Floor 16, Labyrinth of Fallen Rings Entrance
"You ready?" Blake confirmed their objective.
"Of course! This is why we came anyway." Horu smiled back.
"Then...Let's go!" With Blake taking the lead, he and Horu both entered the Labyrinth of Fallen Rings excitedly.
Upon entering the labyrinth, the first thing Blake noticed was that his surroundings had changed. The original appearance of musty old stone walls dimly lit by torches was replaced with a vast and barren sandy desert where the only thing Blake could see was an illusory castle far off into the distance.
Scanning his surroundings with [Spirit Eyes], he realized that Horu wasn't with him when he was about to ask for a status check. Releasing his Spiritual Sense to the max, Blake tried to detect Horu's aura for a good 10 minutes before giving up. The desert he appeared in was scorching hot to the point that Blake needed to cast a basic tier Ice spell - [Icy Wind] on himself.
[Icy Wind] was a crowd control temperature spell that utilizes the cold to slow down enemy movements and gnaw away at the enemies' energy reserves. Basically, this basic tier Ice spell was an enemy to enemies who specialized in long battles.
Seeing that there wasn't even a shred of life in his area, Blake retrieved his Spiritual Sense before he began making his way to the illusory castle far off into the distance. During the trek there, Blake constantly released his Spiritual Sense in hopes of searching for traces of life in this vast and barren place.
He wouldn't really worry about Horu since Blake knew his prowess well. He was once the Lord of the Abyssal realm before perceiving the Dao of the Void to a higher degree and becoming a Void King. If anything, it should be the monsters and demons of this dungeon that should be fearing Horu.
2 hours later...
Blake was feeling very annoyed. He has been trekking through the desert for a good 2 hours, trying to reach the illusory castle in the distance since that was the only thing he could see for hundreds of kilometers.
But when Blake thought that he was getting close, the illusory castle that was tiny in the distance was found out to be a castle thousands of meters tall and wide. It seemed illusory from afar thanks to the thick mist found here. But then, Blake suddenly halted his steps before revealing a thoughtful look.
"Whoever created this labyrinth had some extravagant magic...the closer I get to the castle, the smaller my vision becomes...It feels like I've been walking for 2 hours but that's not entirely the case. I was shrinking. The creator of this labyrinth has integrated illusion magic and size changing magic into...every grain of sand here...Wow, that means that if I walked the whole way to the castle, not only did it meant I would have taken longer time to reach there, but also be the size of an ant when I properly reach the castle gates, I understand now..." Blake concluded as he smiled wryly.
So, without wanting to waste anymore time, Blake casted a basic gravity magic- [Weightless] and basic body enhancement magic on himself before he proceeded to jump the whole way through. You really thought he was going to fly, right? Yeah no, flight type magic spells were all advance level spells and one needed to be at least Magic King realm to even try and cast one.
On top of that, Blake has yet to figure out how magicians that fly everywhere they go do not run out of mana? The flight type spells he knows all required the caster to constantly burn their mana as fuel. Yeah, flying isn't exactly free. You get the freedom of flight in exchange for the constant depletion of your mana reserves.
***
On the other side of the castle, Horu had already arrived at the castle's northern gates.
As soon as he arrived in the desert and found that Blake was missing, he didn't bother looking around as he immediately flew towards the castle. If he knew Blake well, Blake would probably head to the castle as well instead of searching for him in this vast, barren desert. As for the desert trap, Horu ignored all of it as he flew forward.
Upon arriving at the castle, Horu couldn't help but marvel at the sight before him. Although there was mist surrounding the entire castle, Horu could easily make out that the castle walls before him were 100 meters tall with giant cannons lining on top the walls.
The gate was equally large, towering at 90 meters tall and 50 meters wide...Horu couldn't help but suck in a cold breath as he wondered about the beings living within these castle walls. 'Are giants living here? No, they're too small. Maybe it's mountain titans? No, those guys are only found in the inner realm circle...What could it be?'
"BOOM!" As Horu was in the midst of recalling giant creatures, a sudden explosion resounded.
The explosion originated from the southern gate. Wanting to see what had happened, Horu brought out his Black Cosmic Longsword before sending out multiple sword waves at the door. He was beginning to feel restless as he suspected the explosion had something to do with Blake.
When the door exploded into pieces, Horu immediately pushed his strength, circulating his Secret Art, as he flew towards the sound of the explosion.