Chapter 343: Scythe!

Chapter 343: The Scythe!

A washroom?

Husen's lips twitched as he turned to look at Karen: "Why did you design this?"

In fact, designing this didn't require much effort, including the external design of the castle; it merely consumed some mental energy for calculation, and the cost was quite negligible.

At least, it was much simpler than Mars's initial suggestion to carve the formation directly onto the outer wall, because a formation was not a simple matter of "carving." Just as it was impossible to activate an effect simply by using a pile of cement to build a formation pattern, a formation was a precise engineered system embedded within invisible spaces.

However, before Karen could explain, Mavalor spoke up:

"Generally, the Black Prison Castle is used in emergencies, especially for those about to enter the Reincarnation Gate for trials. Their primary objective is exploration rather than offense, so the castle is highly likely to be deployed while under attack or when a teammate is injured.

Having an extra washroom inside the castle can effectively shelter wounded teammates and allow for better treatment of their injuries."

Karen immediately said: "What the mentor says is correct; that is exactly what I considered."

Husen blinked, coughed, and said: "Oh, so that's how it is."

"This castle is very good," Mavalor praised. "Have you studied architecture before?"

In fact, that spell-imprinting scroll included the "architectural blueprints," but to think a layman could build a house just by glancing at blueprints would be a gross insult to professionals.

However, Karen possessed the Rubik's Cube Key to perform calculations, which was equivalent to directly visualizing the structure in three dimensions within his mind during construction, greatly reducing the difficulty of his operations through massive computations.

"Replying to the mentor, I have previously designed and built a residence myself."

"Oh, a manor? I would really love to visit and appreciate it."

"It's a funeral parlor."

"Well, then it must certainly be full of artistic atmosphere."

Mavalor pointed at the small black sphere and said: "Let's begin. For the first connection, I need to help you communicate and confirm."

"Yes, mentor."

Karen reached out and gripped that small black sphere.

"Do not resist the mental power it projects toward you; actively welcome it."

"Understood, mentor."

Upon mental contact, Karen's consciousness began to be drawn in. Soon, he found himself standing on an ancient, elevated platform, and standing beside him was Mavalor.

Only at this time, Mavalor's body was covered in a layer of blurry dark shadow.

Karen noticed that Mavalor was looking up, so he also raised his head to look up, beholding an extremely massive scythe. Its existence seemed to have completely filled the upper part of this entire space.

It was difficult to imagine just what kind of existence could possibly wield it.

Mavalor spoke: "This is the Scythe of War."

The Scythe of War?

Karen remembered there were records concerning the Scythe of War in Mr. Hoffen's notes. It was said that its long shaft was refined from countless skeletal remains, while its blade was condensed from countless departed souls.

Whenever Naces, the God of War, appeared holding it, it often signified the beginning of war and the descent of death's harvest.

The God of War was a primary deity within the faction of the Eternal God during the early eras.

After the Eternal God fell, the faction of the God of Light launched an offensive against the Eternal God's faction. This was the first large-scale divine war that erupted at the beginning of the last epoch, and during that campaign, the God of War perished.

Therefore, the divine artifact of the God of War fell into the hands of the God of Order, and Macchettini, one of the Twelve Knights, relied on it to establish the Black Prison Castle spell system, changing the combat methods of the knights under Order to a certain extent.

The dark shadow on Mavalor's body began to surface, looking as if another person had appeared, yet it remained unclear.

However, accompanied by Mavalor's chanting and calling, a beam of white light fell in front of Karen.

"Touch this light with the hand that bears the mark."

"Yes, mentor."

Karen thrust his hand inside, and a strand of golden runes flashed on the back of his hand, beginning to resonate with this white light. In the subconscious realm, Karen sensed that some sort of relationship had been forged.

This relationship did not feel like a contract; it was much, much fainter than a contract, resembling more of an recognition.

This Scythe of War was like a banner; it had now recognized you, allowing you to stand beneath this banner.

From this moment on, you would be able to wage war in the name of this banner, meaning it would respond to your call whenever you invoked it using the Black Prison Castle.

This meant it was an undamaged, top-tier divine artifact capable of performing a function similar to a deity... receiving and responding to prayers.

"Alright, it is over." Mavalor's figure began to recede.

