Comprehensive network wizard, magic emperor.

Chapter 253 A Truly Reputable Tough Guy
[Countdown to the closing of the time-space portal: ... Three, two, one]

With a humming sound, the deep purple teleportation vortex on the first floor of the Great Library collapsed and disappeared.

[Network Notice: An abnormal fluctuation in spacetime has occurred; the dungeon difficulty has been adjusted to: Hard]

Your completion rewards have been frozen.

The scenery before Lin Bo rippled like the surface of water, and the spacetime field of the instance was changing. The immense power was like the gears under the machine shell, causing everything that existed in that spacetime to tremble like a flea on a drum.

This magnificent spacetime power surpassed the sensory perception of dragons. Even though Lin Bo could feel the spacetime tremors, he could not hear any sound from the spacetime field, only vaguely sensing their profound silence.

After a short while, the tremor subsided completely.

The first floor became a little brighter. The damaged bookshelves were repaired, the rickety ceiling candlesticks were secured again, and many decayed books were restored to their original shine. The structural parts that Lin Bo had scattered all over the floor had vanished without a trace.

As the difficulty increases, the historical period of the entire instance is pushed back by a certain number of years.

Lin Bo looked around; the first floor, which had already been cleared, showed no signs of enemies. Although the dungeon difficulty had increased, the eliminated enemy units weren't respawned, saving them the trouble of fighting again.

On Normal difficulty, all the rooms on the second floor of the Grand Archives are locked down, with the locks rusted and unable to be opened. However, some areas have now been opened.

All the components of the construct that Lin Bo was researching were completely destroyed by the spacetime anomaly, leaving his palms empty. The resonance between his spiritual power and the spirit of the human puppet had also been interrupted.

Since there was nothing left for him to cherish, he stepped onto the spiral staircase.

On the second floor, [Frost Stew Pot], [Joyful], and [Tree Eagle] were locked in a fierce battle, the clanging of metal and the howling of magic echoing through the corridor.

As Lin Bo walked to the stairwell, he heard the deafening explosion of the fireball. The glass doors and windows of a venue on the west side were suddenly shattered by the internal shockwave, and tens of thousands of tiny fragments scattered like rain.

Following the fireball was a thunderous wave, the surging air currents like an invisible giant hand, blasting more than a dozen wax figures out of the museum and slamming them directly against the corridor walls, several of them landing at Lin Bo's feet.

These human figures encased in wax have no facial features. The white wax, which solidifies into bodies, flows down from the top of the head like liquid, solidifying into shapes such as eyes, ears, and noses, and then melting again, as if living people are trapped in wax, trying to break free from under the skin.

There is no doubt that it was caused by a living spirit attaching itself to the beeswax.

Lin Bo patted the wooden box at his waist, and two dark red whale fire rings jumped out. The flames fueled by mushroom oil became even more turbulent and fierce. Once ignited, the fire rings were burned into two sun wheels, rolling forward.

The sorcerer simultaneously chanted the true names of the Demonic Mushroom Iron and the Whale Fire. Blue flames bursting from the ring extended like octopus tentacles, seizing the living wax spirits in the corridor. In the blink of an eye, they were vaporized by the high temperature, and the wax vapor condensed on the ceiling like frost.

He strolled toward the battle arena, where his three teammates were fighting an elite monster. On the hard difficulty, almost every hall open on the west side of the second floor had a troublesome hostile unit.

Lin Bo pressed the knob on Ming Lei's lantern, preparing to step into the venue to assist his teammates, when he suddenly took a light breath and smelled a very faint scent of living creatures.

He tilted his head slightly, and his eye-lens captured a life signal. A red, humanoid silhouette stood in the empty corridor, quietly approaching the mage.

It was an invisible unit, nearly two meters tall, very sturdy and strong, but it moved silently. At this moment, its right arm was raised high, as if it was holding some kind of weapon, and it was about to smash it down on Lin Bo's head.

A chilling wind suddenly howled, and something heavy tore through the air, emitting a terrifying whistling sound.

The weapon's shriek ceased the next instant. The arm that had been swinging it was gripped by the mage's raised hand, the powerful force pressing down on it, preventing Lin Bo from slipping even an inch.

