Chapter 654: Four Statues
Leon fell into deep thought. Anderson leaned over and asked, "What's wrong?"
Leon recounted the incident where Anthus's corpse was reduced to ashes, including his own speculations and the decision he made.
After all, everyone knew this was an extremely risky decision—abandoning a safe chance to escape just to seek out that monster was the height of foolishness.
Anderson's three faces twisted in pain. After a long moment, he cursed, "Forget it, I'm just damn unlucky. If you want to go crazy, I guess we all have to follow you into madness..."
Once the decision was made, everyone grew silent. After locating the teleportation array, Leon quickly deciphered it again.
After disabling the short-range teleportation array, Leon cautiously sent three rock golems into the array first.
Twenty seconds passed. Sensing that his connection to the three rock golems remained intact, Leon couldn't help but step into the teleportation array himself, almost impatiently.
The Captain's Quarters turned out to be a surprise. He'd expected the control room of the Dauntless to be small, but it was at least thirteen or fourteen miles wide. Apart from the masses of alchemical machinery lining the walls, the entire center was completely empty.
What drew the most attention was the flooring—at a glance, the entire Captain's Quarters was laid with dark red planks, as if stained by blood. Etched into the wood were streaks of golden runes.
The moment they entered the Captain's Quarters, everyone could feel a faint pressure radiating from the floor. It was as if a heavy stone had been placed on their hearts—not enough to truly hinder them, but deeply unsettling nonetheless.
Leon crouched down, running his fingers over the dark red planks, tracing the natural grain of the wood. His expression turned grave.
"This is Bloodwood..."
All three of Anderson's faces changed color, a hint of fear flickering across them.
Bloodwood was the stuff of legend—even in the Ashan Dynasty, it was considered mythical.
Because Bloodwood can only grow when nurtured by a single drop of Primordial Deity Blood...
The sheer power contained in Primordial Deity Blood was obvious—just remembering the last time they'd obtained a bowl of it said everything.
That single bowl of Primordial Deity Blood was enough to feed the Chaos Twin Serpents for a thousand years, without them ever needing to hunt.
And Hubert, after merely bathing in Primordial Deity Blood, had his body strengthened to an unimaginable degree. For anyone below the rank of Title Archmage, even a single drop could cause them to explode from the overwhelming energy.
Yet Bloodwood could only grow when nurtured by a single drop of Primordial Deity Blood...
Back in the Ashan Dynasty, Bloodwood was revered as a divine tree. Even Title Archmages couldn't destroy a living Bloodwood; spells below the eighth tier couldn't even leave a mark on it.
Harvesting Bloodwood required a Sky Rank expert, and using Bloodwood as timber was a privilege reserved for primordial deities in the Ashan Dynasty.
Impossibly hard, indestructible—even its natural grain, infused with Primordial Deity Blood, could form runes, inheriting a trace of power from the primordial gods themselves.
It possessed innate defensive and sealing powers, making it a natural magical artifact—no need for refinement, it could unleash its full potential as a magic item right away.
Shapeshifters, shadow demons—even they lacked the courage to stand before Bloodwood. Within its range, any disguise or concealment would be forcibly ripped away, making it far more effective than the Eye of Truth.
Here, the flooring was extravagantly paved with Bloodwood, yet what everyone felt was a chilling cold that pierced straight to the soul.
Previously, they'd seen Soulwood used for floorboards as well...
In the cabin floored with Soulwood, they’d first encountered that monster. If they hadn’t broken a small hole in the Soulwood floor, the monster would never have been able to charge up.
Keep in mind: that cabin was suppressing a whole pack of level 39 magical beasts—some were even on the verge of reaching Sky Rank!
And even so, they were still crushed to death...
Here, the floor was paved with legendary Bloodwood—just imagine how powerful its effect must be. What could possibly be suppressed beneath it?
The very thought made their scalps tingle. And by now, there was little doubt—it had to be that monster!
No one knew what had happened aboard the Dauntless. Not a single living soul remained, and somehow, that monster had escaped its prison and wrought havoc.
If what lay suppressed below wasn't that monster, then it had to be something even stronger!
Leon didn't even dare imagine what that could be.
The moment they entered, everyone felt their hearts weighed down—there wasn't a trace of relaxation on anyone's face.
