The Witcher: Start with the Lord Marrying a Wife.

Chapter 542 The Spore Catastrophe
The two elements intertwine, creating a striking yet complementary dynamic: the scorching heat and the freezing cold collide and transform into unique, mysterious ripples that surround the surrounding space and gradually spread towards the core, enveloping the area that was once the source of the turbulent, churning, and exploding information vortex.

They approached the core step by step, each breath seemingly drawing out viscous and distorted traces of space. The runes that permeated the void constantly jumped, disintegrated, and reassembled, like informational life forms stubbornly resisting their fate of destruction, attempting to fight against the calamity of the torrent of destiny.

But more than anything, there was an irresistible force that surged like a tidal wave, engulfing and submerging all wills and irreversibly propelling the future trajectory, like a final struggle before the apocalypse, questioning the secrets of the deepest abyss of destiny...

When they finally reached the edge of the cold core source, a surge of intense, bone-chilling sensation swept over them, making it almost impossible for them to stand firm.

But with their unwavering will honed over the years, the two supported each other and held their ground without flinching.

Just as they were preparing to exert their suppressive force, they suddenly sensed something even more bizarre and abnormal lurking deep within that massive, mysterious, cold core—an irregular fluctuation caused by the interplay and chaos of time and space, like an unknown tributary quietly seeping in, causing the foundation of the entire system to waver, and possibly even becoming an undercurrent that could trigger a new round of catastrophic changes...

"Can you feel it?" Amy's sharp gaze was fixed on the ever-changing trajectory of the information.

“There are abnormal spacetime fluctuations here, which may become our next challenge, or they may bring us a brand new opportunity.”

However, in the short term, it will inevitably exacerbate systemic chaos.

David frowned and pondered for a long time. He knew that the only option he could make at this moment was to do his best to stabilize the situation while remaining highly vigilant.

The polar storm gradually subsided, and a faint twilight shone through the gray-purple sky, with the last trace of chill remaining on the ice field before the storm.

David and Amy supported each other as they left the area of ​​the most violent energy fluctuations, carrying with them the lingering aftershocks and deep worries.

"The time fluctuations are becoming increasingly erratic, and we must trace the source."

David said in a low voice, withdrawing his gaze and amplifying his mental senses as much as possible, trying to capture the intermittent and faint information ripples.

His feet crunched through a thin layer of frost and snow, producing a faint, crisp sound that seemed unusually quiet on the vast ice plain.

Amy followed closely behind, her silver armor reflecting a cold glint in the twilight. She crouched down and gently touched the ground with her fingers. The icy touch sent a faint tremor through her fingertips, like the pulse of ancient veins. "This spatial fluctuation seems to come from deep underground...an ancient ruin."

They moved slowly in one direction, toward the entrance of a giant ice cave that had been buried for a long time by thick snow.

The mottled and broken ice wall is covered with crystal-clear frost patterns, and each crack is like a ring of time.

The cave entrance seemed to open its giant maw, silently swallowing the surrounding shadows.

The wind carried fine snowflakes, which swirled down and condensed into a thin, white mist at the cave entrance, rising and falling slowly like breath.

David stared into the dark abyss within the cave. He could feel the complex and immense energy surging within, which was not just cold but more like a long-sealed, dormant memory.

Amy activated her domain law, and her absolute zero domain spread out like a silver veil, freezing the surrounding air even more pure and dry.

"Let's prepare before we enter the core area."

With focused concentration, she slowly advanced inwards while using her staff to guide the flow of subtle laws to prevent the dangers caused by sudden spatial distortions.

As the two ventured deeper into the cave, each step softly struck the hard, transparent, diamond-like ice walls, echoing like eerie whispers in the vast emptiness.

They traced the ripples of time and space step by step, guiding their spiritual eyes through layers of illusionary barriers—as if passing through rusty, cracked dimensional doors, or peering into an ancient nightmare in a long slumber.

Suddenly, a blue-silver light flashed from the depths of the nest wall, revealing a half-hidden, blurry yet exceptionally vivid fragment of consciousness—a legendary prehistoric behemoth: the "Dimensional Frost Beast" from ten thousand years ago, whose body was enormous and contained immeasurable spatial power, but perished here due to a catastrophic tear in spacetime.

These fragments of consciousness seem to have struggled to awaken over endless years, using intermittent babbling to recount distant catastrophes and unfinished missions.

