Chapter 65: Chapter 64 ‘Snake Swarm’ and ‘Sacred Altar’ (Seeking for Chase Reading)
Translator: 549690339
At the city gate of Black Serpent City, Milton Cheney mounted the Blackwater War Horse, bidding Lopes farewell.
Actually, after the banquet, Milton had planned to leave, but was charmed by Lopes’s hospitality and ended up staying in the city for a few more days.
It must be said that this Earl Black Serpent was genuinely good to him, treating him as if he was a favoured younger generation.
Next was to continue his journey throughout the Kingdom. The location of Blackwater Territory was actually already near the edge of East River Province.
Crossing Blackwater Territory, one could reach the actual border of East River Province.
That area was the territory of a viscount, who Milton didn’t know, and his journey required him to pass through there.
Time passed, hooves echoed.
Milton slowed down his Blackwater War Horse in front of a giant canyon.
Recalling the map in his mind, Milton recognized that this place must be the Brutus Grand Canyon in Blackwater Territory.
Once past here, he would depart from the territory of Blackwater.
Because of the constraints of the unique environment of the canyon, Milton instinctively slowed down his horse.
The Psychic Eye was activated by Milton, surveying the surrounding environment.
The Blackvvater Horse galloped in the canyon. Despite the harsh environment, nothing could impede the hooves of this war horse.
The next moment, Milton took the longbow from his back and pulled out an arrow.
He set the arrow to the bow, releasing it with a flash of silvery white light. A venomous snake trying to approach Milton was pinned to the ground.
The body of the snake writhed a bit and finally settled down.
In the following two hours, most of Milton’s arrows were shot but still, there were plenty of poisonous snakes crawling toward him.
“Why are there so many snakes?”
Milton frowned slightly on the horse, shooting another arrow from his longbow.
Yet compared to the countless venomous snakes, a mere few arrows did not make much difference.
The deeper one went into the canyon, the more snakes there were, so many that it was creepy just to look at.
What’s more, these venomous snakes surged towards him passionately as if attracted by something on Milton.
Milton’s Psychic Eye rose towards the sky, overlooking the canyon. The scene inside the canyon instantly presented itself in Milton’s mind.
“There are just too many!”
Milton was somewhat shocked. His Psychic Eye would not deceive him.
Inside the canyon, countless venomous snakes coiled around one another, forming spheres.
At a rough estimate, there must be at least ten thousand snakes that seemed to have suddenly sprung up.
Milton pushed harder, hoping to let the whole canyon fall under his Psychic
Eye.
But the coverage of a zero-ring Psychic Eye was very limited.
But even within this limited range, Milton had already seen no fewer than ten thousand snakes.
This place should be called Snake Valley or Snake Pit instead of Brutus Grand Canyon.
This place was truly a paradise for venomous snakes and at this moment, Milton without a doubt was the sole target for these snakes.
It was impossible to get through this canyon just by riding a horse.
So Milton turned the direction of his Blackwater horse, ready to go back first
and then find another way.
Detour might take a bit more time, but it was much better than plunging headlong.
As using the Psychic Eye for a long time would make his spirit tired, Milton stopped using the Psychic Eye.
Milton turned his head, pulling the reins of the horse, slightly increasing the speed of the Blackwater Horse.
However, before Milton could get far, the sight in front of him made his face slightly solemn.
Hundreds of snakes, one after another, gathered together closely.
He was certain that when he passed through this way just now, there weren’t this many snakes here.
The snake corpses that he had shot down had also disappeared.
There was something wrong here!
Moreover, there was more bad news: he was surrounded.
Yes, at this moment, he was trapped by the snake swarm.
How did these snakes appear, and when did they appear? Milton didn’t know any of it at the time.
It was as if these swarms of snakes appeared out of thin air.
This was extremely unsettling. Despite Milton Cheney’s high level of vigilance, he still couldn’t discern anything.
One should know, although Brutus Grand Canyon is indeed a canyon, from a bird’s-eye view, it looked as though it was cleaved open by a sword.
The canyon walls on either side were extremely smooth. Now, even if Milton abandoned his horse, he wouldn’t be able to escape upwards.
The surface of the canyon walls was too smooth, devoid of any footholds. Milton couldn’t fly, he was now truly trapped in a helpless situation.
After surrounding Milton, nothing seemed to come from the serpents.
This strange scene gave Milton a peculiar idea.
“Could it be that these snakes are being manipulated by someone?”
Can’t blame Milton for thinking so, the behavior of these swarms of snakes was indeed very peculiar.
Previously, he had never heard of so many snakes in this canyon. If this place is densely populated with venomous snakes all year round, it was impossible that no one noticed up till now.
However, to be able to manipulate tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of venomous snakes, presumably, only a Level 3 Wizard Apprentice or a true Wizard could do it.
The next moment, the situation dramatically changed!
These swarms of snakes, as if gone mad, rushed towards Milton. The sky and ground were full of snakes.
Milton drew the Knight Sword that hung by his waist. With one swing, a trace of snake blood stained the silvery-white Knight Sword, and many venomous snakes turned into snake carcasses.
Milton repositioned his feet while wielding his sword, all the attacking venomous snakes turned into corpses.
However, in comparison to the vast number of snakes, these deaths were like a drop in the bucket.
Frighteningly, the discipline of these snakes was also high. Only about ten or so would attack each time, as if intentionally draining Milton’s energy.
Milton knew he couldn’t keep going like this. There were simply too many snakes, impossible to kill off with just a sword.
[Knight Skill.Burst]
[Knight SkillCharged Strike]
A huge explosion rang out, and a large hole suddenly appeared in the rock wall behind Milton.
“It’s so fragile?”
Milton was slightly taken aback, but he couldn’t afford to be distracted at this moment.
Two more sword strokes mixed with an airflow of golden energy struck out, extending the excavated distance into the rock wall. Some of the rocks that Milton had shattered fell down, blocking the entrance into the hole.
With another swing of his sword, the head of a snake that had followed him into the hole fell.
The smell of fresh blood was very strong within this confined space.
At this moment, Milton was inside the rock wall, surrounded by darkness.
But to him, this darkness didn’t amount to much.
Now that the threats of the venomous snakes were gone, Milton picked up the Lionheart Sword, gently knocking on the rocks inside the wall, producing a clear sound.
He had sensed something strange earlier. The seemingly thick rock walls were incredibly fragile, as frail as paper, easily creating a large hole under Milton’s strike.
“Boom!!”
Another heavy blow, and countless rocks were cut open by Milton.
However, the sight behind the shattered rocks made Milton somewhat incredulous.
A vast empty area had appeared before him.
Actual buildings existed inside this wall!
A massive, altar-like structure stood before Milton.
This space was hidden within the wall. If not for Milton’s intervention, it probably would have remained undiscovered.
Who could have guessed that a deliberately excavated space existed within the wall of the canyon? At the very least, Milton had no inkling.
Gently stepping onto the altar, Milton activated his Spiritual Eye, observing the surroundings.
He noticed that the material of the altar seemed special; even his Spiritual Eye couldn’t penetrate it.
A mysterious symbol located at the center of the altar caught Milton’s eye.
Around this symbol were twelve trays. All empty, seemingly awaiting someone to place offerings on them.
Looking at this mysterious symbol, Milton felt a sense of familiarity.
The next moment, a Spatial Key, which was suspended in his Spiritual Sea, materialized in his hand.
Milton shifted his gaze to the lotus-like symbol in the middle of the Spatial Key, comparing it with the symbol in the middle of the altar.
They were identical!