Chapter 204: Remnants of the Deity (Part One)
Thud, thud!
The tumor was quivering.
The towering black rocks below formed a mountain range, and as the gray mist dissipated, the high dragon head came into sharp focus. It suddenly hit me that the massive dragon bodies, too many to count, were almost encircling a much larger peak stone sitting in the center — and the dragon heads were all facing that very large peak stone.
Or maybe, it was where the tumor was.
The entire peak rock was pitch black and oddly shaped, with surfaces full of holes like wind-eroded stone. The summit was deeply cratered like a volcano, its bizarre tumor floating ominously above, countless thick, pulsating veins reaching down like a grotesque web, making my skin crawl as they delved into the depths of the pit below.
Big White…
The roar of Big White echoed from the pit at the top of the peak…
With all my might, I pushed the power of the Abyss, soaring into the air above the peak rock, the massive tumor growing closer in my sights. I could already smell the heavy stench of bl**d wafting from that way.
“Big White—!”
I shouted desperately, sensing the wind beginning to still, then flapped my flame wings to speed up.
Suddenly, I heard rustling sounds from the peak rock. Squinting, I spotted countless shadows clambering up the rugged mountainside, like ants… they were the fairies!
How come there are so many fairies here…
What are they trying to do…
The fairies were gripping the rock wall with agility, using hooks to climb rapidly. There were so many of them it was dizzying. I flew high enough to take in the spectacle, akin to ants swarming to a nest, and got close enough to hear their cries, like waves crashing.
Their shouts carried fear, a certain unknown desperation, and an air of utter ruin.
As they clambered, several fairies constantly fell from the rock wall, crashing into the denser groups below, but no one seemed to care. The fairies acted like they’d lost their minds, screaming in languages I couldn’t understand, each one climbing upward with reckless abandon.
The redeemer guardians…
Could they be trying to… climb into the deep pit at the peak… to stop something?
I accelerated my flight; some fairies noticed me and shouted threateningly toward the sky.
The next moment, disaster struck.
Before I could reach the pit and see what was happening inside, a massive rumble roared like thunder, echoing in my ears and rippling through the shadowy world.
Boom, boom, boom—
With an ear-splitting bang, the high rock formations below began to tremble.
An earthquake…
It was a quake so intense that it felt like it could collapse the entire world.
In an instant, dust and muck erupted into the vast view, launching high amidst the endless stone veins, exploding like fireworks. The black rocks shattered and peeled away amid the deafening noise, and the collapsing boulders didn’t fall to the ground but shot upwards as if pulled by an invisible force, floating into the sky.
The intense shockwave swept the tumbling rocks towards me in the blink of an eye.
“Ugh…”
I was flipped mid-air, the violent tremors ripping through the air, emitting eerie sounds around me. Countless dark stones whizzed upwards beneath me, and I narrowly dodged a large one, hastily stabilizing myself in mid-air. Shaking my head, I looked back toward the peak rock.
I felt dizzy… what the hell was happening?!
In my sight, the towering black rock cliffs trembled under the shockwave, massive rocks continuing to peel away from the summit. Gray smoke billowed into the sky as the climbing fairies were buried in the dust, screaming and shrieking, large groups plummeting into the thick haze below.
With this kind of earthquake, how many of them would d*e…
I flapped my wings with all my might, darting quickly between the flying rock chunks, raising my altitude again. Soon enough, the scene in the pit at the peak finally came into view.
It was a crater nearly half a kilometer wide, but not very deep, resembling a volcanic pit. Countless thick “veins” crisscrossed, forming a giant bl**d web that nearly filled the entire pit.
Scarlet bl**d flowed along the network, and just getting a whiff of it made me nauseous. But I couldn’t care about my own discomfort; I spotted a massive figure covered in white fur, trapped deep within the bl**d web.
“Big White!”
Black mist billowed, and searing white flames swirled and shot out. The moment I saw Big White’s figure, I channeled the power of Chaotic Power with all I had, my body enveloped in thick Dead Smoke, and like a shooting star, I plunged towards the bl**d web.
“Big White—”
Why wasn’t it moving…
Why wasn’t it responding to me…
The figure of the White Dragon in the bl**d web dimly radiated a golden glow. It lay on the ground, ensnared by thick nets, its chest barely rising and falling, completely still otherwise.
But it was still alive…
Big White was still breathing… it was still alive…
Whoosh—
The Dead Smoke wrapped around me ignited into black flames under immense pressure, and my small body transformed into a fierce fireball, roaring as I crashed into the bl**d web. The next moment, countless thick veins wriggled like crimson tentacles, lashing out towards me from all directions.
“Get away!”
I shouted angrily, wielding Captain Gray like a whirlwind, countless black fireballs howling as they swept outwards, colliding with the reaching bl**d tentacles. The explosions of “boom, boom, boom” echoed, severing dozens of tentacles, which were consumed by the surging Dead Smoke, making an unsavory “sizzle” sound as they quickly retracted.
However, more bl**d-red tentacles stretched through the explosions, weaving through the Dead Smoke surrounding me, penetrating the sharp edge of Captain Gray, and wrapped tightly around my arm, thigh, waist, and neck.
“Ugh…”
I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t make a sound.
The force of the tentacles was incredibly strong. Even though I gritted my teeth and fought with everything I had, I could hardly resist; in the blink of an eye, I was rendered immobile, spread-eagled mid-air, the tentacle tightening around my neck nearly strangling me. My face turned red, and I almost dropped Captain Gray.
d*mn it…
Big White was right there…
“Ugh… ah…”
The solid armor made of Abyss Mud cracked under the tentacle’s monstrous squeeze.
d*mn, d*mn…
Crack, crack!
The sound of bones snapping came suddenly from my arm and thigh.
I froze for a moment.
And then, a piercing pain surged through me like lightning, racing up to my brain.
“Ah…”
My arm… it’s broken…
My leg… it’s broken…
The agony was driving me insane as I stared at my bloodshot right arm, discovering that it had nearly twisted into a pretzel shape. I lost my grip on Captain Gray, and it dropped to the ground, quickly snatched by another tentacle. bl**d spurted from my torn skin, and the sticky bl**d vessels coiled tightly like snakes, sizzling with a sound reminiscent of barbecuing flesh under the assault of Dead Smoke, yet refusing to loosen their grip.
I couldn’t breathe anymore.
