[Vol. 8] Chapter 236: Unspeakable, Unutterable
Thud!
“?”
The sudden sound of a body hitting the ground broke the chanting. Violet, who had just read out a few strange words, froze for a moment in surprise. She turned her head without thinking, and only then noticed how extreme everyone else's reactions were.
She also realized that at some point, the space around them had started to ripple with powerful waves that were nearly invisible to the naked eye.
As the invisible vibrations spread outward, the whole spacious hall before them began to sway and tremble, just like water disturbed by a rock. It wasn’t an attack, not in the usual sense. Rather, it felt more like what happens when fish in a pond get thrown into chaos by a sudden current. Something invisible and indescribable was affecting everything.
Was this the power of the [Forbidden Words]?
Even though it was Violet’s first time seeing something this strange and hard to believe, she understood the situation immediately.
This wasn’t just a matter of space being distorted. In fact, it seemed like even the very rules that make up the world itself were being shaken, leading to a chain reaction beyond imagination.
Forget Aldrich, who had passed out immediately, his life or death unknown. Even someone as powerful as the Sword Saint, Bevis, could barely stay standing. The floor beneath him seemed to shift and sway like waves, and he staggered like a drunk, completely unable to control his balance. He looked like a tiny boat being tossed around in a storm, miserable and helpless.
Even the dragon girl, Xiao Guang, who was a Dragon God, was affected.
On her skin, a faint golden flame appeared, glowing visibly to the eye. The fire rose from her body without warning and formed a shield that blocked out the chaotic wave of energy. Without a doubt, this was her Primordial Flame activating on its own to protect its master.
Realizing that things were going wrong, Violet immediately stopped reading the carved words and quickly turned her head away, making sure she wasn’t looking at the tablet anymore.
A moment later, the bizarre shaking of the space began to settle down. Until finally, everything became still and quiet again.
“How interesting…”
After glancing at the others, Violet’s beautiful silver-blue eyes lit up with a sharp glint.
These symbols, which Bevis called [Forbidden Words], were indeed not like any known language in the world today. But just like the [Ancient Niel language] used by gods, they carried a special kind of power.
If the [Ancient Niel language] could be seen as the written form of the laws of the universe, symbolizing the supreme authority of the gods, then these [Forbidden Words] were the complete opposite.
At first, Violet couldn’t make any sense of the scribbles on the tablet either. But when she activated her divine ability from [Reincarnation], the [Yin-Yang Eyes], she found something shocking:
These so-called [Forbidden Words] slowly began to translate themselves in her vision.
Not instantly, but word by word, at a very slow pace, they started to turn into something she could understand.
But...
What had just happened was also clear in her mind.
These were words that could not be spoken or described, words whose very existence was itself a form of taboo...
No. That’s not quite right.
Based on what had just happened and what Bevis had told them, the truth was probably closer to this:
The rules of the world simply do not allow these letters to exist or be spread in any way. That’s why they only show up in ancient ruins, long buried and hidden. Even speaking them aloud causes the world itself to react violently.
If we imagine the world as a giant game, then this rule would be part of the game’s most basic, unchangeable code.
But then why? Why does such a rule exist? Where did these mysterious symbols even come from?
And why was there nothing to be seen before, yet after they went underground and came back, the palace had completely changed?
As Violet silently pondered these questions, the grand golden palace around them started to decay right before their eyes. Like a painting with its colors washed away, the shining walls and decorations quickly rotted and fell apart.
By the time the space around them returned to normal, everything had gone back to the ruined state it was in when they first arrived.
The mysterious and hard-to-understand [Forbidden Words] carved on the tablet had also completely disappeared again.
“Master?”
“I’m fine, just feeling a little disappointed… Even though I don’t know why everything changed like that, I have a feeling those [Forbidden Words] were hiding a big secret. I don’t know if we’ll ever get another chance to trigger them again.”
As she spoke, the priestess raised her hand and sent out a beam of golden light. It entered Aldrich’s body, who was lying on the ground. She shook her head slightly, as if she felt a bit sorry.
Bevis, being a Sword Saint and blessed with the power of snake blood, was already one of the strongest beings in the world below the gods. Even though that strange invisible shock just now was very powerful, because Violet stopped it in time, it didn’t cause him too much harm.
After steadying himself, he quickly noticed that Aldrich had passed out and rushed over to check on him. At the same time, he also looked up at the other two women, who seemed less affected.
“You two, what exactly just happened…?”
Violet exchanged a glance with her dragon again. She saw that the divine flames surrounding Xiao Guang, which represented her godly power, had already faded away. Xiao Guang nodded slightly, showing that she was okay. Violet finally felt relieved and shook her head.
“I’m not exactly sure what happened either. But it looks like it was caused by reading the [Forbidden Words] on the tablet. Also, the grand scene we saw earlier wasn’t real. It was probably a very convincing illusion. Once it was disturbed, it naturally disappeared.”
“By the way… this guy isn’t dead, right?”
After a quick check on Aldrich, Bevis found that although blood was coming out of his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth, making him look terribly scary, his breathing was still steady. Bevis quickly shook his head.
“He’s just badly shaken up. Although he… hmm, has a bit of a flawed personality, his strength is actually quite solid. Luckily, we didn’t bring those younger ones with us. If they had experienced what just happened, things might’ve ended much worse. As expected, this grave of the Snake is full of strange dangers… But Violet, how do you know the legendary [Forbidden Words]?”
The priestess didn’t hide anything.
“I have a special ability that lets me see through all mysteries and break through all kinds of illusions. The [Forbidden Words] may be strange and confusing, but they still exist within the world’s laws.”
“I see… That’s really amazing…”
The Sword Saint was visibly impressed. Then he asked another question.
“Then in your opinion, what should we do next?”
Violet understood what Bevis meant. Originally, because of what they saw in the ruins, their group had planned to return to Saint Laos City. But now, with this strange and confusing event suddenly happening, it seemed like they should investigate further…
“……”
Violet glanced at the unlucky guy lying stiff on the ground nearby. Then her eyes drifted back to the stone tablet, now once again blank, and she looked as if she were thinking deeply.
To be honest, with her abilities, healing Aldrich and waking him up would be extremely easy. Staying behind to investigate more wouldn’t be a problem either. But for some reason, she had a strong feeling, deep in her heart, that the change they just experienced was not the end of it.
Why did the dragon race’s ancient formation suddenly activate?
Why did the palace change completely after just one round trip, just in time for them to see the [Forbidden Words], which were supposed to have disappeared long ago?
Violet had thought about exploring these ruins several times in the past, but something always came up to stop her. Now, maybe the real reason this palace exists, and all the strange things Aldrich had mentioned before, were all connected to it.
Everything that’s happened so far…
Was it really all just a coincidence?