ALL NOVEL Chapter 71: Chapter 71: The Lawyer Pathway Sealed Artifact
Chapter 71: The Lawyer Pathway Sealed Artifact
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The light emitted by the burning sunflowers pierced through the darkness of the basement. Hobert remembered that when he had opened the outer basement door, the sunlight couldn't even illuminate the scene inside.
Clearly, the burning sunflowers, symbolizing the Sun's domain, had dispelled the darkness created by the sealed artifact.
Immediately, the effects of the artifact began to manifest. Daly, who had been at the front, suddenly appeared in the middle of the group.
At the same time, Hobert found himself at the bottom of the basement. "It almost feels like riding an elevator!" he remarked.
He raised the sunflower to survey the basement. It was large, about seven or eight meters in length and width.
The first thing Hobert noticed was a stone platform in the center of the basement, upon which sat a palm-sized stone statue.
The statue appeared ancient, resembling a bust, though its facial features were indistinct. One could only roughly tell it was a human bust.
As soon as Hobert laid eyes on the statue, he sensed a powerful and overwhelming force of distortion. He felt a strange familiarity with its aura.
Looking around, he saw remnants of giant dog feces and chicken feathers scattered across the basement.
However, none of these remnants were within half a meter of the stone platform. The area around the platform was immaculate.
This was odd, prompting Hobert to step aside, wary of rushing forward.
Daly and the scarred man, who followed behind, also realized something was amiss. But for now, they could only rely on this sealed artifact, whose powers were still unknown, to deal with the advancing zombies and Little Henry.
At that moment, the zombies charged into the basement. The scarred man gritted his teeth and strode toward the stone platform.
However, just as he was about half a meter away from it, he suddenly appeared on the other side of the platform.
The three of them were stunned. The scarred man turned around and tried to approach the platform again, but once more, when he was half a meter away, he appeared to the left of the platform.
Daly attempted as well, only to face the same result. They couldn't get within half a meter of the stone platform.
At the same time, they had to remain vigilant against the random spatial shifts, which were currently working to their advantage. These shifts caused the zombies to lose their target, pausing in place for a second or two.
Otherwise, in such a confined basement, it would be impossible to evade both Little Henry and the zombies.
After observing for a moment, Hobert grew increasingly certain that the sealed artifact felt familiar to him.
Moreover, Daly and the scarred man might not have noticed this, but when Hobert had first entered the basement and been shifted from the stairs to the basement floor by the artifact's power, his position had not changed again.
While Daly was wrestling for control of the zombies with Little Henry and the scarred man was firing at Little Henry, Hobert steadily walked toward the stone platform.
Three meters, two meters, one meter, half a meter. With one more step, Hobert stood before the stone platform.
Daly and the scarred man exchanged surprised glances, their faces reflecting astonishment.
Hobert reached out to touch the stone statue. In an instant, he saw clear blue skies and white clouds. He saw an ancient town nestled at the foot of a mountain. He saw a towering clock tower and a stone throne atop the mountain!
This was the Nation of Disorder!
But it was the Nation of Disorder as it should be—blue skies, white clouds, orderly days and nights, and the forest and clock tower firmly grounded.
It all made sense now. Hobert understood why the statue had felt so familiar: it came from the Nation of Disorder.
But how had it left the Nation of Disorder? What had it experienced to develop such strange powers?
Due to Hobert's special connection with the Nation of Disorder, the statue resonated with him, and thus, did not reject him.
The moment Hobert picked up the statue, his spirituality immediately conveyed the abilities of the Sealed Artifact:
First, it could create an area of darkness within a seven-meter radius. Within this area, the wielder could deprive enemies of their sight and intuition.
Second, the wielder could manipulate the space within a ten-meter radius, causing distortions such as making an enemy's forward movement turn into retreat or forcing a fleeing enemy to charge forward.
Third, it could create a half-meter radius around the wielder where space would be distorted, preventing enemies from approaching.
The negative side effects: every twenty minutes of use would result in the wielder's soul and body being distorted once. After two distortions, the wielder's thoughts would become entirely chaotic. After three distortions, their body would collapse completely. Additionally, if the artifact were wielded by someone who wasn't a Beyonder of the Lawyer or Arbiter Pathways, the artifact had a chance of betraying its wielder.
The sealing method was: using the "Distortion" ability of the Lawyer Pathway to distort the artifact's limited will every three days. If this wasn't done, one wouldn't be able to get within half a meter of the artifact. If more than three days passed without twisting the artifact's will, a mid-sequence "Weakening" or "Distortion" would be required to regain control over it.
Hobert couldn't help but marvel: "This sealed artifact was tailor-made for the Lawyer Pathway! No wonder the Henry family, despite dwindling to just the three of them, could still hold on to such a powerful artifact."
"Hey! Hobert!" The scarred man's shout snapped Hobert out of his thoughts.
Little Henry had already descended into the basement, his deathly aura clashing with the artifact's distorting energy.
Meanwhile, the two zombies had been shot repeatedly by the scarred man, losing arms and legs, but still charging forward.
As Little Henry approached, Daly's face turned pale. It was becoming increasingly difficult for her to suppress the movements of the zombies.
Hobert, holding the sealed artifact, instantly shifted the two zombies into the basement floor, burying them in the earth with only their heads exposed.
They thrashed their heads, trying to break free, but to no avail.
Hobert then turned his attention to Little Henry, attempting to trap him in the ground as well. But he was met with intense resistance. Little Henry's eyes grew darker and more terrifying.
Daly, a fellow Sequence 6 Beyonder, even felt the urge to kneel before him.
Ultimately, the artifact's power prevailed. Little Henry's aggressive intent was distorted into defense, and his desire to summon more power was distorted into withdrawing it.
The not-so-intelligent Little Henry's eyes grew clouded as Hobert repeatedly distorted his thoughts and powers, and finally, he collapsed, motionless on the ground.
Hobert used the sealed artifact to bring Little Henry's body within half a meter of himself, ensuring that the power within the boy had completely dissipated.
He asked, "I'm curious. Why did Little Henry seem like just an ordinary zombie when I encountered him before?"
Deli inspected Little Henry's corpse and replied, "That terrifying power didn't originally reside within him. It was after I performed the mediumship that Little Henry's body underwent certain changes, attracting some... attention."
She shook her head. "It seems the rituals his parents performed on him continuously drew the interest of some mysterious existence, which eagerly allowed its power to descend upon Little Henry."
In other words, through the efforts of Henry and his wife, they had turned Little Henry's body into a sealed artifact, one that could easily attract the gaze and power of a powerful entity from the Death Pathway!