He looked up at the red outline in front of him, making eye contact with the invisible unit. From the tactile feedback, he could tell that it was an orc player wielding a giant hammer, strong enough to rub an adult bison like a kitten, and yet it was a rogue class.

"(True Word) Flesh and Blood." The orc player, controlled by the living spirit, wanted to fight again, but in the next instant, all the muscles in his body began to contract violently, and he curled up into a ball, like a pill bug huddled in its shell.

Even so, his invisibility technique remained unbroken, demonstrating his exceptional skill.

Lin Bo took out an iron ball, twisted it into a thin rope, and carefully bound him.

Just then, the door of a venue at the far end of the corridor was smashed open, and a half-giant about two and a half meters tall walked out. He was wearing heavy armor like a castle, carrying a totem post with an ornate relief on his shoulder, and his steps were as heavy as if they were crushed by the tracks of a war chariot.

This person exuded a soft, pale golden holy light, forming a halo aura that brought with it a light magical breeze, making his steps extremely swift.

It was none other than the half-giant paladin who had sworn an oath of honor.

In the team chat, [Frost Soup Stew Pot] sent a message: "Brother Mage, we'll be able to take down the Molten Wax Ghosts soon, and we'll join you shortly."

[Lighthouse Guest]: Yeah, I'm almost done here too. Just come to the hallway.
The half-giant paladin ground against the wooden floor, launching a sudden charge. Each step sent up sprays of wood chips flying like waves. He raised the totem pole, as thick as a person's embrace, and swung it over his head. The massive weapon roared and howled with a strong wind, bursting with blinding golden holy light as it crashed down on the mage's head.

It was none other than the dazzling and ferocious Supreme Slash.

Lin Bo squinted slightly as the holy light stung his eyes, his vocal cords vibrated, and he uttered words in the dragon language.

"(The incantation) propels great power."

A thunderous roar, louder and more terrifying than the sound of a totem pole cutting through the air, exploded.

A pure and surging driving force rose up in front of the mage, condensing into an invisible force field wall that propelled him forward at high speed.

Air molecules were squeezed out like a towel, producing large clumps of white mist. The intense friction generated high temperatures that caused the atmosphere to expand rapidly. The resulting strong winds were propelled wildly by the force field, breaking the sound barrier in an instant and forming a terrifying pale shock wave.

The paladin's golden totem pole crashed head-on into the wind wall, flying back like withered autumn leaves, and even his heavy, rhinoceros-like body was blown up like a snowflake.

The force field wave traveled continuously for hundreds of meters from the stairwell to the end of the corridor, shattering the doors and windows of all the venues along the way. The walls were covered with cracks like a scorched riverbed, and all the ceiling candlesticks and lamp holders were swept away. It rushed to the end of the corridor and crashed down with the half-giant paladin, piling up like a mound of earth.

[Network Notification: The enemy (the bound player [Rift Gate - Azgan]) has performed a death immunity check, which has been successful! Now in a near-death state]

The lingering sound gradually faded away, like a thunderstorm slowly receding into the distance.

The three teammates had already dealt with the elite monster in the Waxed Hall. They cautiously peeked out from the broken door frames and windows. The corridor was a mess, and the exterior surfaces of all the building structures were broken as if they had been crushed by a pile driver.

Lin Bo pushed aside the pile of clutter and pulled the half-giant paladin out of the water. The holy power within the paladin was already healing him, and in a little while, he would be able to rejoin the battle.

Taking advantage of the moment when his tendons and bones were broken, the mage inscribed a spell on his magical armor, which immediately paralyzed his body, rendering him unable to move.

The three teammates looked at the large, tattered, twisted humanoid figure in Lin Bo's arms and recognized the half-giant as the most resolute defender and reliable front-line member of the ten-man squad.

"Good brother, you're a true tough guy to have survived him." The Elf Swordsman couldn't help but make a praying gesture.

The human ranger [Tree Eagle] beside him also made a praying gesture, but remained silent, because his throat had been damaged by the halflings and he couldn't speak yet.

(End of this chapter)