David crouched down and pressed his palms against the nest wall. He could feel a shiver spreading from his palms to his whole body. The remnants of consciousness were like crystalline feathers scattered in the wind, blurry images flashing through his mind: violent tearing, spatial annihilation, thunderous roars, and a pair of huge, dark blue eyes closing with tears in their eyes... Those fragmented pieces of information weighed heavily on the hearts of the two of them.

“This is not just a legend,” Amy said in a low voice. “These fragments of spirits carry important clues that may reveal the real reason behind the disaster back then.”

They continued their investigation and discovered faint, unusually high-frequency oscillations flickering deeper into the nest. Through spiritual detection, they confirmed that it was a high-dimensional energy crystal—an unnatural entity. The vibrational frequency it emitted exceeded the scope of conventional physics, like a mark left by the origin of space and time, incredible and full of dangerous allure.

The environment became even darker and damper, and the sound of their footsteps and breathing seemed to be swallowed up by an invisible pressure.

Every step must be taken with care to avoid triggering hidden mechanisms or disrupting the fragile seal.

They listened intently, hearing only ethereal whispers and rhythmic murmurs that seemed to resonate with the passage of time, creating a symphony that seemed to strike their heartstrings. There were also strange resonances that vibrated in their minds, making them almost lose control of themselves. But their vigilance made them clench their teeth and bite their tongues, not allowing themselves to be distracted, lose their way, or lose their will.

At this moment, the two were in a serious and cooperative posture: David used his staff to guide the way and maintain the stability of the field, while Amy continuously expanded the Zero Degree Barrier to strengthen the shield and resist the ever-increasing irregular spatial disturbances.

Sweat beaded on their brows, yet they showed no sign of retreat, for their convictions remained steadfast and clear: preventing the resurgence of this millennia-old catastrophe was their inescapable responsibility; exploring the most obscure secrets buried behind the ruins was the only way to seek hope and light for the future…

They stopped in the middle of a huge natural dome.

Here, high-dimensional energy crystals are arranged in a regular geometric structure, as if constructing a core hub of an interdimensional passage.

These dazzling crystals reflect a mottled, magnificent, and mysterious aura, making the entire dome resemble stars cascading down from the vast universe, incomparably grand and beautiful yet also possessing a chilling and austere feel.

“They strongly disrupt the normal spacetime order,” David stared at the shimmering, rotating crystals. “If they were allowed to be released freely, the structure here would collapse completely, triggering a chain reaction that would sweep across a much larger area.”

Amy nodded. "We must use our domain rules to combat these anomalous codes, while trying to seal them or transform them into a stable state."

The two worked in perfect harmony, each unleashing their most exquisite techniques to flawlessly blend the blazing blue flames with the absolute zero environment. Within this wondrously intertwined field, they manipulated elemental forces, using flames to scorch and melt away some of the abnormal information obstructing their path, and then using extreme cold to freeze it in place. This caused the high-frequency oscillations to gradually weaken and subside, much like a piano tuner carefully adjusting each string to achieve precise and harmonious resonance, restoring order and balance to the otherworldly melody…

As the final elemental decree was cast, the high-dimensional energy gradually fell silent, and the spatial tremors dissipated without a trace.

The air returned to its clean and clear state, and fine beads of sweat appeared on the foreheads of the two people, but rare relieved smiles appeared on their faces.

A long and arduous exploration has come to an end. They have successfully stabilized the key point, gaining valuable time and possibilities for the next stage of revealing hidden secrets...

"This is a compilation of information left over from 10,000 years ago, and also a key clue to our future destiny."

David's voice was slightly hoarse, but full of determination: "We must take this data back to analyze, and at the same time prepare for the more complex and dangerous challenges ahead."

Amy smiled wryly: "I never imagined that after thousands of years of lonely waiting, this ancient ice nest would still be so well preserved and have such a vibrant memory... It seems to be using its last words to warn us not to repeat the same mistakes, and not to give up hope."

They smiled at each other and nodded in tacit agreement, memorizing all the information they had gathered. Then they picked up their staffs, reorganized the protective runes, and planned their future course of action from a fresh perspective.

Leaving the ancient ice nest, David and Amy embarked on their return journey. The sky remained a gray-purple, the twilight was like a tapestry, and the snow on the ice plains was still fresh, yet it could not conceal the chilling atmosphere that permeated the world.

