Spellcasting Gods

He first glanced at them with disdain, then sneered, "Are you threatening my students?"

"Hey! Old man! Watch your mouth! We just want to get to the bottom of this!" The bald, burly man slammed his hand on the table as a warning.

“Idiot! Do you think the truth even matters now? What really matters is getting out of this mess and getting back to Los Angeles alive.” Craig looked up and met his gaze without flinching.

He knew very well that if he couldn't regain control now, the days ahead would be difficult, so he couldn't back down even a little bit.

"Do you have a solution?" a white man in his thirties wearing a white shirt asked tentatively.

Craig nodded slightly and opened the ancient book, placing it on the table: "Yes! Everything is recorded in this book, including this world, the runes that keep monsters away, and even the way back."

"Fuck! Give me the book!" Without saying a word, the bald, burly man snatched the book and began flipping through it quickly.

Interestingly, within seconds, an undisguised embarrassment appeared on his face as he muttered under his breath, "Can anyone tell me what this crooked, broken thing is? Why can't I understand a single word?"

Upon hearing this, the old professor couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth and adjust his glasses: "That's Sassanid Pahlavi, the language used in medieval Persia! Even in the whole world, there aren't many people who can understand it, and my student and I happen to be two of them..."

Chapter 659 The Mysterious Ancient Book (Part 5)

Without a doubt, in this clash between knowledge and violence, the old professor, with his rich life experience, wrested the lead in the survivor group from the bald, burly man.

Because apart from him and Mansa, there was no one else in the restaurant who could understand the contents of the ancient parchment book, let alone decipher what was written inside.

However, while these ordinary people were gathered together, discussing how to escape their current dangerous situation, Zhang Cheng, who was far away in Los Angeles, had already arrived at the scene. He was frowning as he looked around at the fast food restaurant that had vanished into thin air, completely ignoring the busy police officers and reporters.

After about ten minutes, he stroked his chin and muttered to himself, "Interesting! No wonder that book has passed through many owners in the underground world, and none of them have been able to figure out its secrets. It turns out it only reacts to ordinary people, then opens a directional teleportation portal, moving all nearby life forms and buildings away together. But the problem now is, how do I find the coordinates of the directional teleportation location?"

Clearly, sending that ancient book away was a small experiment he deliberately made.

Because I can sense an extremely powerful force from the ancient book, but I don't know why it can't be activated. It seems to be in a dormant state and can only be awakened under certain circumstances.

Like most high-level magical items, this is a trigger condition set by the creator. If you don't know how to activate it, the book is just an ordinary book. But once activated, it becomes a locator and a key.

Even with Zhang Cheng's current knowledge and magical power, he couldn't track where the entire restaurant had been teleported to. There was no better way than to wait patiently.

He had anticipated this situation, which is why he gave the girl a note with her phone number on it.

If the other party tries to make this call, the location spell hidden in the note will be activated instantly, giving him the opportunity to open a stable portal to the location.

Of course, if the other party never remembers to make a phone call before they die, then he will have to give up on investigating the secrets hidden behind the book.

……

Meanwhile, far away in a world filled with flames and lava, Professor Craig had just finished reading the entire book in a little over three hours. With a solemn expression, he said to the survivors sitting around him, "Ladies and gentlemen, the place we are currently in is not actually Earth, but a place similar to a parallel universe."

According to the original dualistic religions that originated in Central Asia and the Middle East, the world was born from the eternal struggle between two opposing deities: good and evil, light and darkness.

In their struggle, the earth, mineral veins, plants and animals, and humans appeared one by one.

Interestingly, due to the long-term struggle, some of the gods symbolizing light, goodness, and fire gradually merged with the gods symbolizing darkness and evil, giving birth to some monster-like creatures. They did not have flesh and blood, but appeared before the world in the form of elements.

To prevent these grumpy creatures from roaming and causing destruction, the God of Light built a prison to hold the most dangerous spirits. Icarette was one of them.

