The Mighty Mage-Chapter 439: Confrontation

Suddenly, the scene began to blur, like the water was rippling. The mermaids, the underwater world, everything started fading away.

Gu Jin blinked and the temple reappeared, just as it had been before—quiet, empty, and a little eerie.

Her heart was still racing. What had just happened? Some sort of illusion? A trick?

Before she could figure it out, the voice came again, echoing softly through the air.

"Jin’er run away. You are not safe."

For some reason when Gu Jin heard the voice, sadness rippled in her heart.

But it was only a fleeting motion, which passed quickly and Gu Jin returned to her normal state.

Just as she was wondering what had happened, the space’s voice sounded in her ears,

"Master! Master wake up! Master!"

Gu Jin pressed her ears with her index finger and frowned,

"Stop shouting, I heard you."

The space sighed and said in a voice filled with relief,

"Thank god, master you finally came to your senses, for the few hours I was calling you, but for some reason you seemed to have fallen into some kind of trance."

Gu Jin blinked her eyes and titled her head,

"What did you say? How many hours have passed?"

"Almost 6." The space informed.

"What?" Gu Jin’s voice was laced with disbelief. As far as she remembered, she had only heard a few dialogues, so how could 6 hours have passed?

"Yes, master! You were just standing at the entrance of the temple and looking inside with a blank expression. In between you would mutter some gibberish and stay still for the next few hours." The space informed.

Gu Jin’s eyes narrowed and she asked,

"Wait...is there any illusion array around the temple that I accidentally triggered?"

"From what I can sense master, there was none to begin with." The space informed.

"You are lying." Gu Jin said with certainty. But then she thought how the illusion array didn’t activate the first time she entered the temple...

"No illusion array... but that doesn’t make sense," she muttered softly, her eyes narrowing.

The space spoke again, its tone confused.

"Master, I swear I’m not lying! There was no array! Nothing was triggered!"

Gu Jin bit her lip, her thoughts swirling. If there was no array, then what had just happened?

The scene she saw... the mermaid version of herself and Long Yifan... felt too real to be a simple hallucination.

"Is my condition worsening?" Gu Jin muttered.

Suddenly Gu Jin’s right eye started to twitch.

Something bad was about to happen...

"I need to leave," Gu Jin said firmly. "I can’t waste another second here."

The space, sensing her determination, spoke softly.

"Be careful, Master. Something about this place... feels dangerous."

Gu Jin didn’t need the reminder. Her gut was telling her the same thing.

She turned to leave, but just as she took a step toward the exit—

Boom!

A sudden explosion shook the ground, and Gu Jin’s eyes widened in alarm.

"What the—?!"

Dust and debris filled the air as the ground trembled violently beneath her feet.

"Master! Danger!" the space warned, its voice urgent.

Gu Jin’s reflexes kicked in immediately.

She leaped back, avoiding a chunk of stone that came crashing down where she had just stood.

Her eyes darted toward the source of the explosion.

A man.

He was tall, with long silver hair that flowed behind him like silk. His eyes... they glowed an eerie shade of crimson.

Gu Jin’s sharp gaze locked onto him instantly, her guard up.

"Who are you?" she demanded, her voice cold and steady.

The man smirked, his expression filled with amusement.

"Did you forget me so easily?"

Gu Jin chuckled,

"What to do, I often forget unimportant people."

The silver-haired man wasn’t offended, instead, he smiled at her. At first, his smile looked mesmerizing, but eventually, the curve of his lips started to reach his eye.

Even his beautifully aligned teeth started to sharpen up and looked like a monster’s teeth.

Recognization flashed in Gu Jin’s eyes and she asked,

"You are that parasitic king right...what was your name...ah! Right! Lame!"

Only parasites can smile so...inhumanely.

The smile on the man’s face vanished and he practically shouted,

"I am Lamashtu! Lamashtu! The king of parasites!"

Gu Jin nodded with a bored expression and said,

"One and the same."

Then suddenly she looked behind Lamashtu and raised an eyebrow,

"You have brought your subordinate along with you, huh?"

Lamashtu’s brows furrowed and he looked behind only to find a figure in a black cloak.

