Chapter 345: Ember Golem's Incarnation

Charles walked on the ember-filled land for half an hour and soon stopped.

'Why does the Ember Castle looks the same as before? Is it that far?' He stared at the castle for a few seconds, released his wisdom power, and soon widened his eyes.

At that moment, he felt a strange invisible power came from the other side and scanned his body!

It was mysterious, well-concealed, and seemed very powerful!

Without any hesitation, Charles acted swiftly, blocked the Dark Space, and stopped the mysterious power from invading his mind!

On the other hand, the mysterious power tried to probe him for a few seconds and soon disappeared, leaving him alone in the desert-like land.

He then stood there silently for a few more seconds and became hesitant.

'A powerful being resides in the Ember Castle… Although I couldn't sense its presence, it is definitely hiding there.'

Charles also knew that this presence was not a Rank-5 Creature but possibly a Rank-6!

'Is it even safe to go there?' He contemplated for a moment and soon sighed.

'Hmm, there must also be some Rank-5 Ember Golems hiding in the castle. Although the mysterious power didn't show any hostility, I'm not too sure that the other party would let me walk near to their castle. I wouldn't be surprised if the Rank-6 powerhouse suddenly appears in the sky and attacks me.'

'Well, I've no choice then. Hmm, I could go around the castle, but it will be useless in front of the mysterious expert's perception.'

He smiled bitterly and cast [Fallen Angel's Wings] spell.

At this moment, he had no choice but to move forward and face the danger!

'If I hesitate now, I would never succeed in changing my Destiny!' He cast those useless thoughts away and became firm on his current goal.

Two eerie-blackish wings made of pure flame appeared behind him and flapped on their own.

The next instant, Charles shot upward and soon arrived 500 meters above the ground.

He flapped the black wings twice to maintain the speed, zeroed his gaze on the other side of the land, and shot forward.

Like a bullet, he tore through the air and flew up in the sky at an incredible speed.

But to his surprise, he noticed that the size of Ember Castle started to increase continuously.

It was not the size of an ordinary castle at all!

Its size continued to increase as he flew up in the sky.

After a few minutes of flying, Charles looked at the Ember Castle from above and was stunned a little.

'T-This… The Ember Castle is two times larger than the City of Iron!' He saw many small towers and soon turned his attention towards the outer walls.

At that moment, he saw many Ember Golems standing above the walls and were aiming something at him.

No, they were aiming at him with modern ballista-like weapons!

Without any hesitation, Charles flapped his wings and flew forward at a fast speed.

At that moment, he also felt a feeling of being watched by countless eyes!

That feeling didn't come from the Ember Golems in the castle but the mysterious expert!

His heart started to race.

It was the [Forewarning] skill!

Simultaneously, he activated his [Vision] skill and peeked into the future.

A second later, his expression turned stiff.

'The mysterious expert will attack me in 2 minutes 35 seconds… Once I flew past the border area, he will release his full power all of a sudden and lock the space. Then, he'll pull me into the Ember Castle! He wouldn't even give me a chance to retaliate.' A grim look appeared on his face.

Although he had expected such an outcome, he still felt somewhat annoyed.

Once he learned about the upcoming threat, Charles didn't dare to take any rash action and continued to fly.

He maintained his calmness and acted as if he wasn't aware of the upcoming threat.

Time tickled as he continued to fly, and soon it was 10 seconds before the Mysterious powerhouse's attacking moment!

At that moment, Charles forcefully flapped his black wings, stopped in mid-air, and took out a green-colored gem-like leaf from his space ring.

Simultaneously, he cast [Accelerate Thoughts] skill and curled his lips upward.

First, he cast [Hands of Wonders] skill, released the single invisible string, and encircled the Twin Leaf like a tangled snake.

After that, he turned his attention towards the farther forest region and moved his finger.

A heartbeat later, the invisible string moved while twisting the space and soon appeared in the middle of a red forest-like place.

Then, the invisible string released the Twin Leaf, tossed it into the forest, and started to retract.