The later-emerging Islam absorbed these folk tales and renamed them Ifrit.

"So we're trapped in a prison created by the gods? Those monsters outside radiating incredible heat are fire spirits? The biggest one is Icarus, or Ifrit? And what about God and Jesus Christ? Doesn't the Bible say that God is the creator of all things?" The waitress's eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.

It is important to understand that as monotheistic religions, including Christianity and Islam which originated from Judaism, spread widely around the world, many ancient and primitive religions have directly led to their demise. As a result, many people have no idea what the real religious thoughts and ideologies of ancient times were like, let alone understand them in depth.

The reason is simple: monotheism promotes an extreme ideology, such as the idea that there is only one God, the omnipotent creator, and that everything is either right or wrong, with no room for compromise.

In such a cultural and social environment, people either become irrational and blindly obey the so-called "canonical texts," regarding them as the yardstick for regulating everyone's behavior and moral standards, no matter how backward the provisions are or how brutal the criminal laws are. The most typical examples are the Islamic countries in the Middle East and Central Asia.

Another situation is in Western countries where Christian thought is the cornerstone of society.

Having experienced the geographical discoveries of the Age of Exploration, the intellectual liberation of the Enlightenment, and the productivity advancements of the Industrial Revolution, they are relatively more open-minded, but at their core, they still adhere to the strong exclusivity of monotheism.

For example, any country that does not follow the Western system of one person, one vote in elections will be labeled as a dictatorship; any region that does not follow Western universal values ​​and moral standards will be regarded as backward, ignorant, and cruel.

After all, the education, environment, and media propaganda they received from childhood embodied the strong exclusivity of Christianity. In particular, even in the United States in the 21st century, the highest leader, the president, still places his hand on the Bible when he takes office.

As an archaeology professor, Craig was well aware of the contempt and rejection most Americans held for other religions. He sighed helplessly and explained, "I'm sorry, I'm not a theologian, so I can't answer your question. I can only tell you what's recorded in this book. Also, the giant emanating magma from his entire body is not Icarus. The real Icarus should look more like a demon, with a pair of sharp horns on her head and hands and feet shaped like animal claws."

"Damn it! Stop talking nonsense! I don't care about any bullshit God of Light, God, or Jesus Christ. I just want to know how to get back to Los Angeles," the bald, burly man interrupted impatiently.

“We need to find something! To be precise, a key! Look, the book describes what it looks like and where it is. If I’m not mistaken, it’s probably in that huge volcano crater in the distance.” The old professor looked up and gazed at the giant volcano several kilometers away, which was spewing out molten lava.

"Shit! You mean...we have to rush out? Good heavens! Are you crazy? Those fire monsters outside will roast us to a crisp!" another white youth who looked to be in his early twenties exclaimed in surprise.

"Don't worry! Remember the symbols we carved on the outside wall? As long as you use a pen that won't leave ink on your clothes and skin, the fire spirits won't attack us. Of course, if you're willing to stay here and starve or die of thirst without water or food, then disregard what I said..."

"Fuck! Stop talking nonsense! Listen to the professor! Prepare plenty of water! We're leaving in half an hour!" The bald, burly man raised his revolver and shouted a threat.

Chapter 0660 The Mysterious Ancient Book (Part Six)

Using his size and the threat of firearms, the bald, burly man quickly mobilized everyone in the restaurant. About twenty minutes later, the group cautiously walked out the door, passing by the monsters whose bodies were covered in flames or flowing lava.

As Professor Craig said, none of the monsters attacked, or even ignored them.

Upon discovering this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and quickened their pace, rushing forward. In no time, they had covered several hundred meters before stopping to rest, covered in sweat.

Don't think that you're this tired after just a few hundred meters; your physical fitness is really terrible.

It's important to understand that this isn't normal or high temperature in the usual sense; it's a terrifyingly high temperature of over 40 or 50 degrees Celsius. If there are flames or lava rivers nearby, the temperature will immediately rise by another 10 or 20 degrees, reaching an astonishing 60 or 70 degrees Celsius.

