"Bzz-"
With that movement, a mote of rich golden light appeared on Dago's forehead, then gently rippled outward, turning into waves of dense golden light that surged fiercely in every direction.
The overlapping golden ripples passed through the black crystalline conch shell before Dago, seeping inside without resistance.
Time seemed to stand still at that moment.
The rhythmic breathing within the shell, the pulses of white light flowing across the cavern walls, and the ghostly heads Aihaxiya was slaughtering at will-all of it seemed to stop within the vast cavity. Countless ghostly heads turned their gazes toward a single point, staring blankly at Dago.
Then, a second later, every ghostly head wore an expression of utter terror.
As though something utterly disastrous was about to happen!
"Hiss-"
After unleashing [Golden Head] at full strength to launch a mental attack on the thing sleeping inside the shell, Dago felt all the air around him rush toward a certain point at the shell's base. Immediately afterward, the white fleshy tubes on the surrounding walls swelled in unison.
Amid an atmosphere inexplicably oppressive to the extreme, Dago blinked.
He raised one hand. A golden sheen burst from between his five fingers, forming a heart with countless diamond-shaped facets that enveloped his entire body.
-[Golden Heart]!
He had barely finished when the crushing tension in the air shattered.
"AAAAH!!!!"
An indescribably terrifying shriek suddenly erupted from inside the shell.
There was no describing the savagery and ferocity of that shriek. Even though Dago believed himself fully prepared, the defense of [Golden Heart] around him shattered at the first impact.
Dago heard a buzzing in his head, as though someone had struck him squarely in the forehead with a hammer. Within his consciousness, all ten Soul Crystals went completely dim in an instant, and blood