Throne of Magical Arcana Chapter 311: The Dark Mountain Range

Chapter 311: The Dark Mountain Range
Translator: Kris_Liu Editor: Vermillion
Lucien's first impression about the Dark Mountain Range could be defined by the word "huge". The peaks were huge, trees huge, vines huge, as well as the beasts in there.
Tall trees of over a hundred meters were everywhere, and somehow their leaves were black, blocking the sunlight from above, so even if it was daytime when one walked in the mountains, it always felt like nightfall.
Stepping on the squashy soil and layers of rotten leaves, it was hard for one to tell where the solid ground was and where the dangerous gobs were. At the same time, one should be very careful with the vicious snakes and spiders that no one could predict when and where they would pop out from.
Some rotten stuff in the mountains brought forth some toxic miasma. Standing some distance away, the miasma even looked colorful. Even the knights could really use some caution there.
However, in this harsh environment, Lucien walked calmly in the forest wearing a white shirt, black double-breasted suit, and his monocle, as if he was wandering on the streets of Aalto or Rentato.
"Mr. Elvis, how long do we still need to arrive at the magic tower of the Nightmare King?" Lucien asked the liaison beside him.
The liaison, Elvis, looked very ordinary. Most of the time his job was to buy some materials and goods from the adventures and then sell them to the sorcerers living close to the fortification in the Dark Mountain Range. Many adventures knew his connection to the ancient sorcerers, so when they dealt with Elvis, they were quite careful.
However, Lucien knew him better due to the information provided by the Congress. Elvis was not simply a businessman, instead, he might have some connections to the Nightmare King. Lucien found Elvis in a campsite for adventurers, and within his expectation, although he described his mission using quite ambiguous words, Elvis instantly understood what Lucien was there for.
Wearing the black tight suit, Elvis walked fast and swiftly like a cheetah full of strength. Hearing Lucien's question, he responded without looking back, "At least half month, Mr. X. You should know that this isn't a good place for flying unless you're of legendary level, and rushing around can also put you into serious trouble."
Lucien did not tell Elvis his true name. He used X as his pseudonym.
Lucien slightly nodded. It was said that above the Dark Mountain Range in the sky, there were lots of space gaps that connected to other dangerous dimensions. Furthermore, dragons in the forest were also constantly watching their territory as well as the sky above, not to mention those lightning eagles, griffins and carrion birds patrolling around.
Stepping on the soft, squashy leaves, a greenish yellow snake suddenly sprang up and bit Lucien's calf.
However, the bite almost broke the snake's fangs. The snake twitched and then escaped away hurriedly in the rotten leaves and branches.
As soon as they entered the mountains, Lucien had carefully cast Stone Skin and Douglas' Absorbing Wall on himself. He knew that this was a place where he had to be extremely careful.
"How did I fail to sense it?" Lucien murmured. He was asking Elvis, and also himself. It did not make any sense that a fourth-circle sorcerer failed to notice that a snake was going to attack him, despite the fact that they were surrounded by the miasma.
Elvis also slightly frowned, "My sense is also less sharp here. I wonder if there are any senior-rank creatures around…"
The route that he was taking with Lucien was through gaps between the many territories owned by the magical creatures.
After checking around, Elvis slightly deviated from their planned path. Then, they kept moving forward. After all, there was not really a "path" in the Dark Mountain Range.
As soon as they took another few more steps, Lucien heard some strange squeaking noise.
A huge spider unexpectedly dropped from the sky. Its colorful pattern on the back was like a human being's face smiling in a creepy way, and its sharp poison fangs were like threatening daggers. At the bottom, there were two huge human arms covered by the black carapace. Each of the twelve fingers on the hand had a hundred and twenty joints in total.
When the spider landed, its white and thick threads joined together and become a huge web. The web shot out directly toward Lucien and Elvis.
Light flashed on Lucien's wrist, and a big fireball was instantly summoned. Then, the fireball burned down the spider web in a few seconds!
As a sorcerer, Lucien, of course, had some basic knowledge about the common magic creatures.
Although the spider was huge, it moved very swiftly like a level three grand knight. Its joints were making squeaking noises.
At this time, the noise became louder and louder. More huge, colorful spiders had arrived, surrounding Lucien and Elvis in the center.
Transformed spiders lived exclusively in the Dark Mountain Range. They had heads like human beings. After growing mature, its power could match that of a level three knight. They moved very fast, and they often hunted together. Because they could use illusionary magic and they were good at teamwork, those spiders could kill enemies who were even much stronger than them.
