Chapter 160: Living Properties

{Notice: The conditions have been met, this one will now begin its evolution.}

{Notice: This one has now obtained all the materials required for evolution.}

{Essence of 300 intermediate beast - obtained}

{Energy from 200 intermediate cores - obtained}

{Energy from 3 Advance cores (Magic crystals) - obtained}

{Energy from 1 Lord class core. (Magic crystal) - obtained}

{2000 ouch of any magic metals - obtained}

{Notice: Monarch authority required for evolution.}

{Notice: Monarch Authority has been received.}

{Spatial Infinity evolution will now begin.}

•••

"What— is this?"

Tyler's mind went numb, he had only stored a small amount of Runite when suddenly a genderless voice that sounded like nothing but an ethereal ripple, rang out within his mind. His expression went sour and the mood atmosphere around him stiffened, prompting Nadine and Zelda to notice something was wrong as they both hurriedly ran back to catch Tyler who had lost his balance and was about to fall.

A surge of pain that originated from the finger he wore the storage ring on suddenly assaulted his mind in a wave that almost knocked him unconscious. He was sure he had some pain resistance by now but either he was wrong, or something had disabled it just so he would feel this absurd surge of pain.

His left index finger that was already dealing with the negative corruption felt like it was about to fall off and it took all the self-control Tyler had to prevent himself from screaming in pain. The dwarves and Nadine all gathered around him wondering what was happening but Tyler was unable to speak as he kept clawing at the ring in his left index finger, wanting to pull it off even if it meant taking off his finger with it.

The more time passed, the more the pain kept getting worse, energy continuously left his body as the ring kept drawing out his mana and devouring it to no end.

Ragdek and the others were confused, they could see the pain in Tyler's face as he no longer wore his hood but they had no idea what was actually happening. A curse, backlash from the summoned monster, or something else. He truly had no idea. Left with no other options, he thought it best to use one of the healing scrolls they had on hand for now.

However, as he thought of this, a sudden force gusted out of Ty and enveloped the entire cavern. It was a feeling that was hard to describe and every single one of them could feel it. Ragdek was even sure that the force had already envelope the entire mine, maybe even the entire Farbel's Pass.

The space inside the cavern felt distorted and heavy, it made everyone including Nadine feel like taking even a single step would have dangerous and disastrous repercussions. This went on for a while as the force kept getting stronger and stronger by each passing second that it started to feel like even standing there had become a chore.

The cavern soon began to vibrate and they could all feel the tremors in the air as though the cave would come down on them. However, they could not do anything to save themselves as they all fell to their knees, breathing heavily as they found it harder and harder to remain conscious.

Well, all except Zelda, who was undead, and thus, immune to most status effects. Tyler struggle against the pain with red bloodshot eyes as he witnessed the effects his predicament was having on the people around him. 

Knowing how dangerous it was for them to remain here, he had no choice but to do something, so he struggled to speak to the one person that remained standing next to him.

"Zelda, m-move everyone here."

Zelda responded immediately as she moved the unmoving bodies of the dwarves and Nadine closer to Tyler and understanding his intentions, she had them touching him and quickly entered his shadow.

Tyler wasn't sure if this would work. His only option right now was to teleport everyone out of here with the skill spatial teleportation but he was sure he couldn't use any skills in his current state. However, there was a teleportation scroll inside his storage space but at this moment, he didn't know if he would have access to it as the storage ring was apparently the cause of all this.

Still, he had to try and because it didn't take any mana to store or retrieve items from there, he had high hopes for this as he made his attempt.

Success.

After experiencing pain similar to this a few times already. Even if this time it felt like his very soul was being ripped apart. He was still able to remain conscious as he pulled out the scroll from the void with great difficulty and activate it.

A large and complicated magic circle appeared on the ground underneath them and in an instant, the underground cavern returned to its previous calm with only a single phantom lurking in the dark.

••••••••••

••••••••••

—Some hours earlier.

—Deep in the Northern parts of the darknar forest.

