The Witcher: Start with the Lord Marrying a Wife.

Chapter 567 Contract Curse
Each step.

All of this was accompanied by a bone-chilling cold that spread around.

Like a winter storm sweeping across the land, its chilling cold penetrating to the bone.

"mortal.

You will all eventually be swallowed up by this frozen order!

Sudden.

He raised the heavy hammer and slammed it down on the base seal.

It triggered a violent explosion.

Marble powder flew everywhere, accompanied by flashes of lightning.

The members of the expedition team quickly took cover.

Several people were thrown off balance by the shockwave.

Their faces showed pain, but their eyes burned with a resolute fire—

Even if the sacred texts are incomplete.

It also carries their only hope!

Lena crouched between the pillars.

She gently touched the surface of the relic fragment.

Faint star runes could be seen flowing across the surface.

"As long as it's pieced together completely."

That will awaken true power.

Tears mixed with sweat slid down his face.

This is a kind of perseverance after exhaustion.

It is the only obsession with the future.

It is also the deepest reverence for life!
"Continue the search."

Every single piece is crucial.

David said in a deep voice.

As he wiped the blood from his forehead, he carefully observed the dense array of totems laid out beneath his feet.

Hoping to find hidden entrances or secret mechanisms.

Under his guidance and with his cooperation.

The team pieced together the incomplete legal code piece by piece.

Sometimes, it is necessary to flip over heavy rock slabs or break through traps to retrieve important clues.

Careful yet highly efficient collaboration.

We dare not be the slightest bit lax or rusty!
The chaos has not yet subsided.

Large numbers of assassins and demons continued to pour in.

Unleash devastating magical attacks from multiple directions.

Many areas were instantly reduced to scorched earth and billowing smoke.

Kroos, on the other hand, was more like a raging beast.

He repeatedly raised his hammer to condense a frost tornado that swept across the enemy army.

The entire altar resembled a scene of utter carnage, like the final judgment of the world.
The chill in the air suddenly intensified.

The outer wall of the main hall has collapsed and cracked in many places due to repeated impacts.

It was like an apocalyptic tremor that made it hard to breathe.

And this moment.

In the heart of the ruins.

A circular rune platform constructed from star patterns slowly glowed with a ghostly blue light.

The reliefs above seem to come alive.

Resonate with the key to your soul.
Look there!

That's the final key to the Star Ritual!

Lena exclaimed.

She quickly gathered everyone to help Eileen protect the rune platform from damage.

This protective barrier is fragile.

But it is the last line of defense.

This is also where the hope for reversing the situation lies!
The battle grew increasingly fierce.

The various forces are constantly clashing and creating a complex situation:

The blade sliced ​​through the air, creating a strange rushing sand.
The Shadow Stalker hides in a corner, waiting for an opportunity to ambush;
Elemental explosions burn across the sky;

Furthermore, there is the spatial-temporal dislocation caused by the distortion of the void.

The entire space seemed poised to collapse at any moment.
Just now.

An ominous and chilling ripple emanated from underground.

The ripples instantly disrupted everyone's senses.

This caused everyone's movements to suddenly become sluggish and disoriented.

It's as if time is pulling us into an endless abyss.
"Don't let your guard down!"

This is a reaction triggered by the source of power.

We must seize the opportunity.

David calmly gave the order.

He used all his strength to concentrate on resisting interference.

He once again drew his sword, pointing it directly at the hidden entrance near the collapsing marble stele wall.

"follow me!"

Amidst the fog and smoke, the crowd followed his footsteps, climbing over the collapsed obstacles.

They carefully made their way to the entrance of the long-forgotten underground passage.

This passage is rumored to be connected to the most crucial secret of the Star Source—

The true sacred text that controls the balance of the universe is located there!
But just as they were about to enter the passage...

A shriek bursting from the shadows ripped through the silence.

It was a reinforcement force led by the assassin leader.

They are also an indomitable force that seeks to completely seize the truth and suppress hope.

They wielded sharp daggers and used illusions to confuse the enemy.

The expedition team was trapped in an encirclement.
"The three forces will eventually converge here."

David looked toward the victors who were closing in on the dark storm.

His gaze was sharp and cold.

"This is the start of the duel."

"We have no way out." Darkness surged like a tide as the three forces engaged in a thrilling melee on the ruins of the dilapidated altar.

The air was thick with a mixture of cold and fire, and broken stone pillars and fallen carving fragments were scattered all over the ground, as if the whole world was trembling for this battle that was about to decide fate.

David was clad in armor stained with dust and blood, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's.

