The Paladin in the Abyss

Chapter 204 The Legendary Monster

"The spells on the upper part of these magic wands seem to be some kind of item-location variant, and they already specify the target they are looking for, this part is about the description of that divine artifact…" Kalalin muttered to himself, "But what are these extra runes on the bottom for?"

Gradually, the scholar's expression turned solemn, while Lancelot had already suspected that something was amiss. Kalalin picked up several other wands to examine them and even cast a few spells on them, but apparently the results didn't satisfy him. Finally, taking a deep breath, the scholar addressed everyone:

"The upper half of each wand is the same, likely the magic they mentioned for detecting the Eye of Sarizdon. But there's something else in the lower half, and its complexity far exceeds that of the upper half." Kalalin demonstrated the abnormalities of the three wands but aside from himself, no one could understand those patterns as intricate as fingerprints.

"I knew those Lords of Withering weren't up to any good," Lancelot frowned and said, "What kind of effects do they have?"

"I'm sorry, I can't tell, and the detection magic didn't give me any answers," Kalalin shrugged, "I can barely recognize that it is from the Transformation System of spells, probably not something good."

"Doesn't that mean these sticks are all useless now?" Bruto lamented from the side, "Are these guys brain-dead? We're just helping to find an object…"

"Honestly, without these things, I would be even more uneasy," Kalalin smiled, "I can try to destroy the runes on the lower half while keeping the detection magic on the upper half active."

"That's possible?" Lancelot asked with some surprise, having already prepared himself to throw all three wands away.

"Of course," the scholar chuckled, pulling out a finely crafted small knife from his backpack, "I am an expert in this field."

Moments later, Kalalin activated the 'modified' wand, confirming that there were no items resembling the Eye of Sarizdon nearby.

"Since what we're looking for isn't inside, let's not waste any more time here, let's move on," Lancelot nodded in approval, as his Spirit Perception was utterly averse to the idea of entering that crack.

"Oh, but think about the possible treasure inside!" the Dwarf said, his face full of disappointment, "We are adventurers, how can we pass up such an opportunity?"

"Kid, you'll die very quickly that way," Lancelot said gravely, patting the Dwarf's shoulder, "Our goal is to find that black bead, there's no need to take additional risks. And think about it, what good can come from magic items buried with a dead Demon Lord for countless centuries? Definitely all sorts of troublesome curses, and they might even take over your body, using your flesh to resurrect…"

"It's not as bad as you're making it out to be…" the Dwarf weakly objected, but already resigned to the situation and continued forward.

"Wouldn't have guessed, boss, you're quite sharp," the skull floated crookedly nearby, the sloping ground seeming to affect even him, "Many great heroes have died going into holes they shouldn't have."

"That really is the wisest thing I've ever heard, thanks a lot," Lancelot said with annoyance as he looked at the skull. A sharp bird cry came from the sky, making everyone tense again. The meaning of the cry was clear: soon, a flock of Flomos would fly over their heads.

As for whether a battle would occur, the choice wasn't in the hands of these outsiders.

The group moved forward again, and the bird cries grew louder, but the figures of the winged demons never appeared. Instead, other noises emerged. After traversing a mountain ridge, the sounds suddenly became clear, and the group, fixing their gaze, discovered an intense battle unfolding not far away.

"By Moradin's beard! What is that!"

Bruto exclaimed in shock, mirroring Lancelot's feelings at the moment. One side of the battle was familiar to him—a large group of Flomos, of which they had already killed many ruthless and evil demons today—but the other was a creature he had never seen before.

At first glance, it appeared to be a huge, floating ball of flesh, but upon closer inspection, one could recognize the evil and twisted nature of the creature: in the center of the spherical body was a gigantic eyeball, under which was a huge mouth lined with sharp teeth; thin tentacles grew from its body, each ending with a smaller eyeball.

Lancelot had heard about such creatures from Kalalin; it was an Eye Demon, one of the strangest beings in the Multiverse and every adventurer's nightmare.

The eyeballs at the ends of the tentacles were not just for expanding its field of vision—a blue ray shot from one eye, turning a Flomo that was circling its head into a stone statue that shattered as it hit the ground; another eyeball emitted a pink light, and the demon it shone upon immediately began attacking its own comrades, as if it had been charmed.

Each small eyeball at the end of a tentacle could release different types of rays, and this peculiar creature fought by relying on these eye-generated beams, easily handling the numerous groups of winged demons. Bruto's cry of surprise attracted its attention, and the Eye Demon's body rotated slightly, its massive central eye looking their way.

A deep humming sound filled everyone's ears, and the hammer in Alamir's hand, which glowed like a torch, extinguished in an instant, while the protective spells Kalalin had cast on himself beforehand also suddenly dissipated.

They were naturally familiar with this phenomenon. In fact, it was the Eye Demon's most debilitating skill for adventurers—the Anti-Magic Field. Through its fearsome central eye, the Eye Demon could create a conical field of great distance that completely cut off the magical energies permeating the Multiverse, including the rays emitted from its own auxiliary eyes.

However, this didn't mean that a skilled warrior like Lancelot would have any advantage. The Eye Demon could simply activate the Anti-Magic Field to instantly strip away any active protection and buff magic on an enemy, then close its main eye to use its auxiliary eyes—which could paralyze, charm, petrify, instill fear, weaken, hypnotize, and even kill—to go through the enemy one by one, always finding a ray to deal with those muscle-relying types.

Luckily, this Eye Demon seemed uninterested in Lancelot and his newly arrived companions, or perhaps it didn't even consider them worthy of its attention. It turned back and continued to focus on the Flomos circling around it like flies. Continue reading on My Virtual Library Empire

"That's an Eye Demon, right?" Lancelot quietly asked Kalalin, "What's it doing here?"