The Villain's Apocalypse-Chapter 18: The Eye
Chapter 18: The Eye
Chapter 18: The Eye
Far away in a desolate land filled with dust and sand, a raging sandstorm swirled around intensely, swallowing everything that stood in its path. The sandstorm towered high above the skies, making the massive rock mountains as insignificant as ants.
A faint silhouette of someone could be seen slowly approaching the sandstorm with firm, unbending steps. He was quietly moving forward, his gaze fixated on the eye of the storm. Despite the stormy wind blowing right on his face, he was utterly calm and indifferent.
"I hope my decision was right." His faint voice was almost inaudible due to the loud movements of the sand around him.
The figure was draped in a long dark cloak that completely hid his gaunt figure but his eyes were burning ever so brightly. The cloak leaked a low mystical light suggesting its supernatural origin. It was the presence hiding artifact, [Fading Cloak] that Cassian had brought from the Royal Palace.
The cloak was made from a shadow lizard's scales, giving it a classy yet cool look. It hid the presence of its wearer but, this was just one of its features. It was dustproof, waterproof, windproof, heat-resistant, cold-resistant, etc, and many more. The slick black scale on its surface shimmered darkly as Cassian got lost in his own thoughts.
The artifacts inside this world were quite diverse and varied, depending upon the user's preference. They came in different sizes and forms but, it would be very foolish to undermine them.
Take the artifacts used by Cassian, for example. The presence-hiding artifact [Fading Cloak], the flying artifact [Silver Wings], the defensive artifact [Aegis barrier], etc., all were useful in their own ways. Mind you, these artifacts were just low-level ones.
Yep, they were just trinkets in front of the truly powerful ones. The artifacts ranking in this world were categorized in a simple and easy-to-understand manner.
They start from spark-tier artifacts like illuminating orbs, communication orbs, etc. They were crafted using basic mana engineering to perform simple tasks like lighting, communication, washing, etc
Next were flare-tier artifacts, slightly more advanced than the previous ones. They could perform basic magic tricks such as ignite, vaporize, frost, etc, and were pretty useful for day-to-day activities.
Comet-tier artifacts were when the artifacts truly started to gain more importance and handling. All the artifacts that Cassian had used till now were mostly comet-tier artifacts including [Silver Wings], [Aegis Barrier], [Reflect Mirror], etc. They were incredibly versatile and had a wide range of usage from attacking and defending to flying, swimming, etc.
After comet-tier, we have Aurora-tier artifacts. Both of them were quite similar in versatility and mobility but, power-wise, the Aurora tier was on another level compared to the Comet tier.
A single aurora-tier attacking artifact was capable of easily tearing apart a Nebula-tier individual. That's one of the reasons behind its high demand and sky-high price in the market.
Finally, we have the ethereal, primordial, and cosmic-tier artifacts, each more devastating than any other we've learned so far.
"Sometimes I wish I had the lucky halo of the protagonist with me. I wouldn't be here looking for a treasure so desperately." He whispered, passing through the sandy road.
His boots left a trail of footprints behind as he made his way to the massive sandstorm. Despite being covered from head to toe, his lips were already dry and cracked up thanks to the heat attacking him.
siiii
"Hmm?" A loud whistling sound reached out from within the sandstorm, buzzing near his ears. Cassian gazed above noticing a massive shadow approaching him from the sky.
The dust made it harder to identify, but he could sense that it wasn't a living being. The shadow gained momentum as it dropped down above Cassian's head, intending to crush him to death.
"EXCUSE ME?!" Cassian hurriedly circulated his mana and executed [Lightning Dash], dodging the massive attack by a hair's breadth.
bang
The shadow landed on the ground, creating a dense cloud of dust near him. The dust particles hovered over his sight, blocking them temporarily.
He reached out his hands and wiped the dust off from his glasses focusing straight on the massive crater that had appeared before him.
A gigantic brown rock the size of a house stood at the center of the crater. Its shape was weirdly symmetrical, and upon careful observation, he noticed rough carvings surrounding the rock's surface completely.
The carvings were similar to runes but instead of letters, they were pictures, maybe drawings of some sort. It seemed the drawings were carved using some sort of black ink as they covered the rock completely.
Cassian flared his mana and examined the rock cautiously, maintaining a sufficient distance in between.
"Hmm? It's blocking my senses." Narrowing his eyes, he increased the mana output and tried forcefully breaking its defense.
His mana pierced forward onto the rock's surface, but instead of cracks or damages, all he got was a slight tremor.
"What are you?" He murmured perplexed by the rock's ability. An ability to block mana sense or nullify it was rare, incredibly rare. Few natural minerals display such properties and almost all of them are high on demand and low on supply.
"Is it like a newly discovered mineral of some sort? Did I accidentally discover something overpowered?" He immediately shook his head. The possibility of something like that happening was very low and he won't believe it unless he test it out himself.
"I guess I got no choice now." Putting his guard up, he slowly approached the rock, his senses working on overdrive to caution him immediately upon sensing something amiss.
Ssh
Ssh
Sand rolled around under his feet, roughening his boots. The sand inside this desert biome was yellowish in tone, leaning towards the golden side. Upon arriving here for the first time, one could easily confuse themselves with gold dust.
Closing the distance between himself and the rock, his sight landed on the murals, a clear depiction rather than the previous blurry images.
The murals depicted a story of some sort: a man floating high in the sky, two gigantic angel wings protruding from his back, covering almost half the sky. The wings were blood red, mixed with golden particles in between, creating an otherworldly phenomenon. Above his head shone a divine halo, half-golden and half-black. His arms were spread wide like he was proclaiming something.
Under him were countless humans?... They looked like humans, but some were giants, some dwarves, some all skinny and bones, and some were hybrids of some sort. Wings, horns, and whatnot protruding out from their bodies.
One half of these creatures were worshipping him, bowing down deeply on their knees while the other half were flaring their weapons and pointing at him.
"What the?!" Cassian suddenly sidestepped and jumped backward, sensing a subtle movement from the rock.
ziiiing
ziiiing
The rock emitted a low humming sound, causing vibrations among the sand and dust particles. The ground under them seemed to have woken up, or something as an earthquake spread out from below them, the rock being the epicenter of the shaking.
The sound grew louder and louder as he channeled mana around his ears and covered them with his hands.
"What's happening now?! First a sandstorm, now an earthquake, is the world ending or something?!" Cassian roared, struggling to keep himself in balance. The earthquake was affecting his movements but he was desperately clinging himself to the ground, balancing from falling down.
crink
crink
Various random noises were being emitted from within the rock's inner part. Some felt like gears spinning around while some felt like the cracking of joints.
Slowly, the murals on its body wriggled around and glowed lightly, emitting a faint source of light. Cassian, noticing the anomaly within the rock, quickly conjured a small ball of lightning and tossed it forward.
"Thunder Ball!" He shouted, his voice getting muffled by the erratic noises.
It dashed toward the rock in a split second, and...
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boom
"A direct hit!"
Sadly, the joyous moment never arrived as the rock continued its transformation without any halting.
Chunks of small rocks fell from its body and merged together, latching itself on its sides. They connected themselves like joints and had a familiar resemblance.
"No way, Don't tell me it's a fucking golem?!"
Blacklight shone from what seemed like its eyes, and it slowly stood up, towering over Cassian's body. It was truly massive now, almost double its previous height. It was an earth golem.
The Golem moved its body mechanically and stared down, gazing at Cassian with its ominous black eyes.
"Hello, fella." Cassian waved his hand with a smile on his face. Although his back was covered in cold sweat, drenched completely.
