Ruins and Vermin

"Splash..."

With the sound of an illusory tide, Luther abruptly regained consciousness.

The instant he opened his eyes, he even thought he was still trapped in an illusion, because the scene before him had undergone an earth-shaking change.

Before he lost consciousness, Luther remembered this place being a mountainous region on the outskirts of Backlund. But now, the surrounding terrain looked completely different.

"Crackle..."

As if it had been struck by an enormous bomb, the majestic mountain range had been scorched open with a massive wound. Terrifying heat spread through the area; the earth was blackened, while the grass and trees burned with golden flames like torches of varying sizes.

As for Viscount Stratford, he had long since been reduced to ashes in that heat. Only half a charred foot remained on the ground.

Beside the remains of his corpse, that cross lay quietly on the ground. Having lost its supply of blood, it had returned to its original appearance, covered in bronze rust and extending several spikes. At this moment, it looked like an ordinary accessory.

But Luther still remembered the impact that cross had just brought him, and he looked at it warily.

This thing's origins were anything but simple!

In the illusion just now, its owner had possessed an astonishingly high status, extremely similar to the Creator of City of Silver's legends. Not to mention the scene afterward, when that owner was devoured—those strange existences crawling over the corpse...

However, the current situation did not allow him to analyze it carefully. He should take the cross back first; it would not be too late to study it in detail afterward.

With that thought, Luther moved while remaining on guard.

He first filled his body with Tide, then cautiously advanced toward the cross.

"Splash."

The moment he moved,