Unlike the Bronze Ancient Coffin seen from the outside.
Suddenly dragged into the coffin, Reilo discovered that the space inside was far larger than it appeared from the outside. Floating in the air, he looked around. The once simple bronze walls had become countless white rocks, sharp, jagged, and grotesque, crossing and writhing against one another.
"Heh heh heh heh heh..."
A sinister laugh rang out.
Reilo finally found its source: a red tree-like creature that had risen straight out of the ground?
Calling it a tree creature was only a metaphor. Its actual form was more like some kind of soft-bodied organism. It was only because the countless branches on its head kept writhing that Reilo temporarily called it a tree creature.
Blood was splattered everywhere beneath Reilo's feet, but the bodies had vanished without a trace.
Faced with this bizarre creature, Reilo—who had been in a state of panic—suddenly grew calm under the gaze of the unknown being.
Suddenly,
a strange smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and his sun-and-moon eyes stared fixedly at the creature.
The bizarre creature paused for a moment.
It twisted rapidly, transforming the soft-bodied part of itself into the forms of the humans who had died earlier. Their expressions of pain were uncannily lifelike, while a hint of indescribable, savage excitement simmered beneath them.
"My illusions become part of me."
The twisted head spoke in human language, though its voice was hoarse, like a duck cursed in a nightmare. A soft red tendril began to extend slowly from all directions, reaching toward Reilo.
"Siphon Technique."
At the cold voice and a surge of twisting power, dark green threads of light appeared on the approaching red tendrils. As they struggled and wailed, their life force and spiritual energy were continuously siphoned away,