Chapter 1073: Chapter 553: Abyss and Ancient Dragon (Part 3)
To be on the safe side, the special level combat power deployed the strongest: Alan and Olivia, along with the seasoned Alehon and the unfathomable Dark Moon Princess.
Rod stayed for the second round, stationed at Courage Fortress.
Rod, Misha, Jelaba, and he waited together at the Guardian Fire Sacrificial Ground for news.
Those who stayed behind were evidently more nervous than those who went into battle. No one spoke, just waiting for news from the front lines.
Soon, the first news came back, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief.
This showed that it was possible to transmit information from within the Abyss to outside, as long as Spiritual Communication wasn’t isolated, things wouldn’t be too bad.
The information that reached the Guardian Fire Sacrificial Ground came in two forms: one through the Fire Crown, and one through the Spirit Crow Messenger. The messages contained no content, only serving to verify whether communication was feasible.
"Hmm... the corruption of the Spirit Crow Messenger is quite severe."
Jelaba squeezed his large hand, crushing the blackened and seemingly frenzied Spirit Crow Messenger.
"It might be unusable soon."
Rod tentatively asked, "What about single-use Spirit Crow Messengers?"
Jelaba shook his head, "The corruption is too heavy, causing the information within the messenger to become distorted. If it progresses further, it can’t be delivered."
Sure enough, in just a moment, the only information returning was from the Fire Crown.
The atmosphere became somewhat tense again.
Soon, the returning information indicated that their battle had begun.
A moment later, the first fight ended.
The humans naturally achieved a great victory.
At this point, a torrent of information surged in, all regarding the Abyss environment and Abyss Monsters.
The text volume was large, rather chaotic, and continued to arrive incessantly.
It was likely multiple people were continuously transmitting information, and it couldn’t be proofread during combat.
Rod could only quickly skim through it. He soon was surprised to find that the Abyss in the Ash Lake area was actually a huge pit, with a depth of about one thousand to two thousand yards.
The thick darkness in the Abyss could hide all light; the lamp’s firelight basically couldn’t reach more than five yards away. The pollution’s corruption was very severe, but Alan’s Abyss Protection could withstand most of the corruption effects.
It was noteworthy that Abyss Pollution and Black Fog were mixed together, so lamps and Red Tear Stones were still essential.
The monsters in the Abyss primarily consisted of fallen children of demons and Profanity Warriors. In the Abyss, they became very strong, requiring at least double the combat power compared to before to deal with them.
As the battle progressed, more information returned. One very powerful feature of the Fire Mark was the ability to directly convert spoken words into text. Hence, what was presented before Rod and the others was a vast amount of text, since reading was much harder than listening.
Everyone had to choose a part to read and report the significant portions.
Rod quickly learned that they had begun to spread out to fight, the Abyss’s bottom was much larger than imagined, and it was continuously sinking.
As the battle deepened, they gradually encountered real Abyss Monsters.
Those were very powerful demon-type monsters, and the battle gradually entered the genuine stages.
While Rod was tensely reading, Asa suddenly said in his mind, "Master, I know what’s going on?"
Rod was startled, "What? What do you know?"
"Master, do you remember the connection between me and Amon?"
"Did you not consume half of his malice? It’s equivalent to you being mutual symbiotic entities, able to sense each other."
"Indeed, Master. Previously, I sensed him in the deep part of the Royal City Sewer, but now I sense that he has descended to an even deeper place, a very peculiar place. Spatially, it belongs under the Royal City but is very far in terms of position."
Rod’s heart shook, and he instantly realized a possibility.
"You mean... Amon has entered the Abyss beneath the Royal City?"
Asa replied, "Yes, Master, and from the timeline, it should be shortly before the Abyss erupted in the Ash Lake."
Rod hesitated for a moment, somewhat disbelieving, "Are you saying the Abyss eruption is related to Amon?"
Asa cautiously replied, "That possibility exists..."
Rod’s thoughts raced, quickly realizing the high likelihood of this.
Because Alehon had stated that there seemed to be some connection between the Ash Lake Abyss and the Abyss beneath the Royal City.
Yet, how did he accomplish this?
"Does Amon have a way to influence the Abyss?"
Asa pondered for a moment before answering, "The Abyss is inherently easy to disturb; since its inception, the Abyss has been eroding the Material World. As long as its activity intensifies, its influence on the Material World can be amplified."
"And the Ash Lake area is already under Abyssal corrosion."
Rod suddenly understood, finally realizing where those children of demons originated.
Amon must have known that he was fighting in the Ash Lake area, thus sneaked into the Abyss and used some method to disturb the Abyss beneath the Ash Lake, intensifying its activity, attempting to kill him and inflict heavy damage on humans.
Unfortunately, his strategy did not succeed; instead, it provided Trolian with a rare opportunity.
"This Amon isn’t very intelligent, is he?"
Rod revealed a smile.
"If it weren’t for that troublesome malice, he wouldn’t have any impact on us."
However, Asa, who usually liked to disparage others, didn’t echo Rod’s words this time.
"Master, I believe Amon’s plan doesn’t end there; he may have further strategies, possibly waiting until you enter the Abyss to attempt to harm you."
Rod’s heart tensed, but he wasn’t too afraid, sneering coldly.
"Isn’t that just perfect?"
"If he dares come, I’ll let you feast."
Asa’s gaze appeared very complex, but soon, the anticipation of becoming the King of the Excrement occupied his heart again.
He rubbed his fat hands, smirking as he said, "Master is right. Eat him up, and I can rise another level."
Rod’s heart once again overflowed with joy and passion, eager to rush out and fight against the Abyss immediately.
But he also knew that was impossible and could only wait patiently.
Six clock hours passed swiftly.
Finally, Alan, Olivia, Alehon, and the Dark Moon Princess returned with their companions.
Thunderous cheers erupted within the fortress, with everyone carrying their war achievements, and from their exterior appearances, they hadn’t suffered severe corrosion.
Nothing could be better news than this.
The second round of combat quickly began, with Rod bringing Anna, Kashan, and Mephit, ready for his first Abyssal journey.