Karen also sensed his consciousness being pulled backward. Before being dragged out of here, Karen raised his head to look upward once more. Wasn't it said that this divine artifact was preserved in the Temple of Order? Was this a purely conscious space or a certain region within the Temple of Order?

Before Karen could see anything clearly, his consciousness completely returned to his body. Opening his eyes, he was back inside the control room.

"If you have nightmares tonight about being killed by it, do not feel panicked; this is a normal psychological projection. Anyone who has faced it directly will have a similar experience, and you will recover after a while," Mavalor reminded.

"Yes, I understand. Thank you for your reminder."

Karen felt that he probably wouldn't be that fragile.

"Alright, now you try to control this castle."

He was truly teaching, step by step, like an after-sales service.

Karen lowered his head and saw that the original small black sphere had now grown larger. At first it was only the size of a tennis ball, but now it was roughly the size of a basketball.

As Karen extended his consciousness into it, a black vine emerged from within the black sphere, winding around Karen's hand.

In an instant, everything about the castle was completely perceived by Karen. This feeling was like his body had grown an extra leg or an extra arm.

"Go help move things," Mavalor said to Karen's team as well as the members of Muri's team.

The people of Muri's team had no complaints, following Bart and the others downstairs to carry the warfare apparatus. It seemed that underperforming students doing extra labor was normal anywhere.

The apparatuses were brought in one by one. Bart and Ventura, at their positions, set up the repeating crossbows;

Aisli, on the elevated platform on one side of the control room, placed down that cage of confinement;

Mars, in his own workshop below, spread out the formation curtain and bound it to the flagpole;

Blanche, opposite Aisli, arranged her priest's star-chain.

The final magic crystal cannon was dragged up and positioned by Muri himself leading his men.

Once the apparatuses and personnel were all in place, Mavalor, Husen, and the members of Muri's team all left the castle and came outside.

Karen immersed his consciousness into the black sphere once again. Black threads immediately appeared at the wall locations, first binding the priest's star-chain and confinement cage right inside the control room, then immediately binding the two repeating crossbows set up by Ventura and Bart, and finally, reaching up and down, binding the lowest formation curtain and the highest magic crystal cannon.

This feeling was just like his own blood vessels had extended outward, establishing some sort of connection with these warfare apparatuses.

Karen opened his mouth and asked: "Aisli, do you have any most useless demon beasts left there?"

Aisli immediately rolled up her sleeves and said: "Yes, many."

"Select one that can fly and release it."

"Alright, Captain."

Aisli stood before the cage of confinement and performed a summoning chant:

"My dearest friend..."

Soon, a cloud of green smoke entered the cage first, then flew out from the cage, and finally drifted outside the castle, revealing the blurry image of a large green bird that looked like a large peacock.

Cullen immediately commanded, "Bart, Ventura, shoot the tail!"

"Yes, Captain!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Bart and Ventura instantly began turning their repeating crossbows to aim.

"Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! ..."

A string of arrows shot out; Bart fired with great precision, hitting the great bird's tail perfectly and knocking away a large shower of feathers, scaring the massive creature into frantically flapping its wings to fly upward.

Ventura's side missed completely, every shot hitting nothing but air.

Cullen made a mental note that Ventura's manipulation of the equipment still required a lot of practice.

"Blanche, bless everyone!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Relying on her priest star-link to trigger her spells, Blanche soon sent cluster after cluster of white light drifting out, landing upon Cullen and Aisley, while the remaining white lights continued to overflow, falling successively onto the others.

"Mars, the binding formation!"

"Yes, Captain!"

Quickly setting up the formation, Mars raised the flagpole, the canopy lifting as the formation's effect was released, causing a giant net to appear in mid-air and trap the great bird.

At the very top of the castle, the muzzle of the magic crystal cannon began to adjust under Cullen's control, aiming directly at the trapped bird.

Sensing the approaching danger, the great bird fully extended its body and began to struggle desperately.

"Boom!"

In the end, Cullen raised the angle of his shot, and the terrifying beam of light smashed directly into the distant sea, triggering a massive explosion that sent rain and seafood raining down continuously.

Cullen felt that Muri's squad wouldn't need to arrange any late-night snacks at all; they could hold out until the day after tomorrow just on this seafood.