"Who are you?" He asked.

No response.

Furious Lamashtu lifted his one finger and in an instant, the cloaked person exploded. He clapped his hand and turned toward Gu Jin,

"Now that I have dealt with...wait! You b*tch! What are you doing."

Gu Jin who had placed her hand on the teleportation array smiled,

"Bye."

The light of the teleportation array enveloped her and the next second she reached Fujio city.

Gu Jin collapsed on the ground and started to pant. Faint blood started to trickle from her lips.

Lamashtu’s presence was so overwhelming that Gu Jin was hardly able to stand in front of him.

It was overwhelming pressure.

Gu Jin wiped the blood from her hand and her gloves were stained. With brought movements, she took out her gloves and placed her hand on the ground to support herself.

With a wave of her hand, the gloves were kept inside the space.

"Master, why did you run away? You are more than capable of fighting."

"So that he can follow me here." Gu Jin answered.

"Eh? Why not there master?" The space asked.

"Everything is too coincidental. Once Long Yifan left I felt as if someone was watching me, but then voices distracted me.

For the next 6 hours, I was trapped in some kind of illusion... and then suddenly Lamashtu appeared, do you understand what it means?"

"Someone was trying to harm you?" The space guessed.

"Half correct. Someone does want to harm me...or maybe wants to kill me, but they also want me to show my trump cards, otherwise Lamashtu wouldn’t have talked with me in the first place.

Not to mention, even though he hates me, he should first go toward the culprit who killed his most trusted subordinate, not me." Gu Jin explained.

"You are talking about Mister Long?" The space asked.

"Yes." Gu Jin nodded,

"Yet he attacked me first. How did he know about my location though? Was he following me all along? Impossible. You would have detected his presence. It’s those rats..."

"Which rats master?" The space asked curiously.

"The alchemist families who want to get rid of me." Gu Jin calmly answered.

"They must approached Lamashtu or Lamashtu was lurking as a spy in their family to get information about me."

Just as she finished speaking, the teleportation array, lit up and Lamashtu came out. Looking at Gu Jin, he chuckled humorlessly.

"What was the point of luring me here when you are destined to die anyway?" Lamashtu laughed, his eyes however had a crazed look.

Without waiting for Gu Jin’s reply, he rushed toward her.

Gu Jin entered the space and lay on the grass. After a while, she cultivated to restore her drained mana and came out of the space.

Lamashtu hovered above her, his crimson eyes glowing even brighter. His pupils had multiplied, making his gaze even more terrifying.

"Jin’er..." Lamashtu’s voice was soft, but filled with madness. "No matter where you run, I will find you."

Gu Jin raised an eyebrow, her lips curling into a smirk.

"Is that so?" she muttered softly.

Lamashtu’s grin widened, but before he could attack, Gu Jin raised her hand.

"Bind!"

Thick plant vines shot out from the ground and wrapped around Lamashtu’s limbs like hungry snakes.

"Ugh!" Lamashtu grunted, his face twisting as he struggled.

But Gu Jin’s vines weren’t ordinary. They were infused with poison attributes, not to mention Gu Jin was at Emperor Rank.

"Still think you can catch me so easily?" Gu Jin asked, her tone calm but cold.

Lamashtu’s eyes glowed brighter, and his body began to tremble.

"Hmph... you think this can stop me?" He sneered. A black aura surrounded him and in an instant, the plant vines turned into ashes.

Lamashtu smirked, his crimson eyes gleaming.

"Did you really think your little vines could hold me?" he mocked, his voice dripping with arrogance.

Gu Jin didn’t answer. Instead, she silently pulled out a small jade bottle from her space.

Lamashtu’s sharp eyes caught the movement, and his smirk faded.

"What’s that?" he asked, his tone cautious.

Gu Jin’s lips curved into a sly smile.

"Wouldn’t you like to know?"

Before Lamashtu could react, Gu Jin uncorked the bottle and tossed it toward him.

Lamashtu used his psychic element and stopped the bottle in mid-air. With disdain in his eyes, he asked,

"Do you think I will let anything unknown come near me? Stupid!"