The liquid at Phoenix's feet was like glowing red oil, giving off an extremely filthy sensation, yet Phoenix's pure white feet stepped directly into it without being stained at all, as if these viscous liquids had a life of their own.
Alan, on the opposite side, was clearing the spells shot by Phoenix at the fastest speed, but he still couldn't stop her from completing this magic. At this moment, Alan could only perceive that the magic she used was very dangerous; he could sense space, darkness, death, and other elements from that puddle of liquid. Additionally, this kind of ritual, which requires sacrificing one's own blood, is often used in extremely evil Dark Arts. If she were allowed to continue, the threat of this magic would become even greater.
So, as soon as Alan freed his hands, he immediately, without hesitation, unleashed several Sectumsempra sword energy waves toward Phoenix, then closed in, attempting to shorten the distance and launch an attack. Just as several invisible sword energy waves flew rapidly, about to hit Phoenix, her ritual magic was also initially completed!
The murky liquid beneath Phoenix's feet, like rotten mud, exploded with a bang, just like sudden oil gushing from a well. As the rotten mud gushed forth, a series of ghostly wails suddenly came from behind them, followed by the sight of withered hands clawing their way out of the viscous liquid, trailed by arms, shoulders, torsos, and heads. Soon, the full appearance of the creatures summoned by Phoenix's magic—or rather, the spectral beings referred to as Netherworld Guardians in her previous incantation—was revealed before Alan.
These newly appeared humanoid monsters were different from the Inferi he had seen before. Inferi were somewhat similar to zombies, not very agile, and not particularly strong in terms of lethality, but if their numbers were vast, they could still pose a significant threat. However, the monsters before him were clearly elite. Although they were also humanoid, they wore form-fitting armor and wielded either short or long-handled weapons. Their faces were withered and eerie, their eyes glowed with an unsettling red light, and their skin and armor were covered in that disgusting, oil-like viscous liquid. They looked like a group of soggy, armored skeleton soldiers. Of course, these monsters weren't quite skeletons; they were merely skin and bones.
The number of Netherworld Guardians gushing out from the Fountain of Filth was very large, and their movement speed was significantly faster than Inferi. Several of them rushed out in an instant, and as soon as they appeared, they brandished their weapons and roared as they charged toward Alan. Of course, the power of the several Sectumsempra sword energy waves unleashed by Alan was no joke; they instantly sliced the leading Netherworld Guardians in half. But the bodies of these spectral beings were also quite strong; Alan's sword energy, after cutting through one Netherworld Guardian, would generally be blocked by the guards behind it.
As the Netherworld Guardians blocked Alan's sword energy attacks, more and more guards continuously surged out from the Fountain of Filth. In no time, their number exceeded twenty, almost filling half of the basement.
Upon seeing this, Alan did not lose his composure. His mind was still rapidly thinking, *It seems my previous guess was correct. The magic Phoenix used is indeed a summoning ritual, and the muddy pool beneath her feet is actually similar to a one-way portal. For Phoenix to maintain this portal, in addition to sacrificing her own blood, she must also continuously input magic into the ritual array. I don't know where the other end of this portal is, or if there's a limit to the number of these summoned spectral beings. If there's no limit, or if the limit is very high, it will be troublesome. Continuous summoning tests magic reserves, and a woman like Phoenix, who has lived for hundreds of years, has no shortage of magic. So, I must quickly stop this summoning ritual now. Otherwise, if this drags on, the number of these summoned creatures will be endless, and that will be a problem. Causing a biological crisis in the city center would have serious negative consequences, and Phoenix would definitely use this opportunity to escape.*
After making up his mind, Alan quickly pondered how to close the summoning portal. Directly attacking the portal was not impossible, but the consequences of magical disturbance could be polarizing. It could either disrupt the stability of the summoning ritual and close the portal, or it could make space more unstable, thereby enlarging the portal and causing a counterproductive effect.
To close such a portal relatively safely, one must either target the wizard maintaining the portal, waiting for her magic to run out, or directly eliminate her. However, the style of this portal for summoning Netherworld Guardians was quite unique; it was actually a Fountain of Filth, and all these monsters emerged from the fountain. But now Phoenix was completely submerged by the fountain. Alan was unsure if directly attacking Phoenix, who was hidden inside the fountain, would affect the portal's stability.
And besides a direct attack or targeting the spellcaster, there was only one other way to stably close the portal: directly severing the spatial channel of the portal. But this method was extremely difficult because spatiotemporal magic is very complex, and runes that can directly act on space are quite rare. Most of them also act on teleportation, rather than preventing it.
However, Alan did indeed have one. Previously, when he rescued that phoenix from the club's Northern European transport team, he learned a special rune that could isolate space from the birdcage used to imprison the phoenix. At the same time, he currently had an amulet made with this rune, which he had created earlier for research convenience. Originally, Alan only wanted to deepen his research and then use it to upgrade his disruptor, but the structural difficulty of this rune was not low, plus it consumed a lot of energy, so he had only made a sample for testing.
It seems that to close this portal, he would have to use this amulet he had, which could block space. However, since this amulet was a trial product, its range of influence was not large. If he wanted to affect the spatial gate before him, he would at least have to throw it directly into the fountain.
"So, I have to get completely close, right?" Looking at the layers of Netherworld Guardians blocking his way, Alan nodded resolutely. "Then let me first see the level of you guardians, and then devise a strategy!"
In less than a second, Alan calmly completed a series of thoughts, and at this moment, the roaring Netherworld Guardians had already charged before him and were brandishing their weapons to attack.