CHAPTER 1615: CHAPTER 359: HELL EQUATION

"Boom!"

The roar interrupted the idle chat among the few Upper House Members under the moonlight atop the tower.

Under the celestial lantern.

Behemoth lifted its two massive forelimbs, clenched its fists, roared angrily, and slammed down with force. Standing at the top of the tower, one could clearly see a ring of pitch-black earth waves, like a sandstorm, spreading in all directions with the Giant Beast as the center.

The sand and stones splattered up from the ground, resembling cannonballs, soared into the sky with a whooshing sound. Hundreds of celestial lanterns couldn’t dodge in time and were pierced by the grains of sand, turning into dazzling fireballs mid-air.

After light comes darkness, more striking.

Losing hundreds of celestial lanterns, the contrast of brightness and darkness, coupled with the pervasive black dust storm, cast a thick shadow over the once clear and bright battlefield, making it indistinct.

"Crack!!"

A dull cracking sound emerged from deep underground.

Behemoth’s all-out hammer not only created a large pit in the land under its feet but also severed the earth’s veins deep down, bursting the boiling magma from beneath.

The dried land emitted ominous cracking sounds in the raging dust storm, with the fissures centered around Behemoth, spreading in all directions like a giant spider web.

Each crack was bottomless.

"Hell!"

From the mountain-like shadow of Behemoth came a low roar, echoing in the ears of every wizard in the Black Prison Castle. With this roar, scorching vapors suddenly rose from the spreading cracks.

Almost simultaneously.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

In the other three directions of the Black Prison Castle, loud rumblings resembling thunder sounded simultaneously.

"Hell!"

"Hell!"

"Hell!"

Three different voices echoed almost simultaneously with Behemoth’s roar. The sound of the earth’s layers cracking resounded repeatedly in the desolate world, hills crumbled, valleys shifted, and the earth usurped the sky’s authority, causing the thunderous sound to originate from underground rather than the sky.

The spreading cracks quickly interconnected, forming a larger, more complex spider web.

As the dust had yet to settle, with the cracking sound still lingering in ears.

From the profound cracks gushed streams of hot magma, dark red colors rolling and surging in the fissures, interconnecting, resembling hot ropes extending from all directions, binding the Black Prison Castle.

This was a massive array charted with magma.

The thick, ink-like darkness outside the celestial lantern seemed insoluble but was cut open by these dark red ropes, painting the world within a thousand-mile radius with a layer of dim yet rich red.

The wizards lit up the sky.

The prisoners ignited the earth.

The faint white light descending from the sky collided with the dark red light emerging from underground at the surface, illuminating the world brighter and more volatile.

Sparks flew, and flames soared.

Behemoth’s silhouette in the burning air seemed more distorted and massive.

...

"Sky Spider, Eris!"

"Witch Demon, Sujade!"

"Resentful Spirits, Shallow Jin Ryoko!"

"And Giant Beast, Behemoth!"

"The last few Great Demons still alive in the Black Prison and otherworldly divine spirits... teamed up?"

Silent Souls glanced around at those distorted figures in the flames and whispered admiration, "Wow... truly a desperate move... This is the legendary ’Hell Equation,’ isn’t it?"

"What is the Hell Equation?" Su Shijun could clearly feel the scorching feeling slowly pervading around, but it was not exactly the same as the atmosphere in hell.

"With the earth as bones, magma as blood, demons as skin, sacrificing this world’s last remnants of vitality, summoning the initial fallen scent of the Ruins to create an environment that matches demons more closely... This is the ’Hell Equation’, a magic circle standing between the human world and hell, a spell for mutual ruin."

"Mutual ruin?!"

"To live without madness." Silent Souls gazed at the figures in the flames and whispered, "Or they will use this immense magic flame to break the shackles of the Black Prison and escape to freedom; or they will sink thoroughly into the Ruins with the Black Prison, dragging the wizards who fail to escape into the depths of hell together."

"Demons may not necessarily come from hell, but demons surely love hell."

"Gasp," Milton shivered and shook his head repeatedly, "Sounds terrifying... Can we still get out? When the school recruited us, it said we were needed to fight possibly invading demon armies, not to perish with them."

William Tapott tilted his head to glance at the vampire, a trace of mocking sneer on his lips.

"Here is the Black Prison, not the Oz Country." He made no effort to conceal the disdain in his tone: "... You can’t click your heels three times before completing the task and then pat back to Kansas①."

Duke Milton glared at Mister Wolfman.

"You know you should be nicer to your comrades." He slickly reminded, "Because you never know, next second, you might need him to save your little life... Especially when the world is about to end."

"You? Save?" William seemed to hear a grand joke: "If you stay neutral while I’m fighting Behemoth and don’t stab me in the back, I’d be thanking heavens!"

"Groundless accusation!" Duke Milton wiggled his finger and seriously refuted: "If you were outside the Black Prison, you’d receive a bunch of lawsuits sent from Danghag!"

"I’m not pointing at anything; look, all ten of my fingers are in my pockets." William squatted on the wall edge, indeed holding his hands in his pockets: "Also, when a wizard threatens another wizard with Danghag, it means he hit a sore spot..."

"Means you two can shut up!"

Su Shijun rubbed her aching head and glared at the two teammates, but Milton and William’s banter indeed eased her tension before the battle, reviving the fox tail behind her.

The vampire and Mister Wolfman looked at the fox tail pointing to their noses, obediently raised their hands, and made a zipper gesture at their mouths, indicating they would stay quiet.

Only then did Su Shijun look at Silent Souls again.

"Why did they only decide now?" She watched the magma flowing and spreading outside the Black Prison Castle, the prisoners cheering and roaring behind the magma, full of confusion:

"If four Great Demons can trigger the Hell Equation... why did they only decide now?"