Ch.205Chapter 205: The Kingdom of Duron (11)

# Chapter 205: The Kingdom of Duron (11)

*Screech… THUD!*

Like a portal to another world, the massive inner iron door closed automatically behind them, cutting them off from the outside.

For a brief moment, they had successfully evaded the persistent pursuit of Obscurant Seats 3 and 6.

But before they could breathe a sigh of relief, Valt’s group found themselves gasping at the bizarre nature of the space they had entered.

“…What is this place…?”

Lati let out a low groan.

What stretched before their eyes was far from an ordinary factory interior.

The corridor-like space had walls, floors, and ceilings twisted together in a way that blurred their boundaries. In some areas, gravity seemed weakened, making their steps feel light and floaty, while in others, their bodies suddenly became as heavy as lead.

Complex magitech circuits were engraved on the walls, but they glowed irregularly like living blood vessels, emitting unstable sparks.

The air was filled with the smell of ozone and the alien, pungent residue of magical energy that seemed to transcend dimensions.

“Workshop 5… They said it was a dimensional magic and otherworldly materials research lab, but this is even more chaotic than the rumors suggested.”

Professor Liman remarked with a furrowed brow.

His aura sense was warning him that the instability of the surrounding space had reached an extremely dangerous level.

“Is the magical stabilization device malfunctioning, or was it always like this?”

“Grrrr… The smell… is absolutely revolting.”

Yuria growled, covering her nose. Her wolf-like senses were constantly warning her of unknown dangers lurking in this place.

“Something… neither alive nor dead… feels like it’s squirming behind the walls.”

“Everyone, stay alert.”

Valt said in a low voice. His voice seemed like the only unwavering center point in the chaotic space.

‘This is strange. Are components for a mere water-producing magical device really produced in a place like this?’

From what he’d heard, the Life Water Storage Core was a magical device that detected humidity in the atmosphere over a wide area and drew in moisture from the air to produce water.

Combining knowledge from both his past and present lives, it did make sense that dimensional or spatial technology would be necessary.

‘Still, this seems excessive. Then again, creating water from seemingly nothing isn’t a simple task.’

Without spirits, there would be virtually no way to accomplish it.

Even water magic used moisture from the air, and in dry regions, the effectiveness of water magic was greatly reduced.

Valt decided to shake off these distracting thoughts.

“Our objective is to secure the ‘Dimensional Phase Magic Stabilizer.’ We need to find our target and get out of here as quickly as possible. Lilith, can you find the way?”

Valt asked Lilith, the most skilled magician among them.

Lilith immediately closed her eyes and concentrated. Her delicate spatial sensing ability began to trace a faint path through the unstable dimensional flow. After a moment, she opened her eyes and pointed in a specific direction.

“…That way, Valt. The deepest part of this workshop, where the magical flow is most strongly condensed. I can feel it. The final component should be there. But the path… is very unstable. The spatial coordinates keep shifting subtly.”

“Is there no other way?”

“…Currently, I don’t sense any stable magical flow except in that direction.”

“Good. Then we’ll go that way.”

Valt made his decision.

“Maintain formation and move as quickly as possible. Stay vigilant—we don’t know what might happen!”

Following Lilith’s guidance, Valt’s group began to carefully advance through the twisted interior of the workshop.

But their journey was fraught with difficulties from the start.

“Huh…?”

Suddenly, the space beneath Valt’s feet, who was at the front, rippled like jelly and sank downward! He reflexively maintained his balance, but nearly got sucked into the rift.

“Be careful! The floor is unstable!”

As he shouted, bizarre crystalline formations began raining down from the ceiling! Sharp crystal fragments pounded against their defensive barriers!

“Protection Shield!”

Lati cried out urgently, reinforcing the protective barrier around the entire team.

“Tch, how annoying!” Solphin swung his claymore to shatter the falling crystals, but upon touching the ground, the crystal fragments began to writhe as if alive, transforming into small energy entities that started attacking them.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before! They’re disgusting!”

Yuria grimaced as she tore apart the energy entities with her claws, but the creatures scattered only to reform again and again.

“These aren’t simple magical entities! Are they dimensional residue coalesced together?”

