The shape of the crystal ball was somewhat similar to the one held by Professor Fernand before, with a touch of active substance flowing inside, constantly flowing and changing.

But in comparison, the one in the Professor's possession looked like a botched imitation, unattractive to Lloyd, and even a little odd.

The one in front of me is even more mysterious, dreamy, beautiful, and intoxicating.

The moment Lloyd saw the crystal ball, his whole body and mind seemed to be sucked away, and he kept staring intently, as if he had forgotten where he was and why he came from.

It wasn't until about half a minute later that he was 'woken' by the movement in his head.

Whether it is inspiration, strange intuition, or even the "Book of Truth", which has always been peaceful, it is all carnival and restless, as lively as a banquet in the village.

But they weren't warning of danger, they were urging Lloyd to hurry up and take the crystal ball for himself.

Lloyd wanted to follow this urging, get closer, and hold the crystal ball in his hand.

But his rationality, which had gradually recovered, finally prevailed, making him realize in time what kind of environment he was in and what he was here for.

Lloyd quickly stopped, resisted the restlessness in his brain and his heart, and looked around.

There were some rituals that had been set up on the ground, but they weren't working, and near the desk you could see a bottle of spiritual ink, as well as broken mirrors, extinguished candles, and so on.

It shows that the professor's group has indeed been here and made initial deployments.

But where are their people?

Surrounded by towering bookshelves, the central area was spacious, but there was no obstruction to the view, but Lloyd couldn't see a single figure.

In the air, there was no trace of a battle or the use of force.

Even the dense collection of books on the shelves was all in peace, and they didn't rush towards Lloyd.

It's like the center of a storm, it's calmer than outside, and even the air is much cleaner, not only does the panel not remind of mental pollution, but even the readings in the upper right corner of the field of vision have returned to a large string of '0'.

Except for the fact that the professor and others could not be found, everything was so safe and sound here.

But where will they go?

"Professor? Professor, are you here? ”

Lloyd tried to shout twice.

No one responded, only his own voice echoed around him.

obviously has his own voice, but Lloyd inexplicably feels that this place is too quiet, so quiet that it can be suffocating.

Even the air was getting colder, and as his breathing accelerated, his throat tingled.

If he stayed here any longer, Lloyd even suspected that he would freeze into a sculpture.

The kind of sculpture that has no ice slag, but is motionless, is like those 'seniors' outside......

Lloyd had to mobilize the spiritual power in his body and run quickly around his body, trying to maintain his body temperature with the consumption of spiritual power.

But most of his spiritual power had just been consumed, and he couldn't last long......

So Lloyd didn't have much time to think and hesitate, he had no choice but to walk up to the crystal ball and look down.

On closer inspection, the substance inside is even more beautiful and charming, like a whirlpool of thoughts, which can attract all thoughts and attention into it, so that Lloyd can't take his eyes off it at all.

I want to completely give up thinking and completely integrate into it.

I have just regained a little bit of reason, and it seems that I am about to fall into it completely.

Until there was silence in my ears, I suddenly heard a weak reminder:

"Quick...... Run......

What followed was a burning stinging pain in his brain, like a red-hot steel needle had been inserted into his brain, and the pain almost made him faint on the spot.

But fortunately, he still has [Vertigo Resistance]

With this sharp pain, Lloyd suddenly 'woke up', and his thinking and reason, which were almost frozen, were rejuvenated because of the 'scorching' of the steel needle.

The physiological survival instinct instantly suppressed the inspiration, intuition, and even the restlessness of the Book of Truth, making him subconsciously raise the short sword in his hand and launch the [Extraordinary Swordsmanship], and slashed at the crystal ball with a sword.

The tough crystal collided with the sharp blade, bursting with metallic sparks before being split in two.

The mesmerizing substance inside was like blood, changing into a bright red and viscous texture, flowing freely on the simple desk.

But after only two or three seconds, they stopped flowing, and they stopped changing, as if they were completely inactive, and they quickly solidified, froze, and finally turned into a pool of blood-red ice.

