Diary of a Dead Wizard-Chapter 371: The Ancient Soul-Devouring Mire

Saul never looked back the entire way. He only gave Agu a tug whenever the latter stumbled.

Behind them, the sounds of tentacles lashing out had ceased—as though after An, the creatures had lost all targets to attack.

The two staggered forward without even daring to speak, struggling until they reached the side of the palace.

The large white doors of the palace silently swung open as soon as they stepped back onto solid ground, as if someone were welcoming them inside.

Saul did not pause for even a second in the small clearing before the palace. Without hesitation, he strode straight through the doors and into the palace.

Naturally, Agu followed close behind.

Inside was a circular hall. At the far end was an arched doorway, and beyond it—another circular hall.

Hall after hall, one leading into the next, stretching endlessly into the distance.

Like two opposing mirrors, the images within them repeating infinitely.

The place felt eerie—on the outside, the palace hadn't looked this vast.

But here, all was silent.

Just like when they had first stepped into the Dead Season.

The large doors closed automatically behind them as they entered.

There were no windows here, and the room dimmed instantly upon their entrance.

However, candles burning around the hall provided barely enough dim light to see. freёwebnoѵel.com

For the time being, the palace seemed safe.

“Thud!”

Agu dropped to his knees before Saul.

After Saul had warned that using magic would attract the tentacles attacks, Agu too had thought of using someone to lure them away, allowing the others to escape.

But at the final moment, he hesitated.

In that situation, Saul had no time to retrieve his soul body. If the vessel was destroyed, who knew whether he’d survive.

Agu… couldn’t afford to die yet.

And so, despite reacting even faster than An, Agu didn’t make the same choice she had.

Saul didn’t immediately respond to Agu. His gaze was deep as he flipped through the diary in his mind.

The white pages turned rapidly, arriving at the final pages almost instantly.

When Saul saw the sole black page that belonged to An, he finally let out a long breath.

The powerless frustration faded, replaced by a chilling anger curling around his heart.

“Since those strange human shapes and black tentacles are all driving us toward the palace… then let’s see what’s really inside.”

The diary hadn’t instructed Saul to enter the palace. But this palace could withstand the terrifying tentacles and bizarre figures from outside—clearly, it was no ordinary place.

“Get up,” Saul said calmly.

Agu still felt guilty, but seeing Saul wasn’t as angry as he’d feared, he let out a small sigh of relief.

He stood and tried to explain himself.

“Master, I’m afraid those things outside… they might all be Soul-Devouring Mire, like Little Algae.”

Saul nodded. “But they’re clearly far stronger than Little Algae.”

Little Algae had fallen into slumber after devouring the Veiled Crystal Essence here.

These powerful Soul-Devouring Mire, could they also have been strengthened by it?

To grow into such massive, mountain-sized Soul-Devourers… just how many crystal essence had they consumed?

“And this is just one of the elves’ settlements, yet it holds such terrifying entities. Places linked to the elves are indeed always dangerous.”

Saul drew a deep breath, looked up at the ringed halls before them, and said in a low voice, “We’re already inside. Let’s go take a look.”

He could sense a familiar presence here—something calling to him, guided by his intuition.

———

On the lawn dotted with irregular white houses, Kasila, who had been sitting dazedly with her knees drawn up, suddenly leapt to her feet.

“Fire, fire, it’s on fire…” she screamed desperately, flailing her arms in place.

“What’s she going crazy about now?” Monroe frowned in disgust, then turned to Kongsha. “Saul’s already gone in, but he clearly hasn’t solved our problem. He’s under attack in the forest now—who knows if he’s even still alive…”

Hearing this, Mark looked toward the direction Saul had gone. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, “How about… I go look for him?”

Kongsha sneered, eyes glinting as she glanced his way. “If you were that worried, then why didn’t you go with those two guards earlier? Now that so much time has passed, now you want to go looking for him? Are you really going to look for him or for something else?”

Monroe eyed him suspiciously. Mark immediately shut his mouth.

“He must be dead, he must be dead!” Kasila shrieked. “And we’ll end up like him—burned to ashes, turned into their nourishment!”

Out of breath from her frantic screaming, Kasila collapsed to the ground.

Monroe let out a long sigh and covered his face with both hands. “I don’t think we can escape anymore. What did you people take? I’m begging you—return it. If not, we’ll really die here. We won’t make it out alive.”

Then he lowered his hands. “Maybe dying wouldn’t be so bad…”

Suddenly, the ground trembled violently. Several tense apprentice wizards jumped to their feet, staring in shock toward the forest.

From beneath the distant black-gray mountain range, black tentacles large enough to blot out the sky had begun to rise.

The tentacles writhed endlessly. Even from such a distance, the four apprentices could feel a chill in their hearts and their legs trembling.

Kasila threw herself to the ground, muttering something under her breath.

Mark clenched his teeth. His voice slipped out between them. “What did Saul do… why did he stir up the Ancient Soul-Devouring Mire?”

Kongsha narrowed her eyes and gently brushed her cheek with one hand. “Who knows? He’s always full of surprises and shocks.”

———

The two advanced cautiously, examining the circular halls.

The first hall had no decoration and showed no abnormalities. They quickly moved into the second.

This one had the exact same layout as the first, but included several chairs.

The chairs were toppled over in all directions, as though someone had intentionally pushed them down.

Saul remembered Mark saying they’d been attacked by furniture and decorations here before—several apprentices had died before they escaped.

But when Saul examined the fallen chairs, he felt no unusual aura from them.

Of course, he could no longer fully trust his own judgment. This Elven Valley defied all logic and reason.

After all, something truly horrific had happened to the elves. Even their leftover items could drive people insane—let alone an entire settlement.

So everything that happened here had to be viewed with different eyes.

Saul moved into the third, then the fourth hall.

Each hall was structurally identical to the last, but with each one, the contents increased.

By the time Saul and Agu reached the fifth hall, it was filled with furniture, and the walls were adorned with elegant paintings. Heavy satin curtains now hung along both sides of the circular room.

Yet behind the curtains was still solid wall—no windows at all.

If there were no windows, why hang curtains?

Saul glanced back at Agu. The latter looked just as confused.

Though Agu was over a hundred years old as a ghost, he knew little about elves.

By the time they reached the ninth hall, they finally saw a dark, heavy door ahead of them. On either side, spiral staircases rose upward.

They had now traveled far deeper than the palace’s visible size from outside.

“If we want to keep exploring, we’ll have to go upstairs. But between these two staircases… which do we choose?”

The left staircase looked normal enough—curving slightly as it rose to the second floor.

But the right staircase was utterly bizarre.

It floated in the air, growing like a wild vine, with no regard for how anyone was supposed to walk on it.

If one were to walk normally along its steps, a section in the middle would leave their body parallel to the ground, and the final stretch would require them to stand upside-down, eventually merging into the right wall instead of the second floor.

Yet in comparison, the otherwise ordinary left staircase now appeared even more suspicious.

(End of Chapter)