Their steps were steady and powerful, each step striking a silent war drum on the hard frozen ground.

The north wind continued to howl, swirling around them, carrying with it unknown cries for help and undercurrents from afar.

"David, have you received the new signal?" Amy asked, turning her head. Her silver armor gleamed coldly in the dim light, and her gaze was tense and sharp.

David readjusted his mental link frequency, carefully capturing information fluctuations from the frequency band left behind by the Star-Eyed Clan.

Suddenly, a broken but urgent and heavy distress signal broke through the air, a call filled with despair yet unwavering resilience.

"Star Eye... Calling for help... Rift invasion... Crisis..."

"They are from the Star-Eyed Clan."

David frowned. They all knew that this ancient tribe was once the most mysterious and powerful in the Arctic, but it mysteriously disappeared thousands of years ago, leaving behind only countless legends and fragmented archives.

"They suffered a devastating blow."

A cold wind swept by, and the two quickened their pace toward the source of the signal.

Gradually, it was a small valley surrounded by cracked ice, a desolate place covered with silvery-gray spore-like mycelium—the spores floated and dissipated slowly in the air like a thin mist, each wisp carrying the power of corrosion and erosion.

Suddenly, a faint sound came from the bottom of the valley, like a painful groan, or perhaps mixed with whispers and murmurs.

They held their breath and searched for the sound, and soon discovered a small group of Star-Eyed Clan refugees—six or seven survivors crouching among the broken rocks. The creatures had distorted faces and cloudy, lifeless eyes. Parts of their bodies were covered by silvery-gray spore parasites, like a living source of decay, constantly expanding and infecting outwards.

"Quick! These spores have already penetrated into the bone marrow!" Amy exclaimed. She raised her staff and tried to apply the Zero Degree Domain to freeze the spread, but the spores were extremely active, reacting and shifting their positions as if they were intentionally resisting the freezing energy.

A resolute glint flashed between David's brows. "Awaken the Frostwolf bloodline!" he shouted, summoning the ancient bloodline deep within his heart.

The Frostwolf spirit hovered around him like a shadow, and a layer of pale blue cold air instantly spread out, enveloping the air around him and the survivors with extreme cold, quickly suppressing the activity of the rampant spores.

His palm touched the shoulder of a severely infected person, transmitting Frost Wolf spiritual power through bloodline resonance. That extremely cold and piercing power pierced through the parasitic hyphae like a sharp blade, freezing and blunting them, allowing the infected person to catch their breath for a moment and preventing them from being completely devoured and destroyed.

The survivors looked up at their unexpected savior, their eyes glistening with tears of hope mixed with pain.

An elderly woman said in a trembling voice, "We are the advance team of observers... The rift has seeped to the edge of our world, countless team members have perished here, and others are still on the run..."

Another young man nodded and added, "They use silver-gray parasites as a medium, they are ubiquitous and evolve rapidly, and we can no longer stop them."

Amy crouched down and gently brushed away some scabs from the woman's cheek with her fingers. "You said rift infiltration? This means the enemy is sneaking into our dimension through spatial rifts?"

“That’s right,” the older woman said with a determined look in her eyes, “the ‘Shadow Stalkers’ in the Observer’s advance team have broken through multiple protective barriers. They are using spacetime fluctuations to create illusions and traps to lure us into an ambush.”

Upon hearing this, David remained silent for a long time.

He knew that this meant a larger-scale, more dangerous catastrophe was approaching, and that the battle was far from over.

"We must leave here as soon as possible and at the same time report this information back to command so that more law controllers can prepare."

However, just as they were preparing to evacuate, a deafening explosion came from outside the valley, and a large number of silvery-gray spores were scattered with the explosion dust, spreading like a poisonous cloud.

The sky suddenly darkened, and ominous shadows gradually swallowed up the once clear view.

The surviving squad panicked. Several members struggled to their feet to resist, but their stiff limbs and dazed state clearly indicated that the parasitic effects were worsening.

Amy waved her staff, creating an unbreakable zero-degree barrier that enveloped everyone, while David guided the Frostwolf spirits to unleash their strongest freezing attack, using their blazing cold blades to cleave through the incoming poisonous mist and stealthy tentacles.

After a brief exchange, they finally broke free from the oppression, but both of them were already extremely exhausted, not to mention those who were seriously injured or even unable to move.

(End of this chapter)