【Ding~Madness +1000】

【Ding~Special Skill Fragment +5】

[Enough skill fragments have been obtained to unlock special skills - incomplete miracles]

And without that layer of crystal filter, in Lloyd's eyes, they are no longer beautiful and charming, but reveal some indescribable evil and weirdness, which seems dangerous and deadly.

Lloyd's inspiration doesn't say much about this.

It's the weird intuition and the Book of Truth reminding him in their own ways to grab something and slip away!

They no longer reminded Lloyd of the carnival-like gestures they had before, but behaved more composure and stability.

This should be the normal state.

So Lloyd chose to 'believe in himself', and immediately took out a silver-gray lead box from the storage bag -

That was the last time he bought the core materials of the third [Transcendence], the seller gave it to him, saying that it was the best container to hold the spiritual materials, and reminding him not to throw it away when he ran out.

At that time, Lloyd didn't pay much attention to such trivial details, but he still believed the seller's statement and kept the box, but he didn't expect it to really come in handy now.

He hurriedly scraped the blood-colored ice slag off the table with his short sword, smeared it into the lead box, sealed the lid tightly, and finally wrapped it tightly in oiled paper, and threw it into the storage bag.

After he had done all this, he suddenly heard a muffled sound of 'dong dong' and a crisp sound of 'screaking' all around.

When Lloyd looked up, he saw piles of bones, like a stormy wave, pouring down from all directions, trying to bury Lloyd in them.

And the towering bookshelves around it, not even a single page can be seen on them......

It seems that the dense layers of books have all turned into this corpse in an instant.

Some of these bones look like humans, some look like monsters, and all of them have a gray, black and decaying texture, similar to fossils, as if they have been baptized by thousands of years.

It looks like the two matches that Lloyd used for divination before......

Their texture was already as fragile as a barely piled up of ashes, and when they poured down in midair, they directly turned into pieces of powder, raising large puffs of smoke and dust in the air.

[Twisted Realm] instinctively perceived the danger, and the passive distortion function was automatically activated, helping Lloyd resist this large area of ashes pouring down, and won him a valuable space to still stand.

And Lloyd found a few things in his human form in the pile of ashes.

It was Fernand who taught them!

Although they looked extremely old, they were even more skinny, and their bodies were still covered in scattered ashes, and they looked like some Greek god of war.

But they were still alive, and they could even snort and moan from their mouths.

"My legs ...... Damn ......"

He was a bald mage, although his originally shiny bald head was already covered with age spots, and his strong muscles had shrunk into dried radish, he still had the strength to open his mouth to cry out in pain......

Then Lloyd naturally ignored him for the first time, but quickly pulled several other piles of ashes and rescued the professor and others who were buried inside.

This was supposed to be a heavy physical work, but Lloyd somehow felt that he had inexhaustible brute force in his body, and the speed was even faster, and he just pulled his hands a few times to save Professor Fernand, who was already too old.

Although he fell into a coma, he was still alive, but he didn't know how long he would live......

Lloyd turned his head to look again, and saw that the bald head, who was too old to die, nodded at him, but he had no strength to speak, and could only signal him to continue.

Lloyd continued to use the seemingly inexhaustible brute force in his body, and at a very fast speed, pulled out several other people from the ashes.

And when he pulled out the associate professor of the engineering department, although he was too old to speak, he still used his last strength to drop a metal box, and then passed out.

The box fell to the ground, and immediately began a mechanical extension change, like a Transformer, into a pair of wheelbarrows with four wheels?

Lloyd was worried about how to take these people away, so he had a tool at hand, and hurriedly placed a few people sideways on the wheelbarrow, and then opened the portal back to the camp, and then found the two vertical levers at the end of the cart, and pulled it.

The cart flew out like a sharp arrow and plunged headlong into the portal.

It was only inevitable that the bumps and shaking made the bald mage call out again:

"Ouch! My back ......"

Lloyd ignored him and rushed the trolley into the elevator, and then threw the people above one by one.

Then he quickly turned the head of the car and prepared to rescue the lecturer and teaching assistant again.

He already felt that with the changes in the core area, that is, the library just now, the space around it began to 'stop acting', and the surrounding space was no longer surging, but began to be turbulent.

The space storm has arrived.

