Steam Age: I Fight Against Divine Authority with Otherworldly Tales

The Limitations of Chapter 56, "The Evil in the Mirror"

Suren drank the orange-yellow liquid in one gulp. Its taste was very strange, like a sticky jelly, which slid down his throat.

Suren entered a strange state at this moment. The things in his vision appeared illusory and semi-transparent, as if he were in a dream. Everything around him seemed incredibly unreal.

If the world were a painting, Suren would feel that he and everything around him were not on the same level.

He tentatively stepped off the boulder and ran for several dozen steps. The surroundings remained illusory, and when Suren entered the salamander's attack range, it did not react at all.

Seeing this, Suren no longer hesitated. He strode towards the salamander, his movements completely silent due to the effects of the drug.

Suren dared not delay for a moment, after all, he did not know the exact duration of the potion; it could be two minutes or one minute.

As Suren approached, the two monsters remained unresponsive, as if nothing had happened.

As Suren watched, the salamander's body drew ever closer, its dark yellow skin becoming increasingly visible. Suren could even discern the fine scales on its surface. Beneath the salamander, the two "Oath Bloodstones" lay quietly, radiating a crimson glow, the veins on their eggshells clearly discernible.

Without hesitation, Suren reached out and placed his hands on the two "Oath Bloodstones." They felt warm to the touch, and Suren could even feel the pulsation inside the eggshell.

As Suren's "Mandala Ring" flashed with light, the two "Oath Bloodstones" vanished into thin air, floating silently in the ring's void.

Having done all that, he turned and ran back the way he came without looking back. He had only taken two steps when he heard a noise behind him. Without bothering to turn around, he quickened his pace.

Behind Suren, the warm sensation on the salamander's abdomen disappeared, alerting it to something amiss. It opened its enormous eyes, the vertical pupils appearing like black slits in the sunlight. It opened its mouth, and a piercing roar shattered the silence of the wilderness, the sharp sound echoing across the plains.

It suddenly stood up, its massive body resembling a small mountain. Then, it bent its hind legs, raised its forebody, and slammed its forelegs, along with its two enormous front claws, into the ground. In that instant, the entire depression trembled. A ring of cracks appeared on the ground beneath its feet, spreading rapidly outwards for more than ten meters like a spider web.

It didn't stop, repeating the same action, striking the ground three times in a row. The cracks in the ground grew larger and larger, and the entire ground trembled, even affecting the toad.

Because it was too close, its massive body had been flipped over by the continuous shocks. It struggled incessantly but could not stand up, and because it could not find a target to attack, it could only stand there and let out confused growls.

As the salamander slammed into the ground, Suren was unaware of what was happening. A sudden, violent tremor ran beneath his feet, causing his knees to buckle and nearly causing him to fall. He instinctively used all four limbs to crawl forward. A few seconds later, Suren was only about 10 meters away from the boulder.

Just then, the sense of unreality in his eyes... vanished.

"Damn it." Suren cursed under his breath, but he didn't stop. He had already left the cracked area and resumed his normal running speed. As he ran, he turned his head to look behind him.

The moment the salamander appeared after the potion wore off, its murky vertical pupils locked onto him.

It opened its mouth and roared again. Then the light between it and the toad suddenly thickened and became more dazzling. The pale red light on the salamander's body also became more intense and dazzling.

It charged towards Suren, its four paws slamming into the ground. Thump, thump, thump, thump—each sound was unusually muffled, and Suren felt his heart pound in sync. In almost an instant, the distance between them had halved.

Suren remained calm, his steps unwavering as he stepped across the previously reserved puddle. Just then, a flash of white light appeared on his ring, and he held the "Alchemy Bottle" in his right hand. He splashed the puddle to the side, causing it to swell.

The Book of Secret Knowledge also appeared before Suren at this moment, its pages flipping wildly, stopping at a line of text that was emitting an eerie purple light.

The salamander with its red glow was almost within reach; Suren could even clearly see the rows of fine teeth in its mouth.

Just as the newt approached the pool, a sudden change occurred. Pairs of pale hands with black fingernails grabbed the newt's body. Some grasped its thick forelimbs, some dug into the gaps between the scales on its abdomen, some wrapped around its constantly swaying tail, and others directly gripped the folds of its neck.

The salamander, which was charging at high speed, seemed to have been suddenly paused. Its massive body came to an abrupt stop in mid-air, creating an extremely bizarre scene.

But Suren felt no joy. He frowned as he looked at the newt entangled by the "mirror demon." The pale hands were merely gripping the newt; there was no sign of them pulling it into the water.

Suren had a vague idea in his mind. Thinking of this, his pupils shrank slightly, and he stopped and ran frantically towards the safe route he had come from.

After running for more than fifty meters, he suddenly lunged forward and tumbled into a patch of messy grass ahead. Upon landing, he covered his mouth; although his chest was heaving violently, he made no sound.

He carefully parted the weeds in front of him and peered through the gaps towards the salamander. The pale hands had vanished, and the salamander stood unharmed, emitting a sharp hiss, seemingly venting its anger.

Suren frowned. Five seconds passed, but the salamander was not pulled into the water. It seemed that the "Mirror Demon" was able to kill the giant wolf in an instant because the giant wolf was already at its last gasp.

He shook his head. "The Mirror Demon" wasn't omnipotent, but Suren felt that it was highly likely that his own rank was hindering the effect of "The Mirror Demon".

He looked at his left hand, which had already lost its warmth. Although it was still far from being deathly pale, it still conveyed a cruel truth—the erosion was intensifying.

Suren lay on the spot, her chest still heaving violently, her breathing heavy and rapid, slowly recovering her strength.

Suddenly, he had a strange feeling of being watched. He turned to look behind him but found nothing. A moment later, the feeling vanished, just as abruptly and without a trace as it had appeared. Suren stared at the open space behind him, lost in thought.

He turned his head away, no longer thinking about it, and continued to stare at the fiery red salamander.

He slowly stood up after the salamander returned to the depression.

The map appeared out of thin air in his hand. He smiled; it seemed he could begin the next step of his plan.