914: Witch King: You Don't Know My Terror!
In the darkness far away, a form like a mountain range appeared—it was the Great Evil King of Darkness. He gradually walked toward them. Although the Great Evil King of Darkness had discovered Locke stepping into his Dark Domain, he was actually still some distance away.
Locke immediately raised the Beast Claw Necklace in his hand, wanting to activate the ancient Protection School magic from the Age of Stars left there. Two rays of magical brilliance appeared at his and Douglas's feet, about to leap into the sky to open a planar channel and return to the black hole witch peach.
Just as the two rays of magical brilliance hit the sky and opened the planar channel, both Locke and Douglas saw the plane gate open and caught a glimpse of the Wizarding World on the other side.
But at that moment, the endless darkness suddenly overlapped like ripples and waves, forcefully cutting off the planar channel.
Because the planar channel opened and closed so quickly, neither of them had time to pass through.
A Dark Sound, sounding like some ancient sacrificial chant, appeared in Locke's ears.
The ground beneath his feet began to shake.
Douglas covered his ears and screamed in agony. Blood flowed from his nose, ears, and eyes. He knelt on the ground screaming, as the Dark Sound was forcing him to speak his name.
He looked up.
"Dougla..."
Locke's pupils suddenly constricted.
Not good.
From the darkness, a hand of the Great Evil King of Darkness stretched out. That massive hand directly grabbed the name.
"Very well, your name belongs to the darkness from this moment on."
Douglas screamed. All the colors of his clothes, the color of his Eternal Defense Field, and the magical brilliance on his soul seemed to be extracted by the darkness. His body was about to turn completely into darkness.
Seeing this, Locke grit his teeth and waved the golden ear wheat in his hand. The primary plant factor of the golden ear wheat was the Brilliance Factor. The golden ear wheat struck Douglas, forcibly absorbing the magical brilliance leaking from his body into this Magic Plant.
The Great Evil King of Darkness sneered. "You dare to compete with the darkness for a target with such means?"
"Today, all of you shall stay here..."
"Give me your name as well, and become a servant of darkness... sinking forever..."
A dark voice penetrated his Eternal Defense Field and entered his soul. Locke let out a muffled groan, his mouth opening as if he also wanted to speak.
At this moment, his mind was racing, searching for a solution.
The golden ear wheat had the ability to seize magical brilliance. When the darkness was draining the colors from Douglas's body, although he didn't know the principle, he could at least intercept the part of the magical brilliance being drained. This might still save him.
But the problem was, if the holder of the golden ear wheat—his own name—was taken by the darkness...
Then the trouble would be immense.
That would mean all the magical brilliance related to him would be selected and extracted by the darkness.
The magic of the golden ear wheat would be broken, and the part of Douglas he had saved, along with himself, would be taken away by the darkness.
He had to find a way.
What should he do now?
Fighting against a Sun Ring level existence, he wouldn't gain any advantage, especially since this was the opponent's home turf.
A tree of prosperity appeared behind Locke, turning into a golden tree that emitted a faint golden glow in the darkness, using the four seasons to resist the darkness.
However, since the tree currently only had one Fruit of Spring produced in the Three Caves World hanging on it...
Essentially, only the spring season of his tree of prosperity was true and accurate, while the power of the other three seasons was still too weak.
The power of the four seasons held on for a moment but was soon covered by the darkness.
Locke frowned. What should he do now?
He ordered his Ancient Tree Fruit clone to rush to the seventh floor of the True Knowledge Institute's castle. At this moment, whether it was Witch Catherine's Third Ring clone or Wizard Turazin's main body or clone, they might have a chance to help him.
After all, once his name was seized by the darkness, both his main body and clones would be forced into the darkness.
Wait, the name.
Locke's eyes widened. Why did the Dark World need names?
A name needs to be called out by someone.
Why is it that once a Dark Lord pulls a world into the darkness, he possesses that world's power?
How exactly does the Dark World transmit power?
Locke looked again at Douglas, whose remaining magical brilliance was being sucked into the darkness. Was it light?
Don't be ridiculous. In the Dark World, everything is dark. Visual ability isn't very useful here, and since this is the Dark World, how could energy be transmitted through light and shadow?
But in any case, the Dark World should have a way to transmit energy, passing the power of several worlds to the Dark Lord. Right now, that Great Evil King of Darkness was also transmitting through something in the darkness.
Locke summoned the Great Mingli Dragon Sparrow from his Forest Sanctuary, and a sharp cry suddenly sounded in his ears.
Following that sharp cry, the speed at which the magical brilliance was being sucked from Douglas actually slowed down.
And Locke's urge to speak his name... vanished.
