Night Ranger

”The Deep River?”

Jessica keenly noticed the change in Raven’s expression and asked in a confused voice, ”Where is it?”

Raven muttered in fright, ”It is the most terrifying place in the entire Underdark!”

”Although it has been written in some ancient books that the Deep River connects the entire Underdark, and that by using it, one could travel between almost any two places in the Underdark, that place is still too dangerous.”

”It’s commonly believed that some monsters from the Astral Plane are sealed in the Deep River. Many people who have gone to explore it ended up disappearing forever.”

She looked at Marvin with worry.

Raven’s mind was being controlled by the Book of Nalu, but it didn’t actually prevent Raven from having her own thoughts, as long as she didn’t plot against Marvin or act against his interests. Normally, the Book of Nalu only bound her like a contract, making Marvin the owner of these ”puppets” that would follow his orders and intentions. When required, the Book of Nalu would completely take them over too.

For Raven and the others, Marvin came first.

If Marvin died, their souls would immediately be swallowed by the Book of Nalu!

It could be said that only if Marvin remained alive would they be able to at least keep this half-independent state.

Her instincts told her to stop Marvin from going to the Deep River.

But the ridiculous part was that Marvin was her master, so she couldn’t actually go against his whims. Thus, her face became unsightly, as she couldn’t figure out what to do.

She could only tell Jessica what she knew, in hopes that the Fate Sorceress would choose to back out and decide on another course of action.

But to Raven’s despair, despite her trying to impress upon them the terror of the river, not only Marvin unfazed, not seeing any reason to change his plan, but even Jessica seemed to agree with him.

Perhaps those two felt like there was nothing too dangerous for them in this world anymore?

In the end, Raven could only cope with it. Under Marvin’s arrangements, she quickly dealt with her part of the plan.

She needed some time to forge a secret document, after all.

As a captive of the Book of Nalu, she could only execute Marvin’s orders as he wished.

...

There were shadows flickering on the walls of the cave, and occasionally, a few clumps of glowing moss floated past them. But they were repelled by the powerful ability of the Fate Sorceress.

Perhaps their aura was too powerful, because on the entire way so far, they hadn’t met a single Dark Specter. The Ghost Barrier that Marvin and Jessica had just mastered had yet to have a chance to shine.

After getting hold of the forged document, Marvin and Jessica started chasing after the group of Legends.

In normal circumstances, they wouldn’t have been able to catch up to them.

But the Deep River was a very unusual place.

Even Jessica, who had frequently dealt with creatures of the Underdark, didn’t know about it.

Only the leaders of the Underdark knew about the Deep River.

The so-called Deep River was a broad and endless river. Some even wondered whether it might be a sea whose depths led into lower planes like the Abyss, Hell, or the Negative Energy Plane.

The Underdark was a region under Feinan, and those on the surface often thought that the Underdark was the lowest part of Feinan.

But in fact, only a small number of people knew that the true lowest part of Feinan was the Deep River.

The Underdark was under Feinan, and the Deep River was under the Underdark!

Its central point was even deeper than that of the River Styx.

Even in the eyes of the Underdark’s leaders, the Deep River was one of the forbidden areas that no one was to approach, along with the Eternal Frozen Spring. It was normal for even Legends to disappear after going there.

The ancient myths, coupled with the real and existent danger, cast a mysterious veil over the Deep River.

Marvin dared to believe that no one in this world knew more about the Deep River than he did.

Although he hadn’t experienced it himself, he had learnt most of the information about the Deep River from a trailer.

Relying on the power of his newfound Wisdom, the information sorted itself out in his mind.

Many fuzzy memories became clearer, and he could review and manipulate these memories.

The reason that the Deep River was so frightening had nothing to do with the mysterious myths.

There was only one source of danger, a Crypt Monster.

’A boss on the level of a Mid God… the remains of an ancient Evil God.’

As a large palm reaching out from the dark, expansive river appeared in Marvin’s mind, he felt a bit of excitement.

According to the official explanation, this Crypt Monster could challenge mid-level Gods!

The Crypt Monster had always been slumbering in the Deep River since ancient times.

Many people tried to explore the Deep River, but they didn’t even die from waking the Crypt Monster; it was just the monster’s reflexive fighting instinct!

So many Legends tried to adventure through the Deep River, but ended up disappearing… And they died from a monster that was sleeping! This showed how strong it was!

But Marvin didn’t have any plans to retreat.

He had an idea in mind.

When he worked together with Jessica, they were probably one of the most powerful duos in the world. Even Divine Servants would be easily killed if they came to be obstructive.

Although the Crypt Monster was troublesome and was at the level of a Mid God, it still only had the intelligence of a wild creature and could only fight based on instinct.

In other words, the Boss hidden in the Deep River was actually a powerful but brainless enemy.

This kind of Boss was what Marvin liked killing most of all. Since it was powerful, that he would obtain great rewards from killing it. And since it was brainless, it would have many exploitable flaws.

As he saw it, this Crypt Monster was just a meal to be eaten.

He also wanted to see how much of a distance there was between him and a Mid God!

If he couldn’t get rid of a God when joining hands with the most powerful Fate Sorceress, then once the Universe Magic Pool broke, he would only be able to wait for his death.

This battle would be an invaluable experience.

In fact, even if he hadn’t been in a hurry to settle the issue of the Eternal Frozen Spring, Marvin would probably still have tried to convince Jessica to go kill the Crypt Monster, partially for his own goals, and partially because it really would save time.

In all of Feinan, there was no enemy more suitable for him to practice against right now.

There was that existence in a glacier in the North that had been heavily injured by O’Brien. She was the descendant of an Ancient God and had outstanding intelligence, making Marvin feel that she inevitably still had some tricks left. Thus, he decided not to deal with the Azure Matriarch for now. But that woman would be exterminated sooner or later, when there was time.

...

On the way, Marvin described his plan.

Jessica certainly had no intention to avoid the fight. She was a very fierce woman, her [Power] made one of the most indomitable forces in the world. There was nowhere that she didn’t dare go.

The only doubt in her mind was…’How could Marvin have gotten so much information about this?’