Chapter 584: Carnival of Desire [16]

The impostor Nick lowered his eyelids slightly, concealing the dark glint that flashed deep within his eyes. It quickly suppressed the stiff expression on its face and hurriedly stepped forward to lead the way.

"Adrian, come on, walk a little faster. This way!"

The mercury mist surrounding them grew thinner and thinner, yet the suffocating chill only intensified. The oppressive air no longer carried the pungent metallic scent. Instead, it reeked of dry, powdery gray lime, mildew, and the thick stench of death that clung to ancient graves.

Clack... clack...

The moment they rounded a sharp corner in the glass corridor, their field of vision suddenly opened up.

The mist was completely pushed back, revealing an enormous vaulted hall that was almost overwhelming in scale.

This place was completely detached from the maze-like structure of the Mirror Maze. The floor was paved with slabs of dull gray stone, while countless towering vaults stretched overhead, their surfaces covered in writhing black vines.

But the most horrifying sight of all was the hundreds—perhaps thousands—of human stone statues scattered throughout the vast space.

The statues were terrifyingly lifelike.

Each one had been frozen in a different pose. Some raised their hands in desperate attempts to shield themselves. Some knelt on the ground, screaming. Others wore expressions of sheer terror as they desperately swung their weapons.

Every detail had been carved with terrifying perfection—the contours of their muscles, the folds of their clothing, even individual strands of hair and beads of sweat clinging to their foreheads.

"We’ve arrived."

Nick stopped in the center of the vaulted hall. Perhaps because the surroundings had changed, but his voice sounded strangely different as well.

He slowly turned around. The innocent smile on his face had completely vanished, replaced by an expression of calm composure.

His left arm, which had been clutching his wound, dropped limply to his side. The pale-gray blood quickly dried, transforming into patches of dry, stone-like scales.

The skin on the impostor’s face began to crack like brittle, dried plaster.

It raised both arms and spread them wide, like a proud master presenting his very own art museum to a distinguished guest.

"Welcome to the Museum of Petrification—my museum of stone, my most precious guest."

Its voice was no longer Nick’s.

It had transformed into a deep, muffled voice, echoing through the hall with a dry, grating quality, like two rough slabs of stone scraping against each other.

"From the moment you stepped in here, I have been watching you. What a magnificent bearing you possess—a pure, effortless composure so perfect it borders on perfection. Those crude, vulgar creatures outside are only worthy of becoming dull gray background statues..."

The monstrous entity—the Curator of the Museum of Stone—slowly began walking toward Adrian. It was clearly taking one step at a time, yet in the blink of an eye, it was already so close that the tips of their noses were nearly touching.

The stone scales spreading across its body expanded rapidly, completely swallowing Nick’s appearance and transforming it into a towering humanoid figure made of gray stone, with a glittering silver mirror crystal embedded in its chest.

"And you..." Its dry, lifeless eyes locked onto Adrian, filled with the extreme greed of a collector. "...you will be the greatest masterpiece of all, the very heart of this museum. I will turn you into the most perfect stone statue there is, preserving that gentle smile of yours for all eternity!"

Adrian paused for a moment before letting out a soft laugh. He lightly flicked his hair aside.

"To be welcomed so warmly by all of you is truly a form of recognition for my beauty."

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

At the same time, countless stone-gray cracks suddenly spread outward from beneath Adrian’s feet!

A savage petrifying magic surged violently up from the floor, rapidly engulfing the heels of his leather shoes. The fabric and flesh of his body began turning into rigid gray stone.

The merciless laughter of the Curator of the Museum of Stone echoed throughout the vaulted hall.

"Don’t resist! This petrification is irreversible! It will devour your very soul!"

Yet in response to the monster’s frenzied excitement, Adrian simply remained where he was.

The vicious gray stone had already climbed up to his knees, but there was not the slightest trace of panic or change in expression on Adrian’s delicate face.

He merely raised his eyes, a faint smile resting upon his lips, as though he were looking at some cheap clown desperately putting on a performance before him.

"However..." Adrian spoke in an airy tone, his voice as gentle as the sound of a harp on a winter night. "Your art is truly ugly. It doesn’t sparkle at all. Who would want to become a lump of gray stone? You should study more."

Adrian’s words left the Curator momentarily stunned.

Then, all at once, a thunderous scream erupted through the hall.

"You dare say my art isn’t beautiful?! How dare you say such a thing?!"

At the same time, the stone spreading over Adrian’s body accelerated even further.

But clearly, it would never get the chance...

CRACK!

The sound of bones snapping rang out.

The smile on Adrian’s face was suddenly torn apart as his body transformed into a colossal form beyond all imagination.

"BOOM! CRASH!"

A thunderous rumble shook the entire hall as Adrian’s colossal tail slammed violently into the ground.

The layer of gray stone that had previously covered Adrian’s legs had long since been reduced to fine dust!

The Curator of the Museum of Stone’s eyes bulged wide, the mirror crystal embedded in its chest trembling violently with excitement.

"Aaaaah! Aaaaah! This is what I want! This! I want this! I want this!!!"

As if responding to its desire, countless sharp spikes suddenly erupted from the ground, all of them pointing toward Adrian’s massive body!

WHOOSH!

A streak of golden light tore through space!

CRACK... CRACK... SHATTER!

The Curator of the Museum of Stone let out a horrific, agonized scream as its entire body was swallowed in a single bite by Adrian.

Adrian’s razor-sharp fangs pierced straight through its body before suddenly clamping down with tremendous force!

The entire gray stone body instantly shattered into countless fragments of dull gray rock.

BOOM!

The monster’s body exploded into a cloud of gray dust, completely dissolving into the void.

[...]

[Every time something happens, Adrian just turns into a giant snake. At this point, he’s basically unbeatable.]

[Doesn’t he have any weaknesses at all?]

[His weakness is probably dungeons that require brains. But when it comes to pure combat like this, he’s completely overwhelming!]

[Finally, I understand Adrian’s beauty! He’s at his most beautiful when he’s a snake!]

As though he could somehow see the comments, Adrian suddenly turned toward the live-stream screen and let out a deafening roar.

His enormous jaws opened wide, looking as though they could swallow three people at once.

[...]

[Does Adrian seriously not realize he’s going to make me piss my pants doing that?!]

[Hahaha, that’s seriously too much!]

Meanwhile, on the other side, the moment the entity controlling this place fell, an invisible wave began spreading throughout the entire vaulted hall.

Crack... crack... crack...

The sound of stone shells splitting rang out in rapid succession, like a barrage of firecrackers.

The dull gray stone coating hundreds of human statues began peeling away in large chunks, raining down onto the tiled floor.

The rosy color of flesh and the warmth of life quickly returned to the skin of the imprisoned players.

The sounds of ragged breathing, coughing, and weak groans gradually echoed throughout the dark space.

"I... I’m still alive?!"

"What the hell just happened?!"

Countless players slowly collapsed onto the floor, staring in shock at their hands, now restored to life.

Some of them also noticed another figure within the hall—

someone sitting upon the throne that had once belonged to the master of this museum...