In the darkness, the massive silhouette of the King of Darkness, who was gradually approaching, suddenly stiffened.
"Did you find out? Damned Wizard..."
Locke finally realized.
In the Dark World... sound is the key.
It is sound that transmits energy. So after a Dark Lord leads a world to fall into darkness, the Great Dark World probably transmits power to him in the form of some kind of sound.
This place, where everything the eye can see is dark, is actually a place filled with a musical feast of sound.
Sound is the key here!
And when the Dragon Fire of his Great Mingli Dragon Sparrow burned the air, it made loud pops, which clearly slightly affected the power transmission of the Great Dark World.
It was a pity he hadn't developed a Magic Plant specifically for creating sound waves to interfere with the Great Dark World.
The Great Mingli Dragon Sparrow behind Locke made a sharp sound of friction with the air.
The Great Evil King of Darkness let out a disdainful laugh.
"So what if you found out? This kind of power is far too inferior compared to that wizard."
"Invert for me."
In the next moment, Locke felt as if heaven and earth were inverting. He felt like a tiny object falling into a porcelain bowl in the hand of the Great Evil King of Darkness, and that porcelain bowl was also black.
Locke and Douglas both became objects within the bowl.
Locke saw countless drawn-out threads appearing on himself and Douglas.
Locke and Douglas both discovered with horror that in this space, their Eternal Defense Fields were gone.
Douglas's Eternal Defense Field was gone, while Locke's had regressed from a Second Ring Permanent Defense Field shell to a First Ring Eternal Defense Field.
Locke grit his teeth and said, "Dimensional reduction..."
He had experienced it once before. When the demons and monsters in the darkness wanted to kill him, they dragged him into a region like a Shadow Play, and as a result, his Eternal Defense Field disappeared because of dimensional reduction.
This time was better because he currently had a proper Permanent Defense Field shell, so it only regressed to an Eternal Defense Field.
Douglas let out a scream as the last trace of light in his eyes vanished. Then, his whole body was limply suspended by shadow threads, just like a character in a Shadow Play.
The Great Evil King of Darkness said, "Hehe, I love watching you lifeforms from the Main Material Plane slaughter each other. Your greed, stupidity, and arrogance are the best nutrients for cultivating darkness. Come, let a grand slaughter begin..."
Douglas automatically chanted an incantation. A bolt of lightning fell from the sky and turned into a weapon in his hand. This was his commonly used Evocation School magic, the Lightning Blade.
At this moment, he held the Lightning Blade and stabbed toward Locke.
The Lightning Blade possessed lightning energy. The moment it attacked him, it burst forth, stabbing toward his throat. When the Lightning Blade struck the Eternal Defense Field on his body, it immediately annihilated each other with his Eternal Defense Field.
Locke instantly realized that in this environment, a Crystallized Wizard could actually break through his defense.
The reason was simple.
Because his Permanent Defense Field shell had been dimensionally reduced.
Since they were both First Ring Spell Models, there was a possibility of breaking the defense.
However, even a First Ring Eternal Defense Field was eternal, so the difficulty of breaking the defense was extremely high.
The Dark Sound appeared in his ears again.
Even if the sound of the Great Mingli Dragon Sparrow temporarily interfered with the energy transmission of the Dark World, the degree of interference was limited.
In this shadow play space, Locke even suspected that the Great Evil King of Darkness could suddenly strengthen the Dark Sound in his ears at any time, forcing him to say his name.
Meanwhile, Douglas chanted an incantation again, summoning a ball of fire in his hand. The fire condensed into a Flame Spear. Holding the Flame Spear like a puppet in a Shadow Play, he attacked Locke.
Behind him was the Great Evil King of Darkness, manipulating the dark threads on his body.
Above this shadow play space, many demons and monsters that only existed in the Dark World were gradually attracted. They stared with large crimson eyes in the dark space, and then they began to laugh loudly.
"Ahahaha... killing each other..."
"So brilliant. The plays directed by the Great Evil King of Darkness are always the most brilliant. When will we see the Great Evil King of Darkness enter the Shadow Play as the protagonist? That would be the most brilliant time."
"Killing each other... killing each other..."
Locke frowned and looked up at the pairs of crimson eyes in the dark space above the stage.
"Sinister."
"But I must find a way to escape this shadow play space, otherwise, to them, I am like a character in a painting. How can a character in a painting talk about escaping?"
But the last time he was able to escape was because a Fourth Ring Truth Wizard from the Wizarding World personally intervened.
Wait...
Locke suddenly thought of when that Truth Wizard of unknown identity had acted; he had actually created three pinecone-like fruits.
He had only used one.
He should still have two in his hand.
