Chapter 144: A Sudden Turn of Events

At this moment, Luo Yong was in a hall far away, mindlessly farming monsters. Because he had only triggered the magic circle in one passage, the number of monsters was relatively small, leaving him feeling somewhat idle between setting up his formations.

Of course, this "small" number was relative. For those in the palace where Fiona was, the sheer volume of monsters surging in was nothing short of a catastrophe.

Take, for instance, what was happening right now.

*Snap!*

As Fiona lunged forward, Suzy suddenly lost her grip, accidentally dropping the item she was cradling in her arms. The two young women collided, clutching each other's arms as they tumbled aside. An inexplicable surge of magic flowed forth, prying open the object on the ground. It was a thick bundle wrapped in beast fur, designed for warmth. Once unfurled, it revealed a crystal emitting a blue glow, shaped like a peculiar staff or a clenched forearm.

"The Wizard's Hand! So it was here all along!"

The woman in the crowd who had previously tried to recruit Fiona stepped forward. With a wave of her hand, a gravitational force latched onto the blue-glowing artifact. It rose slowly, drifting straight into her grasp under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

"Roar!"

Just then, a monstrous howl echoed through the great hall, as if an unknown power were awakening.

*Crash!*

Several sections of the sturdy stone walls around the hall collapsed, revealing carvings of various monsters. The roaring seemed to emanate from these very reliefs. Immediately after, all the carvings began to glow, and an incredibly complex magic circle illuminated the room, rotating slowly. It was as if the gates of hell had been inadvertently thrown open.

In that instant, all the monsters shrieked in unison. An endless tide of creatures flooded the hall.

"Ah!"

A scream pierced through the monstrous cacophony. Suzy shoved Fiona aside and vanished in a flash.

"Huh?" Fiona was surprised to feel a powerful magical fluctuation erupt from the other girl—a power no weaker than her own. "Is she level 15 too?"

Facing the monsters fast approaching, Fiona felt not fear, but disdain. She tapped her toes, leaped high, and with a flash of light, her Wings of Light unfurled, carrying her to safety. Yet, looking at the woman holding the "Wizard's Hand," Fiona felt puzzled. Shouldn't that item have been in the hands of that spherical creature? How did it end up with Suzy again? Could it be...

"Hey, hey, hey?"

Suddenly, Fiona felt a powerful pulling force trying to drag her toward the woman. She turned to look; it was the woman with the Wizard's Hand. Previously, she had thought the woman was quite attractive, but now, bathed in that eerie blue light, the expression on her face seemed sinister and terrifying.

"Little girl, I'm going to borrow your equipment," the woman said.

Fiona was already being reeled in. No matter how hard she struggled, she could not break free.

"What are you doing?" For the first time, Fiona felt truly afraid. She realized she shouldn't have braved the dungeon alone. It wasn't just filled with terrifying monsters; it was full of human mages even more dangerous than the beasts. "I should have joined a larger party!"

As she thought this, she looked at the human heroes fighting desperately nearby. Though they held back the horde, blood splattered frequently as men fell under the monsters' claws and jaws.

"No! I should have... I should never have run off and left the Captain behind!" If it were the Captain, he would probably complain that there were too few monsters, even with this many swarming in!

"Captain! Help me!" Fiona shouted toward a certain direction. But her voice was swallowed by the roars of the monsters and the battle cries of the heroes; it didn't travel far.

"What are you shouting for? I'm just borrowing a piece of gear, not taking your life." The woman smiled faintly, as if she meant no harm, but to Fiona, the close contact felt even more petrifying. Taking advantage of Fiona’s stiff, paralyzed state, the woman reached out to unfasten the Wings of Light.

*Whoosh!*

Suddenly, a flash of holy light erupted. A spherical barrier formed around Fiona, blocking the woman's hand and severing the force that held her captive. Fiona instantly shot into the air, flying far away.

"What? You were hiding a technique like this?" The woman seemed slightly surprised, though she didn't appear to care, as if she were merely playing a minor game. She then extended her other hand, and in her palm appeared another object glowing with blue light.