Generally speaking, an ambient temperature exceeding 36 to 37 degrees Celsius is considered a high-temperature environment. Reaching 40 degrees Celsius will place a huge extra burden on the internal organs, respiratory and circulatory systems. Staying in such an environment for several hours will cause heatstroke, fainting, or even shock and death because the body temperature cannot be lowered.

As for temperatures of fifty or sixty degrees Celsius, these can be considered absolute death environments. Even with ample water intake, a person will begin to give out after only one or two hours.

Previously in the restaurant, because there was still ice left in the cold storage to keep the temperature down, everyone hadn't felt too uncomfortable.

But now that they've left the restaurant, they immediately feel like they're in a steamer or sauna. In just three or four minutes, it feels like there's an inextinguishable flame burning inside their bodies. Many people even couldn't resist taking out bottled water and pouring it on their mouths, faces, and bodies.

"Damn it! Stop! Stop right now! Don't waste water! We still have several kilometers to go!" Mansa shouted as soon as she saw this.

Unfortunately, nobody paid any attention to her.

The pampered citizens of Los Angeles have long lost the resilience of their European immigrant ancestors, becoming arrogant and lazy, and have never experienced such hardship.

Just as the girl was about to say something, Craig waved his hand to stop her, saying, "Don't waste your energy, let them be. Anyway, they are all adults and have the right to be responsible for their actions. I think it would be a blessing if a quarter of them left alive."

“But…but these people are in this situation because of this book! Because of us! We have an obligation to help them!” Mansa clenched her fists subconsciously, a hint of reluctance flashing in her eyes.

"No, child, our only duty is to return alive and announce this momentous discovery to the world. Look at the rare elements and minerals contained in this scorching magma—an unimaginable treasure for all of humanity, not to mention the fire spirits that exist only in myths and legends. Believe me, these are the real treasures. No matter what happens to others, you and I must return alive. If my old bones can't hold on, everything will depend on you."

After saying that, Professor Craig gently patted the girl's shoulder, carefully avoiding the scorching hot ground that could melt the soles of her shoes, and continued walking forward, one step at a time.

Mansa bit her lower lip and glanced at her companions behind her. In the end, she steeled herself and quickly caught up.

She knew very well that she could barely take care of herself, let alone save everyone else.

And so they slowly made their way along the rugged road, which was prone to earthquakes and lava eruptions. The more they went, the fewer people there were. By the time they reached the foot of the volcano, less than eight of the thirty-odd people remained. The rest had either fainted on the way or accidentally fallen into the lava and were burned alive.

Of course, a large part of them brought it upon themselves. Seeing large diamonds, rubies, and cooled gold embedded in hot rocks, they couldn't resist their greed and got close to try and take them back to make a fortune. In the end, they didn't make any money and lost their lives instead.

Looking up at the steep terrain of the crater, the bald, burly man took a deep breath and asked in a somewhat uncertain tone, "Professor! Are you sure the key is inside?"

“That’s right! The book says that Icarus, who sleeps within Roaring Volcano, holds the key to escape. What we need to do is summon it through a magical ritual.” Craig nodded and answered in an extremely weak voice.

The prolonged exposure to high temperatures exhausted the nearly seventy-year-old man. The only thing that kept him going was the desire to see the most powerful fire spirit in legend—Icarette.

No archaeologist can resist bringing mythical creatures to life!

"Oh my God! This book! This book hasn't been lit yet?" The white youth finally noticed the strangeness of the parchment book.

After all, the terrifyingly high temperature had already burned everything that could be burned, such as pure cotton T-shirts, shirts, and socks, which suddenly caught fire while walking, and plastic bottles filled with water began to deform little by little. However, a parchment book was completely unharmed, which was definitely abnormal.

“I think perhaps some kind of magical power is protecting this book, just like those primitive Semitic alphabet symbols helped us avoid the fire spirits.” Mansa’s eyes flashed with a strange light as she lowered her head and gave her explanation.