Locke immediately summoned the Great Mingli Dragon Sparrow to fly high into the sky.
The Great Evil King of Darkness immediately reached out his left hand in dissatisfaction, and countless dark threads fell toward Locke.
"Everyone within the Shadow Play should be under my control; you too, go and kill each other."
Behind Locke, the Great Mingli Dragon Sparrow streaked across the dark sky like a trail of crimson fire.
Next, Locke tied a pinecone to the second-ring sea golden sand, then used [Single-Handed Support], turning the Sea Gold Sand Fern into a Flowing Gold Fern Spear and launching it toward the Great Evil King of Darkness.
The Great Evil King of Darkness let out another sneer born from his absolute, overwhelming power.
The power he projected from afar was gradually breaking through the Sun Ring level, which meant his true body was rapidly approaching.
Once his true body arrived, there would be no need to continue such a game.
However, at this moment, he could actually end the game; the Sun Ring level magic pressure was enough to crush the young wizard before him. It was just that he had suffered too much at the hands of this young wizard's elder before, and now he wanted to get it all back at once.
Naturally, he wouldn't give Locke a quick death.
"Let me think, what kind of position should I give you in the Great Dark World later?"
The next moment, the Great Evil King of Darkness's eyes widened because the Flowing Gold Fern Spear Locke attacked with suddenly turned into a beam of white light, which abruptly pierced through his true body's mountain-like silhouette in the darkness.
His true body, which loomed in the darkness like the massive silhouette of a mountain, actually let out a scream, then knelt on one knee on the ground and cried out in agony.
A large amount of blood flowed out.
Countless Dark Sounds crawled out of his blood, turning into countless demons and monsters that fled toward the distant reaches of the Dark World.
"This... whose power is this? This isn't your power, wizard. You won unfairly!"
"Despicable!"
The Great Evil King of Darkness's main body was actually heavily wounded by this spell of Locke's. Back then, that Fourth Ring Wizard had transformed the Great Evil King of Darkness's power into three pinecones, and the pinecones themselves were specifically designed to counter his power.
Last time, that pinecone had only destroyed the Great Evil King of Darkness's shadow play theater.
But this time, this pinecone was struck directly by Locke at his main body located in the darkness.
Naturally, the Great Evil King of Darkness was severely injured.
Taking this opportunity, after Locke retracted the Sea Gold Sand Fern, he left a trail of fire in the sky, then returned to the ground to grab Douglas's shoulder and crashed with him toward the edge of the shadow play space.
At this moment, because the Great Evil King of Darkness's main body was heavily wounded, the shadow play space was incredibly fragile. Under the impact of Locke's Great Mingli Dragon Sparrow, a crack appeared.
The aerial root dragon tail behind the Great Mingli Dragon Sparrow turned into a fire whip and lashed out, directly shattering that space.
Locke charged out from within.
Those various demons and monsters of unknown origin in the darkness of the sky let out giggles. They were merely spectators, and as spectators, whether the Great Evil King of Darkness suffered or Locke and his companion suffered in this drama, they were happy.
Such were the creatures within the Dark World!
In the darkness, the Great Evil King of Darkness became exceptionally furious as he stood up from the ground.
"Curse it."
"Damned wizard..."
"Don't think you can escape. You've already entered my Dark World; do you really think you can still get away? I will never let you go. I will put you into my largest Shadow Play and have you perform for the big shots of the Black Sun Tower!"
The Great Evil King of Darkness felt that it was one thing to have suffered at the hands of a Sun Ring Wizard before, but to actually suffer at the hands of an ordinary Second Ring Wizard now was intolerable. He immediately forced himself to stand up and chase after Locke and Douglas.
Meanwhile, Locke was flying in the sky of that ruin world, while simultaneously thinking of a way to leave this Great Dark World.
The demons and monsters in the sky revealed pairs of crimson eyes, watching Locke fly and crash around like a headless fly; they were all watching the show.
Waiting for these two travelers who had accidentally intruded into the Great Dark World to meet their final end.
Locke's gaze became increasingly determined. The more he encountered such a desperate situation, the more resolute his mind became. No matter what, he had to find a slim chance of survival in this frontier exploration area, which was equivalent to the world over by the New Route.
"The planar passage was cut off by the dark power of the Great Evil King of Darkness. This world has completely fallen into the Dark World. I don't even know if it's at the edge or the center of the Dark World. Right now, even if I fly out of this world, I'll enter the Dark World directly, so how can I fly out?"
"If it really doesn't work, I'll have to find a way to save my two clones. This main body can only be temporarily abandoned."
Douglas, whom Locke was dragging, suddenly spoke. However, at this moment, a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes, and a weariness unfitting for his age appeared on Douglas's face.
