Ancient Wizards: A Little Progress Every Day

"Buzz—"

With this movement, a dense golden light emerged from Dago's forehead, then gently rippled outwards, transforming into layers of thick golden ripples that spread outwards.

Layers of golden ripples passed through the black crystalline shell in front of Dago and penetrated it without any hindrance.

Time seemed to stand still at that moment.

The rhythmic breathing sounds emanating from within the shell, the intermittent white light flowing across the surrounding cave walls, and the ghostly heads being wantonly hunted down by Aishiya. Within the vast cavity, everything seemed to stand still, the gazes of countless ghostly heads all focused on a single point, staring blankly at Dago.

Then, in the next second, all the ghost heads showed expressions of extreme terror.

It's like something absolutely terrible is about to happen!

"hiss--"

After Dago unleashed his full power with [Golden Head] to launch a mental attack on the creature sleeping inside the shell, he felt all the air around him seem to flow towards a certain spot at the bottom of the shell. Immediately afterward, the white fleshy tubes on the surrounding cave walls expanded and bulged out.

Under an atmosphere that was inexplicably oppressive to an extreme degree, Dago blinked.

He raised one hand, and a golden luster emanated from between his five fingers, coalescing into a heart shape with countless facets that enveloped him entirely.

—【Heart of Gold】!

Just as all this was finished, the extremely oppressive atmosphere in the air suddenly shattered.

"ah!!!!"

Immediately following, an indescribable, terrifying shriek suddenly erupted from within the shell.

The ferocity and intensity of the shriek were indescribable. Even though Dago thought he was fully prepared, his [Heart of Gold] defense shattered in a single exchange.

Dago felt a buzzing sound in his head, as if he had been hit hard on the forehead with a hammer. Within his consciousness, the ten soul crystals instantly dimmed completely, and blood rapidly flowed from his seven orifices.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Amidst the deafening roar and earth-shattering screams, the enormous cavity cavern resembled a tattered rag being violently tossed about by a gale, with layers upon layers of visible, transparent folds appearing in the air.

Including Aishya, countless ghostly entities wandering in the cave exploded directly under this terrifying sound wave.

The ground shook violently. Dago, enduring the nauseating pain that made him feel like he was about to faint, struggled to throw the square-cornered cowbell at Aishya, who had reverted to his black smoke form and was gradually dissipating.

Then, he turned around, trembling, his eyes wide, staring intently at the snail shell before him, looking at it greedily and eagerly.

The mystery of the parasitic snail inside the ordinary ghost cry fish was enough to fascinate him. So what kind of mystery does this top-level snail, which has existed for countless years, contain?

Dago strained to open his eyes, only to see countless rays of light emerging from a massive, pure black shell, writhing and intertwining together.

The light shone into the lake of his heart, and the spiral pattern that had already been drawn rapidly grew outward again, becoming more complete and complex.

The pattern resembles a mysterious, ever-changing starry sky, or a winding, ancient labyrinth.

Dago didn't have time to interpret; he just relied on instinct to desperately memorize.

The shrieking sounds grew louder and louder, and the white fleshy tubes that had been coiled on the cave walls burst open one after another. The white viscous fluid that was released was shaken into countless scattered foams by the sound waves before it could even spread.

"Click-clack—"

Dago remained in a forward-bowed posture, his body elongating, his short black hair growing rapidly, fluttering behind him like dark blue flags as clumps of black-blue frost surged forth.

His face was contorted in a ferocious expression, and the large, dragon-scale-like patterns on his body had not yet fully emerged before being covered by countless bursting wounds.

"boom!"

In the [Ancient Ice] state, an even more powerful force surged from his body.

"Click—"

Dago's body swelled again, countless lightning-like white lights shot out from under his skin, and his originally dark blue, flowing hair gradually faded to a translucent white from the roots. Furthermore, jet-black runes rapidly grew upwards from between his hands, spreading throughout his entire body.

"roar--"

Dago's bloodshot eyes widened, and a rune shaped like a "sacred tree" flashed rapidly at his heart.

With the complete activation of the Despairing Winter Dragon bloodline and the complete despair, coupled with the double blessing of the [Cold Element], he was finally able to barely withstand the terrifying sonic wave impact coming towards him, and slowly prop himself up amidst the raging waves of sound waves.

"Huffing and puffing—"

Dago, breathing heavily and under terrifying pressure, walked step by step toward the shrieking snail, wanting to see it more clearly.

The black, glowing shell had now become almost completely transparent, like crystal, with countless streams of light rapidly intertwining and merging within this translucent crystal.

Dago's pupils dilated, and the labyrinthine pattern in his mind became more and more complete, more and more mysterious and complex.

Instinct drove him to inching closer to the strange snail, reaching out towards the enormous crystal wall in front of him.

When his fingers finally touched the surface of the crystal shell, some blurry, fragmented ancient images suddenly flooded into his mind.

In a daze, Dago seemed to see a strange world without land, completely covered by the ocean.

At the center of the world is a huge and unfathomable black vortex into which surging seawater pours, its destination unknown.

Within this vortex, countless bizarre creatures, bearing black bone spurs and shells, and carrying countless vengeful spirits, desperately climbed towards the vortex's opening, raising their heads and emitting terrifying shrieks that shook the universe.

"Comb-shaped conch shell".

Dago's eyes were glazed over, and he murmured to himself.

"Click—"

Dago heard a shattering sound coming from inside his chest.

next second.

"boom!"

He was over two meters tall, and his massive, muscular blue demonic body suddenly exploded, with thick, viscous black runic light bursting forth from beneath his flesh.

"Boom!"

On the calm sea, a thick column of water suddenly burst forth, shooting straight into the starry sky like an angry dragon.

Chuck jolted awake and scrambled to his feet from the airship's deck. Before he could even figure out what was happening, a massive, dark shadow suddenly blocked out the moonlight and hurtled toward him.

A strong stench of blood wafted in with the sea breeze, like wildly growing black vines, or perhaps from the shadows where some forbidden creature was constantly writhing. From within, a hoarse, deep voice rang out.

"Walk."

Chuck, his mind reeling, was suddenly swept away by a powerful force, and together with the magical airship beneath him, they were turned around and sped back the way they came.

In a daze, he turned his head and saw a strange fish carcass, as large as an island, slowly rising from the sea behind him, where water columns were shooting into the sky.