CHAPTER 382: CHAPTER 157 EMERGENCY PREPARATION

However, Anvis did not share Fiona’s optimism; he was acutely aware of how formidable the enemy was.

Regarding Duke Carrot’s proposal, ’to use himself and Fiona as bait to lure out the enemy,’ Anvis couldn’t pinpoint any issues, yet he couldn’t fully set his mind at ease.

Luring out the enemy and then rooting them out to prevent further attacks could indeed be considered the optimal solution at present.

Yet, Anvis had no intention of placing his own safety entirely in the hands of others.

Having confirmed the approach of unknown powerful enemies, Anvis took inventory of his current assets to prepare for a confrontation with foes far stronger than himself.

Though he had already obtained quite a few things before, there were not many left to counter an adversary on the level of the Ninth Rank Limit.

Firstly, the Ancient Secret Scripture could be counted as one.

After sealing the black cocoon and his own strength officially breaking through the High Rank Profession, his strongest reliance, the Ancient Secret Scripture, unlocked even more abilities.

Beyond the Twisted Seed, the original variety of Class Magic effects were once again enhanced, and several new Class Magics were added.

Among them, one which Anvis regarded as a vital life-saving ability that could play a key role in the situation, was [Mirror Replacement].

This ability was based on the upgraded High Rank [Flesh Clone], [Dark Side of the Moon], and [Sealing].

The Caster needed to create a clone in advance, and then seal it within a special blank page at the back of the Ancient Secret Scripture.

In the face of an insurmountable crisis, the Caster could activate this ability at a critical moment, and the original body would seamlessly swap with the clone inside the book.

However, this ability required carrying the Ancient Secret Scripture at all times, and while sealing his clone within it, the Ancient Secret Scripture could not be stored inside a storage ring.

While it might seem to leave one still in danger, the greatest use of this Spell was to play dead to mislead others, rather than to escape.

According to Anvis’s tests, no matter whether it was space locking, anti-magic fields, Dream Realm interference, etc., none could prevent this swap from occurring.

The swap seemed to rely entirely on the power of the Ancient Secret Scripture, achieved through some higher-level means.

After leaving the Floating City, Anvis had once sought out Duke Carrot in private, hoping to test the specific effects and concealment of Mirror Replacement.

But after he swapped twice, the Duke had no reaction to the swaps at all.

It wasn’t until he revealed his identity that the Duke took it seriously and could barely sense the difference between his clone and his original body.

Besides that, there were two other interesting Class Magic Abilities: [Sacrifice] and [Corruption].

The effect of [Sacrifice] is to use a special Ritual Array to sacrifice Life and provide life force and soul power to the holder of the Ancient Secret Scripture.

The stronger the life sacrificed, the more power the Caster could obtain. If the sacrifice willingly offered itself, the conversion rate could reach ninety percent; otherwise, it would only be thirty percent.

However, according to the spell description, if the power obtained through sacrifice made up too high of a proportion, it would cause some unknown changes to the holder.

On the other hand, the purpose of [Corruption] was to use the Alien Power of the Ancient Secret Scripture to change the lifeform of the subject, making it a dependent of the holder of the Ancient Secret Scripture.

"These abilities are getting stranger and stranger..."

For the existence of these two class magic abilities, Anvis always felt that this book was pushing him in a strange direction.

Besides the evolved Ancient Secret Scripture, the Themis Statue obtained from the Floating City was also a powerful trump card.

Even though it had lost its energy source, the magic power remaining in the core of the statue was still enough to launch a complete Annihilation Rule attack.

Its power was equivalent to a mini-No Light of the Moon; even a Ninth Rank Limit would suffer heavy damage if hit directly.

And that was about all there was.

His overseas island’s research on Artificial Perfect Blood and the Mechanical Synthetic Army was still underway, too far to help with the immediate crisis.

Even though he now had additional golems and weapon systems from the Floating City, without the infinite magic power of the Eternal Core, they could not yet unleash their true strength.

The research in Orbins had only just begun, he hadn’t even seen the Space-Time Ring, let alone solve the Eternal Core.

All problems stemmed from the fact that this event occurred much earlier than in his previous life—decades earlier, in fact.

After much deliberation, Anvis finally decided to set aside other magical research temporarily and put all his efforts into crafting a special magic item that could create a permanent gateway connecting the Dream Realm and reality.

Regardless, the main cannon of the Themis Statue was currently his strongest method of attack.

Originally, he had intended to use it as a precaution when exploring the Dream World later, but now, he might need to use this trump card ahead of schedule.

Once the action plan was confirmed, Anvis spent half a month in the Magic Laboratory, forgoing sleep and food to create this special item, directly taking Spiritual Recovery Potions to replenish his dwindling spiritual power.

In that half month, even Fiona could not catch a glimpse of him. The Mysticism classes he used to attend occasionally were now completely abandoned.

Not just any dream space gate would do; in his design, this space gate was meant to serve as a channel for the Rule Attack to pass through.

Therefore, its structure had to be stable enough to withstand the pressure of the Annihilation Main Cannon passing through.

His bad premonition was confirmed half a month later when, as Anvis was urgently crafting the final connecting component of the Dream Space Mysterious Object, he suddenly experienced a daze.

In that hazy state, the same black figure as before appeared. Fiona was still with her eyes closed, floating as if in slumber beside him.

The only difference was that the figure was now much closer than before, and it kept moving towards him step by step.

An intangible oppression and fear continuously seized his heart.

Just as the dark figure was about to touch him, Anvis, who had been standing in front of the alchemy table, suddenly woke up with a layer of thin sweat on his back.

He discarded the component that had been ruined due to his abrupt cessation, wiped his forehead with a raised hand, and took a long breath.

The occurrence of such a situation meant that the time of crisis was incredibly near.

Furthermore, this also suggested another interpretation—that the protection mentioned by the Duke might not be enough to guarantee his and Fiona’s safety!

Glancing at a delicately crafted dark gold seven-tiered ring beside the alchemy table, Anvis gathered his spirits once again, took out a new set of materials, and restarted the crafting of the final component.