Chapter 170 Familiar Gaze
Shepherd 'Lovia response only made Joshua more wary. He glanced at the other members of the exploration team and asked urgently:
Did you hear any unusual footsteps?
Derrick, wielding the " Roar of the Thunder God " hammer and a straight broadsword, recalled for a few seconds, then shook his head in denial. Heim, holding the " Unshadowed Crucifix," glanced at the Sealed Artifact whose light remained unchanged and responded:
"Perhaps it's your imagination?"
"No, I heard it very clearly." Joshua, wearing Red Gloves, frowned and expressed his opinion.
Upon hearing this, Colin, the " Demon Hunter " at the forefront, turned halfway around and calmly gave the order:
" Heim, Antillna, check on Joshua's condition."
"Yes, Your Excellency." Heim immediately stepped in front of Joshua and pressed the " Unshadowed Crucifix " made of pure light against his teammate's forehead.
The Sealed Artifact remained unchanged.
Immediately afterwards, Antilna, the female warrior with burgundy hair, also came to Joshua's side and raised her left hand.
She wore a pale gold bracelet on her wrist, from which hung three small bells covered with golden scales.
The clanging and jingling sounds then rang out, echoing all around, calming Joshua's mind and easing his tension and anxiety.
"No problem." Antillna turned her gaze to Chief Colin Iliad.
Two complex, dark green symbols had already appeared in Colin's eyes. He looked at Joshua for a few seconds, then nodded and said:
"It might not be a hallucination, but you should always pay attention to whether there are any abnormalities in your body."
Seeing that the chief supported him, Joshua secretly breathed a sigh of relief and said:
"OK."
Setting aside their doubts for the moment, the City of Silver exploration team continued their descent down the massive staircase bathed in the glow of Twilight, layer upon layer.
Suddenly, everyone heard a muffled groan.
Out of the corner of his eye, Derrick Berg saw Joshua raise his hands and tightly grip his own neck.
Because he was the " Dawn Paladin," he possessed immense strength. Before he could even let out a muffled groan, his hands snapped his neck with a crack.
Joshua fell to the ground, his face contorted in a grim and Distortion expression, his eyes filled with disbelief.
He killed himself!
"..." Although Derrick and the others were not able to react in time to what had happened, their long-term training and experience in groping in the dark made them instinctively form a battle formation, alert to any possible attacks that might follow.
Then they heard another muffled groan.
This comes from Elder Lovia, the " Shepherd ".
The woman with long, silver-gray hair had her facial muscles twitching and twitching noticeably, as if another face was growing out of her.
She collapsed to her knees on the wide steps with a thud, her pain palpable.
Her hands slowly but uncontrollably rose and gripped her neck.
Just as Lovia was about to unleash her power, two straight swords coated with silver-gray ointment reached out and pried her hands apart.
Colin, the " Demon Hunter " who was already prepared, responded in time.
Lovia convulsed, lowered her head even further, opened her mouth, and spat out pieces of broken flesh and incomplete organs.
She let out a breath, seemingly finally recovering, then propped herself up on her elbows, crawled forward a step, and devoutly and humbly swallowed back the pieces of flesh and organs she had just vomited.
Colin, the " Demon Hunter " with several old scars on his face, watched this scene quietly without intervening.
Finally, Lovia raised her head, her pale gray eyes unfocused, and said:
It is Depravity.
"Everyone experiences a degree of Depravity."
"Do you have a solution?" Colin asked, his tone unchanged.
Lovia nodded without hesitation:
"Have."
Before she finished speaking, she had already grabbed her left index finger with her right hand, snapped it off with a snap, and ripped it out, bone and all, stuffing it into her mouth. As she chewed, she muttered:
" The Lord Who Created Everything;"
The Dominator Behind the Shadow Curtain;
" The Degenerate Nature of All Living Things..."
Upon hearing the name " True Creator," Derrick's eyelids twitched, and he suddenly felt as if a subtle change had occurred around him.
The orange-red glow of the Twilight deepened, becoming even closer to the color of blood.
Above the Gray Fog, " The Fool " Klein's expression instantly turned serious.
Although he couldn't see anything through " Spirit Vision," he could vaguely sense a gaze coming from afar, interfering with his observation and reducing both clarity and scope.
In addition, that gaze gave Klein a strange sense of familiarity.
It's hard not to be familiar with Him. The first half of my life after transmigrating was spent dealing with Him: His divine child, His divine messenger, the vessel He wished to descend upon, the remnants of His followers, His mad ramblings, the various murals related to Him... At this moment, Klein was absolutely certain that the one who had begun to watch the City of Silver exploration team was the " True Creator."
To be honest, when Lovia began chanting that person's name, Klein really wanted to unleash a " Lightning Storm " on her to eliminate the problem before it even appeared. However, he ultimately restrained himself because he wasn't confident he could kill the " Shepherd " in one blow. The Evil Spirit that Lovia Grazing should have been Sequence 3 rank. Although it had long since died, its current overall strength was still at the Sequence 4 level. It wouldn't be a problem for it to withstand the " Lightning Storm," which was close to but hadn't yet reached the Angel rank, for a while.
If " The Fool " cannot kill Lovia simply and easily, then he will be seen as weak in the eyes of " The Demon Hunter " Colin.
Furthermore, Klein believed that Colin Iliad was pleased to see Elder Lovia, the " Shepherd," reciting the name of the " True Creator," hoping to use it to counterbalance Mr. The Fool and achieve some kind of equilibrium.