Two similar shadowy figures moved swiftly through the night as they navigated the complicated terrain with ease while remaining soundless and almost weightless.

The two figures soon came to a stop atop a large tree that was at the top of a hill overlooking the forest. There was an abnormally large clearing in the middle of the forest which was clearly not natural, and right now, that place was filled completely with an army of the undead, ranging from skeletons to zombies, black knights to wrights.

There were more than 10,000 of them standing in a neet formation inside the clearing. A few undead liches stood at the front of the army as they commanded the mindless troops into formation.

To the left of the undead army was a small platoon made up of well-equipped demihumans that had the body of men and women and the tail and scales of serpents. They were most likely Nagas and Lamias and they numbered only about a hundred.

However, even from a distance, these two shadow figures could tell that their strength was no joke. They could probably take on half of this army of undead and come out victorious if everything went their way.

The two female shadowy figures that were clad in a rogue's outfit, with one-handed red and white crossbows strapped to their backs respectively— lightly jumped off the tree as they looked to have been sucked into their own shadows and disappeared from the top of the hill.

Underneath the hill was the unnaturally wide entrance to an underground labyrinth that was also connected to a mine. The cave entrance was guarded by two hulking creatures with grey skin, clad in bone-type full body armor as the aura they exuded naturally drove the living away from them.

However, such a thing was no problem for the undead as Flare and Kali easily moved past the unsuspecting guards that stood at the entrance and made their way into the deepest parts of the cave.

The place was massive and there were several layers of magical traps laid all over. However, they were able to easily avoid or disable them as they proceeded down the dark tunnels, and after a while, they located their target.

At the end of a makeshift hallway, was a large double door, and using their skills, they were able to confirm that two of their targets were behind the door. While it was indeed risky to proceed any further as the one beyond that door completely surpassed them in any way possible and may be able to sense them.

The shadow rogue had received their master's orders to investigate and without hesitation, they activated all their stealth-based skills while constantly surprising their aura as they mined through the shadows into the room without even opening the doors.

Unlike the hallway leading here, this place was illuminated by touches that burnt with blue flames. The room was oval in shape and was almost masterfully crafted with various runes or glyphs on the walls.

There was a large stone throne at the end of the room that didn't share the same craftsmanship as the rest of the room but stood elevated behind a few flights of stairs. Standing by the side of the stone throne were two Doom Knights clad in blood-red armor and wielding a massive red shield and a long sword. 

An undead creature sat atop the stone throne, it wore a slightly tattered luxurious robe with purple threads that designed its edges, holding a wooden staff with small red crystals embedded in it and a large one attached to its end. It wore a bone crown with the same red crystals adorning the tips of the spiked parts of the bone crown.

It had rotten skin attached to the white bones beneath its robe. Its face was a mixture of rotten flesh and a skull, however, beneath its rotting exterior lies a pair of evil eyes brimming with intelligence. The lights in its eyes flickered like dancing flames before glancing at the direction the two had entered from for a moment before retiring to the other side of the room.

On this side, a large and well-designed wooden throne was placed there completely out of place from the feel of the room. By either side of the chair stood two imposing barrel-chested humanoids creatures with heads resembling those of bulls and long curved horns adorned by adamantine rings.

They were Minotaurs and wielded twin one-handed battle ax that was strapped on their backs as they glared coldly at the Doom knights by either side of the stone throne. Seated on the wooden throne was an enchanting young lady that would normally seem out of place here if it wasn't for the lower parts of her body being like that of a large green serpent.

She wore no clothing or armors like the lamias outside with the only thing on her being the gorgeous black tiara that adorned her long and lustrous green hair as she sat atop her throne bare-chested with a faint smile on her face. Her eyes were like that of a serpent, having only a vertical slit that gave her a slight predatory feel to her demeanor.

"I am glad you accepted my invite today Queen Daenerys, I wasn't sure if you would be interested in this since you are yet to make any moves on the east."

The ghastly voice of Zerahut rang out in the quiet room and a mellow voice spoke up to answer it.

