Volume Dragon: Start by obtaining the Infinity Gems

Chapter 263 The Creature Behind the Gate
"Do you want to go further in? Sir, I have a bad feeling." Moreno said to Nemesis with some concern.

The leisurely Scroll Dragon rode on the Phantom Horse across the snow where Shana and others had entered, and suddenly stopped.

He sniffed doubtfully: "It smells familiar."

After thinking for a while, I really couldn't remember where I had smelled this scent before, so I had to give up.

Moreno looked at the man in front of him who ignored him, but he did not dare to be angry at all. In fact, he had already been frightened by the rare ability shown by the other party along the way.

There were the walking dead that passed by, the undead creatures that could shoot ice spikes, and the giant shadow bugs that hid beneath the wasteland, ready to swallow passers-by in one gulp.

They were all resolved with a wave of his hand, and the wreckage turned into ashes.

As an adventurer, Moreno knew a lot about spellcasters. There was even a fourth-ring mage in his former team.

However, he had never seen a wizard cast spells so easily.

There were no spells or gestures, only a split second to create a terrifying spell capable of bombing an area with a radius of hundreds of meters.

It took less than a day to complete the journey, not even enough time to restore the spell slots.

With a rich storage of spell slots and the ability to cast spells instantly at will, Moreno really couldn't connect the man in front of him with the traditional wizards he knew.

Cade is a noob who can use up all his highest-level spell slots by casting Ice Storm and Stoneskin.

Therefore, Moreno had great respect for this being who most likely possessed a very high mage level.

The two continued walking in silence, and soon, a dark shadow appeared in the distance, and the sky was covered by a dark blizzard.

Nemesis, who had excellent eyesight, had already discovered that it was the gate of a fortress.

"Are there traces of intelligent life here?!" Moreno was a little shocked. All they encountered along the way were monsters without intelligence. He thought they had come to the legendary underworld.

The creatures in the fortress seemed to have noticed the arrival of the strange intruder, and the road between Nemesis and the fortress gate suddenly shook violently.

"Something is coming!" Moreno drew out his sword and said with a serious face.

Nemesis glanced at the ground, his eyes flashing with white light. He had already seen what the creature underground was.

He stretched out his hand lazily, his pale, bony fingers pointing toward the ground.

Three-ring transmutation spell—[Instant local earthquake].

The spell that originally could only cause a slight shock wave in a straight line of 30 feet was transformed into a spell that could tear the earth apart due to the amplification of the power gem.

Nemesis' fingertips lit up with a yellow halo, and a powerful magical force surged out and rushed towards the ground in front of him. In an instant, the ground made a dull roar, as if it was torn apart by an invisible giant hand. A crack hundreds of meters long spread across the ground at an alarming speed, and the soil and rocks at the edge of the crack splashed, and smoke and dust billowed.

In the torn earth, a long worm that was dozens of meters long and as thick as an adult's waist was torn apart by the earthquake. The rough, hard scales with strange patterns covering its body were thrown everywhere by the huge force.

But this is not the end. The long worm was just a warning from the monsters behind the fortress. Now, the executioner they sent out was killed, which completely detonated the anger in the darkness.

The dark blizzard seemed to be stimulated, and a low and vague roar came from it. Countless bat-like monsters composed of shadowy black fog flew out from behind the fortress gate.

They formed a black fog that covered the sky, and countless star-like red pupils lit up in the darkness, making Moreno's scalp tingle.

"Should we run away?" Moreno said weakly. Although he thought the wizard was indeed very strong, the scene before him was really terrifying.

With so many terrifying flying monsters, if it were any other time, he would have given up hope and prepared to commit suicide.

Nemesis ignored him, but raised his hand gracefully and snapped his fingers.

Fifth-ring Shaping spell—[Instant Fire Wall].

"boom!!"

In an instant, a raging wall of fire suddenly burst out from the ground in front of the mage. The flames were like an angry dragon, rising into the sky, and the hot breath spread wildly in all directions. The wall of fire was hundreds of meters long and dozens of meters high. The blazing flames emitted terrible high temperatures, burning and distorting the surrounding air.

The entire mountain path was blocked by a towering wall of fire. The group of shadow bats showed no fear at all when they saw this scene. They rushed towards him like a black torrent, regardless of everything.

But when they came into contact with the blazing wall of fire, they instantly let out a shrill scream. Under the scorching heat, the bats' bodies were quickly vaporized, turning into wisps of black smoke that dissipated into the air. The powerful wall of fire was like an insurmountable barrier, blocking all the incoming shadow bats.

Nemesis raised the corner of his mouth, a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes, he was indeed being controlled.

However, the controller behind the scenes did not have strong enough mental power and could only give vague attack instructions to these shadow creatures.

This makes the monsters' attack methods extremely dull and rigid.

After two waves of attacks were resolved, the black blizzard behind the fortress gate became even more angry. A shrill roar came from the blizzard, shaking the air.

However, it seemed that the creature had become wary of intruders and was no longer willing to easily send out monsters to kill intruders who attempted to set foot on the mountain trail.

But Nemesis would not let it go so easily.

The Phantom Horse galloped and quickly approached the fortress gate. At the same time, Nemesis chanted a spell in a low voice and gathered an astonishing magical power in his hands.

Seventh-ring mystical transformation spell—[Advanced Stoneshaping]!
The spell that once could only shape stone has now been enhanced to be able to twist even the hardest metal to the caster's will.

The gray-white ray hit the door, and the next moment, under the impact of the magic power, the metal door began to undergo strange changes. The shape of the door gradually twisted and deformed, as if a pair of invisible big hands were kneading it wantonly.

The shadow steel door made a creaking sound, as if it was struggling in pain. However, the magic power of the mage was too strong, and the metal door could not resist it at all. Under the continuous distortion, cracks began to appear on the surface of the metal door, and then these cracks quickly spread.

Finally, under the influence of the wizard's powerful spell, the metal door completely collapsed, but this was not the end. An extremely evil force attached to the metal, causing a large amount of foul-smelling flesh and blood to appear on the surface of the shadow steel. These flesh and blood were extremely corrosive and oxidized the hard shadow steel into slag that shattered at the touch of a finger.

Nemesis was very satisfied when he saw this. As expected, facing enemies made of metal, Zartek's flesh and blood divinity had a miraculous effect.

(End of this chapter)