He moved nimbly through the enemy ranks, each swing of his sword bringing with it a dazzling starlight, slaying assassins and demons in an instant.

Sweat trickled down his forehead, his brows furrowed, his heart filled with anxiety: "We must find the complete codex as soon as possible, or this place will eventually become a dark abyss."

Lena followed closely behind, waving her wands to summon elemental power and weave a series of azure barriers to surround and protect her teammates.

Her face was covered in sweat, but her resolute expression revealed boundless determination.

"Eileen, watch out for the flanks! Those ghostly blue flame arrows are extremely deadly!" She quickly cast a frost shield, and a blast of cold air instantly froze the incoming arrows.

Eileen focused intently on casting her spell, her gaze calm and focused. A silver-white binding rope shot out from her palm, firmly binding the small demon that was trying to surround her.

"Hold on!" she whispered to herself, while chanting the incantation to break the spell and trap.

Lord Kerros, the Lord of the Frozen Hell, sat atop a rocky peak, clad in armor that gleamed with icy light. With each swing of his massive ice hammer, a fierce wind arose, shattering the earth with every blow.

He roared furiously, "David! You cannot stop the reshaping of order. This battle is inevitable! Surrender!"

The pillar god's clone stood in the center of the storm in a twisted and uncertain form, its claws tearing through space, each swing creating a blackish-purple rift that devoured its enemies into nothingness.

Its eerie roar caused the earth to tremble violently, like the low tolling of a doomsday bell.

Soldiers fought fiercely in the firelight and shadows; some were torn apart by claws, some were frozen into statues by frost, and others were reduced to ashes in mid-air explosions.

Blood stained half the sky, and the shouts of battle and the sounds of magical explosions intertwined to create an apocalyptic elegy.

David led a small elite squad around the edge of the main battlefield, carefully avoiding the sleeping traps by stepping on broken runestone slabs.

“The altar is just ahead,” he whispered. “We must hurry.”

Lena quickly set up an array of barriers, creating a safe passage for the team.

Deep within the ruins, a half-buried marble platform emerges, carved with blurred yet faintly discernible star runes—the final hiding place of the complete codex.

“If we find it, we’ll have a chance to turn the tide,” Lena’s eyes gleamed. “But the protective power is also exceptionally strong.”

Just as they were engrossed in their search, a shadowy figure emerged from the flank—a strike team led by the assassin leader.

They moved like ghosts, silently cutting into the defenses, slicing through the air with deadly daggers, and causing chaos.

"Hold the formation! Don't let them get close!" David shouted, swinging his sword at an oncoming assassin while using his shield to deflect several shadow darts.

A companion fell to the ground after being slashed by a dagger. He quickly bent down to help him up, shouting, "Don't fall, we're not done yet!"

The assassin leader sneered, his deep eyes as venomous as a snake's: "You are nothing but utter losers. This world is destined to be swallowed by darkness."

At this moment, Kross led his men to suppress some members of the expedition team. A tornado of ice he hammered swept around, and countless enemy soldiers turned into hard ice crystals and fell down.

He retorted angrily, "David, you are nothing but a pawn on the chessboard, while I will become the new king!"

The pillar god's clone suddenly let out a terrifying roar, and the tearing of the void continued to spread, causing spatial distortion and making the entire place seem to be on the verge of collapse.

However, at the most critical moment—

The Soul Key emitted a dazzling blue-white light, resonating with the suspended crystal.

A wave of pure energy rippled outwards, like the afterglow of stars illuminating a dark corner.

David mustered his strength, leaped forward, and shouted: "Now, let's protect the future with all our might!"

The expedition team members responded enthusiastically, risking their lives to launch a counterattack empowered by the Soul Key and the sacred relic.

In an instant, blades, magic, and elemental energy converged into a vast torrent, gradually forcing the invaders back.

Meanwhile, the runes on the marble platform gradually awakened, as if the life force of an ancient legend was being revealed once again...

The smoke from the battlefield thickened, and the aftershocks of magic echoed in the air, as if the prelude to the apocalypse was constantly playing out on these ruins.

David gripped his greatsword tightly, his eyes as resolute as steel. He knew this battle was not only a matter of life and death, but also a pivotal moment that would determine the fate of the entire world.

The assassin leader's assault team approached silently, using illusions and shadow movement to try and sever the expedition team's connection with the altar.

David quickly assessed the situation and shouted, "Spread out! Use fire magic to dispel the illusions! Eileen, immediately unleash Elemental Storm to provide support!"

Eileen obeyed the command, gathering the essence of wind in her hands. A sudden gust of wind arose, forcing the assassin in the shadows back several steps.

