Chapter 1213: Beyond the Portal
Marden’s expression turned ruthless as he swiped his hand in an upward, diagonal angle. An arc of blood materialized in the air and, in the next moment, cleanly severed the giant bull’s head from its body.
With a soft thud, the Mana Core-level beast’s head fell to the ground, the light in its eyes slowly growing dim. Meanwhile, its body lost balance and collapsed shortly after. It twitched for a moment or two before ultimately falling still.
Marden exhaled a heavy breath and finally lowered his hand. His appearance was a little haggard as he had to battle this powerful beast. But in the end, he came out on top.
He was currently inside a vast underground chamber. It was dimly lit, and the air was thick with the scent of earth, blood, and decay. Near his feet lay the corpse of the giant bull he had just slain.
Its massive body was motionless as it lay sprawled across the cracked stone floor. Its muscles hung loose, and dried blood stained the ground around it, forming dark puddles that reflected the dim lights from the glowing fungus and moss clinging to the walls and ceiling.
A familiar black pedastal rose from the center of the chamber. Its surface was smooth and polished, absorbing light rather than reflecting it, giving it an ominous presence. It had mysterious runes carved on its surface.
These symbols might seem foreign to others, but Marden knew exactly what they were. These runes were written in the language of the devils. A harsh and guttural tongue born from shadows and flames, infernac.
"This is the problem with places with high mana density like this," Marden muttered under his breath as he crouched beside the beast’s corpse.
In the next instant, he thrust his hand straight through the flesh and retrieved the mana core inside. Wiping the blood of the core, he continued:
"It will always attract powerful creatures, drawn to its abundant mana."
This was the secret location in Indus, where one of the six portals was located. After dealing with the mighty bull, he approached the black pedastal. With practiced ease, he weaved a series of hand seals, causing the pedastal to slide sideways and reveal a staircase leading further underground.
Hands clasped behind his back, Marden descended the staircase. From time to time, he would press on a certain point on the wall or weave a simple hand seal to deactivate any defense mechanisms.
As he did so, he couldn’t help but sneer. He thought to himself in disdain, How paranoid can a person truly be?
If the Lord was so cautious, couldn’t he have placed a loyal guard at every portal? At least, they could have helped fend off against the occasional magical beast that might wander here, drawn to the rich mana.
Soon, his lips curled into a cold smile.
But it’s a good thing he didn’t do that either. Or it would have become truly hard for me to enact my plans...
Whistling a merry tune, he continued his way down.
The staircase descended steeply, carved from dark stone worn by the ravages of time. The air grew colder and heavier with each step. Marden had to deactivate several defensive barriers and other hidden traps.
Activating them would directly alert the Cult Leader. Although in doing so, there would have been no problems because the lich already knew that Marden was visiting the six portals around the world to strengthen the rune magic fueling them.
Still, he wanted to avoid alerting the lich.
At the bottom, the staircase opened into another chamber, this one far bigger in size than the one above. The ceiling arched high above, disappearing into the darkness, supported by massive stone pillars.
Here, the mana density was exponentially higher. Just breathing the air here felt wonderful to Marden. His gaze fixed on the... thing at the center of the chamber.
At the center stood a large portal, its surface constantly shifting and pulsing with otherworldly energy. Dark red light radiated outwards in waves, casting strange patterns across the floor and walls.
The floor was covered in complex, mysterious runes carved in the infernal language. Just the complexity of it was mind-boggling. Marden couldn’t help but wonder how much time it must have taken the Cult Leader to establish not just one, but six of these portals all across the globe.
He observed the complex array of runes, his eyes sparkling with admiration.
"The Lord is truly a knowledgeable being," he murmured.
The next moment, he took a deep breath and began reinforcing the runes. The work itself wasn’t particularly time-consuming. It was the travel between multiple continents that would consume most of his time.
That was why he told Leland that by the time they met again, several years or even up to a decade would have passed. Still, Marden had enough time to go around the world and ensure that the portals were structurally stable.
While he was working on the runes, he suddenly raised his head, his gaze shifting to the enormous portal that hovered in the center of the chamber. His eyes squinted as he intently observed the shifting surface of the portal.
His lips slowly curled into a smirk, almost as if... he could already see what lay beyond the portal.
Marden shook his head and resumed his work.
"All in due time," he murmured.
"I must be patient..."
***
A similar portal, all the way on the other side of the world, hummed with life.
Standing before it, Edward had a look filled with utter disbelief etched on his face. For a long time, he didn’t know what to say. At long last, he looked toward the elderly gnome hovering in the air beside him. Then, he gulped nervously and asked:
"This portal... this is the source of the abundant mana?"
Bereger had a grim look on his face as he nodded. "To be precise, the source is what lies beyond this portal. The mana you’re sensing is simply leaking from the other side."
With a trembling voice, Edward asked, "Wh-what’s beyond this portal?"
Berger remained silent for a long time, the expression on his face darkening by the moment. At last, he said in a grim voice:
"The plane of sin, the home of the devils... the Nine Hells of Inferno."