Chapter 1049 The Shadow Labyrinth

A time from ten thousand years ago – the Age of Antiquity. Even races that placed great importance on heritage and the preservation of historical records found it difficult to clearly record events from such a distant era, let alone describe something that could not be expressed in mortal language; something so abstract that it was practically a natural phenomenon. Vogus could only piece together a vague picture of the Shadow of Chaos and the Solar Wheel from the obscure words left by his ancestors, and this picture was filled with an ominous aura.

"Our ancestors found the Solar Wheel in an ancient molten pit, six or seven thousand years ago," Vogus told Hao Ren everything he knew as best he could. "It is said that it was completely encased in cooled lava, buried thousands of meters underground, but its light would still burst forth from the depths every full moon night, illuminating the entire sky. My ancestors found it based on this light. The wheel had a fatal attraction, so for the first few centuries, people regarded it as an artifact that could bring unlimited energy, but as time passed, the terrifying nature of the wheel slowly revealed itself."

"Something called the Shadow of Chaos emerged from the wheel. At first, there were few, and they could be easily dealt with, but soon they grew stronger and multiplied rapidly, seemingly leaking endlessly from the Solar Wheel."

"The Shadow of Chaos caused huge problems. My ancestors tried to destroy the Solar Wheel to eliminate its source, but no force could damage it in the slightest. Even a fusion explosion failed to leave a single dent on the surface of the wheel. They then tried to rebury the Solar Wheel in the deep pit, but the shadows had already found a way to vent, and rocks and soil could not isolate them underground."

"The events that followed were not recorded in detail, but you know the general course: under the threat of the Shadow of Chaos, several of the strongest families united and found Vivian Ansessta, the oldest and most powerful Blood Clan countess in the world at that time. No one knows what method they used, but these ancient ones finally succeeded in reversing the program of the Solar Wheel, and drawing all those shadows back into that artifact of calamity."

After Vogus's narration came to an end, Hao Ren asked, "One question: before the Shadow of Chaos appeared, were there innate hostilities between the races?"

"Yes," it was Hasson who answered, not Vogus. "I can confirm that the phenomenon of innate hostility existed from the very beginning, at least ten thousand years ago. There are clear historical records of this."

Vogus knew what Hao Ren was thinking: "The Shadow of Chaos and the Solar Wheel did appear several thousand years after the phenomenon of innate hostility had persisted, but that was just because people discovered it late. It was buried underground from the beginning, and no one knows when it first started operating."

"Where is that thing now?" Izhaks asked.

"Deeper in this space. We built another layer of space in the depths of this alternate dimension, using a huge shadow maze called the Disaster Corridor to seal the Solar Wheel. It's been several thousand years now."

Lily couldn't help but be curious at this time: "Speaking of which, you know that thing is so dangerous, how come you're still guarding it? Outsiders still think it's a treasure, but it turns out it's a jinx."

Vogus laughed – at least this expression was very close to a human smile: "Because we were the ones who dug that thing out of the ground in the first place, so the Ankatelo family voluntarily took on the responsibility of guarding it permanently. Even if it brings the destruction of our race one day, we are willing to do so. We must be responsible for what we have done."

"Where is the entrance to that maze?" Vivian asked in a deep voice. "We're going in."

"As long as you have my family's crest, the maze entrance can be opened anytime, anywhere. It's a spatial gate," Vogus took a deep breath and slowly stood up. "But you must consider it carefully. That is the nest of the Shadow of Chaos, and the danger inside is a hundred times greater than outside. Moreover, after the seal went out of control, the monitoring equipment in the Disaster Corridor is also offline. We can't receive any signals from there. After you go in, you'll be isolated and helpless, and you can only return to the outside world from the altar where the Solar Wheel is located."

"Isn't the situation bad enough now?" Vivian smiled. "Leave it to me. Although my strength has declined, I have accumulated a lot of experience in dealing with 'difficult and complicated cases' in the past two years."