"The Wizard's Heart!" Fiona gasped in disbelief. She couldn't understand how this item had fallen into the woman's hands. Was the spherical human hero she had seen so recently dead? Had she killed him for his treasures?

"ROAR!!"

Just then, another section of the wall on the other side of the hall collapsed, revealing the same scene as before.

"Ah!" "Urgh!"

Several human heroes screamed as they fell into pools of blood, surrounded and devoured by the monsters.

"Hmph! Weak humans!" The woman holding the two wizard relics began to float, lifted by an invisible magical force. Under the blue glow, her own body seemed to turn blue. A mysterious incantation echoed through the hall—a language no one could understand. The monsters' roars gradually subsided.

"Attack!"

Taking advantage of the moment, the few remaining heroes, huddled in a small circle, launched a counterattack. The young man who had blushed when looking at Fiona shot her a quick glance, shouted, and charged the monsters. But he fell shortly after, never to rise again.

The several teams that had initially numbered dozens were now reduced to fewer than twenty. They stood back-to-back against a raised platform, desperately holding out against the monsters closing in from three directions.

"Umbrella! Are you finished yet? We can't hold on much longer! If this keeps up, we're all going to die!" someone shouted. Everyone turned to look at the woman floating near the dome.

At that moment, her body was undergoing a strange transformation. The Wizard's Hand had already merged into her flesh. She trembled all over, seemingly enduring intense agony, yet she continued to chant the ancient incantation. The Wizard's Heart hovered before her chest, seemingly poised to merge with her as well.

"Four items forming a key to the 'Unspeakable Place'... is this what it requires?" Fiona found the scene unimaginably evil and difficult to stomach.

*Zip!*

Suddenly, a light arrow streaked through the air, piercing toward Umbrella!

*Thwack!*

The arrow struck true, punching through her chest and leaving a hole visible from both sides!

"Ugh..." Umbrella’s figure swayed in mid-air, nearly falling. But she turned her head and glanced at the direction from which the arrow had come with a strange expression—a look of mockery on her face.

"You're late..."

The voice that emanated from her body was devoid of any human emotion. In that moment, even with such a grievous injury, she felt no pain. She straightened her posture, letting the blood flow, and focused on pulling the blue-glowing Wizard's Heart into her body.

*Thump! Thump! Thump!*

In that silence, everyone clearly heard the sound of a powerful heartbeat.

"Umbrella! We agreed that we only wanted to find the four artifacts to open the Unspeakable Place and obtain the treasure left by the ancient wizards. But what are you doing now?!"

A tall human hero emerged from the shadows. He wore a full suit of metal armor that clanked as he walked, his body radiating a faint golden halo like an ancient god of war who had broken through time and space to arrive here.

Seeing this, Fiona inexplicably thought of Luo Yong... Cough. One was an ancient god of war; the other was a weather-beaten old soldier. No, there was no comparison.

"What am I doing?" Umbrella chuckled, her entire body glowing and standing in the air like a deity. The horrific wound in her chest, under the influence of a mysterious power, was already slowly healing. She was now countless times more powerful than before.

"Dominic Alex, my dearest, can't you see? I don't just want the ancient wizard's treasure; I am approaching him—I am going to become him!" Umbrella said, sounding somewhat deranged.

"You lunatic!" Dominic Alex gritted his teeth, magic surging around him as he raised his longbow once more.

"Heh, I was caught off guard before and let you land a shot. Do you think you have another chance now?" Umbrella said smugly. Then, her figure flickered, and she appeared directly in front of him! Despite her feet being suspended in mid-air, she grabbed Dominic Alex by the throat with one hand and hoisted him up.

"Holy Cross Slash!"

Suddenly, a sharp cry rang out, and a brilliant blade of light struck Umbrella. But she didn't even budge; a strange energy field rippled across her skin, dissolving the attack.

"Little girl, I was going to spare you, but since you’re courting death, don’t blame me!"