Lena focused on the runes on the altar, lightly touching the faintly glowing ancient characters with the tip of her wand. "The power of the stars is about to awaken, requiring only the final connection."

She recited the incantation with complete concentration, piecing together the incomplete codex word by word into a complete chapter.

Behind her, the marble platform slowly rose with a pale blue light, as if an ancient civilization were coming back to life.

At the same time, Kross, wielding his giant hammer, roared through the frost tornado and said with a sneer, "Do you think you can defeat the true order with these weak forces?"

"I will show you the ultimate power of the frozen world!" He struck down suddenly, and a crack in the ice quickly spread, freezing the ground into a solid layer of ice.

David parried the blow head-on, the chill from the sharp hammer almost numbing his arm, but he gritted his teeth and did not back down in the slightest.

"No matter how strong you are, we will not give up!" he roared in retaliation, a sword aura slicing through the air like a streak of fire and striking Krlos's chest.

The giant hammer crashed to the ground, and the two forces instantly unleashed a tremendous shockwave.

Just as the battle reached its most intense moment, a brilliant starlight suddenly shot out from the marble platform—the energy fluctuations released by the complete holy scripture.

The members of the expedition team felt an unprecedented surge of power rising from the depths of their hearts. This holy radiance dispelled darkness and fear like the dawn, greatly boosting their morale, and they once again united to launch a counterattack against the enemy.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the pillar god's clone spat out a twisted black shadow from the void rift in an attempt to disrupt the formation, but it was completely neutralized by the dazzling blue and white light emitted by the soul key.

"You cannot escape the arrangements of fate." It growled and swung its claws, drawing dark purple arcs in the air, but it could no longer harm the people in the slightest.

When the assassin leader's plan failed, he had no choice but to lead his remaining subordinates in a rapid retreat, while Kross was temporarily trapped in the center of the altar by a sealing spell cast by David and Reina.

They pressed their advantage and pushed the enemy to the brink of defeat.

Finally, with everyone's combined efforts, the star runes on the marble platform lit up completely, and a dazzling pillar of light shot straight into the sky, as magnificent and glorious as a new dawn cutting through the night!
Exhausted but determined team members supported each other, knowing that this long and arduous battle had finally taken a turn for the better.

The complete legal code will also grant them all the power they need to resolve chaos, quell conflict, and protect their homeland...

As the dazzling beam of light pierced through the layers of dark clouds, the atmosphere on the altar ruins suddenly became heavy.

A faint blue-silver glow filled the air, and the star runes on the marble platform seemed to pulsate with life.

The expedition team members supported each other without letting up, knowing full well that the real test had only just begun.

David slowly walked towards the rune platform, his gaze fixed as firm as a rock amidst the shimmering starlight.

“This is… the complete legal code.” His voice was deep but carried an unshakeable power.

He carefully placed the Soul Key at the center of the rune, and instantly, a pure and intense energy burst forth from the key, illuminating the surrounding void as if it were daytime.

Lena and Eileen followed closely behind, their eyes fixed on the reliefs on the altar. The ancient text gradually pieced together from the broken fragments, and lines of runes flowed like living water, converging into a complete text.

Lena exhaled softly, feeling a cold and insidious unease creeping into her heart: "This is no ordinary codex; it records... the 'Abyss Pact'."

The air suddenly became heavy, and even the breeze seemed to freeze at that moment.

A beam of eerie blue light pierced through the edge of the platform, as deep and dark as obsidian.

Within that crack, an image slowly emerged: an entity known as the "Observer" was negotiating with an invisible and immense dark force, a darkness that seemed to originate from the abyss of nothingness, an otherworldly existence whose essence was chaos and destruction.

Eileen's expression was solemn, her fingertips trembling slightly. "The observers used the 'Dimensional Parasitic Embryo' technology to implant an alien chaotic experimental subject into a multidimensional space in exchange for this powerful but extremely dangerous 'Abyssal Erosion' Codex."

She paused for a moment, then said, "This is a contract, and also a curse."

David gripped the hilt of his sword and took a step, each step feeling almost like stepping on the edge of time and space.

"If we cannot completely decipher this contract, this power will only destroy everything we know."

At that moment, violent explosions suddenly erupted around the altar, and portals that tore through space suddenly opened, from which countless distorted and blurry figures poured out.

They are mutated creatures formed from the intertwining of chaotic experimental subjects and parasitic consciousness, with countless eyeballs writhing and flashing with eerie light on their body surfaces.

They roared as they charged towards the expedition team's position, surging forward like a tidal wave.

(End of this chapter)