Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 704 - 697: Naptios

Chapter 704: Chapter 697: Naptios

"So, you’re saying that if the Rune is activated again, those monsters could potentially return?" Tangmo asked in surprise.

"Exactly. Although I can’t guarantee it completely, it’s better to be cautious." Luoer nodded.

"I agree with Captain Luoer," said Shariya, falling into thought. "I’m just curious, these monsters showed no significant intelligence, why did they know that the Door of Annihilation was about to close?"

"Perhaps someone is directing them." Cheng Ziang stated his view seriously.

"You mean, this is a conspiracy, there is someone around here luring these monsters to attack our world?" Shariya asked, frowning.

"I don’t necessarily think it’s someone on our side. It could be someone from the world of Annihilation. And it might not even be a person." Cheng Ziang said.

"What do you mean?" Shariya was confused by his statement.

"Do you remember those tentacles?" Luoer reminded.

"Are those tentacles... from that thing?" Shariya asked. His question instantly changed the expressions of the few young magicians present.

One of the magicians hesitated for a long time, then couldn’t help leaning in to Shariya, whispering a few words in his ear. Hearing him, Shariya opened his eyes wide, showing an incredulous expression.

"Are you sure?" Shariya looked at him in horror.

"I can’t guarantee it, but I have seen it before." The young magician lowered his head and said respectfully.

"Dean Shariya, what’s going on?" Luoer couldn’t help but ask curiously.

"Naptios, yes, it should be it!" Shariya said dazedly.

"Naptios?" Hearing Shariya’s words, Luoer and Cheng Ziang looked at each other in confusion.

"The ancient evil god, Naptios, a superior being from the world of Annihilation, possesses wisdom comparable to the wise men of the Human Race," the young magician added. "It appeared during the Dark Century, summoned by a group of summoners with ulterior motives. To defeat it, the Church Court lost half of its troops and a quarter of its mage corps."

"But it should be dead, right?" Luoer asked in surprise.

"It is indeed dead, but," the young magician said, his face showing fear, "Naptios is just the name of a race, which means..."

"Which means, what you’ve defeated in the past was merely one individual from the Naptios race." Cheng Ziang interjected coldly.

"How did you know all this?" Luoer asked curiously.

"It was documented in the bestiary, the story of it is recorded in the ’Dark Century Beastiary’."said the young magician.

"Could you be more specific?" Luoer asked.

"Okay," the magician glanced at him, then took a deep breath and continued with lingering fear, "During the Dark Century, summoners were relentless in summoning unknown creatures and trying to control them. Most of them failed, these monsters rampaged across the continent, causing destruction, death, and littered bones everywhere."

"One day, a summoners’ organization unexpectedly discovered the Church Court’s archives on the closing of the Door of Annihilation. In the archives, they found a monster from the Apocalypse World. The suppressed magicians of that time referred to it as Naputolia, thinking it was the only overlord of the Apocalypse World. However, the battle to close the Door of Annihilation lasted for three years, during which these monsters continuously appeared and attacked the magicians. Only then did they realize that this wasn’t a single entity, but a group. Hence, they renamed it Naptios, meaning the annihilating group."

"After obtaining these archives, the summoners became intrigued and began to engrave a massive summoning array intending to connect to the Apocalypse world and summon these creatures for their use."

"They failed in the end?" Cheng Ziang couldn’t help but interrupt. The reason he asked was that most monsters summoned by summoners would not obey them, and many monsters would attack the summoners immediately after being summoned.

The dark century could be regarded as a hundred years of summoners beckoning their doom. These summoners had no control over the monsters they summoned and could not guarantee safety measures, this resulted in a large number of summoned monsters escaping after attacking the summoners, causing severe damage to the world.

"Yes," the young magician did not get angry at his interruption but nodded and continued, "Naptios appeared instantly, killing and devouring all the summoners. It possesses a massive body, over forty plus in standing height with sturdy arms and legs. Its hair is thick tentacles, so long it can be dragged on the ground. These tentacles can move freely, helping Naptios catch victims for consumption."

"To suppress it, the Church Court dispatched almost all its elites. It was one of the largest battles during the dark century. To keep it in check, the church court lost tens of thousands of loyal knights and a quarter of the magician legion. It was completely eradicated only after the forbiddance curse magicians cast a combined forbidden curse."

"Knowing such a powerful monster exists, why does the Church Court take the Door of Annihilation so lightly? Haven’t they suffered enough?" Cheng Ziang couldn’t help furrowing his brow and asking.

"The last time the Door of Annihilation opened was over a thousand years ago, so there has always been a dispute about whether Naptios is an individual or a clan," the recovering Shariya supplemented, "The magicians at the time could not kill them but only drove them back into the Apocalypse World. Later, those summoners summoned Naptios, and it was completely killed by the Church Court, so many people think that Naptios is an individual and has been completely killed by the Church Court during the dark century."

"So they’ve become careless, thinking the greatest threat to the Apocalypse World has long been eliminated." The faces of Cheng Ziang and Luoer looked at each other, and they couldn’t help but force a bitter smile.

"Yes," Shariya nodded, then said with a look of regret, "Unfortunately, though I led the work of closing the Door of Annihilation, I didn’t collect relevant information, so I wasn’t aware of this threat until a student reminded me, which is a shame."

"No, no, no, it’s not your fault. The ’Dark Century Beastiary’ has always been sealed in the grand library of the Holy City. It was just a coincidence that I managed to borrow it, so it’s not unreasonable that you’re not aware of this." The young magician was quick to wave his hands and deny.

"What should we do next, delay the mission to close the Door of Annihilation temporarily?" Cheng Ziang asked.

"NO," Shariya shook her head, "As long as the Door of Annihilation is open, Naptios could emerge at any time. You should know they are a clan, not individuals, and if they attack in groups, we could not resist at all."

"In other words, no matter what the situation now, we should proceed with closing the Door of Annihilation?" Cheng Ziang looked around and asked.

At this time, the knights were already exhausted and could no longer fight, their only hope laid with the modernized army stationed at the rear. But Shariya’s meaning was clear, their actions to close the Door of Annihilation might have disturbed the Naptios, who could group up and mobilize at any moment.

According to the young magician’s description, a single Naptios was already tough to deal with, encountering several of them, they might not be able to resist even with nuclear bombs.