Spellcasting Gods

It is the only book to date that records information about ancient Semitic writing and religious rituals!

Moreover, it was written by a Manichaean priest more than 1,500 years ago!

In particular, these ancient alphabetic symbols are completely different from the known proto-Canaan, Alamadic, and Sabadic alphabets.

It is an archaeological discovery that is enough to shock the entire world!

This means that another unknown civilization has completely disappeared into the annals of history!

I don't want everything to be ruined because the book's origin is questionable!

As he said this, the old man waved his hands vigorously, showing absolutely no trace of the composure he had just mentioned...

Mansa's lips twitched slightly, and she quickly explained, "Please rest assured, Professor, this book was a gift from a somewhat arrogant young Asian man when I was having lunch out."

"Are you kidding me?! This book could fetch at least eight to ten million dollars at auction. You wouldn't even be worth that much if you were sold." Craig frowned subconsciously, his eyes revealing strong skepticism.

"I'm sorry, Professor, whether you believe it or not, this is the truth, and I'm a little confused myself." Mansa helplessly shrugged to show her innocence.

However, she quickly remembered that she had a phone number in her pocket, so she took it out and handed it to the old man: "Here, this is his number. You can call it to confirm."

Craig glanced at it with some skepticism, then took out his phone and made the call.

After a few rings, Zhang Cheng's languid voice came through the receiver: "Hello, who are you looking for?"

“Good afternoon, sir. I’m Craig, a professor in the Department of Archaeology at UCLA. I’m calling to confirm whether this book was a gift from you to Mansa and whether it is of legitimate origin,” the old man asked directly.

"Hello, Professor. I guarantee its provenance is 100% legitimate, but I must point out that this is not a book in the ordinary sense..."

"Not a book in the ordinary sense? What do you mean!" Craig felt a little confused, and before he could react and ask further, the phone went dead.

Although the meaningful remark made him slightly uneasy, his passion for archaeological research and his strong curiosity about the unknown quickly overshadowed everything.

He casually tossed his phone aside and said directly to his student, "Well, looks like you're in luck, Manny. From now on, you're no longer my student, but an equal partner. I swear, you have the right to put your name on all academic papers related to this book, provided that I lead the research and interpretation."

“No problem! It would be my pleasure!” The girl nodded without hesitation.

Never underestimate the power of a signature!

If the value of her paper is recognized by the academic community, she may be hired by UCLA to become a respected university professor.

Besides, deciphering an ancient book dating back more than 1,500 years, which also involves the ancient Semitic people, was a task that her meager knowledge was simply insufficient to accomplish.

“Very good! Let’s begin now! Remember! Absolute silence is essential while we’re working.” With that, Craig put his glasses back on, took out a pen and paper, and began copying down the Sassanid Pahlavi text line by line from the book, before translating it using reference materials.

Because the Western alphabet system is based on pronunciation, pronunciation can change drastically even among people in the same region over time, making translation extremely difficult, unlike the easily decipherable pictographic writing systems of the East.

While the two were engrossed in the strange and wonderful content related to magic, rituals, and supernatural powers, they were completely unaware that a monster with horns on its head and its whole body bathed in raging flames had opened its terrifying eyes on the spine of the book.

It was like a demon crawling out of hell, constantly emitting a sound that humans could not hear.

In less than a minute, animals within a radius of several kilometers began to attack each other like madmen. Two Golden Retrievers, known for their intelligence and gentleness, pounced on each other and began a relentless tearing and biting. No matter how their owners shouted or pulled them apart, it was no use. Only when one of them breathed its last did the other release its mouth, which was covered in blood and bits of flesh.

This bizarre and terrifying scene not only alarmed the surrounding security guards and patrol officers, but also attracted news reporters from major television stations who arrived at the scene half an hour after the incident to conduct interviews.

No one knew that the culprit was actually a book, an ancient parchment book that exuded mysterious power...

Chapter 657 The Mysterious Ancient Book (Part 3)

Undoubtedly, the two, who were busy deciphering the contents of the ancient parchment book, were completely unaware of the terrible commotion happening outside. They were so engrossed in their own world that they were not awakened by exhaustion and hunger until it was completely dark.

"Damn it! What time is it?" Craig looked up and glanced at the dark sky outside the window.

“It’s 9:30! Professor, I think we should go out and get something to eat now, then get a good night’s sleep and continue tomorrow.” Mansa glanced at her watch and offered her suggestion.

After all, as a young woman, her digestive system is far better than that of a seventy-year-old, and she is also less able to tolerate hunger. In addition, she did not eat much at noon, and she had already felt dizzy and lightheaded more than two hours ago. She barely managed to hold on until now.

Craig reluctantly and carefully closed the ancient book, nodding slightly: "Alright. However, I must keep this book safe, and I will not allow it to leave my sight until I have finished deciphering it."

