Plague Doctor

The cold gale lashed against people’s faces. Panicked children hugged their parent’s tightly but little did they know their parents were equally panicking. The yellow-robed audience did not move but the figures in the yellow robe and white mask did. They chanted out a heavy curse, sounding like a song of the dead. Darkness churned above them and the evil within the ground reawakened, causing the entire open-air arena to tremble!

Xue Ba, Cai Zixuan and the Phecda members’ expression changed because they could recognize the chanting as the summoning spell from the first chapter of the Seven Cryptical Book of Hsan. However different from their usual training, these yellow-robed figures chanted the spell with such speed and mastery, and an undercurrent of madness coursing through it. In the blink of an eye, winged creatures flew out from all corners of the stage. They had dark fur and were the size of half an adult. They had a hook-like tail and knife-like talons. Their wings cut through the air like razors.

These abnormal creatures, which looked like giant bats, launched themselves at the victims. They permeated the air with a horrible stench. These were… the nightgaunts!

Gu Jun narrowed his gaze as his heart sank. The last time he encountered these creatures were outside Chen Defa’s cave. These creatures should be nothing more than a mental projection meaning they posed more threat mentally than physically. But in this abnormal space, they appeared to have taken on a physical body. A claw from them would slice one’s head clean off.

“Ah!” Cai Zixuan couldn’t help but gasp. Lou Xiaoning, Yang Ying and the other Spell Department members were overwhelmed by shock. ‘They are too powerful…’ Even though they had been training mental power daily, none of them had casted the summoning spell before. They were no match for these cultists under the best circumstances much less now when they were injured and most of them still had not shaken off the influence of the mind control. The normal citizens screamed like headless chicken and they tried to force their way through the Phecda members.

Gu Jun was about to do something when Peacock yelled, “Why panic? These are just common nightgaunts, leave them to us!” Instantly, the five land’s travellers came to a decision. The land’s travellers were not the only culture who studied the Seven Cryptical Book of Hsan, as there were also Atal, Barzai and these cultists, but they were the only one who used the tome for a good purpose. The Professors in their tribe had been teaching them to use this power to protect the powerless…

So those who dared to harm the innocent with the book would be their enemy!

Peacock, Malachite, Gold, Aquamarine and Amberlite moved so fast that they shocked even Gu Jun. It showed their years of training and working together. They moved into the position to form a small ritual and they started to sign and cast spells. A brilliant white glow gathered within their circle and the song in the wind was blown out of tune. There was a trace of madness in their chanting, but both Wu Siyu and Wang Ruoxiang could feel the difference in their spell, theirs was a force that shone through the darkness.

Larger shadows burst through the ground. They flew into the sky with thundering shrieks as their giant wings covered up the clouds! When the normal citizens saw this, they were frozen into place. ‘What kind of monsters are these?’ Each of them was the size of a house, their opened wings were slightly injured but they were several ten metres wide. They sounded like cows but had heads like vultures. Their yellow and black skin reminded people of rotten corpses. They had many long and twisted limbs which ended in giant claws. They were mental projections that were as palpable as the real thing.

“It’s the summoning spell from the fifth chapter…” Wang Ruoxiang explained. Hearing that, Cai Zixuan, Xue Ba and the rest were startled. ‘Who are these people?’

A name crossed Gu Jun’s mind, Larger Nightgaunt. The creatures dived at their targets with echoing shrieks. These were not creatures of mercy. As their talons clawed and wings flapped, the smaller nightgaunts screamed in terror as they were squished, torn open and slashed into shreds!

Despite their numbers, the nightgaunts were no match for their larger kindred. They soon dissolved into an invisible blood rain. The chanting of the white-masked figures was wavering, some of them faded away, the power of the yellow robes was receding.

“Oh wow…” Wu Siyu sighed in awe. Cai Zixuan cheered them on and Lou Xiaoning punched her fist in glory. These five were amazing! Even hope rejuvenated in the hearts of the normal citizens. In spite of the gore, this development gave them faith.

The land’s travelers though were impervious to the reaction that they had evoked, they were too focused on channeling their power. Their heart weighed down from the pressure and their veins popped. In that moment, Peacock was reminded of her childhood, her parents, White Sugar and the City of Kindle. She was reminded of the steppe fire and the Ossarians that appeared like recurring nightmares… If what they did here could lead to a different future, then they would do everything they could to prevent the age of collapse!