Professor Liman shouted his analysis.

“Physical attacks won’t be as effective as elemental attacks!”

“Ice Storm!”

“Lightning Bolt!”

Lati and Aileen cast their spells simultaneously.

As the ice storm and lightning swept through the energy entities, they disappeared with sounds like screaming ruptures.

But the danger didn’t end there.

As they tried to pass through the corridor, suddenly the scenery before their eyes rippled like a mirage and transformed into completely different spaces! An endless red desert, scenes from the deep sea, even visions of past battles they had experienced.

“Stay focused! It’s illusion magic!”

Valt shouted, but some momentarily fell into confusion and stopped moving. Ramrpo in particular, already suffering from extreme fatigue and stress, turned deathly pale and collapsed as if recalling past trauma.

“Lilith! Mental interference defense!”

“Yes!”

Lilith cast mental protection magic on her companions, including Ramrpo, to minimize the effects of the illusions. Professor Liman frowned and muttered.

“This isn’t a simple illusion. It’s advanced magic combining spatial distortion and mental interference. To install something like this as a defense system… Even for a magic kingdom, this is excessive.”

They barely managed to pass through the illusion zone with Lilith’s help, Liman’s advice, and Valt’s strong will, but time continued to slip away.

To make matters worse, shocking information flowed from a damaged research terminal they discovered during their search.

[…Dimensional Phase Stabilizer, unexpected energy backflow during final tuning experiment… uncontrollable state…]

[…Warning: Core energy instability approaching critical threshold… surrounding dimensional structure collapse possible…]

[…Confirmed infiltration by Dark Society agents… objective presumed to be stabilizer core theft or destruction…]

“…Damn it!”

Valt cursed under his breath.

The final component was on the verge of going critical due to some problem in its completion stage, and there was a high possibility that Dark Society agents had already infiltrated the workshop with the same target in mind.

“We need to hurry!”

They increased their pace. Finally, Lilith shouted.

“Valt! We’re almost there! Ahead… I sense an incredibly powerful and unstable magical reaction!”

Where Lilith pointed, there was a massive circular hall that appeared relatively stable compared to other areas.

In the center of the hall, a huge dimensional rift, like the meeting point of heaven and earth, was unstably opening and closing repeatedly. Complex magitech devices surrounded the entire hall, seemingly trying to control the tremendous energy emanating from the rift.

And at the center of those devices, within the strongest energy field…

There was the final component, the ‘Dimensional Phase Magic Stabilizer’!

It wasn’t an object with a specific form.

Like a living galaxy, it was an unstable energy sphere where thousands of colors of light and energy swirled and constantly changed shape.

The surrounding space was continuously distorted by the energy’s impact, and it emitted such overwhelming power that merely looking at it made one’s mind reel.

“…So that’s… the final component.”

Valt swallowed dryly. It looked difficult even to approach.

“Be careful!”

Professor Liman warned.

“That energy field—if we touch it wrong, we could all be turned to dust!”

Yuria and Solphin shrugged, voicing the same thought Valt had been pondering earlier.

“Wait, why does a water-making device need such a dazzling component?”

“Exactly, it looks more like some ancient legacy left by an unknown dungeon wizard! Kekeke.”

Ramrpo checked the blueprint and said.

“To, to deactivate that field, I need to use my master key on the central control device…!”

“Looks like we don’t have time for that!”

Yuria shouted sharply, pointing to the opposite entrance of the hall!

There, as if they had been waiting, stood two shadows watching them with cold smiles.

Obscurant Seat 3 Kallian and Seat 6 Morbis.

They had finally caught up.

“Kukuku… I knew you’d make it this far. But unfortunately… we’ll be taking that item first. It’s not something we can hand over to the likes of you.”

Kallian said with a sneer.

“Your role ends here. Now it’s time for you to rest in peace.”

Morbis drew a dagger from within the shadows.

*KWAAANG!*

Once again, crimson magical energy exploded from Kallian’s orb and engulfed Valt’s group, while simultaneously, Morbis’s form disappeared into the shadows.

The final battle was unfolding with the last component right before their eyes! And to make matters worse, the unstable energy core could go critical at any moment in this distorted space.

Time was running out.