Standing at the doorway of the Captain's Quarters, Leon summoned over a dozen Eyes of the Magus, along with a swarm of water elementals and rock golems, sending his elemental minions to scout the room inch by inch.
Who knew what kind of traps might be lurking here.
After more than ten minutes, every corner of the Captain's Quarters had been explored by the elementals. Nothing changed. Leon let out a small sigh of relief, but his mood only grew heavier.
No change at all—which could only mean that the Bloodwood's power was focused entirely downward...
The search went smoothly. The Eyes of the Magus quickly located the teleportation array, but they also discovered something else.
In the center of the Captain's Quarters, Leon found four humanoid statues.
The four statues stood in a circle atop a low obsidian pedestal, radiating thick, deathly energy. When an Eye of the Magus approached within thirty meters, that deathly power instantly obliterated it.
Still, this small disturbance didn't trigger anything further. Leon frowned, cautiously approaching the statues from a distance.
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When Leon reached about fifty meters from the four statues, he stopped—this was the very edge of the swirling death energy.
Suddenly, Anderson cried out in shock, "My god, it's actually those four!"
Leon turned to look at Anderson, who was visibly pale.
"Those four are members of Redbeard's Seven Seas..."
As soon as Anderson spoke, Leon understood at once and immediately retreated.
Redbeard's Seven Seas—each one of those seven could hold their own against the world.
Except for the 'main character' first mate, who seemed blessed by Lady Luck herself, the other six all had powerful backgrounds.
Winchester was the chief disciple of Northrend's first Death Knight—one of the few Death Knights with a truly fearsome reputation.
Grom, Redbeard's second mate, was a Viking orc berserker—the strongest Viking orc berserker in history. When he unleashed his innate ability, Lucid Berserk, he could even go toe-to-toe with a Sky Rank powerhouse for a time.
The other four were all mages—each a ninth-tier Title Archmage. They were known as the unbreakable Four-Pointed Star Array, and once studied together under a demigod-level Sky Rank mage.
When those four joined forces, they could even hold off a first-tier Sky Rank mage for a while.
You had to understand: Sky Rank powerhouses and Title Archmages were practically different species—one was mortal, the other had already transcended mortality.
No one below Sky Rank could withstand a Sky Rank opponent. For four to hold their own against a first-tier Sky Rank mage, even briefly, was the stuff of legend.
From a distance, Leon could see one of them wearing a voluminous robe, covered in frost runes.
That was Cook, the Frost Emissary—a Title Archmage whose understanding and mastery of frost magic rivaled the mightiest frost dragons beneath Sky Rank. In terms of spellcasting alone, even Reina the frost dragon was far outclassed by Cook.
Cook once single-handedly conquered an entire frost plane populated by frost elementals.
The next figure wore a pitch-black robe that enveloped his entire body, clutching a plain spiritwood staff. Though the staff was ordinary, it bore a famous name: Dark Covenant.
Countless souls found no rest because of the Dark Covenant. Its wielder was Hall, the Left Hand of Darkness—a renowned dark mage. Once, for being a pure dark mage, he was hunted by a kingdom, and single-handedly annihilated a legion, binding every soul to the staff's Dark Heart.
Hall earned the title 'Left Hand of Darkness' simply because he always wielded the Dark Covenant in his left hand.
The third statue was short—said to be a gnome named Arnold. Arnold was a summoner who, in his youth, suffered discrimination and bullying in the human kingdoms. Even after becoming a mage, his poor talent and weak spellcasting made him a target of ridicule.
Then, by chance, Arnold discovered his exceptional talent for summoning—far greater than his spellcasting. After specializing in summoning, his strength soared. When he advanced to Title Archmage, he clashed once more with the mages who had bullied him in his youth.
Those mages had powerful backgrounds, some even backed by Sky Rank mages. This time, Arnold exploded with power, showing everyone the terror of a summoning frenzy.
He summoned a flood of elementals from all four elements—there were even elemental dragons. The sheer number of summoned creatures was so overwhelming that even the undead would marvel. In half a month, they razed a mage tower to the ground.
When the Sky Rank mage backing that faction rushed back, not a single living thing remained in the mage tower.
Pursued by the Sky Rank mage, Arnold fled into the elemental plane, surviving only thanks to his endless army of elementals. Later, somehow, he became one of Redbeard's men.
The fourth statue was the most terrifying of all. This green-skinned orc was named Garcia, known as the Silent One—a warlock!