Tiya seemed to recall the first time she heard this story as a child, and continued with a nostalgic tone:
" The Demonic Tide had already broken out, so Grandpa asked them why they couldn't stop Demonic Tide."
"The male elf told my grandfather that it was beyond their capabilities; they could only delay the disasters that could be slowed down, but they couldn't change anything completely, and then they left."
"My grandfather chased after them, asking who could quell the Demonic Tide tide, but received no answer. Only the female elf left behind a song suitable for singing in a tavern."
The children listened with great interest, but Tiya's story was already coming to an end.
Naturally, no one wanted to let the matter rest. The girl who shared a cell with Tiya asked:
"Can you sing that song? Everyone really wants to hear it, but it's okay if you don't."
"It's possible, but so many years have passed, the lyrics are no longer the original version, and I can't remember them clearly either..."
"Haha, what does it matter? We can't tell the difference anyway, so it's fine if you sing whatever you want."
Tiya recalled a tune she had heard as a child and began to sing in a soft, ethereal voice:
Fate weaves curses into its roots.
"Scorching flames wove crimson wings,
"Respond to piety with holiness..."
"Crack, snap~"
The crisp sound of the pebble falling was perfectly timed, because if it had been even a second later, Tiya had forgotten her lines, would have been in an embarrassing situation.
The problem is, there's only the sound of dripping water inside the cave, so where did the falling stones come from?
The question lingered in everyone's minds, causing them to overlook the few remaining lyrics that Tiya had forgotten.
The experimental subjects, shrouded in darkness, looked around at the walls and suddenly heard a suppressed gasp from Tiya's roommate:
"Here!"
Everyone looked at the wall of the cell where the two were located, and saw a vine as thick as a finger slowly squeezing out from a small hole in the wall, like a hand crawling around from the ground.
The dungeon, converted from a cave, already had several entrances of varying sizes. Apart from the accident when Ed escaped, all the other entrances had already been checked by the priests to ensure they were not connected to the outside world.
But what's going on?
Tiya's roommate couldn't stand up properly because her legs had been experimented on. She instinctively wanted to ask her friend to help her touch the vine, but then she remembered that Tiya no longer had hands.
So she gritted her teeth and stood up, staggering to the wall. She hopped twice on one leg and finally managed to touch the vine.
That vine had both the tough outer skin of a plant and the tactile feel of flesh and blood; once you touched it, you couldn't forget that sensation.
After being pinched, a gasp seemed to be heard, and the vine quickly disappeared into the small hole in the wall.
In the silent dungeon, everyone could clearly hear that the cry of alarm must have belonged to a human!
The test subjects understood what this meant, and fearing they might mishear, they dared not even breathe too loudly.
But at that moment, they could all hear the excited heartbeats of their companions beside them.
This was something they couldn't control—human voices, the voices of humans other than the priests, the voices they longed to hear.
On the other side of the thick stone wall, the [ Dark Archmage ] was surprised that he could actually pinpoint the exact location of the dungeon based solely on the faint singing.
She simply followed the song, using her Directed Alienation fruit knife to stab forward repeatedly. When she encountered a stone wall, she switched to using Deadwood Vine to probe and squeeze through any gaps she could find. Unexpectedly, it actually yielded results!
The fact that the Deadwood Vine appendage I had just implanted was pinched but not severed is enough to show that there are people on the other side of the stone wall, not wild animals.
But... how can I obtain more information?
The [ Dark Archmage ] fell into deep thought.
She quickly made a decision that wasn't too difficult.
This world is crazy, that's true, and now I'm choosing to join it.
She pulled a brand new Vine Bandage Pack from her pocket and activated it; this was the magic tool she would use later.
At the same time, the Alienation fruit blade also pointed at herself.
"Isn't this a bit too bizarre? Won't it scare the children?"
In the sweltering tunnel, she muttered to herself:
"Forget it, who cares?"
A minute later, the vine stretched out of the small hole again. Faced with this vine, which seemed like a lifeline, Tiyana's roommate didn't pull on it anymore, afraid of scaring it away.
Of course, she didn't have the strength to pull anymore.
The vine wriggled a few times at the cave entrance, confirming that it had arrived at the same space it had just been.
The next moment, an eye opened at the top of the vine, and the entire vine began to sway from side to side like a cobra raising its head to observe the situation in the dungeon.
The Dark Archmage gained vision of the dungeon.
After raising the special attribute [ Plant Compatibility ] to 3, she found that she had broken through the "Drive" limit and reached the "Accommodate" level for plug-and-play Deadwood Vine appendages.
This appendage now seems to have truly become part of her body, even sharing the sense of touch, and possessing an internal structure similar to that of nerves.
The plan proceeded smoothly as a result.
Looking at the vines with eyes, the children in the dungeon showed no surprise or fear—their thoughts were mostly, "Oh, that's all? It's kind of powerful, but nothing special," or "It's alright, but it's still not as impressive as sawing off a leg."
One of the test subjects even waved when his eyes rolled over, indicating that he was still alive.
Having just stopped the bleeding with Vine Bandage Pack, the [ Dark Archmage ] looked at the images transmitted back from his limbs and, in a daze, felt as if he were a rescuer in a cave accident.
She wanted to reassure the children and tell them to wait for rescue, but she found that her voice couldn't reach them at all.
Well, it's not entirely impossible...
A minute later, the vines reached the dungeon for the third time. In addition to the eyes, another crack appeared on the surface, and human voices could be heard coming from inside.
This time, the children were genuinely panicked—could the thing on the other side of the wall really not be human?
But the voice quickly put their minds at ease.
"I am Elite Warrior of the advance team of the Tree Worship Church. The local priests of the White Wax Town Church have all fallen into corruption. The new bishop's battle formation is about to arrive. Everyone, keep quiet and do not attract the attention of the apostates. I will rescue you."
Hearing a somewhat familiar woman's voice, the seemingly weak innkeeper on the ground tried to say something.
The vine looked in their direction, paused for a moment, and said:
"Wait a moment."
A minute later, the vines returned to the dungeon, this time with an ear.