Are You About to Die?
After climbing for a short while, a new room came into view.
This is a spacious, circular stone chamber, with gray-white boulders of varying sizes and strange shapes scattered on the floor, resembling the remains of some ancient ruin. In the center of the chamber, among the boulders, stands a particularly eye-catching statue.
The statue is about the height of a person, made of a material that resembles jade but is not jade. It has a deep and serene blue color, but its surface is covered with fine cracks, as if it might shatter at any moment.
Even more striking is that from time to time, a few glittering gold coins are falling out of those cracks, clinking and jingling, and landing around the base of the statue, piling up in a small heap.
Blood-red Text emerged:
[[Prayer] Remove one card from your deck. Lose 7 Health Points.]
Destroy [to obtain 50-80 gold coins.]
[Leave]
Upon seeing the statue and the options, the Iron Guard visibly paused.
He didn't explain much, but silently stepped forward, solemnly knelt on one knee in front of the blue Winged Spirit statue, clasped his hands together, and lowered his masked head.
Immediately, a series of low, difficult syllables filled with ancient rhythms flowed from his mouth, carrying a texture that was both sacred and sorrowful, echoing softly in the empty stone chamber.
As the prayer ended, the Iron Guard remained kneeling, head bowed, body motionless, as if he had instantly fallen into a deep sleep, with even soft, even snores emanating from him.
Su Luo Jingjing observed the entire process, and only stepped forward slowly after the Iron Guard had completely "slept".
Instead of examining the statue or the gold coins, he crouched down, extended two fingers, and tried to probe the strange mask on the Iron Guard's face that seemed to be integrated with the armor but always covered his face.
His fingertips touched the edge of the mask, feeling the coldness of metal and a slight pulsation as if flesh were growing and connecting. He applied a little force, trying to find a gap or a latch, but the mask was perfectly sealed, as if it had been cast directly from the Iron Guard's facial bones, and remained motionless.
"Completely unlike a human."
No longer dwelling on the mask, Su Luo got up and walked towards the statue that was still emitting a faint light.
First, he picked up all fifty or so gold coins scattered around the base of the statue and put them in his pocket, the amount in his pocket increasing rapidly. Then, he gently placed his palm on the cold, blue surface of the statue.
The touch was warm and smooth, and a faint but pure energy flowed through her fingertips, carrying a sense of tranquility and protection. Su Luo carefully analyzed the characteristics of this energy.
"Statue... the Power of Faith?"
Su Luo raised an eyebrow slightly. The nature of this energy was quite similar to the refined "Divine Power" emitted by the Faith Side Survivors he had encountered. Although it was more ancient, it Essence of the same origin.
"This vanished civilization's technological path wasn't limited to the Spell and 'Dreamscape architecture' I'd seen before; it also developed a mature belief system... and it might even have been one of its core elements."
A magical civilization with a faith in a deity, trapped in an eternal Dream Tower and an endless Cycle climbing it—the story behind this is probably not simple.
After a while, Iron Guard's body jolted, and he suddenly woke up from his coma. He stood up unsteadily, as if he hadn't fully woken up yet.
Let's go.
Su Luo took the lead and headed towards the exit at the other end of the stone chamber, stepping onto the stone steps that continued upwards.
Iron Guard dusted off his armor, shouldered his broadsword, and silently followed.
After a short climb, a new "room" unfolds, a relatively straight stone corridor, dimly lit.
They had barely stepped in when a rustling sound came from the shadows ahead, followed by a slender blue figure leaping out and blocking the way.
It was a strangely shaped insect-like creature, its entire body covered in a dark blue chitinous carapace, its body elongated, and its limbs moving rapidly.
Most terrifying of all is its head—almost entirely occupied by a pair of enormous, guillotine-like jaws, the edges of which are covered with dense, gleaming serrations, the massive jaws opening and closing.
[Great Jaw Worm]
[134/134]
It will deal 24 damage in the first round.
Iron Guard reported the information as if by reflex, and at the same time his body naturally assumed a defensive stance, holding his greatsword horizontally. The phantom of the [Defense] card flashed in front of him and disappeared, turning into specks of light that merged into his armor.
Su Luo glanced at the five cards she had drawn: [Spell Mastery], [Defense] x2, [Attack] x2.
He consumes 1 point of Source Essence, converting it into 2 points of temporary energy, bringing his available energy for this round to 5 points.
Without hesitation, Su Luo first played her core card, [Spell Mastery], consuming 3 energy.
The cards transformed into a dazzling torrent of multicolored elements, engulfing Su Luo's entire body. He felt his affinity with the elements within the surrounding Dreamscape rules suddenly increase, and the internal structure of all the attack and defense cards underwent subtle changes, becoming shrouded in an elemental glow.
The edges of the original [Strike], [Defense], and [Fireball] card icons now shimmer with different colored lights.
Immediately afterwards, he played two [Defense] cards that had been enhanced by [Spell Mastery].
Originally, each [Defense] card provided 5 points of block; now, the block value has been increased to 8 points. Two Enhanced Defense cards consume 2 energy points and provide a total of 16 points of block.
With the addition of the "9 points of block per turn" provided by the [Source Essence Circulator], Su Luo's block value reached an astonishing 25 points this turn.
In the next round, the Iron Guard inflicts Vulnerable on it.
Su Luo used [Subconscious Reasoning], gaining two points of strength, followed by two [Attack] cards that upgraded to nine base damage.
"It will deal 29 damage in the next round." The Iron Guard was like a relentless broadcaster of intentions.
Su Luo nodded and drew a card...
As the blazing fireball struck the already wounded Great Jaw Worm, it devoured its last bit of Health Points.
The flames subsided, Great Jaw Worm turned to ashes, leaving nothing behind. The battle was over.
[Gained: 22 Gold Coins.] [Choose a Card.]
Su Luo picked up the gold coins. Faced with three White Card containers that appeared again, he thought for a moment and this time chose to create a card with area damage and growth potential to deal with possible multi-target situations.
Infused with Divine Power and an understanding of the concept of elemental Annihilation, a new card is born:
[Elemental Collapse]
[Consumes: 2 energy points]
[Effect: Deals 8 damage to all enemies. This damage is elemental. The damage is doubled for each different elemental status active on the user.]
This is used as a transition, and also to complement the previous [Spell Mastery].
Su Luo put away the cards and her gaze fell on the Iron Guard.
His armor was covered with Slash cracks and marks from the giant jaws, from which thick, oil-like black blood slowly seeped.
Once this black blood seeps out, it automatically ignites with eerie purple flames, Burn silently. The flames have no temperature, yet give one the illusion that their very soul is being scorched.
His Health Points has dropped to a dangerous level of [2/75].
"Are you going to die?" Su Luo asked considerately.
He wanted to see how Iron Guard fell off the Tower after he died, whether he would just "whoosh" and fly straight out.