Chapter 361 - 323: The Depths of the Library

Chapter 361: Chapter 323: The Depths of the Library

"Out of the way!"

With a low shout, Lloyd cleaved diagonally with his Short Sword, bisecting a ’Senior’ that was pouncing at him. The two halves of its body brushed past him as they fell apart.

Then, with a nimble spin, Lloyd shot out the few matches held in his left hand. They transformed into invisible blades, slicing a book ambushing him from behind into shreds.

There were no screams or cries of alarm, no splatter of blood or guts. Inside the ’Senior’ was nothing but a pitch-black void, as if it were a link to some unknown Abyss.

The shredded pages simply scattered quietly before dissolving into the library floor.

[Ding~ Madness Value +500, Knowledge Fragment +1]

[Ding~ Madness Value +400, Knowledge Fragment +1]

Following the two system prompts, the two halves of the ’Senior’s’ body popped like a bubble, vanishing into thin air without a trace.

Judging from the system prompts, these ’Seniors,’ while perhaps once alive and possessing lifelike human forms, were clearly no longer human. They were a unique type of Demon, like humanoid statues.

That previous powerful attack had eliminated many ’Seniors’ and sources of ’knowledge,’ but this library was truly massive. The spot where he’d first landed was just a tiny, insignificant corner.

And so, Lloyd had barely taken a few steps before he ran into several more ’overly enthusiastic’ Seniors and a few ’overly proactive’ tomes of knowledge.

Thankfully, Lloyd was in a relatively long, narrow corridor where not too many of these ghoulish things lingered. Had he been in one of the spacious reading rooms or archives, he dreaded to think what he might have faced...

If these things came at him one by one, they might be decent ’experience points.’ But if they swarmed him all at once, Lloyd would more likely become *their* ’experience points’...

The crucial point, however, was that [Twist], the ability Lloyd usually took pride in, wasn’t particularly effective against these sentient tomes and Demons...

[Twist]’s full suite of control effects was completely useless against these things. ’Do they completely lack perception and thought?’ This rendered [Twist]’s greatest advantage completely useless.

Even direct physical contortions, which should have caused devastating damage, had little effect. A ’Senior’ would continue to charge at Lloyd without hesitation, even if its spine and neck were twisted several full turns.

’It seems a simpler, more direct approach is more effective against these things, like that powerful attack from earlier, or simply cutting them in two with my sword.’

He had left his [Projection] at the previous camp to guard the elevator, which meant [Extraordinary Swordsmanship] was now Lloyd’s greatest asset.

He had tried using his gun, too, but the space here was too bizarre; it always disrupted the bullets’ flight path, making it impossible to hit anything...

Therefore, Lloyd had to proceed with extreme caution, carefully choosing his path to avoid the numerous reading rooms and archives.

Fortunately, the experience he’d unexpectedly gained from three veteran investigators during the ’small mountain village incident’ was coming in handy now.

That experience allowed him to remain calm and composed in this extremely dangerous situation, to think clearly, and to notice the seemingly insignificant but potentially fatal ’little details.’

Otherwise, the book that had tried to smash into the back of his head moments ago might have succeeded...

’I might be able to endure a hit from a single book, thanks to my stats, but what if it attracted more of them...’

And so, relying on his accumulated experience, Lloyd carefully skirted several dangerous areas and, without alerting the ’Seniors’ inside, quietly arrived at a stairwell.

According to his spatial coordinate readings, the professor’s team was in the central area two floors up. If he just went up two flights of stairs, he should be able to meet them.

But the coordinates for the lecturer and the Teaching Assistant’s team pointed in the complete opposite direction—downstairs. ’They’re headed down?’

Lloyd didn’t know if they’d gone the wrong way or run into some kind of trouble.

At the fork in the path—up or down—Lloyd didn’t hesitate. He chose to go up and find the professor’s group first.

They were the stronger fighting force, after all. With their help, finding the lecturer and the other two would be much easier.

Lloyd hunched over and crept up the stairs, doing his best not to make a sound.

But when he had climbed only one flight of stairs, he saw the scene above, and his face fell.

The landing connected to a spacious, open-air balcony, which happened to be crowded with a large group of ’Seniors.’

Judging by their frozen postures, it looked as though two of them had gotten into an argument and were grappling with each other, which had drawn a crowd of onlookers.

And every one of them was holding books and notebooks...

A few of them even noticed the movement on the stairs and swiveled their bodies to look over.

Lloyd quickly pulled his head back and retreated a few steps down the stairs.

’Not good. If I try to get past them here, they’ll definitely spot me, but I don’t have time to look for another route...’

’Should I open a Teleportation Gate and go straight through?’

Lloyd glanced down at the Spatial Compass in his coat pocket.

’That might be a good way to take a shortcut.’

’But in this volatile, unstable calm before the storm, rashly opening a Teleportation Gate could be the very butterfly that triggers the hurricane...’

’Besides, he didn’t even know what the situation was with the professors on the other side of the gate. All he knew was that their coordinates hadn’t moved for a long time...’

’Should I take the gamble?’

Lloyd hesitated for a second, then took out two matches.

At a time like this, he would trust his Divination.

’Can I just open the gate and go through? Can I just open the gate and go through? Can I just open the gate and go through?’

Lloyd repeated the question silently in his mind and tossed the matches lightly to the ground.

This time, the matches didn’t burn. Instead, they exhibited a strange weathering and decay, as if they had experienced tens of thousands of years in the blink of an eye, instantly turning into nothing more than a few specks of black dust.

’This result and this Omen...’

’Optimistic!’

’This means that whatever is behind that gate is related to "time." It must be the [Miracle Magic: Time Freeze] I’m looking for!’

’And my current dangers and difficulties will vanish in the blink of an eye, just like those matches!’

After this simple interpretation of the Divination, Lloyd’s confidence surged. He immediately took out the Spatial Compass and began to tap it gently.

As the Teleportation Gate began to open, the commotion alerted the ’Seniors’ on the balcony. They went into a frenzy and swarmed toward him.

With his escape route cut off, Lloyd had no choice but to brace himself and leap into the Teleportation Gate.

His vision swam for a moment, and then he found himself in an impossibly vast and magnificent archive.

Here, bookshelves towered like skyscrapers, so tall that their tops were lost to sight.

They formed a great ring, as if forging a very tower of knowledge.

And at the center of their circle was just a simple desk, upon which sat some quill pens, parchment, and a faintly glowing Crystal Ball.