Lord of The Mysterious Realms Chapter 903

Behind Jenkins, life surged anew; the elder trees rustled as if trying to tear themselves from the earth. Behind Pomphey, all things withered; the nascent spring was driven away, the sprouting blades of grass died completely, and a black mist coalesced into a colossal skull-faced visage, roaring at his back, yet forced to confront the assault of the living.

"I'll give you this one."

Tossing out the hurried words, a beam of black light descended from the sky, whisking Pomphey far away. The green energy immediately counterattacked, thoroughly cleansing the lingering spirits of death. Follow current novels on novel·fiɾe·net

Jenkins, casting aside all decorum, collapsed onto the ground, cold sweat streaming down his face.

"Damn it, I acted that weak and he still ran? Did I need to pretend to be a regular person to bait him into a real fight?"

That had been far too risky. His opponent, after all, was the most powerful weapon in the material world. If not for Pomphey's weak resolve, the final victor would have been anyone's guess.

But now the man had fled again, and after such a great battle, Jenkins had precious little spirit left within him.

He rested for a long time before he could barely activate the Spirit Lodestone and return to the church. His cat immediately pounced on him, looking with concern at the man's pale face.

The machine was still operating, seemingly destined to run forever.

Lifting his head to look at the city outside the window, Jenkins was unaware that the fog beyond the city had been manipulated by Pomphey, forming a massive maze-lock that prevented any outside reinforcements from reaching them.

The reason the Church had not sent aid to Nolan in time was that no one could have anticipated that Pomphey, who had been hiding all this time, would suddenly launch an attack. Demigods were a rare sight in the material world of this era. While the events in Nolan were serious enough to warrant sending a demigod, another incident—one Jenkins knew nothing about, occurring on the other side of the continent—was currently tying up even more of their forces.

After pondering for a while with no solution in sight, he had no choice but to temporarily return to the Evergreen Forest.

When he sat up from the base of the great tree, the number of animals surrounding it seemed to have grown. It now looked as though every animal in the entire forest had gathered here. Seeing Jenkins "wake up" and shift from lying down to leaning against the trunk, they all rose to their feet and chirped softly at him.

He took a deep breath, drawing the fresh forest air into his lungs. His head and body immediately felt lighter, and to his greater surprise, the life spirit flowing through the forest began to pour into his body of its own accord.

But before he had a chance to celebrate, a heaven-shaking roar echoed from the distance. Startled, Jenkins, his cat, and all the animals simultaneously turned to look toward the entrance of the Evergreen Forest.

The ground trembled slightly, as if some enormous beast was stomping upon it. Beneath the inky black sky, a great red dragon soared, breathing fire from its maw that collided with a pillar of black energy rising from the ground. The resulting shockwave nearly reached the heart of the Evergreen Forest, and in the distance, the iconic, rattling sound of moving skeletons could already be heard.

"This feeling is... Pomphey is in the Evergreen Forest!"

In truth, Jenkins had no reason to be surprised. Pomphey's arrival at the Evergreen Forest was something everyone had anticipated.

The situation was now critical. Even the church had been left with only a skeleton crew for defense, while a large number of Benefactors were stationed in the Evergreen Forest precisely to guard against Pomphey's arrival.

Once it was officially confirmed that the deadly Cursed Item was in Nolan, the local churches had temporarily moved most of the undead-type numbered items that could be influenced by the Skull Sword into the Evergreen Forest for containment.

The abundant natural spirit and unique environment here were perfect for establishing suitable containment facilities. The danger, however, was that if the Evergreen Forest were to be breached, the Cursed Items stored within would be enough to endanger the entire western coast of the continent.

Now, the most dangerous scenario had come to pass. Before the demigods could intercept Pomphey, he had already acquired enough items from the various churches and arrived at the Evergreen Forest ahead of schedule.

Jenkins didn't know if his own relentless pressure had played a part in this, but he could no longer wait for the machine in the church to produce a suitable weapon. Even at the risk of exposing his identity, he absolutely could not allow the Skull Sword to absorb all the contained items here.

No demigods were stationed in the Evergreen Forest, because the great dragon, Nidhogg, was coiled here. This dragon was old, and therefore powerful. The fact that its torrent of fire could hold its own against the Skull Sword's energy wave for a full ten seconds was proof enough of the dragon's might.

But before Jenkins could make his next move, a cascade of skulls flew up from the unseen ground, forming the shape of a giant in a matter of seconds.

The skull giant was even larger than the dragon, and with a single reach of its hand, it plucked the dragon from the sky.

The dragon's roar echoed through the forest as its powerful muscles tangled with the skull giant's arms. Their every move sent a violent tremor through the ground.

The appearance of the skull giant seemed to be a signal. Within the once peaceful forest, a thin mist began to emerge. The dark clouds swiftly closed in over the forest, blotting out the last sliver of light.

A howling wind carrying sand and dust swept through the trees. The wind whipped the branches into a terrifying chorus, and for the first time in a long while, Jenkins, who had shed his winter coat, felt a deep chill.

"I absolutely cannot let Pomphey succeed. I have to hold out until the demigods return."

His mind made up, he pushed himself to his feet, using the tree trunk for support. The maze-lock and the successive battles had left his body weakened, but the strength of his soul was enough to send him back into the fray.

The coming fight would undoubtedly be a cautious one. He might even have to roll on the grass, feigning helplessness with his mouth agape, to avoid arousing suspicion. But he could wait no longer; hesitation would only lead to defeat.

He snatched up Chocolate, and together they projected themselves to the church, appearing beside the machine. Even with the Sigil of Silence in place, the ceaseless sound of sand striking glass was impossible to block out completely.

B-08-2-8214, the Equal Exchange Vending Machine, was still humming, white light bursting from its seams. Jenkins wouldn't have been surprised if it exploded in the next second.

He grasped Chocolate by the waist, lifted it up, and stared intently into its feline eyes as he spoke with gravity.

"No matter what happens, do not leave this spot, do you understand? Even if this machine stops, you stay here. Can you do that?"