Chapter 358: One Bad News After Another

After getting all the research work properly arranged, Ansu stood in a corner of the laboratory, watching the busy figures bustling back and forth in the hall, and silently activated the simulation in his heart.

He didn't have many points left. Every simulation had to squeeze out the maximum value.

Rows of glowing text appeared before his eyes.

【Future】

【100 hours later (October 19th, 20:35), consumes 100 points】

【Remaining Points: 233】

【Start simulation...】

When he opened his eyes again, he was still standing in the laboratory hall.

The hum of the alchemical instruments was as before, and everyone was burying their heads in work, but the atmosphere of the entire space was extremely oppressive. Not a single person's expression was relaxed.

At an experimental workbench not far away, Celia was propping up her chin, staring blankly at the messy experimental records covering the table.

Sensing his gaze, she looked up at him, forcing a tired smile.

On the other side, Professor Duncan, who had been full of energy just a few days ago, now looked listless and had lost a significant amount of weight.

He was being supported by someone as he hoarsely directed the apprentices. His poor condition was obvious at a single glance.

Ansu pulled out the 《Future Diary》.

The open pages were densely packed with the research progress from the past four days.

【The Curse Research Group is led by Celia and has the highest priority. The goal is to analyze the magic structure of the eye-like mark and search for a way to break it.】

【However, due to the chaotic nature of the God of Clamor and Filth, the deeper the analysis goes, the easier it is for researchers to fall into madness... In just two short days, sixteen magic apprentices and five mage researchers have already gone mad.】

【By the third day, almost the entire team experienced visual and auditory hallucinations. The mental states of Celia and three elders also encountered issues, forcing us to halt this research direction and have everyone participate in other projects...】

In comparison, the Amulet Research Group had made a bit more progress.

【Professor Duncan held on, staying up for three whole days and nights, dismantling every single rune and magic formula on the crescent amulet one by one. The fully traced blueprints covered nearly ten square meters of archives. The professor is incredible!】

【This rune system is extremely unique and does not belong to any known magic school of the modern era. It is difficult to understand its principles in a short time, let alone replicate its effectiveness.】

【Celia suspects it is a niche magic school from the Norn Empire of the Second Era. During the golden age of continental magic, countless magic scholars established their own schools, but the vast majority of these heritages have long since been lost. To find clues, she specifically went to search the ancient books in the little black room's treasure vault.】

Ansu nodded secretly as he read the records. Being able to trace it completely was already a harvest; at least they had the foundation for a one-to-one replica.

After all, with the 【Mind Palace】, he essentially had photographic memory.

In a moment, he would walk through that archive area covered in blueprints, engrave all the structures into his memory, and then he could retrieve them at any time upon returning to reality.

【In addition, the inside of the amulet contains a trace of faint 'divinity', and its owner-binding property is extremely strong, recognizing only Altina as its sole possessor.】

Ansu understood now. No wonder he had still fallen victim to the curse when carrying the amulet in the last simulation; it seemed this thing didn't recognize temporary holders at all.

In the subsequent entries, the situation began to deteriorate rapidly.

【The eye-like mark on Celia's wrist grows more hideous by the day, basically identical to the situation in the last simulation.】

【On the night of the third day, the mark on Professor Duncan's wrist also surfaced. The curse has truly manifested. The professor's mood has clearly become anxious, and his physical condition is worsening.】

【Professor Duncan fainted in front of the workbench. The speed of his curse's deterioration is much faster than mine and Celia's, but he still insists on continuing the research.】

【Celia compiled some historical records regarding the God of Magic from the ancient books.】

【Among them, the most critical record comes from 《The War of Gods Lost to History》.】

【The book records: Before sealing the Fallen Demon God - Ersos, the Alliance of Righteous Gods had joined forces to banish the God of Magic. Compared to the war that later swept across the entire world, this was a secret war that was almost unrecorded in official history.】

【After the gods defeated the God of Magic, they sealed Him on the spot in the material plane. It was precisely this decision that prevented His influence on the world from being completely severed.】

【Gods cannot be truly killed in the first place; they can only be weakened, sealed, and have their faith severed.】

【When it came to the second suppression of Ersos, the gods learned from their past mistakes and sealed him in the gap between the spiritual and material worlds. Only then did they avoid repeating the same mistake, making it very difficult for Ersos to revive.】

Flipping past this point, the rest were just fragmented, disjointed records.

The atmosphere in the laboratory grew more silent day by day, and the physical conditions of the three of them continued to visibly deteriorate.