“I have no objection! Professor, don’t dawdle, or the restaurants near the school gate will really have to close down.” Hungry Mansa clearly didn’t want to waste too much time and agreed directly.

However, Craig was clearly a little uneasy about leaving such an important item in the school building, which was only guarded by a few security guards. He wrapped the entire book in a protective plastic foam box, stuffed it into a suitcase, and carried it with him.

Before long, the two left the campus and went to a nearby ordinary fast food restaurant. They ordered some hamburgers, fries, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, and other things, and ate them heartily. While eating, they quietly discussed the problems they encountered during the translation process that afternoon, as well as possible ambiguities.

They were completely unaware that a powerful force had already isolated the entire restaurant from the outside world.

About three to five minutes later, blindingly bright sparks suddenly burst out from outside the restaurant, and then all the electrical equipment was instantly paralyzed, and the glass doors and windows were shattered by the enormous force.

Outside the window, shards of broken glass hung in the air, and the view was no longer UCLA, but a fiery world radiating intense heat and flowing with crimson lava.

Almost every second, waves of heat could be seen rising into the air, accompanied by violent vibrations and sounds.

"ah!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The waitress on the night shift was the first to react, letting out a piercing scream that rivaled a soprano's.

The rest of the people weren't much better off. The women, regardless of age, almost all followed the waiter closely, shouting and yelling at the top of their lungs. Some even tried to call 911 for help, but found there was no signal at all.

The men were a bit calmer. One burly, bald man even pulled out a gleaming, large-caliber revolver from behind his back and stared nervously at the strange scene outside.

Without a doubt, if it weren't for the incredibly realistic heatwave and high temperatures, no one would believe that just seconds before they were eating at the university campus gate, and a few seconds later they were in a place that felt like hell.

Mansa, holding a half-eaten hamburger, stared dumbfounded at the gushing, molten lava outside the restaurant. Several minutes passed before she finally murmured, trembling, "Oh my God! This...this is exactly like the third world described in the book!"

"Shh! Keep quiet! If you don't want to get yourself into trouble!" Craig warned gravely.

As an elderly man who personally experienced the darkest period of the 20th century in the United States, he knows better than anyone how terrible things ordinary people can do when they are in a state of sanity or mental breakdown in the city.

Adult men, in particular, often vent their inner fears and anxieties on women through violence.

"Then... what do we do now?"

Mansa wasn't stupid. She immediately noticed that several burly men in the restaurant had intense vigilance in their eyes, and even subconsciously reached into her backpack to clutch the only thing that could give her a sense of security: pepper spray.

After all, the United States ranks among the world's top countries with an average of more than 80,000 rape cases per year, and even prestigious universities are no better. Therefore, if you don't want to be assaulted by strangers, carrying some non-lethal self-defense weapons, such as pepper spray, a small stun gun, or a women's handgun, is common sense.

“It’s simple! We need to find a secluded place first and carefully study the descriptions of this world in that book,” Craig replied without hesitation.

Although California, where Los Angeles is located, has always been a gathering place for "white leftists," and universities have elevated political correctness to a pedestal, to the point that anyone who dares to violate it is doomed.

Fortunately, the old professor was not one of them, and had no intention of sharing information with anyone else in the restaurant.

He knew that if he revealed anything related to the ancient book, the frenzied crowd might rush over and snatch it away, or even try to destroy it to see if they could get back.

As early as the late 19th century, French social psychologist Gustave Le Bon, in his work on the psychology of the masses, "The Crowd," stated that one should never underestimate people's emotionality, lack of objectivity, and low intelligence when they fall into groupthink.

Sometimes, irrational crowds are not even as smart as chimpanzees. At least chimpanzees don't destroy the forests they depend on for survival, but humans trapped in a herd mentality will frantically destroy farmland, factories, and social order, plunging themselves into hunger and poverty from which they cannot extricate themselves.

While everyone's attention was drawn to the apocalyptic scene outside, Craig quickly led Mansa into the bathroom, locked the door, opened the box, took out the ancient book again, and swiftly turned to the corresponding page.

On the yellowed parchment was a drawing of a world where scorching lava was erupting from the ground, exactly like the view outside the window at that moment.

The old professor pointed to a line of small print below and read aloud: "Icarette! The most powerful fire spirit! Originating from the light and heat at the beginning of the world! It is neither good nor evil, but merely filled with wrath against the gods, for the sake of humanity, the gods imprisoned it in an eternal prison..."

Before Craig could finish reading the whole passage, a huge volcano in the distance suddenly began to erupt violently, the rumbling sound and tremors could be clearly felt even several kilometers away.

Even more terrifying, after the eruption ended, a creature over two hundred meters tall, composed entirely of scorching flames and magma, slowly crawled out of the crater.