"Locke, Douglas... no, it's my magic radiance that must be reclaimed from the darkness, otherwise I can never leave the Dark World. Of course, you can still leave now."
Locke's eyes brightened slightly as he looked at Douglas in his hand.
He let go of this Douglas.
Because at this moment, it was the Lagemen Witch King who was controlling this body.
The Great Evil King of Darkness in the distance was stunned.
"How can a slave controlled by darkness still have autonomy?"
"No."
"You are not him."
"Who are you? Damned wizard, are you here to steal heartbreak flowers from my territory again?"
The Great Evil King of Darkness felt he had been deceived; otherwise, why would a High-Ring Wizard's soul follow two low-ring wizards into the Great Dark World?
What kind of conspiracy was this?
'Douglas' looked calmly at Locke and said, "I can temporarily step in to block that Great Lord of the Dark World and open the planar passage, but you must help me at the critical moment to reclaim Douglas's magic radiance and bring his physical body back to the Wizarding World."
"These Dark World creatures won't dare follow us to the Wizarding World."
"It's just that I only have the strength for one strike right now."
"Is that okay?"
Locke nodded in understanding. "It's okay."
At this moment, the Great Evil King of Darkness suddenly burst into loud laughter; his main body had arrived.
At least his stalling for time had been successful.
As long as the main body came, everything would be resolved.
At this moment, the Great Evil King of Darkness exuded an evil aura from his entire body, and his main body had also brought some of his army of demons and monsters.
The Great Evil King of Darkness laughed heartily.
At this moment, 'Douglas' turned to look at him with a calm gaze and took a step forward.
"If it weren't for this young friend beside me, I truly wouldn't have the power to fight you. But if I borrow his power..."
At this moment, 'Douglas' waved his hand, and the Moon of Evolution appeared behind Locke. Simultaneously, his own Magic Dragon Bloodline boiled, the Magic Dragon Rose flew out automatically, and the Great Mingli Dragon Sparrow automatically flew back to the Forest Sanctuary.
Sun and Moon Dual Movement!
A magic Kingdom Domain appeared beneath 'Douglas's' feet. This Kingdom Domain used his toes as a base and spread out unreasonably in this Dark World.
There were countless bolts of lightning behind him.
'Douglas' stood with his hands behind his back and said, "I've heard of a wizard called the Thunder King Great Lord, who thinks he stands ahead of the era and believes himself invincible, never having suffered a defeat. Alas, it is lamentable that there are no heroes in this age, allowing a mere youngster to make a name for himself."
"Native of the Dark World, watch closely; this is my lightning magic."
'Douglas' extracted the life energy torrent from the plane beneath him to compress the lightning energy within the Kingdom Domain, compressing it continuously.
The King of Darkness actually felt afraid.
Because this was no longer a case of a big fish in a small pond.
Before, whether he was dealing with Turazin or other wizards, it was always a Third Ring fighting a Second Ring, plus the home-field advantage. Naturally, it was incredibly mocking; he could fight however he wanted.
Even if he suffered a bit, his health bar was thick anyway, so it didn't matter.
But now, the King of Darkness realized that the opponent seemed to be an existence of the same level as him.
The Great Evil King of Darkness took a few steps back. "You... who are you? Who are you people?"
"Why is the power of the Black Sun Tower here? What is your relationship with the Black Sun Tower?"
At this moment, all those demons and monsters in the darkness became terrified.
They no longer had the mind to be pure spectators.
The moment Locke displayed the Magic Dragon Bloodline, these Dark World demons and monsters all saw fear, dread, and panic. The Black Sun Tower was the former suzerain and current hegemon of the Great Dark World.
They could no longer just watch the show.
'Douglas' chanted an incantation, and a crimson lightning bolt suddenly fell like a gale; it was the Third Ring level Attila Lightning Chain.
In an instant, that lightning bolt fell from the sky, striking the Great Evil King of Darkness, and simultaneously transformed into a lightning chain that headed toward all the demons and monsters in the darkness.
The extremely compressed lightning energy exploded.
Locke looked back at the center of this world, where a withered peach tree was located, along with a... world tree leaf.
Locke was able to notice this only because that Witch King had forcibly extracted the life energy of this world, which caused that world tree leaf to be forced to manifest. This allowed him, who was very sensitive to the power system of the world tree, to discover it.
'Douglas' said, "Locke..."
Locke vibrated the Great Mingli Dragon Sparrow behind him, leaving a trail of fire in the air, then used the golden ear wheat to snatch Douglas's magic radiance from the Great Evil King of Darkness's right hand.
Immediately after, he charged into the plane gate amidst the terrified voices of the demons and monsters.