Ermu
Chapter 687: Secret of the Relic
It was a section of transparent, deep-red crystal, extremely similar to the magic core found in the labyrinth ruins, also a vertically standing spindle. (Quality#……Net) Only, it was much smaller in volume, only about half a person's height.
However, when Ailena entered the secret chamber, she discovered that its back had changed shape, from a gentle and smooth arc to a sharp right angle. If viewed from above the relic, it looked like a quarter of a circle cut into equal parts by a cross.
Like the magic core, it floated in mid-air without any support. This alone was enough to prove its extraordinariness.
Is this the thing that decides the fate of humanity?
Ailena was filled with doubt, along with a surge of resentment towards the gods.
According to Pasha, no one knew how it appeared before them. From the moment it emerged, it was inextricably linked to the fate of mankind. If it were lost, everyone, whether witches or mortals, would die instantly. To protect the legacy, countless people fought bloody battles, dying on the battlefield against the devils. But the gods never gave them any instructions, as if merely silently appreciating it all, until the final victor was born.
This kind of trick was simply disgusting.
"Are you ready?" Zoe asked, "Don't let your mind wander when moving the relic, and don't try to connect with the gods. Remember what Pasha told us?"
"Don't worry, I remember," Ailena nodded, "Shall I count to three?"
The other gave a "okay" gesture.
"Three, two, one..." The two simultaneously held the relic and slowly walked out. It could obviously float in the air on its own, but it was not as light as a feather. When Ailena touched it, she inexplicably felt her arm sink, and even with the body of a God's Punishment Warrior, she found it extremely difficult.
If Pasha hadn't warned her, she would have almost thought she had regained the hundreds of years of sensation she had lost.
This "sense of effort" was spiritual.
The relic was trying to connect with them.
Ailena shook her head, intending to throw the distracting thoughts out of her mind, but suddenly remembered that she couldn't let her mind wander – in that case, she had to ramble.
But what's good to think about? Men... or food... or a soft bed?
"What you want is sensation." A voice suddenly entered her mind, "Comfort, joy, pain, cold, heat, and I can give you these. Relax your mind, look at me..."
Look at what? No, that's not right! Ailena's eyes widened, who's talking? Could it be the relic itself?
She turned to look at Zoe, only to find that the other's eyes had lost their luster, like a soulless shell.
Damn it, what's going on? Pasha didn't say anything about this happening!
"Don't worry, she's just following her heart and integrating into me."
Let her out!
"I can't, or you can come in and take her out..." The voice gradually changed, from the initial hoarse voice to a gentle female voice. Ailena even had a little difficulty distinguishing whether it was the relic talking to her or herself talking to herself.
Take her out?
For a moment, Pasha's instructions flashed through her mind.
"Never connect with the gods."
But she couldn't just watch Zoe dissipate, a body completely devoid of soul couldn't maintain its activity for long. She had to pull Zoe back!
Just look at the relic?
Ailena took a deep breath and stared straight at the deep-red crystal.
The latter's outline distorted, and then darkness enveloped her. When her vision returned to normal, she found that the world around her had completely changed.
It was an indescribably empty hall, infinitely high and infinitely far, with a deep starry sky and a huge red moon as the dome. The magic on the surface of the red moon was like boiling lava. Four huge paintings silently
hung down, surrounding her in the center on all sides.
Whether it was the hall, the red moon, or the paintings, they all gave a sense of extreme grandeur. Although Pasha had mentioned such an incredible scene, it was the first time Ailena had witnessed it with her own eyes.
"Zoe! Where are you?" she shouted.
But no one answered her.
There was nothing in the hall except the paintings.
She forced herself to calm down and turned her gaze to the paintings.
However, after only one glance, Ailena felt a cold sweat break out on her back – there were also people in the paintings watching her!
One of them was a devil wearing exquisite armor, its pupils flashing with frightening red light, and it stood up from the throne, walking towards her step by step.
Another painting was of a giant eyeball. What was chilling was that there was not just one pupil in the eyeball, but several pupils blooming simultaneously, arranged in a triangle, each one like a big mouth ready to devour people.
She couldn't help but take two steps back, cheering herself up in her heart, these are just moving paintings, there's nothing to be afraid of.
However, this thought lasted for less than a breath.
Six or seven black tentacles suddenly stretched out from the two paintings, rushing straight towards her – each tentacle had a tiny hand at the front!
Before Ailena could react, she was caught!
The tentacles dragged her back and forth, fighting over each other, seemingly treating her as a rare trophy. Ailena, suspended between the two paintings, felt her body about to be torn apart. The unbearable pain made her scream.
Wait... pain?
Only then did she realize that she had returned to her witch form.
She didn't expect that the last experience before her death would be being torn in half. Ailena felt the pain constantly impacting her mind, and her consciousness became blurred. That's good... at least she wouldn't die in the empty and baseless form of a God's Punishment Warrior.
However, the scene in another painting seemed a little different.
She saw the God's Punishment Warrior body she had chosen fall to the ground, its limbs constantly twitching, while Zoe was dragging her legs towards the hidden door...
What's going on, could it be that the fool didn't integrate into the relic at all?
In that instant, the hall suddenly collapsed, the red moon, the paintings, and the tentacles all disappeared without a trace, and the long-lost pain also stopped... Ailena blinked, only to realize that she had returned to the vault.
"This is... a dream?"
"Dream what dream? You're really going to be the death of me," Zoe gritted her teeth, "What did Pasha tell you before? Never connect with the gods! I clearly emphasized it to you at the beginning!"
"But I saw you lose your mind..."
"I also saw you being swallowed by the relic!" she interrupted angrily, "Those are just illusions created by the gods! If I hadn't dragged you out of the room, I'm afraid you would have been trapped inside forever."
Ailena couldn't help but think of the giant devil and the giant eye in the huge paintings, as well as those tangible tentacles... Were they all illusions created by the gods? She felt a little uneasy in her heart – Pasha had never really come into contact with the relic, so it was normal not to mention this, but she had personally felt everything shown in the relic. That couldn't be considered an illusion at all, and it had nothing to do with the gods. The moment she noticed the people in the painting, the people in the painting also noticed her.
"What's next?" Betty interjected.
"Someone else come with me," Zoe finally glanced at Ailena, "The God's Prayer Room has been broken, we have to transfer the relic into the Godstone Box as soon as possible, otherwise those ubiquitous evil beasts will come to the cave to find us."