'Success!' He smiled.

After that, Charles conjured the false flame and started manipulating the nearby space.

A moment later, a bluish crack appeared in front of him.

Before the Mysterious Expert could lock the space, the spatial crack began to expand and soon formed into a 3-meter tall portal!

But just as Charles was about to enter the portal, an invisible power suddenly appeared around his body and blocked him from moving!

The power within the invisible power was so strong that it caused Charles's body muscles to rip!

Multiple tears appeared all over his body, followed by drops of blood.

'Damn it! This guy is firm on capturing me.' Charles's eyes turned colder.

Without any delay, he released his full wisdom power and started resisting the opponent's mysterious force.

Simultaneously, he took out the 'Star Watch' from his space ring, adjusted the crown area, and got ready to click it at any moment.

Meanwhile, the Mysterious power noticed something was off about him and soon retracted its power.

But just as Charles was about to breathe out a sigh of relief, an illusionary figure of a humanoid being made of pure fire appeared behind him.

It was the incarnation of an Ember Golem!

The illusionary Ember Golem was around 5 to 7 meters tall, held a giant golden hammer in its right hand, and locked its gaze on Charles back!

A moment later, it slashed its hammer at Charles's body.

In the meantime, Charles felt that he was about to be crushed to a pulp by a mountain.

He tried to move, but his body was not responding!

It was as if something invisible was obstructing him from moving his muscle!

'Fear of death?' A forced smile appeared on his face.

'If I got hit by this hammer, I'll die for sure!' He gritted his teeth, turned into an elemental form, and moved forward.

Simultaneously, he shifted his attention towards the giant hammer and cast [Finger of Destruction] and [Black Inferno] spell on it.

Unfortunately, those two Rank-4 spells only managed to stop the hammer for a moment before being smashed and turned into pure energies!

"Do not resist." A male voice came from the Ember Golem's mouth.

It was so ancient, sacred, and pure!

Upon hearing those words, Charles felt that it was better to surrender himself than dying!

But just as he was about to give up, he entered his Inner World and became clear-headed.

Then, he controlled his body from his Inner World, released all his invisible strings, and started covering his head!

No, he also moved some of those invisible strings, let them enter his chest, and started enveloping his heart!

In a second, his heart and head were completely sealed!

After that, he cast the [Sun's Shield] spell on himself and got ready for the impact.

A second later, the golden hammer appeared behind him and broke the sunshine layer into pieces!

At that moment, tens of golden streaks of fire came out of the hammer and spread towards his body.

A few golden streaks moved towards his limbs and his body, while the remaining ones moved towards his head!

'Golden Fire? Lawful Fire?' Charles was shocked a little.

Without any hesitation, he released a part of his [Fire Domain] around his body and started absorbing the fire streaks into his Inner World!

On the other hand, his Fire Domain clashed against the golden hammer and pushed his body towards the bluish portal!

Then, Charles disappeared into the portal, leaving the illusionary Ember Golem and its hammer alone in mid-air.

The Ember Golem soon woke up from the shock and was about to leap into the portal but stopped.

At that moment, the bluish portal started to shrink and soon disappeared from its eyes!

…

Border Land, City of Red,

A bluish crack appeared in the middle of the forest, filled with strange red trees, plants, shrubs, and vines, and soon formed into a 3-meter tall portal!

A second later, Charles flew out of the portal and crashed onto the opposite tree trunk.

Thankfully, he managed to cast the [Sun Shield's] spell once again and managed to reduce the injury.

Then, he placed his hand over his chest, cast [Heart of Fire] spell on himself, and healed his injury.

After that, he released his wisdom power, scanned the surrounding, and soon zeroed his gaze on a unique emerald-green leaf that appeared on the red soil.

Then, he walked towards it, covered the leaf with some normal ones, and turned his gaze towards the Star Watch.

He pressed the crown area a second later, activated the [Fog of Time] ability, and then muttered.

"Return."

The next second, his body turned illusionary and soon disappeared from there!