Since most of her clothes had been burned, she was now only wrapped in a piece of cloth to cover her rather large breasts and hips, making her look very sexy and alluring.

But the men in the group were so exhausted that they had no desire whatsoever, and after only a glance, they turned their attention to the ancient book.

"Alright, now's not the time to discuss this book. Let's keep going, and once we get back alive, we can slowly investigate what incredible power it possesses." Professor Craig clearly didn't want to reveal too much and proactively ended the conversation.

Under his leadership, the group of eight held hands and used their last bit of strength to climb to the top of the constantly erupting volcano.

Before everyone could even catch their breath, the old professor forcefully shoved the bald, burly man into the crater. He then opened an ancient book to a page and loudly recited the eulogy in Sassanid Pahlavi: "Great Icarus! You were born from the first light and flame of the world! You are the source of all life! You are the symbol of power, courage, and destruction! You are the sign that transcends death and fear! According to the ancient covenant, I hereby offer you a sacrifice in exchange for the key to your departure..."

boom!

Accompanied by an even more violent eruption!

A monster with horns on its head, resembling a demon, finally leaped out from the deepest part of the volcano!

Although it is only three meters tall, it is engulfed in a dazzling white flame, and even the slightest touch of rock will instantly vaporize it due to the terrifying heat...

Chapter 0661 Sacrifice

"Human! Is that you calling me?" Icarette asked loudly, spreading her wings made entirely of flames and hovering above the magma in the crater.

Although it did not speak any known language, everyone present clearly understood its meaning.

Craig, struggling to keep his body from reaching its limit, replied breathlessly, "That's right! It's me! I have offered the sacrifice, please grant us the key to leave."

"Sacrifice? Hahahaha! You don't actually think that fool you pushed into the lava just now deserves to be called a sacrifice, do you? No! Human! True sacrifice is not a despicable ambush or murder! It is to unleash all the potential of a person's body and mind! To offer a battle beyond the limits as a warrior! To please me by letting your soul shine with the most brilliant light!" Icarette laughed as she stated the rules of sacrifice.

"You...you mean we have to fight each other to get the key to leave?" Mansa subconsciously licked her dry lips, her face full of shock and fear.

“That’s right! Only those who pass the test are qualified to leave!” Icarette nodded slightly. “Remember! This is not an ordinary battle. It’s about pushing your limits, overcoming fear and death in a fierce battle, and ultimately gaining my approval. Also, there are exactly six of you left. Now, each of you choose your opponent and begin.”

As the last word fell!

The six remaining survivors quickly distanced themselves from each other, warily eyeing each of their companions.

The old professor, in particular, who had pushed the bald, burly man into the lava, was being stared at with ill intent by the other four people. If nothing unexpected happened, he would definitely be the first to die soon.

On one hand, Craig's sudden sneak attack had given everyone an excuse to kill him. After all, killing a murderer could at most be considered self-defense, which is completely different from the psychological burden of killing an innocent person.

On the other hand, as a man in his seventies, his physical strength had reached its limit. Compared to the young and strong men and women present, the old man, who was only half alive, was obviously a relatively easy target to deal with.

Just as most people were hesitating about whether to strike first, a white man who looked to be around thirty years old finally couldn't resist and was the first to jump out and charge towards the old professor's location.

Without any fancy moves, he simply picked up a kitchen knife he had taken from the restaurant kitchen and stabbed it viciously into the other man's chest.

Craig was clearly exhausted and unable to dodge. He could only watch helplessly as the blade pierced his chest with a soft thud!

The bright red blood gushed out like a fountain!

Because of the extremely high surrounding environment, the blood flowed faster than usual, and it dried almost as soon as it flowed out, leaving a large patch of dark brown bloodstains on the rock in the blink of an eye.

"I won! I won! Give me the keys! I want to get out of this damn place!" The white man threw down the kitchen knife in his hand and shouted excitedly at the top of his lungs.