Lucien knew the facts about the spiders well. In the next second, he cast Scare, and invisible magic waves extended in all directions.
Elvis was not affected because of the magic item he was wearing.
Most of the spiders panicked and their team formation became dispersed. Making the eerily noise, the rest of the spiders managed to resist the magic power and rushed fiercely toward them.
Some of the spiders used Hypnotism; some spread out thick webs; and some were going to directly attack them in their face with their fangs, pincers, and venom!
Elvis quickly took a glance at Lucien to complain because he did not take him into consideration when casting Scare, and then he lifted a black hammer about the size of a human head to get prepared for the fight.
Although he understood that Mr. X had enough reasons to use the ranged spell, and the influence of Scare was not permanent. He still felt a bit unhappy with the fact.
Every time when he dropped the hammer at the spiders, there was the powerful flame. After a few strikes, a spider was completely squashed by Elvis. The spiders illusionary magic did not work because of the amulet he was wearing.
It seemed that Elvis should be a level-four grand knight. However, Lucien still had no idea what his Blessing was.
Lucien was protected by a wall written with countless magic symbols and patterns, absorbing all the green waves from the spiders' Hypnotism and the black smoke to make people panic. At the same time, using his Amboula Staff to pinpoint the enemies, Lucien quickly killed another spider with a big fireball.
After the buffering time was gone, Lucien pointed at the spiders who were casting spells and shooting spider nets some distance away with his magic staff.
Dark clouds appeared above the spiders and then they were directly struck by the summoned lightning bolts. The spiders were burned black within seconds.
This was the fourth-circle Electromagnetics spell, Thunder Cloud. Lucien built it in his soul after coming back to Aalto. Another spell that he built was a unique spell, Maskelyne's Curse.
After a while, all the spiders were killed by Lucien and Elvis.
"Mr. Elvis, any problems?" asked Lucien when seeing Elvis' serious look. In Lucien's mind, in the Dark Mountain Range, encountering monsters and magic creatures was more than normal. Lucien was even about to collect the spiders' fangs and venom.
Elvis looked around in an insecure manner and said, "Mr. X… there shouldn't be these many spiders, unless…"
There was one horrible possibility.
Before Lucien asked, he suddenly felt very nervous from the power he sensed.
Hurriedly, Lucien saw a huge lizard-like creature flying in the air with its bat-shaped wings, as if it was running away from something.
"Red Dragon?!" burst out Lucien. A red dragon was at the top of the creatures chain!
Lucien was quite regretful that he did not have a cellphone to take a picture of the dragon. After all, it was the first time that he saw a huge dragon with his own eyes.
However, Elvis panicked, "We're in trouble now! We're in the devil's territory!"
Then, he started to run out of panic.
"What do you mean?" Lucien was confused. However, he had no choice but to run after Elvis as fast as possible.
Elvis calmed down a bit, as if he was looking for something. He answered Lucien fretfully, "It is said that there was a legendary peak in the Dark Mountain Range that could move around like a living being. People cannot tell the difference between it and the normal hills. As long as one enters the area, the person can never get out! There was only one way to tell… Creatures close the area would become crazy! No rules could be followed anymore!"
Lucien had never heard anything like this in the Congress. When he was about to ask, Elvis gave out a shrill cry! Countless huge vines burst out of the ground and tightened around him! Then many sharp, dark red thorns penetrated his skin!
Hurriedly, Lucien was about to cast Elemental Order to save Elvis. However, on the trunk of a huge tree beside them, two rows of big, black eyes suddenly opened!
Colorful rays shot out of those eyes, and they hit Lucien's protection wall directly.
The magic symbols and patterns on the wall instantly swelled and exploded, and the wall was gone within seconds!
In this strange area, Lucien totally ignored the fact that this was the horrible Scarlet Tree. He got hit by several magic rays with many negative effects that could paralyze, slow down or freeze people, or make them feel drowsy. Lucien really had no chance to activate his flame shield!
Feeling drowsy and dizzy, he started to lose his eyesight. In the last second, he used all his effort and activated his Holm Crown Ring, Element.
Colorful light spots appeared around Lucien and together formed a few extremely dangerous swirls, preventing other creatures or things from approaching Lucien.
This was not for attacking, but to defend!
Lucien hoped that Elemental Swirl could keep him safe. Then, in the next second, his mind sank into the boundless darkness.