck in a thick, damp swamp of paint; the slightest movement felt like being held back by the canvas.
He tried to open his eyes to make out—
Ahead lay a manor courtyard, the trees bathed in golden sunlight. Under the dark green shadows, where several noble ladies should have been sitting drinking tea, now only a tea table, silverware, and snacks remained.
The next one is another painting.
The tranquil backyard pond has a deep, bluish-black water, and an empty little boat gently sways on its surface.
It was as if the people above had just left.
The ends on both sides are different.
On one side was a magnificent and tragic battlefield.
The colorful clouds darkened into a leaden gray, pressing low. Everywhere there were broken walls and ruins, torn flags, and armor and weapons lying in the mud. In the distance, there seemed to be countless rough marks of fire and blood.
On the other side lies the floating island of the Kovin Group at its peak, its silver-white buildings bobbing amidst colorful clouds, exuding exceptional luxury and a sense of technology. Layers of inner and outer cities rise and fall, bustling with people. The former represents the past, the latter the present.
Ariel pondered for only a moment before resolutely heading towards the "past".
Meanwhile, Gavin roared from outside.
As if given a command, all the plaster statues quickly climbed up the painting on the wall, layering around the frame and trying to block Ariel's path.
But when they stretched out their stiff, pale hands, tentatively reaching into the flowing colors—
The snow-white body immediately lost its original shape, melting rapidly like a wax figure softened by high temperature, eventually flowing into puddles of murky gray paint, slowly dripping down the edge of the frame.
Paintings and sculptures are not compatible.
For a moment, the statues dared not move.
Gavin sneered.
"You think you can just escape and be done with it? Congratulations, you've walked right into the trap I set for you. Otherwise, did you really think I'd leave you an opening to slip through?"
"Have you thought about this—everything here is my home, and the paintings depict my home and my family!"
"You've merely escaped from one of my domains into another!"
Ariel still ignored him.
Gavin couldn't stand such indifference and disregard, and in a fit of rage, he actually threw himself into the painting.
In that instant, his body was also swallowed up by the canvas, like a drop of thick ink splashed onto the painting, suddenly elongated and twisted, finally transforming into a small, heavily colored figure.
This painting depicts the old house of the Coveyne family.
The deep black and dark green paint creates a solemn and profound atmosphere.
The corridor seemed to stretch endlessly, the dark red carpet appearing to be stained with blood, and thick curtains obscuring the windows, preventing any light from penetrating. Even the crystal chandelier emitted only a dim glow.
Everywhere were shadowy figures, busy servants, carrying silverware and bouquets, hurrying in and out of these heavy, ornate doors.
At the end of the corridor, there was Ariel's figure running.
Gavin shouted, "I am the young master of the Coveyne family! Seize this intruder!"
In an instant, all the servants in the corridor stopped.
Gavin's face showed a smug look.
But the next moment, the smile on his face froze.
Because all those shadowy figures turned towards him.
Those faces, blurred and covered only in paint, exuded a cold and hostile aura, completely different from what Gavin had imagined.
As they drew closer, a heavy sense of oppression followed.
What are you doing?
"I am of the blood of the Kovion family! I am the master!"
"You're nothing but servants in my household, don't you understand?!"
But not a single face responded to him.
Because the moment he stepped into the painting, Ariel activated [Subject-Guest Inversion].
Now, these servants are the "masters," and Gavin is the "guest."
How should you deal with an uninvited guest who doesn't know etiquette?
The next instant, the servants swarmed forward.
Gavin was grabbed and slammed to the ground.
Immediately afterwards, countless punches and kicks rained down, as if trying to smash him into the dark red carpet.
Gavin, of course, was not afraid of these things at all.
He suddenly flipped over and leaped up, like a wild beast driven to desperation.
One hand grabbed the servant who lunged forward and ripped him apart. The servant's body was torn apart like a lump of oil paint that hadn't dried yet, leaving a long, sticky stain.
With his other hand, he grabbed the head of the person next to him and violently lifted it upwards, tearing the entire head off the neck, with thick, bright red blood gushing out.
And so he tore the servants who pounced on him into a patchwork of colorful fragments.
But in the process of this tearing apart, a layer of his three-dimensionality was stripped away.
The skin and flesh are as if someone has scraped it open from the canvas with a scraper, revealing a flatter, thinner layer underneath, with color gradations closer to the paint itself.
Gavin was really angry this time.
Stumbling and staggering, he chased after them towards the end of the corridor.
Unexpectedly, after running for a short distance, the entire corridor was turned upside down, and he was slammed hard onto the crystal chandelier on the ceiling.
Another layer of reality has been shattered.
The drops of blood turned into splashes of paint, staining the gloomy corridor a bright red.
Just as Gavin struggled to his feet, the entire corridor flipped upside down once again.
He was slammed back to the "ground" once again.
The figure ahead was getting further and further away.
Gavin was furious:
"hateful!"
"What's going on? The blood of this Kovien family child flows in my veins, and this is clearly my territory!"
Ariel did not turn around.
He rushed through the door at the end of the corridor, hidden by a dark curtain, and entered the sun-drenched, picturesque palm grove.
At the same time, another inversion occurs.
When Gavin crashes through this door, he will probably realize that he has gone back the way he came.
This will buy some more time.
The real war will only begin once that thing's flesh and skin have been almost completely consumed.