Chapter 8: Detecting Magic Puppets

A scarlet glow burst forth the moment Shatimaron’s spear struck the button, enveloping the entire gate in a dark red mist. Almost everyone felt their bodies grow heavy; Grace and Fenitz especially felt as though their bodies had suddenly been stuck together by glue, making it extremely difficult to move.
Lome promptly unleashed the silver-white Holy Light Purification spell. This light spell was highly effective against such mist spells that combined petrification magic with dark magic. A silver-white halo formed in Lome’s hands, growing to the size of a plate before rising above everyone. The silver light pierced through the dark red mist, which gradually dissipated under its cleansing effect.
Rebri and Mihajic, who had magical shields for protection, were naturally unafraid of what they considered a trivial trick. Such magic could only fool amateurs; it had little effect on true magicians or knights. Of course, ordinary people caught in such mist spells might be petrified into statues in a short time without the help of a magician, leaving them no chance to call for help.
“Let’s go in.” The iron-hard bluestone gate slowly opened under Shatimaron’s spear strike. It opened evenly, as if controlled by some mechanism. Inside the dark gate lay an entrance to an endless abyss, seemingly ready to devour everything, even light.
Mihajic’s small magic puppet looked somewhat comical, with its two slender arms appearing unusually long. It was likely made of the legendary Illusory Black Gold—a very rare magic metal that could change shape at will, becoming longer or shorter, thicker or thinner, and was extremely precious. Komer had also seen this material for the first time, not expecting to find it on Mihajic’s signature puppet. The puppet’s legs were composed of multiple short segments of magic metal connected to special wooden materials, seemingly capable of changing angles and directions at will. Its head was exquisitely detailed, seemingly made of wood, but clearly featured a metal piece embedded on top, likely also magic metal. Its eyes were made of a non-metallic material called Mingyuan Stone, which was particularly sensitive to magical energy and could change color depending on the nature of the magic. It served as a high-grade medium for testing and reconnaissance.

The magic puppet walked two meters ahead of Shatima, its agile head constantly turning and its arms capable of stretching to help the explorers detect threats in advance. Though Komer doubted how much of a warning effect a few meters really could have, it was at least psychologically safer than having anyone step forward alone.

It was the first time Mihajic had used such an advanced device, which drew extra attention from everyone, including his old friend Rebrí. Shatima, following behind, was so curious that she almost reached out to touch the puppet’s head. If Komer hadn’t stopped her in time, he feared its head might shatter under her careless touch, which would likely drive Mihajic crazy.

Grace and Finitz were clearly seeing such a masterful magical puppet for the first time as well. They couldn’t believe there existed a device that could walk around on its own like an intelligent creature and provide warnings to its owner. To them, it went beyond the concept of a mere tool or mechanism—it resembled a pet, but its structure clearly meant it had no life.

After entering the gate, everyone felt an indescribable sense of oppression. The air seemed to carry an unspoken heaviness, yet it wasn’t the stale smell of air trapped for too long. The puppet’s speed gradually slowed down, and several beams of holy light floated around. Lome cast light spells, with Komer providing supplementary magic to keep the holy light sustained longer.

However, the environment on the second floor was far more eerie than that of the first basement level. Just the significant reduction in the range of the holy light showed that this place inherently resisted light spells. Komer had to cast several fireballs to expand their field of vision, but he didn’t stop Lome from continuing to release holy light balls. After all, light spells had a natural countereffect on dark creatures—whether undead or dark beasts—so with the holy light shining upon them, their defenses would be weakened by at least one layer.

Newman carefully examined the walls of the passage, but this time he found little. The walls were dry and smooth, with no patterns, designs, or inscriptions. He touched them tentatively and found not even a trace of dust. This was strange—if it had been unoccupied for a long time, the walls should have at least weathered, or if they were made of a special stone, they would have absorbed some dust. However, the current situation suggested it wasn’t a place that had been sealed for ages; rather, it seemed to be frequented by living creatures. At this thought, Newman couldn’t help but shiver. To live here for a long time, it had to be either a dark magical beast with extraordinary vitality or a necromantic creature.

As Newman pondered, the detection puppet seemed to sense something as well, its steps becoming hesitant. Komer quickly enlarged his fireball spell, expanding its illumination range by two or three times. The scene before them made almost everyone gasp in shock.

The structure ahead resembled a circular plaza whose edges were not visible at first glance, possibly a place used for sacrifices. The direction they had come from seemed to be an exit to a passage. The ground here was slightly lower than where they stood, and an indistinct pale blue flame flickered at the oval entrance, indicating its presence. Komer guessed that the flow of air caused by their opening of the passage door was what made the flame move.

Through this somewhat eerie blue flame, they could clearly see everything within the range of the fireballs and holy light balls. Although they couldn’t see the surrounding edges, just what was in front of them was enough to make them reconsider continuing their exploration and think about the dangers the expedition might face.