Chapter 631: Collapse
A moment later, the colossal stone slab, towering over a hundred meters and suspended in the hall, suddenly vanished.
The entire hall instantly felt much more spacious, as the gigantic stone slab, filled with an ancient aura, disappeared so abruptly.
"Success... succeeded?" In the monitoring hall, the witch wearing mechanical lenses instinctively leaned forward, a rare look of surprise appearing on her icy face.
The old man Carl opened his mouth slightly, staring at the empty giant pit on the screen, momentarily speechless.
He had anticipated Duke’s failure, anticipated Duke’s exhaustion being taken advantage of by others, and even anticipated the chaos of contention if Duke managed to pull it out but couldn’t take it away.
The only thing he hadn’t anticipated was that such a massive stone slab could be so quietly and neatly stored away.
The calm on Russell Yinwen’s scholarly face was finally broken.
His pupils slightly contracted, and his fingers tapped the console unconsciously, then he regained his composure, though an unprecedented gleam of interest flashed in his eyes.
"Direct absorption, not a Space Ring, a higher level of space containment?" he murmured to himself, "It seems, we have underestimated this limit-breaker from the West Coast."
Inside the relic hall.
The moment the stone slab disappeared, Duke’s body relaxed instantly, nearly losing his balance and falling.
He breathed heavily, each inhalation bringing a burning pain, his vision blurring, and his consciousness starting to fade.
Duke disregarded the pain from all over his body and the agony in his Spiritual Power, hurriedly taking out several bottles of Magic Potion and downing them quickly.
The Magic Power quickly took effect inside his body, alleviating the tearing pain in his Spiritual Power, and the tears and other injuries all over his body began to heal swiftly.
If it were just an ordinary hundred-meter-high stone slab, it wouldn’t have put so much pressure on him; this slab was not only made of special material but also contained unique energy, not something that could be lifted by pure strength alone.
Just then, the sound of cutting through the air rang out continuously, as five figures with vigilance and curiosity rapidly rushed in through the triangular entrance, landing on the edges of the hall.
They immediately noticed the terrifying gigantic pit in the center of the hall, with a diameter of over a hundred meters, bottomlessly deep, and the scattered broken pedestal around the pit, along with the gray-robed wizard on the brink of collapse at the edge of the pit.
Their gazes flickered between the giant pit and Duke, the intense residual energy fluctuations in the air, and the lingering dust silently recounting the astonishing events that had just occurred here.
And when their eyes fell on Duke, perceiving his unhidden state of weakness, a subtle and dangerous atmosphere began to quietly permeate this vast, ancient hall.
They didn’t know exactly what had happened here, but from the situation, they could roughly infer that something valuable had most likely been taken by Duke.
And this item was evidently something extraordinary, as Duke must have paid a huge price to obtain it.
Now, with Duke in such poor condition, he certainly wouldn’t be able to oppose them, and this was the perfect time to strike.
This also led to another rule in the quadrant contest—that if killed by other competitors during the competition, your gains during the competition would be tallied to the person who killed you.
Unless it was a tangible item like the Golden Fruit that Duke had found.
The stone slab Duke obtained was also a tangible object, not a virtual projection placed here, but something that truly existed.
Even if these people killed Duke, he would only lose the ordinary materials he had acquired prior; the stone slab would still lie quietly within the Light God Court.
However, these five were unaware of this scenario; they hadn’t encountered tangible resources before and thought that simply killing Duke would allow them to claim the spoils.
Just as the five latecomers exchanged glances, with killing intent and greed gradually escalating, their bodies moved slightly, as they were about to encircle the weakened Duke.
An unforeseen event suddenly struck.
"Crack... Boom!!!"
First, there was a massive cracking sound seemingly from the depths of the earth, followed by the entire magnificent circular hall suddenly shaking intensely.
This quake was no ordinary earthquake, it was as if the backbone of the entire relic had been abruptly removed, triggering a structural collapse after losing its core support.
Above the dome, those simulacra of ancient stars flickered wildly, their cold light unstable.
The high ceiling started to shed massive fragments of rock aflame with eerie blue energy, crashing down like doomsday meteors.
A gigantic boulder over ten meters in diameter smashed into the ground near Duke, causing the dark green stone slabs to instantly crack and explode, with a violent shockwave carrying debris sweeping out.
Soon after, a second, a third... it seemed as if the entire dome was about to cave in.
The twelve giant warrior stone pillars supporting the hall also began to groan and crack under the burden.
Intricate carvings on the pillars’ surface were covered in ominous fissures, with gravel sifting down.
One pillar even started to lean in the middle, bringing a large portion of the dome’s structure sliding to one side, causing a thunderous roar as dust and chaotic energy currents surged skyward.
The colorful murals on the walls, recording the epic of giant civilization, also peeled and shattered in large pieces amidst the violent tremor, reduced to the dust of history.
The air filled with a heavy scent of dust, rock powder, and a turbulent energy flux exuding a burnt and destructive aura, released from the instability of the relic’s energy core.
"What’s going on?!"
"The relic is collapsing!"
"Run!"
The five competitors poised to attack Duke were instantly petrified by the sudden awe of nature, their souls seemingly fleeing their bodies.
They weren’t really afraid of death—after all, true death wouldn’t occur here—but lamented that there was still much time to collect resources, and it would be too regrettable to die here.
The competition lasted a whole month, and not even half of it had passed yet; dropping out so early would be such a loss.
If faced with such a situation in an ordinary underground area, they wouldn’t fear; at least being a Level 1 Mage, one wouldn’t just be buried alive and die.
The key is that this place is deep within the relic, with various restrictions everywhere.
The collapse of the relic could likely trigger these restrictions, unleashing energy turmoil that a normal Level 1 Mage couldn’t handle.
The collapse was intensifying, with more structures failing.
The ground began to show massive cracks, swiftly spreading like menacing scars, making it seem like the entire hall would be completely buried any moment.
And Duke, situated at the center of the collapse, closest to the danger, remained calm during the initial violent tremor.