Chapter 911: Soul Fire
Leon knew all too well the terror of gravity—especially when it reached a certain threshold. Every additional increment didn’t just add weight; it unleashed a geometric explosion of sustained, lethal force.
“Move faster! The gravity here is ramping up at a frightening pace. In fifteen seconds, it’ll reach a level that no one can withstand.”
Leon put away the Dragon Staff. At this point, even with a magical shield, he couldn’t lift it—the weight pressing down felt like carrying a hundred or two hundred pounds. If he hadn’t advanced to Title Archmage and had his body reinforced several times, he wouldn’t even be able to lift a finger now.
Mouth moving, Leon chanted a spell. Runes flickered out, layering him with Acceleration, Levitation, and Flight—one after another, spells to counteract gravity. Then, he instantly conjured an ice wall in front of him. The moment it appeared, it plummeted at a terrifying speed, unable to hover in midair at all.
At this moment, Leon stepped forward. Even with Levitation, Feather Fall, and Flight spells active, he could only manage to walk as if he were under normal conditions.
Stepping onto the top of the ice wall, Leon leapt forward. The force of his step sent the wall crashing down like a cannonball to the pit below, where the spikes shredded it into icy fragments.
With each leap, Leon conjured another ice wall in front of him. As soon as it fell, he would reach it just in time to use its top for his next jump.
By continuously casting ice walls, Leon moved forward like an ordinary person hopping across stones in a river—advancing meter by meter, leap after leap.
After thirteen seconds of running, Leon finally cleared the pit. The moment he escaped the gravity field, his body shot upward uncontrollably.
That was the result of losing the suppression provided by Levitation, Featherfall, and Flight spells.
Anderson was the fastest, clinging to the Arcane Wheel, shield spells stacking around him, a string of Levitation spells boosting him. Controlling the Arcane Wheel himself, plus the recoil from the spells, he drifted across, swaying like a leaf in the wind.
Hubert carried Slaughter, his face flushed red, smashing the walls with the warhammer to use the recoil for momentum. He bounced off the walls like a fleshy cannonball, brute-forcing his way across in the most violent fashion.
The Alchemical Golem curled up, blue flames jetting several meters beneath it, slowly drifting across powered by the force of the flames.
Reina looked even more relaxed than Leon. With each step, an icicle formed beneath her feet, the terrifying cold freezing the air around her. Relying on the Frost Dragon's innate resistance, she strode out unharmed.
Only Wagner had it the hardest, trailing behind. When Leon cleared the trap, Wagner was only halfway through. He tried to blast a path with fire and escape with Flame Blink, but ordinary elemental fire was torn apart by the gravity, falling in chunks. He could only mimic Leon, layering himself with anti-gravity spells and leaping across like a normal person crossing a river.
But the gravity inside kept intensifying, and Wagner's movements grew slower and more strained.
Leon watched, pulling out the Doombringer Staff. A massive phantom of the Arcane Wheel appeared behind him, endless runes pouring forth. Above Leon's head, a Flame Vortex began to form, rapidly expanding into a seven- or eight-meter-wide inferno.
It was as if endless elemental fire erupted from the Flame Vortex, surging into the corridor like a flood unleashed from a dam.
The dense torrent of fire surged into the gravity corridor, only to be abruptly torn and dragged downward, huge swathes of flame ripped and falling away.
The flames that fell onto the bottom of the pit were quickly extinguished by the spikes and black water, but more fire surged forward. Slowly, the flames rose like accumulating water, climbing higher and higher. Some were shredded into clusters by the gravity, only to reform once again into a sea of fire.
Wagner, seeing this scene, was at a loss for what to do. In a flash, he activated his Elemental Fire Avatar, then darted madly through the sea of flames. Each time he blinked, it was at a diagonal upward angle, but when he reappeared, it was almost as if he’d shifted horizontally—the angle was just low enough that he nearly ended up blinking straight into the pit’s bottom...
Three seconds later, Wagner leapt out of the gravity corridor, crashing headlong into the overhead ceiling panel.
Falling from the ceiling, Wagner’s face showed no trace of resentment. Instead, he wore the expression of someone given a second chance at life, peering nervously back at the gravity corridor.
He’d never imagined that a Gravity Spell, usually as harmless as a chicken’s claw, could have such terrifying effects.
Normally, a Gravity Spell is just a Tier-4 spell. At its limit, it can only increase a person’s weight three or fourfold. For a mage, that’s hardly a threat; for a swordsman, a burst of fighting spirit or a quick cleanse is enough to shake it off. It’s mostly useless.
Who could’ve guessed that a fixed Graviton Forge Array would turn the entire space into a zone of overwhelming gravity, with such devastating power?
“Archmage Leon, are we really supposed to keep moving forward? Is there no other way out of here?”
Wagner was already feeling desperate. He’d only planned to muddle through, pretending to help out when needed, and maybe pitch in if things got dire. Who could have guessed it would end up like this?
He’d nearly died several times already. If he’d known it would be like this, he might as well have headed straight back to the Odin Kingdom. Being laughed at would be better than dying here…