The dragging sound was getting closer and closer, as if something heavy was being forcibly pulled, scraping against the rough ground, making an uncomfortable noise. Immediately afterwards, a tall and bloated silhouette slowly emerged from the darkness of the corridor ahead, and was finally completely exposed to the light of the candle in Moria's hand.
It is almost three meters tall, and its bloated body is covered with a layer of gray skin like wet rock, covered with dark green patches. Its arms were disproportionately long, almost hanging down to its knees, and its thick fingers ended in dark and sharp claws like beasts. Its facial features were squeezed into an ugly face that looked like a troll, and fishy saliva was constantly dripping from its mouth.
However, what really made Li Wen and Moria wary was the thing above its head.
It was a crown made of countless dark, twisted thorns. The crown seemed to be a living thing, deeply rooted in its scalp, and the sharp thorns even pierced the skin, flowing out a black liquid like tar.
The style of this crown is exactly the same as the emblem on the gold coin Li Wen just picked up.
"This is..." Moria's voice was low and solemn. He held the sword horizontally and assumed a defensive posture. "This aura... the curse on the townspeople originated from it. No, it should be said that it is the final form of the curse. Those whose lives are corroded to the extreme by the curse will eventually turn into this kind of monster."
From this monster, he felt the deep dark power that was exactly the same as the Jamie boy, but a thousand times stronger.
Li Wen's brows were slightly raised under the hood.
Crown of Thorns is the logo of False Court. This sect takes fraud, depravity, and subversion as its core doctrines. Their power is complex and mysterious, and they are good at playing with people's hearts and desires. But the monster in front of him, what emanated from it was pure Umbral Lineage power without any Impurities, it was dark, cold, cruel and terrifying.
These two qualities should not appear so clearly in the same target. False Court's cultists are more like cunning poisonous snakes than the rampant beasts in front of them.
Unless, they have reached some kind of agreement with an ancient existence of Umbral Lineage. Or perhaps, the secrets in this mine are far more complicated than an ordinary sect stronghold.
While the two were observing, the monster known as the thorn-headed monster also discovered them. Its turbid and hollow eyes instantly ignited with a violent and bloodthirsty red light. It let out a dull roar that was unlike anything a living creature could make. The sound echoed in the narrow mine tunnel, causing the gravel on the rock wall to rustle down.
The next moment, its huge body moved. It took heavy steps, rushing towards the two of them like an out-of-control battering ram. Every step made the ground tremble slightly, and the sharp claws on its long arms drew dangerous arcs in the air.
Facing this oncoming sense of oppression, Li Wen's expression did not change at all. She didn't even take a step back, she just raised her hand calmly.
An illusory book appeared in front of her, its pages moving automatically without any wind.
Poem of Paradise.
She touched the book lightly, and the pages of the original book opened automatically, and a silent and ethereal chant suddenly spread.
Tower's Collapse.
Since Poem of Paradise upgraded to level two, Li Wen has been able to freely choose which effects it will trigger without wasting magic power like before.
In an instant, an illusory tower made entirely of light and shadow suddenly took shape above the monster. The tower stands tall, symbolizing unshakable order and structure. However, the moment it took shape, an invisible lightning struck the top of the tower.
There was no loud noise, no fire. The illusory tower was covered with spiderweb-like cracks in an instant, and then collapsed.
The charging monster let out a roar of unknown meaning, and its huge body suddenly lost its balance. Its forward momentum stopped abruptly, and its huge body shook violently on the spot several times, and finally froze in place, unable to move.
That's it now!
The moment Li Wen cast the spell, Moria was already moving. His figure was like an arrow leaving the string, and he rushed towards the monster without any hesitation.
The young Templar Knight's steps were steady, and his figure drew a straight afterimage in the blue fungus phosphorescence. He did not display any gorgeous sword skills, but used the simplest and most effective trajectory to send the long sword in his hand into the monster's defenseless neck exposed due to its stiffness.
The sound of the sword entering flesh was dull and thick.
The monster's body trembled suddenly, and its red eyes stared forward in disbelief. It seemed to want to let out a final roar, but all it could make was a gasping sound in its throat.
Moria Turned his wrist and pulled the long sword horizontally, neatly cutting off most of the monster's neck.
The smelly black blood gushes out like a fountain and splashes all over the ground. The Crown of Thorns that was rooted in the monster's scalp began to wither and wither at a speed visible to the naked eye as its vitality rapidly passed away, and finally turned into a handful of black ashes and scattered on the ground.
The monster's huge body lost its support and fell forward heavily, finally lying weakly on the ground, completely losing its voice.
From the time the monster appears to when it is killed, the whole process only takes ten seconds. Li Wen The battle was over without even preparing the second spell.
She stepped forward slowly, glanced at the Crown of Thorns that had turned into ashes, and after confirming that it did not leave any valuable materials, she moved her gaze to the deeper darkness behind the monster's corpse.
Moria drew out his long sword and rubbed the blood on the blade against the rock wall. He glanced at the corpse on the ground and then at Li Wen. Fighting side by side with such companions can indeed save people a lot of unnecessary trouble.
"Although its power is pure, its action mode is too simple and lacks wisdom." Moria commented calmly, "It should be just a puppet controlled by some kind of power, or in other words, it is the lowest level guard."
He walked next to Li Wen and cast his eyes on the bottomless mine tunnel ahead.
"The front should be their lair."
Moria's judgment is correct.
Passing through the corridor where the monster fell, the space ahead suddenly opened up. They walked into a huge underground cave transformed from a natural cave.
This place is wider than any mine tunnel they have passed before. The ceiling of the cave hangs high, and countless ferocious stone stalactites hang down like the fangs of giant beasts. The walls of the cave were completely covered by the layer of black mucous membrane that looked like a living thing. The mucous membrane beat slightly and regularly like a heart. Every beat made the sweet fishy smell in the air more intense.
On the ground, the blue phosphorescent fungi grew more and more prosperously, making the entire cave look like the kingdom of the dead.
In the center of the cave stood a simple altar made of unknown obsidian-like rocks.
Around the altar, dozens of corpses of townspeople lay. They are arranged in a large concentric circle, with their heads facing the altar and their feet pointing outwards. The greed and ecstasy before death were frozen on their faces, as if they saw the treasure they dreamed of at the last moment. On everyone's forehead, there is a gold coin shining with dangerous luster and engraved with "Crown of Thorns".