Ansu raised his wrist. The eye-like mark was staring at him hideously, its patterns pulsing wildly with his heartbeat. A sharp pain spread all the way from his wrist to his entire body, and the mana inside him was gradually becoming turbid.

His condition was even worse than in the last simulation. It seemed that the death point when the curse would take effect was not far off...

He suppressing the stray thoughts in his mind, stood up and walked toward the archive area deep within the laboratory.

The archive shelves, covering nearly ten square meters, were spread with the traced rune drawings. It was quite a spectacular sight at first glance.

He walked to the shelves and began scanning them page by page, starting from the very first page on the top tier.

“Ansu?” shuffling footsteps sounded from behind him.

Ansu turned around and saw Professor Duncan slowly walking over, supported by an assistant.

Up close, his condition was even clearer. The professor looked extremely listless, his exposed skin covered in a dense web of protruding red capillaries, as if something were trying to crawl out of his skin along his blood vessels.

His steps trembled, seemingly enduring some sort of agony. His entire body was shaking so much that he looked like he might collapse from a stroke at any moment.

Ansu frowned and said, “Professor, you should go back and rest a bit more.”

“How could I be in the mood to rest?” Duncan twitched the corner of his mouth, letting out a self-deprecating laugh. “This is a matter of my own life, after all. Hehehe, speaking of which...”

“To be personally cursed to death by the God of Magic... if word gets out, that might just be the most glorious achievement of my life.”

Still able to crack jokes. It seemed the professor's mental state was slightly better than he had expected. Ansu smiled, turning back to continue flipping through the drawings before him.

Duncan stood by and watched for a moment, growing increasingly bewildered the more he looked.

At first, he thought Ansu was carefully studying the runes, but the speed at which the boy flipped the pages was ridiculously fast. He barely glanced at one before turning to the next...

“What are you doing?” he couldn't help but ask.

“I plan to memorize all of this,” Ansu said without looking up.

“Memorize it? Are you joking?” Duncan's face was filled with disbelief. “These are tens of thousands of pages of composite runes. With such a massive amount of information, you can memorize it all just by scanning them?”

Ansu nodded. “Yes.”

As soon as he finished speaking, another page of drawings was flipped. Those complex rune structures were being precisely archived, page by page, into the Mind Palace within his brain.

This was the first time he truly felt that it was indeed like a grand, quiet library. All his memories were organized with perfect clarity, ready to be consulted at any time or place.

The 【Mind Palace】 was indeed perfectly suited for this.

Professor Duncan shook his head and sighed, simply assuming that Ansu's mental state had also become unstable.

“Sigh, there's no hope. Everyone has gone mad...”

He had his assistant support him as he turned to head back. “I've rested enough. I'm going back to the lab to sort out my thoughts.”

But before he could even walk out of the room, his footsteps suddenly came to a halt.

In the next instant, Professor Duncan suddenly clutched his chest. Large beads of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and his facial muscles contorted in agony.

“Professor! Professor, what's wrong?” The assistant hurriedly grabbed his arm.

Ansu immediately spun around, only to see Professor Duncan's body falling straight backward.

He instantly gathered his mana, and a 【Mage's Hand】 firmly supported the professor's back, preventing him from crashing onto the hard floor.

“Call the doctor over, quick!” Ansu instructed in a deep voice. “Get the elders as well. We can use healing magic to assist—”

Before he could even finish his sentence, another piece of bad news arrived.

“Ansu, something's happened!” Valger came rushing in from outside, his face incredibly pale. “Elders Scott, Bill, and Martin have collapsed! The false god's curse has appeared on their wrists, and their symptoms are exactly the same as yours!”

Ansu's heart sank.

Immediately after, the magitech communicator at his waist suddenly began to flash. It was an urgent message from Elder Matthew on the Southern front.

【Ansu! Elder Barnes suddenly collapsed. An eye-like mark identical to yours has appeared on his wrist!】

【Specific symptoms: A continuously intensifying stinging pain accompanied by severe palpitations, turbid mana inside the body, and falling into states of convulsions and fainting.】

【Should we immediately send Elder Barnes to Norvigel for treatment?】

Ansu gripped the communicator, his fingertips tightening slightly.

Those three elders were the core of the Truth faction. Along with Barnes, Duncan, himself, and Celia... every single one of them was a core member who had been deeply involved in the development of the 【Ring of Pure Protection】.

Now, everyone had been precisely targeted by the will of that 'God of Magic.' Not a single one of them could escape.

And these people were the very pillars of the cult.

This time, they were in real trouble...