Its size is so enormous that every step it takes causes the ground to collapse severely!

Behind this life-giving spectacle, countless flame-shaped monsters of all sizes are charging headlong towards the location of the restaurant...

Chapter 658 The Mysterious Ancient Book (Part 4)

How spectacular would it be if thousands upon thousands of fire creatures, stretching as far as the eye could see, launched an attack?

Just look at the crowd in the restaurant right now, completely stunned!

Even the bald, burly man holding a large-caliber revolver had a look of fear and despair in his eyes.

Even setting aside whether the bullets could harm creatures that clearly lack flesh and blood, the six bullets in the reel were simply insufficient to deal with so many enemies.

Mansa, who was hiding in the bathroom, undoubtedly witnessed this scene as well. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Professor... what should we do now?"

"Quiet down! I'm looking up relevant information!" Craig scolded, trying to remain calm.

Of course, it would be even more convincing if his hands didn't tremble uncontrollably like someone with Parkinson's disease.

However, a professor is a professor. After quickly reading the entire description of the world of fire, he immediately frowned and searched his mind for similar myths and legends.

About three to five minutes later, he suddenly exclaimed with delight, "I know! I know! This Ikhalet is actually Ifrit, the fire spirit from Islamic mythology. In fact, in many parts of the Middle East before the birth of Islam, there was a folk tale about a powerful fire spirit. According to archaeological discoveries, Zoroastrianism, the predecessor of Manichaeism, recorded a story of a powerful fire spirit being imprisoned by a god in murals, which clearly refers to this place."

"Damn it! Professor, what we need right now isn't this nonsense, but how to stop those monsters from burning us to a crisp!" Mansa roared in exasperation.

She could hardly believe that, even at this critical moment, the other party was still thinking about deciphering the countless perplexing mysteries in the ancient books.

“No! Child! This is important! Now that we know their identities, we can deal with them. Look, there are quite a few magical symbols here that can be used to drive away fire spirits. Quick, grab a kitchen knife and have everyone in the restaurant arrange these three symbols in order and carve them onto the outside wall as fast as possible. If the description in the book is correct, those monsters won't be able to touch them, or even get close.” Craig explained, pointing to three strangely shaped ancient Semitic letters on the back of the second page.

"Professor! You better pray they work, or I guarantee those people outside will tear you to pieces before they die."

After saying that, Mansa didn't care about anything else and immediately ran to the restaurant, shouting at everyone and then distributing the props in her hand to everyone.

Although some wanted to know where these strange symbols came from, they obediently chose to follow orders, intimidated by the increasingly close fire monsters.

After all, you can't afford to mess with anything but your own life.

If we really survive, it's not too late to ask later.

As the saying goes, in times of crisis, humans often unleash unimaginable power.

Especially these pampered big-city Americans, their current work efficiency is enough to make their compatriots ashamed. In less than two and a half minutes, the entire area around the restaurant was covered with dense, mysterious symbols.

When the giant fire monster and its minions approached, everyone retreated back into the restaurant, nervously watching the outside. They discovered that the runes they had just carved were emitting a faint silver light, successfully stopping the monster's advance. The monster simply circled around them.

"God! We're saved!" The waitress who screamed first made the sign of the cross on her chest, her face showing lingering fear.

"Don't get too excited yet! These guys can't get close, but they're not backing down either. Don't forget, we're trapped here and can't go anywhere. Once we run out of water and food, we won't fare much better," another middle-aged man, who looked like a restaurant chef, warned.

"Don't worry! Don't forget this is a restaurant! The food in the cold storage is enough to feed everyone for at least half a month." The waitress shrugged nonchalantly.

"Sigh! You big-breasted, brainless idiot! Think about it! We've already lost power! And right now we're in an extremely hot environment! In a few days at most, all the food in the cold storage will spoil. In three to five days at most, we'll be facing a shortage of water and food." The chef pointed out the problem directly in a rather helpless tone.

"Shit! My favorite ice cream! Let's get it out before it melts and eat it with everyone!" The waitress screamed as she rushed into the back of the store, took the ice cream out of the machine, and distributed it to everyone.

With the current ambient temperature at least 40 or 50 degrees Celsius, everyone is sweating profusely and needs something to cool down and restore body temperature balance.

Just as those brainless fools began to enjoy the coolness of the ice cream, a few more level-headed and calm individuals quickly approached Mansa. The bald, burly man who was in the lead fiddled with his revolver and said in a low voice, "Miss, I think you'd better explain what's going on here. How do you know those symbols can stop the fire monster from getting close?"

“That’s right! We have reason to suspect that you are the culprit behind this disaster,” another person chimed in.

"I'm sorry, I really don't know how to solve this..."

Before the girl could finish speaking, she saw the old professor walk out of the bathroom and plop down in the chair opposite her.