Chapter 358 The Land Where Time Stands Still 2
Presumably, that's the passage to other sky islands."
"Sir, Uncle Priest is right; indeed, there is a teleportation array here on this sky island, the only one," said Scarlett, blinking her long eyelashes and nodding along.
Furthermore, this place is within the Barrier Area, different from ordinary sky islands in the outside world.
Besides this floating island, almost all the surrounding scenery is mirrored from the outside world, and other islands may not be in the same space.
So all we have to do is follow the teleportation array on the island.
After all, the Winged Race and the Elf Tribe are both inherently proud and rigid races, and they have highly advanced magic technology, giving them the confidence that other races cannot find this place."
"Activate the teleportation array here again," Leo Ray nodded slightly upon hearing this.
"Understood, sir!" Gideon Black took the lead and began to walk towards the edge of the island.
As he approached, his palm raised slightly, and a dark gold-colored small light ball was immediately formed in the air.
Then, with a flick of his finger, Gideon sent the small light ball, glowing faintly, floating towards an almost weed-free muddy surface.
The moment the light ball touched the ground, it was as if the ground lit up.
A gray hexagram magic array, constantly spinning, emerged, stirring up faint energy fluctuations in the process.
"The magic patterns on it are quite similar to the one I saw in the underground square before," Leo Ray raised an eyebrow, looking at the sudden appearance of the gray magic array on the ground.
"Sir, wait a moment. Just in case, the two of us will go and check it out first." Gideon bowed slightly to Leo Ray and then proceeded with Scarlett, who was holding a short magic wand, one after another.
Upon stepping into the magic array, the two of them disappeared as if they were wearing invisibility cloaks, making the entire scene quite fascinating.
"So this is how a teleportation array works? When I was absorbed into it in the underground square, the scene must have been very interesting, especially Ariel Watson's expression," Leo Ray thought with some amusement.
Not long after, Gideon and Scarlett reappeared in front of everyone.
At this time, both of their faces were full of disbelief, as if they had seen something terrifying, and they couldn't speak for a while.
Seeing this, Leo Ray gestured for them to calm down and then asked, "What happened?"
Sir, on the other sky island, there are…there are all members of the Winged Race!" Scarlett, with a stunned look on her face, swallowed and then said.
"There are still members of the Winged Race here?" Leo Ray's face was full of puzzled expressions upon hearing this.
The reason the Barrier Area was accidentally discovered by their party was that it had been left to decay for a long time. To maintain balance with the outside world, the entire island of the Lord's Mansion of Mystara City was sucked into the barrier.
If there were still members of the Winged Race here, why would they reveal their position?
As for Gideon and Scarlett's current dazed state, Scarlett was prone to being startled easily and showing such an expression was to be expected.
However, Gideon had always been calm and collected, rarely ever displaying such a shocked expression.
From this, it was clear that something was very unusual.
Realizing this, Leo Ray's expression became stern again.
"Sir, there are indeed a large number of Winged Race members there."
On the other side, Gideon took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, then added, "But, they can't be considered as still living members of the Winged Race!"
"Not still living members of the Winged Race?" Upon hearing this, not only Leo Ray but also Taylor, Bianca White, Abigail, and Kara were all full of astonishment.
"Sir, we've thoroughly checked and sensed the area, and there's no danger at the moment. Why don't you go and see for yourself?"
Gideon shook his head helplessly and continued, "Allow me to lead the way for you."
"Alright, let's go." Leo Ray nodded slightly and took the first step.Like that, swiftly stepping into the teleportation magic array, a light grey glow flickered in front of Leo Ray's eyes.
When his vision cleared, he saw himself standing at the entrance of a huge open-air square bathed in sunlight.
At first glance, the expansive square appeared to be vast.
Leo Ray estimated it to be at least the size of a dozen standard soccer fields, where unlike the entrance island previously, there was no mist surrounding the edges.
Clearly visible were two large and small suns and the fluffy white clouds encircling them.
On the vast square, the ground was paved with white marble, filled with numerous fountains of varying sizes, countless flower beds, metal chairs, and green lawns.
At the far end of the square, several dome-shaped white buildings stood tall.
This scene, contrasting against the sky, lent everything a sense of an ethereal paradise suspended in the air.
However, a closer observation revealed the dried-out fountains, the barren flower beds, the rusty metal chairs, and the overgrown grass, casting an aged, grey tone over everything and marring the otherwise picturesque scene.
Still, the most crucial aspect of this place lay elsewhere.
Across the square, numerous human-shaped statues stood, and, at a glance, there seemed to be thousands of them.
These statues had wings on their backs, varied poses, and different heights — all of which looked vivid and lifelike.
What was even more astonishing…
Almost every human statue, regardless of where it stood or what it was doing, looked in unison diagonally upwards, expressions of fear and shock on their faces, as if witnessing the arrival of the apocalypse.
"This is…"
Sensing the anomalous energy fluctuations occasionally emanating from the lifelike statues, Leo Ray remained stunned for a while before swallowing involuntarily.
Although the energy fluctuations radiating from these statues were very faint,
when they were all together, the fluctuations reached a perceivable level.
What was even more baffling was the trace of life energy, something that only living beings could emit, clearly present within these fluctuations.
"These statues… were they once living members of the Winged Race?!" Bianca White, with an equally puzzled expression, couldn't help but blurt out.
"Indeed, to be precise, these members of the Winged Race had been instantly subjected to some extremely profound petrification magic,
and it has likely persisted for thousands of years."
Gideon Black, standing aside and appearing rather wooden, nodded slowly, seemingly still recovering from the shock.
As someone in a healing profession, he was certainly familiar with petrification magic.
The petrification type of magic is one of the taboo skills.
Although its effects were extraordinary – capable of instantly turning enemies of the same or lower level into immovable statues – few powerhouses would actively use it.
This is because casting it consumes not only mana but also causes a certain degree of magic backlash on the caster.
Moreover, this backlash effect would increase with the number of targets and their respective power levels.
Generally, when this number reached double digits,
it would escalate to an incredibly terrifying level, and if one were not careful, it might lead to disastrous results or even one's own demise.
What if the number of petrified targets were in the thousands?!
After considering this, Gideon Black took a deep breath and recounted everything he knew to Leo Ray and the rest of the group.
Upon hearing Gideon Black's description, the expressions on their faces displayed their utter astonishment.
It seemed that thousands of years ago, this section of the Winged Race's barrier area had encountered a terrifying adversary.
"So, does that mean, thousands of years ago, at this Sky Island Square, or rather, for these Winged Race people, their time had stopped at the moment of their petrification?"
At this point, a look of contemplation surfaced on Leo Ray's face amidst his astonishment.