Although the scene could make someone else panic and fear, Ocelia only found those tendrils weirdly adorable. They behaved like a pet that only moved according to their instinct, trying their best to move towards their food.
She tried to touch them with her hand. However, they would always stray away from her, afraid of dirtying her pure body with their filthy appearance. She did not know if it was Forus' wish, or their instinct to avoid danger.
In the end, Ocelia stood motionless as her eyes studied the tendrils from the moment they devoured the corpse of the ancient beast until they retreated into Forus' realm of consciousness. Only until Forus dropped onto the floor did Ocelia rushed in to help him. She did not want to interrupt his moment of improvement.
The rotten scent transformed into something else. The lingering fragrance did not cause any discomfort anymore. Instead, it had the dull effect of soothing one's mind, making the anger subsided, and the joy ceased. Ocelia felt numb and indifferent as she experienced the process of life and death.
In her cloudy mind, a silhouette of a shadowy monster howled in pain as many tiny creatures ambushed it, aiming to take its life with their combined power. The fight caused mountains to crumble, and river to dissipate. Screams of pain echoed the sky as the beast roared in anger.
Because Ocelia was watching in the perspective of the beast, she could not observe the spells that the creatures were using. Otherwise, she would gain much experience and ways of utilizing the sorcery better. Even then, seeing the spectacular power of the mighty beings did widen her outlook. Never in her mind would she believe that there was something as big as mountains.
In the beast's vision, the tiny creatures had many strings attached to them, glowing in different lights and shades. With each of its attack, a hazy thread would strike at the strands, severing a number of them. If an important one got destroyed, the creatures would shriek in desperation before melting into a pool of flesh and blood. Their sorcery circulation turned chaotic and backfired.
"Ocelia, what are you doing?" Like a thread of love, Forus' words pulled Ocelia out from the depth of memory. Before she knew it, Forus had already stood in front of her with his hand touching her forehead. She was spacing out for a while now.
"Nothing. I just thought about something just now." Her smile was pure, creating a spark of joy inside Forus' heart. Without any intention of asking, Ocelia grabbed hold of Forus' hand before walking forwards, pulling him with her.
After merging with the Mask of Sun and Moon, as well as getting the legacy of the Evanescent Record, Ocelia had further gained more knowledge about the Fleeting Emotions Ruin. The structure of the Tower of Succession and the information about the second-ranked sorcery master flowed into her mind. Except for the members of the Fleeting Emotions Ruin, Ocelia would be the most knowledgeable person about this place.
Behind the imposing altar, the couple stood in front of the Door of Hope. It had the same appearance as the first and the last Door of Hope they had been walking by. However, like the two, the text on it was different.
"Connected by love, wandered through the ocean of lives. Time and again, strings would intertwine. In the end, what will prevail?" Ocelia spoke it out loud for Forus. She could easily guess that the sentences were talking about them, and they were encouraging them to stay with each other.
Unbeknownst to her, Forus also saw the texts hovering in the visionless perspective. They stationed at the same place as the real lines on the Door of Hope. However, the content was different than what Ocelia saw.
Reincarnation, the cycle of renewal, it is the work of fate. The all-controlling strings, the all-seeing eyes, they are the hands of fate. Balance in all things, it meant absolute subjection.
As soon as Forus finished the sentences, the glowing runes twisted and changed again, showing new texts.
Man proposes, but fate disposes. Fate proposes, so we disposes!
Although Forus did not utter the words, he could still feel the formidable aura as well as the aspiration of the writer of the text. He could not imagine the height of the power that it took for this person to look down on fate and challenged it.
A subtle noise woke Forus from his deep thought. Before he knew it, the Door of Hope had already open and waited for him and Ocelia to enter. Ocelia also stopped beside him while holding his hand, waiting for him to start first and to lead her.
Gasping at her hand tightly, Forus became determined after reading the secret passage. Although he could not understand the truth, he could feel that this mad-sounding rumbling would have an enormous effect on both him and Ocelia. Coupled with the passing words of that figure, Forus began to step into the deep, dark background of the Sorcerer World.
The two only nodded at each other before stepping into the Door of Hope. Even without any communication, they knew that they would be exiting the Fleeting Emotions Ruin and that the danger was not over yet.
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Although the danger of the realms within the Fleeting Emotions Ruin had gone, a new threat also approached them. With their involvement in the evil entity's emergence, they had witnessed the scene of the massive wave of Elements and lights tearing through the barrier of the Fleeting Emotions Ruin, exposing the coming of the terrible being to the world.
Such commotion was sure to attract the attention of the higher-level sorcerers. If they were unlucky, the mythical third-ranked sorcerers might get involved, and if they decided to capture everyone who entered the Ruin, then there would be no escape.
The vision of Ocelia faded into white as she stepped into the Door of Hope, letting the light engulfed both her and Forus. Her body felt light as a feather, floating in the sky as she travelled across dimensions and worlds.