Surviving the ordeal, the terrified bird was on the verge of collapse, completely trapped there, no longer even putting up a symbolic struggle.

"Aisley, recall it."

"Alright, Captain."

The great bird transformed back into mist, returning to Aisley's arm and turning once more into something resembling a tattoo.

Outside, Hudson called out, "Alright, you can come down now."

After shouting, Hudson turned to Muri's squad and the others standing beside him, saying, "Go up and help carry the gear down."

Cullen lowered his head, and the black vines originally wrapped around his wrist unraveled, retracting into the black sphere.

The various pieces of equipment that had been carried up earlier were now carried back down; Cullen deactivated the spell, and the castle quickly weathered and dissipated.

Mavalio spoke to all members of Cullen's squad, "Before you officially enter the Gate of Samsara, the Divine Church will give you specific scrolls. When the time comes, you only need to take this scroll and use it at the desired location to teleport the corresponding equipment there, without needing to carry it up like you did just now."

This was all exactly as Cullen had anticipated; when the time came, the Divine Church would set up a teleportation formation within the Samsara Valley camp so that these war apparatuses could be sent inside, but recovering them afterward would be impossible, and it would be even less possible for his own squad to drag this equipment along when leaving.

It was a form of waste, yet it was a calculated, cost-accounted waste.

"Cullen, you can take your squad back to the hotel to rest first," Hudson said.

"I have a request. Can we practice using equipment like the repeating crossbows in the base?"

Mavalio spoke up, "Of course you can, however, except for the magic crystal cannon."

"Of course, thank you."

The staff began to repack the equipment. After Cullen and Muri nodded to each other, Cullen took his team members onto the cruise ship returning to the hotel, while Muri and his crew needed to practice through the night.

Upon returning to the base, Ventura went to the front desk first to request room service, ordering extra rations of cigarettes and alcohol for the day.

"Oh, right, the people in the other three rooms won't be back tonight. Send their shares of cigarettes and alcohol to my room."

The front desk staff looked at Ventura, who maintained a steady smile.

"Very well, it will be delivered shortly."

"Great, thank you." Ventura left the front desk and ran forward to take the elevator upstairs with his teammates.

Arriving at their floor, Cullen clapped his hands to his squad members and said, "Get some rest early after eating. Tomorrow morning when you wake up, you can go to the base warehouse to sign out equipment for practice."

"Yes, Captain!"

Returning to his room, Cullen went in to take a shower first. By the time he came out, dinner had been delivered along with a large amount of cigarettes and alcohol, which Ventura was busily stuffing into a suitcase with his head down.

Cullen took some food and sat on the sofa to eat.

After Ventura finished packing, he also ran over to eat together.

"Captain, do you think they can finish practicing tonight?"

"More or less."

"Will there be class tomorrow then?"

"There should be. The last class isn't training, but an introduction to the conditions inside the Gate of Samsara and informing us of our target mission for this trial. Even if they don't rest for the whole night, it won't affect their ability to attend this class."

"Oh, I see. I was planning to go to the black market after dawn to sell these for point vouchers."

"There's no rush for that, there will definitely be time. Alright, keep eating, I'm going to rest."

"Alright, Captain, good night."

"Good night."

Lying in bed, Cullen read a book for a little while to detach himself from the state of studying. After a short while, he tossed the book aside and closed his eyes.

...

"Drip... drip... drip..."

The sound of water droplets came through; Cullen opened his eyes and saw a terrifying scythe appear before him.

I'm having the same dream too, I was still affected by the Scythe of War after all.

Cullen thought of what Mavalio had said earlier, that anyone who had faced the Scythe of War directly would suffer nightmares for a period of time, dreaming of being killed by it.

"Screech..."

A harsh grinding sound echoed; Cullen was already prepared to be killed by this scythe in his dream, yet he was surprised to find that the scythe was not slicing toward him, but rather felt like a scythe originally standing by his side had lost its restraint and was toppling forward.

And down in the abyss below, a magnificent, majestic figure seemed to appear.

"Puff!"

The scythe plunged into the darkness, as if it had severed something.

Immediately following that,

A low, furious growl echoed from the depths of the darkness:

"Order..."