"I found your plan intriguing and thought I'd tag along and watch something interesting for a change."

Her snake-like tongue licked her lips as she played lazily with her long nails after speaking. Seemingly uninterested in any further discussions.

"Very well then, shall we begin the attack."

"That's child, you do as you wish."

Zerahut did not respond to the young lady's seemingly rude words. After all, while she may look like a teen, she was the second oldest among the four kings. Only younger than the 980-year-old Ancient Rykir by a single year.

••••••••••

••••••••••

Tyler suddenly woke up with a throbbing headache as he tried to regain his bearings in slight confusion. He slowly turned his head around to observe his current surroundings as he struggled to remember what had happened to them. They were all currently laying on the snow in the middle of what appeared to be nowhere.

Remembering what had happened to him, he felt a sense of relief as their presence here meant the teleportation scroll had succeeded and he hadn't brought the entire cave down on them. Although both he, Nadine, and Zelda would easily survive that, he was more worried about the dwarves as he didn't think they had any physical resistance.

He slowly got up from the snow as he wanted to get a better sense of his current location so he could think of a way back when—

{Notice: The magic artifact, Spatial infinity has successfully evolved. However, due to March Authorities, Imbued. The skills of the artifact have now been infused into your soul.}

"Wait what?"

{Notice: Skills obtained.}

{Skill: Spatial Manipulation.

Sub skills: Spatial Movement, Spatial Barrier, Frozen Space, and Infinite Storage Space.}

{Notice: All items stored in the storage space of the artifact, 'Spatial Infinity,' have been transferred to the monarch storage skill.}

{Notice: The living properties of the artifact 'Spatial infinity cannot be Imbued to the user. Thus skill is being combined with others to create the unique skill: Wisdom of Uriel.}

{Skill is unable to be used at the moment and monarch is required to learn skills, clairvoyance, Divine appraisal, and World Divination.} (Authors Note: The names of these skills may change if I think of something better. Do make some suggestions in the comments.)

Before he even had a chance to do anything, Tyler heard the emotionless and genderless voice again in his head as he rapidly felt the ring on his index finger grow hot.

{Notice: Extraction of the Living property was successful and thus the shell of the item, Spatial infinity will now be destroyed as the material is currently unstable.}

"Again, what!"

Reacting quickly Tyler yanked the ring off his finger and tossed it. Although he hadn't put much strength into the throw, the ring had still traveled far and it exploded in a massive blast before it had even touched the snow.

"What the hell, are you trying to kill me!"

There was no response. 

The headache he felt was now gone and so was the pain. It would seem the ring that had been his most precious item up till now was the cause. Before Tyler could even process what was said and what it meant he suddenly heard a familiar voice in his head that interrupted his thoughts.

The fact that there had been no warning or bell-like ringing meant this wasn't a communication request but it was a mind link with someone connected to him and there were only three beings that could do that.

'Forgive the interruption Master, there is a problem.'

'Huh, or Kali what's wrong.'

'I'm afraid it took us longer to locate the Eldar Lich's hideout than expected. The Lich had currently joined forces with the Queen Lamia of the North and is now moving towards the castle with an army of more than 20,000 undead and 100 Strong Nagas.'

"Wait, Seriously."

'Yes, Lord.'

'Very well, continue your investigations on the strength of their entire force.'

'As you wish.'

The thought link was discontinued and just as Tyler was about to think of what he would do next as Nadine and the dwarves were still unconscious on the snow. A suddenly soft ringing entered his mind.

'Lord Ty, I'm glad I was able to connect with you.'

It was Albert. He must've noticed the large movements of the army already and that was impressive. He would need to issue an order to him to prepare the castle for a swipe even though they had the barrier to protect them from most of the attacks.

"Yes, I'm aware of the army—

'I regret to inform you that I have failed you, my lord.'

'Huh?'

'The barrier has been breached, and we're currently being attacked from the rear.'

"Wait what!"

__________________________________________________________________

—End of Volume 3 - Mysterious Merchant.