It's just that it hasn't developed to the most terrifying level, and it hasn't scratched where Lloyd is.

But the space elevator has also begun to bump and drift under its influence, as if it will be scraped away at any time.

Fortunately, Lloyd's [Projection] is still here, and it should be able to hold on for a little longer.

"I'm going to save them, I'll be right back!"

Lloyd spoke, opening the portal once more, locating the coordinates of the lecturer and teaching assistant.

The only one still awake was the bald mage, who had no strength to speak, but who still had the last strength to keep his eyes wide open, as if he had spotted a madman, as if he had spotted a madman, as if he had seen Lloyd rush through the portal again.

This scene seemed to have brought him a strong psychological impact, so much so that the portal disappeared, and he was still staring blankly at the location where Lloyd disappeared.

Then, his lips trembled slightly, barely squeezing out a few indistinct, unrecognizable syllables.

He was actually saying, 'May the flowers of the path under your feet bloom.'"

……………………

"Uh...... Ha...... Ha ......"

The bounty hunter assistant was leaning against the wall with his severed left arm clutched, his face pale, sweat dripping down his forehead and back, mixed with the blood dripping from the wound.

In front of him, the two lecturers were barely maintaining a temporary [intellectual barrier] to resist the crazy onslaught of those 'seniors' and books.

Although they are still alive and still sobbing and rational for the time being, they are already at the end of their power......

Soon after the three of them separated from Lloyd, they also found that the 'seniors' and books had come to life.

The teaching assistant was caught off guard and was touched on the left arm by a 'senior'.

The first half of his left arm was decaying at the speed of light in just two seconds, and in the blink of an eye, only yellowed bones remained.

And this decaying tendency, and the tendency to spread throughout his body.

So without hesitation, the assistant teacher pulled out a dagger-shaped psionic blade and decisively cut off his left arm.

But this only allowed him to breathe a little longer......

Although he held his life, the spiritual power in his body seemed to have been affected, and it was passing at an exaggerated speed.

And the 'senior' who succeeded in the sneak attack immediately began to 'shake people', and in an instant, countless 'seniors' and books swarmed and rushed towards the three of them.

Fortunately, the two lecturers are both from the [Knowledge] department, and they have a certain restraint effect on this kind of knowledge-type monsters, and they have rich archaeological experience, so they barely managed to fight their way out.

However, the original path plan was completely disrupted, and the three of them panicked, unable to meet the professor and them, nor could they return to the camp, but were forced all the way to a relatively small pantry.

The 'senior' and the book have no rational thinking at all, so they naturally don't know much about the concept of collision volume, so under the crowding of each other, the three of them can hold on a little longer.

However, it was precisely because of the actions of the three of them that all the ghosts near the corridor and stairs were attracted, which gave Lloyd a 'chance to take advantage of'.

Just such a price......

"I can't get out, I will use the last [Decree] to create a little opportunity for you."

The teaching assistant said weakly, struggling to sit up.

"There's no need, we can't get out......"

Lecturer Lille smiled, less despair on his face, more of a calmness and generosity.

Long before he set out, he was ready to face death.

"Whew~Whew~ at least...... Hold on until the space storm begins......"

Lecturer Randy was also talking weakly.

He would rather be torn to pieces by the space storm than fall into the hands of these monsters.

That way, at least you can die as a human being......

"Hopefully Lloyd has evacuated them...... So we're not at least wiped out, so we can let the academy know what's going on here, and don't let people die anymore. ”

Instructor Randy continued.

In the process of fending off the monsters, the three of them quickly exchanged opinions and came to a consensus about the current situation-

The [miracle] that this operation wants to recover is probably no longer the original [Time Freezing].

The miracle magic, which had been expected to change the future of mankind, was affected by some unknown factor, or 'tampered with', and was no longer the effect it had been recorded.

It may also have certain [Freeze] and [Time] properties, but it presents a completely different effect.

It may still be used to fight mental pollution, to freeze them.

However, these spiritual pollution can produce some strange changes in the state of [frozen], thus giving rise to new monsters such as 'seniors'.

