People from the lower city need to go through procedures and pay an entry fee to enter the upper city, but those from the upper city can leave without any requirements.
So, after a brief identity check, Char left the upper city.
Of course, his identity was fake.
The security situation in the lower city was poor, and there was much less surveillance on supernatural phenomena compared to the upper city. Additionally, due to the overall poverty in the district, there were no carriages available for transportation. As a result, Char found a secluded corner and swiftly used his "Veil of Concealment" to stealthily move in the shadows.
As he passed by Irene's shack, he glanced at it but noticed she wasn't home.
Perhaps she was with her grandfather, Peter.
Char didn't dwell on it and hurriedly left the area.
When he arrived at the hidden base, he didn't rush inside. Instead, he walked around the surrounding streets, trying to gather information about the Night Shadow Society's assassins.
As expected, in the overall oppressive and gloomy lower city, just surviving was already difficult enough. The death of an unidentified person wouldn't attract much attention at all.
After confirming that the incident had disappeared from the public eye, Char breathed a sigh of relief and returned to his small shack.
Even so, being naturally cautious, he decided to change his base of operations in the near future.
Once he reached the basement, Char pondered for a moment and then found a mixture of secret silver and monster blood. He redrew the magic array on the ground, reducing the materials used for certain nodes.
After a brief ritual, accompanied by the virtual realm stone powder floating above the sinister smiling pattern, the familiar silver flames once again rose, revealing a mirror-like portal in front of Char.
"I hope Miss Witch won't be angry... I hope."
Recalling the memory of that cold figure, Char spoke uncertainly.
Then, he took a step forward, and his entire being disappeared into the mirror.
.....
Damn old hag!
When Char snapped out of it, an unprecedented sense of falling engulfed his entire body, and his heart raced.
After passing through the teleportation portal, he was shocked to find himself transported to a sunless abyss, surrounded by rugged pillars and cliffs, like a deep well leading straight to the underworld!
Char's small body was rapidly descending at a speed consistent with the laws of physics, with no end in sight.
Where was he?
Although filled with confusion, it seemed that no one could answer Char at the moment.
So he began to save himself.
"Pyroblast!"
With an incantation, a deep crimson magic circle manifested in each of Char's palms. The incantations inscribed on them were relatively basic, clearly indicating apprentice-level magic.
But for Char in his current situation, it was a life-saving spell!
Operating at maximum power, two columns of wind erupted from the magic circles in his palms, instantly slowing down his descent with a force generated out of thin air.
Char currently had an Intelligence attribute of 46, which wasn't weak even among the ranks of sorcerers. So when it came to using apprentice-level magic, he was quite proficient. Coupled with his vast reserve of magical energy, he could afford to extravagantly unleash such low-level spells.
After a few seconds, Char's body came to a halt in mid-air. His palms faced downward, emitting hot streams of air as he remained suspended in a stiff posture.
"Too bad I'm missing an Iron Man suit."
Glancing at his current posture, Char jokingly quipped.
Although his body was currently weakened due to the aftermath of "Explosive Battle Qi" it only affected the strength related to the Knight system, not his progress as a magician. So his magical power was still relatively abundant.
This also sounded an alarm for Char.
The rewards provided by the system were so generous, not intended for him to develop a single path but rather to pursue both magic and martial arts.
It seemed that he would need to elevate his rank in the magician path in the future.
With this thought in mind, Char shifted his gaze to his surroundings.
This place, resembling an abyss, was dark and devoid of sunlight. However, the faint cold black mist swirling around indicated that it should still be on the Northern Continent, not too far from where Miss Witch resided.
On this point, Octavia didn't deceive him.
But how did I manage to run into such a small probability?
Char chuckled bitterly, looking up but unable to see even a glimmer of light.
In this well-like place, there were only two paths to choose from—up or down.
After roughly estimating the distance above, it seemed that even if he were to exhaust all his magical power, he wouldn't be able to fly out of here. In the end, he would still meet the fate of falling.
And according to Octavia's description, even if there was a deviation in the teleportation, he shouldn't be far from the destination.
Taking a gamble!
With this thought in mind, Char released the Pyroblast spell, allowing his body to fall once again into the abyss.
In this sunless place, especially with the lingering presence of the black mist, it felt like each second dragged on, tormenting his mind.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
Perhaps several minutes, or maybe just a few seconds, but finally, within Char's field of vision, the faint outline of a magnificent palace emerged from the depths of the abyss below.
At the same time, that cold and insane feeling of being cursed began to permeate his entire body.
"!!"
