Chapter 714 - 499: Time-Stopping Sand and the Arrival of a New Legendary Mage

Chapter 714: Chapter 499: Time-Stopping Sand and the Arrival of a New Legendary Mage

"My Lord."

Carl’s figure appeared at the dining hall entrance.

"Carl?"

Raylo was a little surprised.

"It’s so early. Is there an emergency?"

"No, My Lord."

Carl said, wringing his hands.

"It’s... it’s Master Delin and Master Wendel! They’ve returned!"

"And... the two masters brought a friend with them!"

"Someone... also from the Mage City. A Legendary Mage!"

Another Legendary Mage!

Raylo’s heart skipped a beat.

The two masters had gone to such great lengths, even inviting an equally powerful ally from the distant Mage City. Their goal could only be one thing.

The gate Phillips had left behind—the one leading to the Furnace of All Things!

"Let’s go take a look."

Without hesitating, Raylo set down his cup of black tea and strode briskly out of the dining hall.

He was filled with excitement.

’Today might just be the day,’ he thought, ’the day we finally uncover the greatest secret of Black Stone Territory.’

The early morning sun pierced through the thin early-winter mist, bathing Black Stone City in a warm, golden light.

The wide Central Plaza bustled with people, a picture of prosperity.

Yet, amid all the noise and excitement, one corner of the plaza was unusually quiet.

An invisible barrier seemed to surround the Mobile Alchemy Workshop, which crouched on the ground like a Giant Beast from ancient times, isolating it from the surrounding clamor.

Passersby, whether busy merchants or curious children, would instinctively quiet their steps and walk around the area as they approached.

Their faces held a mixture of reverence and curiosity as their eyes were drawn again and again to the workshop’s closed gate, which emanated a cold, metallic sheen.

The few Personal Guard Knights on duty immediately straightened their backs, bowed, and silently cleared a path when they saw Raylo.

Raylo nodded and pushed open the heavy gate.

「Inside the workshop.」

Mage Delin and Master Wendel stood in the deepest part of the workshop.

Before them was the massive metal door Raylo had seen several times before—the one leading to the Furnace of All Things.

The door stood there silently, just as it had when he first saw it.

Under the light of the Magic Lamps, the complex and arcane Alchemy Runes on its surface, which resembled the paths of Stars, shimmered with a mysterious halo, as if narrating a sealed and ancient history.

And beside the two masters was a new, unfamiliar figure.

It was an Elder Mage, thin and with white hair.

He wore a faded blue Mage Robe, washed so many times it had turned pale. The robe bore no lavish decorations, only a few extremely archaic runes embroidered with silver thread on the collar and cuffs.

His face was covered in wrinkles, like a dried orange peel, but his eyes remained clear and sharp.

With his hands clasped behind his back and his body slightly stooped, he tilted his head up and stared silently at the giant metal door before him.

Three Legendary Mages.

They just stood there silently before the door, not speaking, not moving at all.

But Raylo could feel three vast, ocean-like waves of Spiritual Power, like invisible tentacles, sweeping over every rune and every line on the metal door, again and again.

They were using their immense Spiritual Power to perform a silent deduction.

The very air inside the workshop felt thick and viscous from the sheer concentration of their Spiritual Power.

Raylo didn’t go forward to disturb them.

He quietly retreated near the workshop’s entrance, found an inconspicuous corner, and sat down on a wooden crate used for storing materials.

He waited for the three Legendary Mages to unveil the answer to this ultimate puzzle before him.

Time ticked by, second by second, as he waited.

Raylo’s gaze never left the three old, focused figures.

He saw Master Wendel occasionally stretch out his hand and trace something in the air. Runes formed from pure Magic Power flickered into and out of existence at his fingertips, as if he were simulating the Energy Circuits of a certain node on the door.

He saw Mage Delin’s brow furrowed in concentration, his lips moving slightly as if performing some extremely complex calculation.

As for the newly arrived Elder Mage, he remained in the same position from start to finish, motionless as a stone statue.

Raylo was very patient.

He knew that deciphering the magnum opus left behind by Phillips, the Alchemy Emperor, was not the work of a single day.

An unknown amount of time passed. Perhaps an hour, perhaps two.

The blue-robed Elder Mage, who had been standing as still as a statue, finally moved.

The hands he had held clasped behind his back slowly came down.

He let out a long, long sigh.

It was a breath that seemed to expel all the confusion and fatigue that had been building up inside him.

Raylo’s heart leaped into his throat.

He saw Mage Delin and Master Wendel simultaneously stop what they were doing and turn their gazes toward the blue-robed Elder Mage.

’This is it!’

Raylo subconsciously sat up straight.

He thought that this powerful reinforcement, invited by the two masters from so far away, had finally found the answer—or at least a clear path to the solution—after such a long period of contemplation and deduction.

But in the next second, the very first words the blue-robed Elder Mage spoke left everyone present stunned.

In a hoarse voice thick with frustration, he slowly said:

"It’s no good..."

"We’re just missing something."

He shook his head, a trace of annoyance in his eyes.

"That madman, Phillips! He never intended for anyone to open this door!"

"This isn’t just a simple Alchemy puzzle anymore. This involves the Power of Law from at least a dozen different, and even conflicting, Domains!"

"Time, Space, Soul, Life, Order, Chaos... and there’s one I can’t even identify!"

The Elder Mage grew more agitated as he spoke, pointing a bony finger at a runic node on the door.

"Look here! On the surface, this rune is a Space Waymark, but its core is a Time Lock! If you try to solve it with Space Magic, it triggers a time paradox and brings your Spiritual Power to a dead halt! But if you try to interfere with Time Magic, it will activate the surrounding Law of Chaos and detonate the entire Energy Circuit!"

"It’s a complete dead end! An unsolvable, infinite loop!"

Mage Delin and Master Wendel glanced at each other, bitter smiles on their faces.

Evidently, they had encountered the same problem the blue-robed Elder Mage had just discovered.

Raylo’s heart sank along with theirs.

’Are even three Legendary Mages working together helpless against this?’

’Is the Furnace of All Things really fated to remain sealed behind this door forever?’

Just as a wave of disappointment washed over Raylo,

the blue-robed Elder Mage’s tone suddenly shifted.

"However..."

A glint of stubborn, unyielding madness flashed in his clear eyes.

"I, Frank, have lived for over three hundred years, and I’ve never encountered a puzzle I couldn’t solve!"

"So, Phillips likes to play with fusing multiple Domains, does he? Well, we’ll just have to outnumber him!"

The Elder Mage’s voice grew louder, more impassioned.

He stomped his foot forcefully.

VWOOM!

With a soft hum, a Space Array composed of countless silver runes suddenly lit up beneath his feet!

"Wait for me!"

he said to Delin and Wendel.

"I’m heading back to the Mage City one more time!"

"I refuse to believe it! I’ll go grab all those old fossils who study the different Domains. Are you telling me a dozen of our brains can’t beat one dead man like Phillips?"

Before his words had even faded,

the light from the Space Array flared, completely engulfing him.

The next second, the light vanished.

Where he had stood, there was now nothing.

An eerie silence fell over the Alchemy Workshop.

Raylo stared, dumbfounded, at the spot where the blue-robed Elder Mage had vanished, unsure of how to react.

’He’s... gone? Just like that?’

He left without a moment’s hesitation, clean and decisive.

’And from those fighting words he left with, it sounds like he’s going back to... call for backup?’