In the moment of tranquil, her memory began to replay itself inside her mind. She saw herself stumbling in the barrier of light, slowly dying while Forus was struggling to save her. She also saw the moment when Forus kneeled in front of her, giving his Ring of Recollect to her.
Although the moment was dangerous and life-threatening, Ocelia also felt like it was a dream that was full of happiness and comfort. She did not mind getting ever so close to death if she could experience such a wonderful occasion again.
Thinking about their moments together, Ocelia gazed towards her side, watching over Forus' unwavering figure that floated steadily along with her. The hollow eye sockets did not make her uncomfortable. Instead, they captured her attention, luring her sight into the black pit that stored much memory within it.
To find his daughter, he lost one of his eyes, and to save her, he also lost another. Although with time and power, Forus could heal them back again, not everyone would willingly trade their significant parts for the wellbeing of the others.
Before Ocelia could say anything, the whiteness faded into darkness as the vision began to manifest. The couple had already exited the Fleeting Emotions Ruin and entered into the Sorcerer World.
Because of the unusual mechanism of the Ruin, when one exited it, they would get transported into some random locations surrounding the mountain where the Fleeting Emotions Ruin resided within. It was for the weaker sorcerers to gain a chance at keeping their treasures and prizes.
If the powerhouses decided to camp the entrance and the exit of the Fleeting Emotions Ruin, the vagabond sorcerers would never get any chance to get in and out freely. It would decrease the amount of the participants, lowering the possibility of finding a suitable successor among the giant pool of talents.
"The scroll did not lie after all." A cold voice echoed the forest as the area surrounding the couple glowed in multi-coloured light, revealing the hidden formations and arrays.
With several enhancements in place, the enemies indeed came prepared, not allowing the couple to detect the origin of the sound at all.
Forus and Ocelia had already stood back to back, forming the same formation that they had once used to suppress Mabilis and Abicel. However, due to their continuous empowerments, their might now was a lot higher than before.
Forus gestured his hand, creating a series of floating black weapons. He used them to circle him and Ocelia, protecting the two from the sudden ambush. Ocelia also used her Ice Element to create an icy blade as well as a glacial shield. The two became prepared for the upcoming battle in an instant.
The formation slowly rotated as it opened portals above it, spewing out many spells of different Elements at once, firing them towards the couple in the centre. The freezing spikes, the burning fireballs, the spikey stones, the thorny vines, they came in various forms and random patterns, not letting the two have any rest.
After a while, the ground below the couple glowed in red light, forming a design that spread from the centre towards the rear. Wherever the lines went, the soil would heat up and cool down alternatively, making the temperature turned chaotic. If Forus and Ocelia did not do anything, the onslaught of the formation would drain all of their sorcery energy.
Without any hesitation, Ocelia willed and ordered the Leaning Tower of Frost to manifest, hovering above a part of the surrounding arrays. Its power also increased since the first usage as Ocelia had gotten the inheritance from the Witch of the Scarlet Snow. She had already completed the fifth floor, making its power surged again.
As Ocelia commanded, the Leaning Tower of Frost began to descend, moving towards the ground at an incredible speed, causing ripples of winds to spread outwards, swaying the surrounding trees.
"As expected, the Fleeting Emotions Ruin has countless treasures." Another voice echoed from the surrounding. Although this voice had a hint of feminine in it, the icy-cold ruthlessness did not shy away from it at all.
Accompanied by the voice, a portal opened below the Leaning Tower of Frost and spewed out three magical arrows before dissolving into nothingness. The arrows came in different colours, exuding various Elements.
The green arrow moved slower than the rest, but it continuously created walls of thorns behind its path, forming a net that would wrap around the Leaning Tower of Frost. The red one moved the fastest, creating explosive noises and gushing out waves of heat in its trail, melting the freezing air around the Tower. The last one was pitch-black, having the ability to swallow everything that came into contact with it.
In only a single moment, the Leaning Tower of Frost crashed with the arrows. The layers of thorns ripped apart while the momentum of the Tower slowed down. The Ice Element of the Tower got nullified by the blazing arrow that caused cracks to manifest on the Tower. When the Tower decided to send out Ice Spirits, the darkness would dissolve them into pure Ice Element and devoured all of them.
With their preparation, the mastermind had already taken many situations into their account, and because of the lack of knowledge, Forus and Ocelia instantly fell into the passive side of the battle. If the two could not do anything to change the tide of the exchange, they would slowly exhaust themselves to death.
Unlike in the Fleeting Emotions Ruin, there was no mysterious power at play. Dying in this wildness would mean certain death.
Ocelia's eyes flashed as she observed the three arrows destroying her Leaning Tower of Frost. Although she fell a sorcery rebound after they cracked her Tower, she also gained some information about the mastermind. Now, she had a little guess about the situation.
Engulfing his fist in the flame of Death Aura, Forus punched downwards, crashing onto the formation beneath his feet. The loud cracking noises echoed as the barrier surrounding the array disintegrated into dust, causing the ground to crumble onto itself.
As soon as the barrier broke, the array burned as it imploded onto itself, releasing the pending energy onto the world, swallowing the couple in its wave.