After taking a clear look at the scene before him, Char's pupils contracted, and he quickly used the Pyroblast spell to suspend himself in mid-air.
According to Miss Witch's words, the palace she was in had been sealed by the gods and couldn't escape. And as Char glanced ahead, he indeed saw the anticipated scene.
It was a spherical membrane-like seal enveloping the entire palace. The surface was densely entwined with iron cables, and countless ancient and mysterious incantations circulated above. Just a single glance caused his eyes to sting and tears to well up.
Faintly swirling around the exterior of the seal was the familiar black mist, obscuring the view inside the palace.
This spherical palace resembled a floating island, suspended in the center of the well-like abyss passage, blocking the entrance below.
Looking around, one could vaguely see a large amount of black mist accumulating below, seemingly attempting to break through the barriers of the palace.
To give an analogy, it was like a gas stove from a previous life, with the palace serving as the cooking utensil placed on the stove, and the opening at the bottom of the abyss was the stove's flame outlet. And those black mists were like flames carrying the palace, fiercely burning.
It seemed that as long as the palace was moved, those black mists would surge upward with an unprecedented intensity, shooting straight to the sky!
However, none of this was the main point.
What shocked Char the most was that at this very moment, countless eerie and profound figures, like ghosts, were slowly gliding and floating around the outer perimeter of the palace seal. They were like a pack of hungry sharks catching the scent of blood, emanating faintly dizzying murmurs and howls!
These figures varied in size and shape.
Some were draped in tattered ethereal cloaks, wielding broken scythes. Some had numerous pale hands that swayed slowly. Some were surrounded by slimy and sticky tendrils. And there were even some that had no tangible form, only hazy humanoid silhouettes.
Among them, the one that made Char break into a cold sweat was a colossal vertical pupil engraved in the void. It seemed to sense the presence of a stranger, as its eyeball slowly rotated a few times and then fixed its gaze upon him.
An eldritch god.
That was the thought that flashed through Char's mind in an instant.
After being stared at by an indescribable entity, Char's body immediately reacted. A massive influx of mysterious knowledge poured into his mind, threatening to burst his soul in an instant!
As his head throbbed with excruciating pain, Char's body began to itch uncontrollably.
When he raised his arm to take a look, he discovered dense cracks appearing on his skin, and a few of them trembled slightly before forcefully opening!
Those cracks were countless eyes growing out from the surface of Char's skin!
Do not gaze directly at a god!
Char, in his brief existence, deeply experienced this truth for the second time.
However, he didn't panic. Being killed by the antagonist would make him stronger. This was the only and most powerful ability given to him by the system.
As a precaution, Char still opened the system, intending to check it out.
Little did he know that this cautious act would save his life.
[The target cannot be identified as an "antagonist." Please host, make a new selection. Cherish life, starting with yourself.]
What the heck?
Char was filled with confusion.
He looked at his body covered in the terrifying symptom of eyes, then glanced at the immensely eerie vertical pupil in the void. No matter how much he racked his brains, he couldn't figure out how this thing was related to clearing the "antagonist."
If even Miss Witch, who was so beautiful, couldn't escape the fate of the "antagonist," then why would these big eyeballs?
However, his physical condition didn't allow for much thought. Since the cheat system had already stated that being killed by the vertical pupil wouldn't result in resurrection, Char wasn't foolish enough to test the veracity of this claim.
Fortunately, there were countless eldritch gods surrounding the palace. In order to survive, he could only randomly choose one.
So, Char endured the pain of contamination and shifted his gaze to another location.
It was the closest spot to the outer seal membrane of the palace, with a pitch-black and incredibly sticky slime floating around it, seemingly capable of transforming into any shape at will.
At this moment, it was slowly condensing a powerful spike, as if about to pierce the surface of the seal.
It's you, stinky mud!
Pyroblast erupted instantly. Char's falling body twisted at an odd angle as he rushed toward the location of the black slime!
"Stop! Why are you coming at me!"
...
Agnes sat on the steps in the center of the palace, as usual, holding an old book and quietly reading.
She was deeply engrossed in her reading, taking a long time before turning to the next page.
Having resided here for a long time, there was little entertainment to pass the time besides books.
Although she possessed the ability to create scenes and objects from the void, scenes that were not present in her memories couldn't be manifested.
Clearly, being sealed in the abyss for so many years, she had relived her limited memories in concrete forms countless times.
"..."
At a certain moment, as if sensing something, the witch suddenly raised her head and directed her gaze toward a certain spot above the palace, her sight penetrating the void and glimpsing the scene beyond the seal.
Within her gaze hid a hint of complex emotions.