This is actually a disrespectful act before the gods, and it could easily anger those great beings Colin Iliad had no choice; he could not and would not so easily believe in the " The Fool " and the " True Creator." He could only try his best to maintain the status quo, testing the limits on the edge of the precipice.
Only in this way will City of Silver not be suddenly destroyed, like those city-states that have been buried in the depths of darkness, covered by the dust of history.
It's a pity. If I had the " Unshadowed Crucifix " in my hands at this moment, and if I had fully mobilized the power of the mysterious space above the Gray Fog, I would have had a chance to instantly kill that Silver Knight Evil Spirit... This is a natural counter... Klein sighed silently twice, and could only accept this development.
He hadn't noticed anything unusual about Joshua until the City of Silver Warrior with the Red Gloves grabbed his own neck, at which point he saw the man's spirit turn gray and somber.
Just as the Shepherd elder said, this is a kind of " Depravity " of one's own being, not much different from being lost to money or beauty, and it is difficult for external forces to detect.
"That staircase should contain remnants of divine power representing ' Depravity,' which has blended into the environment, making it difficult to detect and resist... The previous stone figures, lacking Wisdom and Spirituality, were unaffected... Judging from their titles, the ' True Creator ' has the power to control the nature of Depravity, and can cause the corresponding power to subside simply by observing them..." Klein adjusted his mindset and continued to observe the subsequent developments.
During this process, he couldn't help but ponder a question:
Is the " True Creator " now watching the City of Silver exploration team's actions from His divine kingdom, just like himself?
... On Earth, this is what friends watching the same live stream would be called... If I were to "donate" a little, would the " True Creator " "donate" even more? Klein used a teasing and sarcastic thought to ease the tension and worry caused by the " True Creator's " gaze.
That was a genuine deity, and neither Adam nor Amon could be compared to Him!
At this moment, " Shepherd " Lovia had already stood up, and her missing left index finger was wriggling and growing back.
She looked at Chief Colin Iliad and said:
"This area will no longer Depravity."
This means that the location on the stairs is no longer so dangerous.
Normally, the exploration team wouldn't bother with Joshua's body at this point. Whether they were moving forward or backward, they couldn't afford to waste time. Staying in such a dangerous area for too long could lead to accidents for other team members as well. However, since Elder Lovia of the " Council of Six " had assured them that there were no problems nearby, they could take a short break and make some arrangements.
Derrick put down Heim's broadsword, walked to Joshua's side, stared at him for a few seconds, bent down and picked up the other man's Red Gloves, putting it on his left hand.
He remembered Joshua always showing off this magical item he had obtained during the exploration, and he could clearly recall that when they left the Afternoon Town camp, Joshua said that after this exploration ended, he would be forced into marriage and would not know who his wife would be. An hour later, this teammate turned into a cold corpse.
For the people of City of Silver, this was just their daily life. No one cried or broke down; instead, a certain emotion, deeply ingrained in their bones and blood, welled up—a mixture of heaviness and sorrow.
They watched as Derrick raised his left hand, palm facing Joshua's body.
A burst of intense flame shot out, engulfing their teammates who had just been fighting side by side.
After the burning, " Demon Hunter " Colin withdrew the Beyonder Characteristic extracted, while the other team members each grabbed a handful of ashes and put them into a hidden pocket in their clothes.
In silence, they continued their descent, reaching the bottom of the stairs, where a majestic palace bathed in the Twilight light stood, with corridors and staircases leading to other areas behind it.
The palace gates were wide open, and the inside was pitch black, with not a single ray of light able to penetrate.
After observing carefully for a while, " Demon Hunter " Colin said:
"Just like outside."
His point was to use every means to keep the light out and not let oneself fall into absolute darkness.
Heim then activated the radiance of the " Unshadowed Crucifix," enveloping all his teammates, while Antillna lit a lantern and held it in her hand in case the cross suddenly malfunctioned.
The group entered the palace and walked through the seemingly empty hall. Their footsteps echoed far away, and none of them returned.
As he walked, Derrick suddenly felt his eyelids getting heavy and he became very sleepy.
Just then, he heard the chief's low growl:
"Don't fall asleep!"
Derrick suddenly woke up, shaking off the fatigue that made him unable to open his eyes.
At that moment, a female Warrior's body went limp and she collapsed to the ground, seemingly falling into a deep sleep.
Then she vanished into thin air, just like that, disappearing right before everyone's eyes.
" Demon Hunter " Colin and " Shepherd " Lovia each examined the situation for a while, then shook their heads and led the team forward.
During this process, they would occasionally hurt themselves, using pain to regain their senses.
Finally, they passed through a series of arches and saw that the darkness ahead was no longer insurmountable.
Using the light from the group, they discovered that it was a large hall covered with countless murals. In the center of the hall was a long, dark red table, surrounded by rows of intricately patterned high-backed chairs.
This... Derrick felt strangely familiar with it.
He immediately realized that this was somewhat similar to Tarot Gathering!
Suddenly, clusters of light appeared, and whispers arose around them.
Around the hall, on the stone pillars that stood but did not support the dome, crimson flames were lit one after another, illuminating the surroundings with an extraordinary brilliance.
The whispers grew louder, as if they had finally traveled through a long and distant time and space to reach their destination, making the hall as lively as if a party was being held.
Around the dark red long table, blurry and illusory figures suddenly rose up and sat on different high-backed chairs, eleven in total.
P. S.: Requesting recommendation votes and monthly tickets on Monday!