Even if such a miracle is successfully recovered in the end, I am afraid that what will bring mankind is not a future and hope, but a disaster and despair......

"Hehe, think about the good, at least we didn't die in vain, so that the people of the present can understand that these past [miracles] are not our hope."

Lecturer Lille spoke this hopeless conclusion in as optimistic a tone as possible.

It's just a wry smile on his face, but he can't hold back no matter what.

He actually remembered his fiancée, who had just renovated the big villa that he hadn't had time to enjoy......

At this time, Lecturer Randy spoke up again:

"Or ...... Or William, you sacrifice and give me a knife, right? I believe you are skilled in this area. ”

"Yes, yes, yes, so do I."

Lecturer Lille also said quickly.

The assistant professor looked up at the monsters who were frantically pounding the temporary barrier, nodded, and then clenched the psionic blade in his hand, barely supporting himself to his feet.

In the next second, several invisible sword lights broke through the air and struck in the direction where the two lecturers were.

But he narrowly passed by the two of them without hurting them in the slightest.

On the contrary, the 'seniors' who hit the hardest were immediately split in two from the middle, revealing the dark hollow inside.

The teaching assistant couldn't help but be stunned, wondering if he had lost too much blood and was dazzled.

He seemed to have seen a few matchsticks fly by?

Then he looked back again.

The wall that was originally leaning on had turned into a spatial rift at some point, and a portal was opened, revealing the upper body of Lloyd, and he was saying angrily:

"Why are you hiding in such a small place? I almost couldn't find it! ”

As soon as he saw Lloyd emerge, the assistant coach's face suddenly became even paler.

He hasn't left yet?

He was stupid enough to run to save himself?

"You ......"

The assistant was about to scold, but Lloyd's hand was faster, and he grabbed him by the shoulder, and pulled him into the portal with a hard pull.

And the remaining two lecturers didn't expect this scene to appear, and they seemed to be stupid all of a sudden, and they didn't know how to run away and complain.

As a result, Lloyd stretched out his hands, grabbed the belts of the two of them left and right, and then dragged the two directly into the portal with the extra brute force on his body.

Without the resistance of the temporary barrier, those ghost things outside were no longer in the way, and they wanted to rush up again.

But the monster that pounced on the front seemed to suddenly notice something, and suddenly stopped, and blocked the road behind it.

They were no longer as greedy for Lloyd as before, but had become a little instinctively jealous, and they didn't dare to go up again.

And Lloyd also smiled coldly, and scattered the last few matches in his hand.

"Fuck you!"

As the last of the madness points were credited, his upper body also retracted into the portal, and then let out a long breath.

Then he looked at the three 'gourd babies' who had just been rescued in front of him, showed a helpless wry smile, and spread his hands:

"Okay, now the question is, how do we get back?"

"This is ......"

Lecturer Randy was the first to come back to his senses, and immediately looked left and right for a while, and found that the position of several people was like half a commissary?

It's a literal 'half', where the floor, shelves, counters and other facilities are all left in half, and the other half is a black spatial crack, like a different space outside.

If all four of them are characters in a certain comic book, then their current situation is as if this page has been torn off, and only this half is left.

"What is this place?"

Lecturer Lille asked, then reached out and scratched his head.

He felt like he was 'growing his hair' again.

But with his previous experience, he knew that it was Lloyd helping him, so he didn't say much, but he was more curious about the situation in front of him.

Before Lloyd could explain, the space where the four of them were suddenly spinning and spiraling, shaking everyone dizzy and losing the ability to identify directions.

But their feet are obviously standing on the floor in a good manner, and their relative position to the shelves and counters has not changed, it seems that their brains are spinning on their own.

"Wow wow......"

"Eh, eh?"

"Vomit ......"

The instructor and teaching assistant each experienced various symptoms of discomfort.

Lloyd was fine, but his face was not good-looking, but at least he was able to speak normally:

"Ahem...... If the conditions don't allow, let's overcome it a little bit and see if the storm will blow us a little farther away, and we shouldn't be so dizzy. ”

After that, he showed a helpless wry smile and complained:

"I didn't think that in addition to driving the elevator, I also had to drive the boat this time......"

(End of chapter)