As Vivian spoke, she glanced at Hao Ren. What she meant was that she had been running around with Hao Ren dealing with many difficult and complicated cases, but the other demon hunters, such as Hasson and Bai Huo, thought that Hao Ren was the difficult and complicated case in the countess's mind, and suddenly the fantasies in their minds were about to become a TV series...

Vogus didn't think so much. He silently took out a small light gold device that looked like a pocket watch from his arms, which should be the key to open the door to the Disaster Corridor. Before activating this door, he reminded Vivian: "The fewer people who go in at a time, the better."

Vivian frowned: "Why?"

"People with weak minds will become puppets of the Shadow of Chaos and the Solar Wheel. Numbers are useless. It's best to let the strongest go in, so that even if there is a problem, there is room for maneuver. Who are you going to send?"

Vivian looked at Hao Ren: "What do you think?"

Hao Ren confirmed the personnel on site and quickly selected the most suitable candidates: "Old Wang, and Hasson, you two will come with Vivian and me for a trip, is that okay? The four of us should be the most suitable."

He didn't choose them randomly. Among these four, Vivian has a great relationship with the Solar Wheel, so naturally she cannot be excluded. Izhaks and Hasson are the two strongest, and should be the main combat forces. As for himself...

Hao Ren felt that his personal combat strength should still be inferior to Izhaks, but he knew that he had the greatest reliance, which was the divinity from Corvus 12345. Divinity will guarantee him immunity from external evil attacks. Since the Solar Wheel is such an evil thing, then he, the officially appointed "pope," should be the nemesis of that thing.

Izhaks and Vivian naturally had no objections, and Hasson said that he had no problem after serious consideration. The other demon hunters seemed to have some doubts about this, but seeing that the leader himself had agreed, they didn't say anything more.

Lily grabbed Hao Ren's sleeve and shook it. Hao Ren thought that this husky looked silly, but in reality, she still cared about her companions. However, this action was not in line with Lily's abilities, so before she could speak, he blocked the girl back: "You stay outside and guard. You're not very good at dealing with that kind of spooky stuff."

Lily flicked her tail: "No, I wanted to say, don't forget to take some pictures after you go in, I'll take a look at what it looks like inside when you come back."

Hao Ren: "..."

He should have known not to waste his feelings on this idiot!

Vivian ignored the husky girl's performance. She nodded to Vogus: "Open the door."

Vogus asked everyone to step back a little, and then placed the pocket watch-like device on the ground. With a few light "ding-ding" sounds, the small device suddenly opened.

It split into four parts and slowly floated into the air. The four "pocket watch" fragments were connected by light, and stretched into a rectangle like a picture frame. As the four fragments fixed their positions in the air, the scene in the middle of the "picture frame" also changed. Ripples like water gradually filled the frame woven by light, eventually forming a stable door.

Hao Ren saw that the door was filled with thick fog, and he could vaguely see a dark and deep corridor in the fog. The material of the corridor was completely different from the golden buildings of the Ankatelo family. They were deep and dark, and looked like they were formed from obsidian.

"After entering this door, you will be completely isolated from the outside world," Vogus reminded one last time. "In order to prevent more Shadows of Chaos from running out, I will close the door until you reach the location of the Golden Wheel. Only then can I receive your coordinate signals again. And if you still can't solve the problem there..."

"I understand," Hasson interrupted Vogus. "If we can't succeed, Andaher and Hesperides will each go find more capable reinforcements to come over. Before that, you must not open the door."

"How do we find the Solar Wheel?" Vivian asked.

"The effect of the Shadow Labyrinth is only to trap the Shadow of Chaos, but it has no effect on people with normal minds. You can't see those forks in the road, you will only see a winding corridor. Just follow the only route you can see."

Vivian breathed a sigh of relief: "I understand, then there is no problem."

"I wish you all the best." Vogus said, indicating that they could go in.

Hao Ren held up a shield and was the first to walk into the portal.

The instant he stepped through the door, he immediately felt the existence of that source of calamity with incomparable clarity and intensity!