Wizard: Starting from the Skill Tree-Chapter 584: Murmurs

A few seconds later, the soul-searing light began to slowly diminish and contract.

At the original spot, the nauseating eyeball monster had completely vanished, leaving no residue, no stain, as if it had never existed in this world.

Only the area that had been scorched by the Holy Flame sphere showed a strange, slightly glassy smoothness, as if it had been instantly melted by high temperatures and then cooled.

The air no longer carried the stench and mental pollution, replaced by a peculiar, fresh, pure scent akin to the world after a torrential rain, the sun illuminating the land, even carrying a faint, warm fragrance.

The dead silence of this place had been broken; though still desolate, it no longer felt oppressive, instead filled with a holy tranquility.

The Duke stood with his sword, the three-meter tall dark form of the Dark Race cast a long, majestic shadow amidst the fading judgment twilight.

The light of the Blazing Sun Judgment sword gradually retracted, returning to a slowly flowing liquid light form, yet the purifying aftermath still lingered like warm embers, surrounding the sword and him.

As he was about to put away the Blazing Sun Judgment and continue his exploration, his vertical pupil slightly contracted, his gaze falling upon the center of the area purified by the Holy Flame.

There, it was not empty.

A crystal, about the size of a pigeon egg, entirely round, was quietly lying on the glassy surface.

It resembled a deep, dark purple, as if absorbing the faint light around it, with misty vapors slowly circulating inside, occasionally flashing a very faint gleam, like pupil contraction.

Unlike the previous monster’s filthy and uncomfortable feeling, the energy emitted by this crystal was cold but extraordinarily pure and concentrated.

It was a highly concentrated blend of Spiritual Origin and Nightmare Plane energy, forcefully refined and purified by the Light Attribute power, with the filth and violence purged, leaving only the core essence.

The Duke could distinctly feel it contained quite a considerable amount of spiritual power.

He walked over, still maintaining the Dark Form, raising his vigilance.

First, he used spiritual power to investigate, confirming there were no issues before picking up the object from the ground.

In this place, no amount of caution is ever excessive.

Placing it in his large palm, he discovered it was actually an eyeball, albeit only superficially resembling one.

The eyeball contained a high concentration of exceptionally pure spiritual power, which was rare.

The Duke realized it was akin to items that could directly enhance spiritual power, similar in nature.

Consuming it should increase his spiritual power, but it shouldn’t be rashly consumed.

To be prudent, it still required investigation before proceeding.

Maintaining the Dark Form, the Duke began systematically surveying the dead silence of the Mirrored Castle.

His massive dark golden wings slightly drooped, footsteps on thick dust, silent as always, with only the thin shadowy aura around him dispelling the discomforting gray-white light.

He proceeded along the twisted corridors, scanning each corner with his pure black vertical pupils, using spiritual power as a fine comb, sifting through potential dangers.

Banquet hall, gallery, living room, family chapel...he investigated them one by one.

In certain areas, he indeed sensed the lingering faint aura with a spiritual sucking sensation, but it was very faint, seemingly traces left by the previous eyeball monster’s activities, not nurturing new entities.

Occasionally, he would find even stranger, living creature-like writhing patterns on walls or floors, symbols of deeper Nightmare Plane power eroding reality, yet currently stable.

The castle was eerily empty, besides his own presence, as if devoid of any moving entities.

That absolute silence pressed on the heart more than any noise.

Suddenly, a very subtle, yet originating from the essence of space, tremor was felt, as if the entire Mirrored Castle gently shook.

The Duke promptly halted, keenly sensing his surroundings.

The mottled marks on the walls seemed to writhe more intensely, with more dust trickling from the ceiling.

Before he could analyze the cause of this tremor, a very faint, yet directly penetrating murmur pierced his eardrums, or more accurately, penetrated the soul barrier, infiltrating his mind like numerous tiny insects.

The sound defied any worldly language portrayal, chaotic, twisted, filled with unfathomable malice and insane fragments of information.

It was not a single sound source, but seemingly emanated from all directions—the walls of the castle, the floor beneath, the gray-white sky, and even the depths of his consciousness.

Just hearing these puzzling, fragmented phrases made the Duke’s head feel like countless red-hot iron needles fiercely piercing it.

The spiritual power within his sea of consciousness, initially calm like a serene lake, suddenly stirred into a turbulent storm, becoming chaotic—as if this foreign, beyond-comprehension will was forcibly tearing and assimilating it. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

A powerful nausea and dizziness swept over him, even with the strong mental resistance afforded by the Dark Form, it was unbearable, his three-meter high body even swayed a bit, forcing him to steady himself against a nearby wall.

The Duke was shaken to the core. This sound was beyond what the previous eyeball monster could emit, possibly not belonging to this mirrored space at all.

This felt like fluctuations from an existence within deeper, more terrifying levels of the Nightmare Plane, unconsciously radiating across dimensions, accidentally flowing into this fragile mirrored space.

Just the aftershock of its power almost shattered his mental defenses.

This place was no longer safe to linger in; staying would threaten not only the investigation, but his soul could be corrupted or torn by these nightmarish whispers.

He transformed into a dark gold stream of light, no longer concerned about alarming anything, rushing along the route he entered, heading swiftly towards the castle’s lower basement.

The rapid movements intensified the spatial distortions, and those eerie whispers seemed clearer and more malicious, pursuing him relentlessly like a festering wound.

He almost crashed through the dilapidated stone room door, charging into the ritual chamber.

On the ground, the remnant gateway node he previously activated was flickering with intensely unstable, fluctuating brightness due to the external spatial instability and the influence of those terrifying whispers.