Chapter 273: The Mysterious Statue
The man arrived on the platform, looking solemn yet confident.
He was a Royal-order hunter, a Dark Elf.
When everyone saw him, many people in the dome recognized him.
"Isn't that Nix Flamebard? I heard he climbed the Wihanx Finger's top a year ago."
"He might succeed."
Many people formed their opinions without the knowledge of the statue.
After all, everyone was seeing it for the first time.
Selene welcomed Nix and smiled, "I truly wish you good luck and all the best."
"I'll remove the barriers and put them again around you and the statue," the old man Lambo said, "Ready?"
"Go ahead," Nix nodded, his gaze sharp and eyes glinting with Prana as he looked straight at the statue.
Old man Lambo removed the barriers and immediately put them around the statue and Nix again.
This way, if Nix becomes insane and starts attacking, it would hit the barrier, nullifying the Abyss Rule against old man Lambo, a peak Empyrean-order powerhouse.
"You can start anytime," old man Lambo nodded.
Nix took a deep breath and directed his spirit sense into the statue.
"What gives him the confidence?" Rin confusedly asked.
"Maybe his understanding of a certain concept?" Erix thoughtfully said.
"He has a concept gearing towards offense," Amu said. "So upon learning that the statue gives destructive impulses, he thought he might be able to survive ten seconds."
"But he is strong," Amu added as five seconds passed.
Everyone was glued to the screen and the moment the sixth second passed by, Nix's aura became dark and volatile and Prana surged from him as he roared like a mindless beast.
*BOOM!*
A powerful black flame of orb blasted within the barrier, giving a heads up to old man Lambo as he sighed.
"Wait! Please!"
Someone shouted from the audience and rushed toward the platform, "Don't kill him please!"
It was a demoness with two blue horns and light blue skin.
"Lady, It's not like I will like killing a defenseless person who is not my enemy," Old man Lambo helplessly smiled.
Nix was trapped in the barrier, attacking everywhere while shouting with red eyes, but he was trapped in an Empyrean-order's barrier with Abyss Rule nullified since he first attacked.
There was no way could break it and get out.
"Who are you to him, miss?" Selene asked, her voice filled with pity.
"I-I am his partern, his wife, Tiarath."
"Tiarath, this statue is dangerous and the effect it brings upon others is irreversible," Selene sighed. "He will never get out of this state."
"As we speak, his consciousness is entirely destroyed already," old man Lambo said. "The only thing that exists in his soul is destructive impulses."
"We had a few more people who turned destructive, but no matter how much we tried, it wasn't possible to recover them by any means at our disposal," old man Lambo sighed.
"No…" Tiarath's lips trembled and she fell to her knees with a thud. Her face streamed with tears as she repeatedly shook her head. "My fault…It's…"
"What do you mean?" Selene asked, surprised.
"I-I told him that he could do it…It's my fault, my fault," Tiarath broke down.
Rin and others watching didn't feel good, especially Rin and Erix.
"Now I wished he would have succeeded," Erix softly sighed.
"Mhm," Rin nodded and rested her head on Erix's shoulder before grabbing his arm. "We will go together."
"Mhm," Erix nodded.
"You two still want to go?!" Maleina was speechless.
"I want to stop you two now, but…" Lily weakly smiled. "I know the final decision will be yours and you've made up your mind."
This was also why Lilith didn't say anything.
However, something magical happened right when old man Lambo was about to swiftly kill Nix.
The statue's third eye faintly shone for a very brief moment and Nix quieted down all of a sudden, standing still for a second and then falling on his back.
Selene and old man Lambo were utterly shocked as their expression drastically changed.
"This….This is unexpected," Old man Lambo murmured. He removed his barriers and checked Nix's condition before another wave of shock washed over him.
Selene also checked his status and was dumbfounded.
"How? His consciousness and soul actually recovered! This hasn't happened to any of the 37 people who tried the statue before this!"
The entire dome erupted in talk and discussion.
Many people even became hopeful and were thinking about trying it.
"Wait, did he pass or not?!"
Someone suddenly shouted loudly using energy to spread the voice amidst the discussion.
Old man Lambo shook his head in response and said, "If one succeeded, the statue will supposedly vanish. Nix was somehow spared from the destructive impulses, which had never happened before."
"Indeed," Selene nodded. "Take him back. He is fully drained of his soul energy and his consciousness is down. It will take him a few days to recover."
"Mhmm," Tiarath nodded as her tears increased, but they were of gladness. She picked up Nix and immediately flew away towards the exit.
"I want to try!"
"Me too!"
A few voices roses and some even emerged from VIP boxes.
Lilith chuckled, "So many eager fools. Let's watch them first."
"Alright," Erix shrugged. "But I somehow feel like Rin and I will succeed."
"Hehe, me too," Rin grinned.
On the other hand, Selene took turn first come first serve approach.
"Everyone, please calm. The one who spoke first will take the first."
Immediately, a muscular bald man with black beastly tattoos on his body flew towards the platform and stood before the statue.
"I have a condition," the bald man said with a grin. "If I fall into destructive impulses, I also want some time to recover like Nix."
The bald man was actually an Empyrean-order hunter at level 421!
Unlike the Supra-order to Royal-order where people could evolve after every hundred levels and meeting requirements, the Empyrean-order spanned longer.
Level 301 to level 500!
"Alright, we'll add a new rule," old man Lambo caressed his beard while smiling. "Once someone turns insane, we'll give full one minute to recover."
"We have tested this statue and we can say for certainty that what happened with Nix was an anomaly and a first-time occurrence," Celene wryly smiled, "Everyone, please don't get your hopes high yet."
"You may begin," Old man Lambo smiled and removed his barriers before covering the bald man within it along with the statue.
This time, he put five layers of barriers.
However, after just three seconds of starting the test, the bald man became insane, shouting and unleashing beastly roars and projectiles of various exotic beasts' maws that attacked the barrier and the statue.
Naturally, the statue remained entirely unscratched despite the powerful attacks.
Everyone was waiting with bated breath as time passed.
Selene shook her head after half a minute passed.
Two women and one man arrived on the platform and shouted, trying various ways to recover the bald man.
However, one minute was slowly creeping to an end.
"Jeez, don't tell me Bald Beast will die today?"
"A pity. He had reached Empyrean-order and could leave Abyss after breaking through eventually."
"It's part of his journey, haha. It's not like all Empynrean-order survives. Didn't you hear the death of that Dark Sterling Valen?"
"What?! He died?"
"Yeah, he was a rising Empyrean-order, but was unfortunately killed near Regnir Mountain."
"That wolf must have killed him…"
People erupted in discussion as the minute came to an end along with Bald Beast's fate.
Old man Lambo's eyes glinted with dark yellow before a mystical dark yellow square with black patterns trapped Bald Beast and immediately shrank into palm-size.
Many felt a chill crawling down their spine upon seeing that.
"This old man is as ruthless and swift as ever," Lilith bemusedly said with a wry smile. "I can't wait to kill him when the time comes."
"Eh, do you know him?"
Rin, Erix, and others were surprised.
"Executioner Lambo. He is in my hit list of revenge, ranked 4th."