As Phecda Hero had said, this was their destiny.

“Go!” Peacock waved her hand and another larger nightgaunt materialized beside her. Her mental power was reaching the bottom, her soul was drying up… This caused Kathlyn to worry, ‘Peacock, don’t push yourself too hard…’

The larger nightgaunts dominated the battlefield but the nightgaunts kept coming. There were still tens of thousands of yellow figures in the audience.

“Is that so, is it finally time for the appearance of death?” Mr. Wang Erde’s crazed laughter rang out again, “Delicious death shall bring upon the silence of the spirits!” The chanting of the yellow-robed figures changed. The nightgaunts stopped appearing but a much darker energy was rapidly materializing…

The hearts of the Phecda members tightened, these people were also using the fifth chapter!

“They’re trying to summon the actual…” Wang Ruoxiang gasped in a hurry, “Byakee…” The name just tumbled out of her lips, as if it was already somewhere in her mind.

Gu Jun made his move, he knew that the land’s travellers could not hold on for much longer but they had already outdone themselves to have forced the enemy into this corner. The enemy threw everything they had into the gauntlet.

This space did not belong on earth, it was twisted with the geography of Dreamlands and that provided him with the perfect opportunity to unleash his skill, one that was unique to Gu Jun as the nightmare man. It was time to remove the mask. Gu Jun plucked the white mask off with his left hand and his right hand sought out something from his medical bag.

“Ah…””Ah Jun!” When his friends saw his face, some gasped in shock while others were dumbfounded. Cai Zixuan’s face was red, Lou Xiaoning cursed and Wu Siyu widened her eyes, it appeared like she had tasted something from this changed appearance of Gu Jun. Gu Jun was quite a handsome man, even though his facial feature had not changed, the purplish-red skin and numerous scars were quite a horror to look at.

“Do not look at me, and bend down!” Gu Jun ordered loudly, “Now!” The Phecda members moved to oblige in spite of their confusion. Cai Zixuan and Lou Xiaoning relayed the orders to the normal citizens, forcing them into motion. Peacock, and Malachite realized what the nightmare man was about to do so they too turned their heads away.

“I hear that you enjoy entertainment, well, do I have the perfect show for you.” Gu Jun raised the Carlot scalpel to pierce lightly but accurately at his eyelids, mimicking the black merchant. His current mental corruption rate was at 21.68 percent. As the familiar pain engulfed him, his consciousness slipped into the sweet dream bubble. His physical body stared at the yellow figures as his eyes widened. The gaze that appeared to have gathered the nightmare of the whole world stared right at them. “It’s time for the Nightmare Wonder.”

Before the Larger Nightmare Wang Ruoxiang called Byakee had the chance to arrive, the white-masked figures were interrupted by a twisted nightmarish force. The figures crumbled as they reached out their hands to peel off their masks and dig out their eyes…

Those who had been in the war against the house of nightmare could feel its nightmarish power surrounding them!

Do not look, do not think, they kept their bodies bent but even so, a splitting headache threatened to break their mind.

“Ah, death, death…” Mr. Wang Erde’s voice was filled with shock and even more madness, “Is that so, so this is death…” With a loud boom, all the nightgaunt, big and small exploded in the air. Blood rained down as the stone stage started to crumble inch by inch…

Corruption rate decreases by 1 percent, 3 percent, 5 percent, 10 percent, 18 percent!

The sweet dream bubbles popped one after another, eventually even the cotton candy dream shattered. When Gu Jun’s consciousness returned to his body, the corruption rate only had 3 percent left. He never felt so clear-minded and the purplish-red color of his skin was fading. He turned to check on the Phecda members, they were shocked but mostly fine. The normal citizens had just lived through a nightmare but they too seemed mostly alright.

He then turned to the audience, most of the yellow figures had faded into a blur. Those who lingered were rolling on the ground in pain…

By the looks of it, the Nightmare Wonder was again a huge success. He walked towards the small yellow figure who had rematerialized on the ground. The figure screamed ‘death’ as he scrambled backwards. Gu Jun stared at the beady eyes filled with hatred and mumbled, “My eyes are the abyss and the abyss is the truth!”

‘Mr. Wang Erde, this is a private show meant for you only. Please enjoy the Eye of the Abyss.’