Read Novel Full Chapter 577 - 36: Decay and Withering
Chapter 577: Chapter 36: Decay and Withering
The Domain Prototype took shape initially, enveloping Lynch in an invisible armor that isolated decay. He walked on the increasingly perilous staircase, his steps more composed and resolute than before.
Within a radius of several meters around him, the invisible spacetime grid force field flowed silently, quietly dispelling, analyzing, and diverting the thick, decaying aura that tried to erode him.
The knowledge of the Decaying Domain operated efficiently under the dominion of the GRID CIRCUIT, and the rule structure of the staircase traps became increasingly transparent to him, solving them as easily as brushing away dust.
"Decaying Domain Skill Level +9"
"Decaying Domain Skill Level +7"
The system’s notification remained cold, recording his steadily growing comprehension. But Lynch’s state of mind was no longer calm and unwavering. The nascent Domain Prototype granted him more acute perception, not only of the rules but also of the death imprints left on this staircase.
His climbing footsteps did not pause, continuously advancing upward along the staircase.
Time passed unnoticed...
When he reached a certain step, his keen spiritual power suddenly captured a faint but incredibly familiar surge of violent energy residue—it was the embers of flame, carrying a passionate unwillingness, but ultimately frozen by the cold decay.
Lynch’s gray eyes narrowed slightly, and his pace quickened. After bypassing a few steps entwined with violently twisting roots, he saw the scene.
The Witch Master of Green House, Baggen.
The once exuberant figure, resembling a Magma Giant and laughing heartily, now appeared as an abandoned sculpture covered in thick, dark green moss and decayed ice crystals, rigidly kneeling on a step.
His towering body had long lost all signs of life, skin showing a deathly grayness and cracks, like rock weathered for a millennium.
The iconic fiery red beard was covered by dark green mycelium, losing all color. He still maintained a posture of unleashing the Secret Skill of Flame, arms bracing the ground, muscles taut, but in his wide-open eyes, there remained only hollow despair and a fixed gray-white.
The intense aura of decay emanated from him, even more concentrated than the root stairs beneath his feet. His body and residual flame power had evidently been thoroughly consumed and assimilated by this staircase, serving as sustenance for the decay. Only his frozen stance silently narrated his final struggle and futility.
Lynch frowned slightly.
No life signs, no spiritual power response, no soul response.
Indeed,
this Witch Master of Green House was already dead.
"Baggen..."
Lynch paused for a moment beside Baggen’s "remains," with the domain’s force field isolating the nauseating stench of decay. He looked somewhat grave, as Baggen’s strength ranked among the top in the eight, yet he had fallen silently here. The peril of this staircase far exceeded expectations.
"This truly is..."
Among the Witch Masters, he had a fairly good relationship with Baggen, especially since Baggen had some connection with the Wizard Calvin known to him. Seeing him perish here, it was impossible to feel nothing.
However, there was no better solution. This path was inherently like this; from the moment of climbing, one should know the hardships and dangers and be mentally prepared for such outcomes.
Just like the Wizard’s Road.
Shaking his head, Lynch dismissed the chaotic thoughts in his mind. Baggen’s steps ended here, but he still had to continue forward.
He silently passed over Baggen’s remains, continuing his upward journey.
"Decaying Domain Skill Level +5"
"Decaying Domain Skill Level +6"
Lynch’s footsteps never halted. In the silent staircase, only the system’s constant notification resounded in Lynch’s ears, as if reminding him that time was still progressing forward.
After an unknown duration, Lynch encountered another ’familiar face.’
This time, it was Sophia of the Dark Emblem.
However, the scene Lynch witnessed at this moment was bizarre and horrifying.
Sophia was trapped on a step with an unusually complex spatial fold. She was no longer the agile, mischievous twin-tailed girl, nor the inscrutable Witch Master seen on the mudflats.
Her body was undergoing a terrifying and drastic "transformation"!
One moment, she was the lively girl, skin smooth, eyes sparkling.
The next moment, her skin was instantly covered in deep wrinkles and brown spots; her hair became dry and gray, her posture hunched, resembling an old woman on the brink of death!
The following second, she suddenly "shrank" back to being a girl, but then rapidly "expanded" and aged again!
This transformation was utterly random, occurring so fast that afterimages were produced, accompanied by the cracking sound of bones distorting and the faint noise of muscles tearing. Her spiritual fluctuations were even more chaotic, filled with fear, anger, confusion, and unbearable screams of pain.
More terrifyingly, the shadow power enveloping her was no longer under control; instead, it intertwined and twisted with the decaying power invading her, forming a filthy, constantly shifting black mire. This mire occasionally morphed into a phantom of a laughing girl and sometimes into the cursed face of a resentful old woman, madly assaulting her spiritual defenses.
As Lynch approached, Sophia’s chaotic mind seemed to catch the "stimulus" from the outside.
"Ugh! Get away! Don’t come closer! It’s mine! The legacy is mine!" Her aged face suddenly turned towards Lynch, her murky eyes erupting with frenzied resentment and aggression!
The filthy dark mire instantly separated a portion, transforming into a withered claw lined with wrinkles and sharp nails, entwined with chaotic shadows and decaying power, fiercely grasping at Lynch!
Lynch frowned. His spiritual power instantly locked onto the incoming attack, and the Prototype of the Domain naturally unfolded outward.
He didn’t even move a finger, only shifting his thoughts slightly.
The withered claw froze a few meters away from Lynch’s domain force field, veering off its track abruptly and fiercely grabbing onto the writhing roots beside him! Simultaneously, the claw itself blurred and twisted like a disrupted signal, disintegrating into a mass of filthy smoke, greedily absorbed by the roots.
"No... don’t... help me..." Sophia’s youthful face briefly appeared, murky tears streaming from her eyes, pleading weakly, but was soon replaced by aged bitterness, plunging into a deeper madness and self-destruction.
Lynch watched calmly. He could sense Sophia’s life essence and spiritual core rapidly being consumed and polluted by the chaotic decay and shadow power. Her "transformation" was a manifestation of the Time Rule being distorted by decay, accelerating her life form’s collapse. Save her? The price was too high, and the meaning minimal. Moreover, her current state was an inherently dangerous, unstable source.
Without stopping, Lynch’s figure, like a specter merging into the darkness, silently glided past Sophia’s twisted, painful "stage," continuing his ascent. Behind him, the chaotic wailing and curses gradually succumbed to the staircase’s silence.
Further up, Lynch saw Agit of the Kassen Corridor.
The Witch Master renowned for shadow stealth and mystery met the same end as Baggen, and even more thoroughly.
He lay in the shadowed corner of the staircase, his body almost completely assimilated with the root steps. His skin had turned into a dark brown, cracked tree bark-like substance, with limbs twisted and deformed like withered vines.
Only the faint outline and a remnant of shadow’s breath made it barely possible to recognize his former identity. His death was silent, as if he was directly consumed by shadows and decay, with hardly any traces of struggle.
Baggen, Sophia, Agit... Along with Kalsa, who gave up earlier, and Anderson, who was severely injured and likely doomed... Out of eight Secret Skills, they had all withered to this point.