Deep Sea Embers

The knife carved from black bone slices shallowly cut through the rough bark, leaving inconspicuous lines on these lush and towering trees, and then smeared blood on it, infusing it with the power of spirit and blood. Everywhere The mark is smeared with blood three times, and the cycle repeats...

Richard performed the operation of carving the mark according to his memory, using the bone carving knife in his hand to leave runes symbolizing profound power on the tree trunks in the forest, and smeared his own blood on the runes, and then raised his head, Looking at Du Meng who was doing the same thing not far away.

He walked over as if to say hello to the other party.

"The power of these marks alone is very weak," Dumont said casually when he saw Richard approaching, "but as long as the number is enough, they will have a sufficient impact on Silantis."

"Not enough...far from enough..." Richard muttered vaguely, his fingers turning the bone knife in his hand unconsciously.

"The influence of these marks alone is indeed not enough, but the process will accelerate once it starts. When Selendis 'remembers' that day, it is time to pick the fruits," Du Meng laughed, seeming to be full of confidence in the future, "Although those 'preachers' are unreliable, at least this time, the information they provided came in handy."

Richard did not speak, but slowly raised his head, as if admiring the scenery, he looked up at the big tree where Du Meng had just left his mark - he looked at it so seriously that Du Meng subconsciously followed Yang. He raised his head and looked at the tree crown above suspiciously.

"What are you looking at? What's up there..."

Richard suddenly raised his arm, using a posture and angle that would never be possible with human joints - almost folding his right arm into three pieces, letting his hand go into the blind spot of Dumont's field of vision, and move the The bone carving knife stabbed hard into the latter's chest.

But the small carving knife used to perform the ritual was incapable of killing, and the blow only pierced the flesh.

A sharp sting suddenly came from his chest. This sudden and inexplicable attack made Du Meng's mind go blank for a moment, but he reacted immediately and slapped Richard's arm away with one hand. Hold down the injured area while moving your body back.

The dark chain instantly appeared, and an ugly and ferocious hound appeared behind Du Meng. But before the hound could react, the death bird on Richard's shoulder suddenly swooped down, with a pair of giant skeletal wings like shackles. It stretched, deformed, and instantly covered the hound's body. Accompanied by the creaking sounds of struggling, colliding, and rubbing bones, the two demons were entangled together, and they were inseparable for a while.

"Are you crazy?!" Du Meng's eyes widened and he looked at Richard who was standing not far away with an expressionless face in shock, "You want to kill me?!"

"No," Richard shook his head. He glanced at the Dark Hound, which was temporarily controlled by the Death Bird. There was a trace of inexplicable disgust on his face, but he still said to Dumont seriously, "I just want to help.伱.”

"Help me?" Du Meng was stunned. He looked at Richard across from him as if he was looking at a madman, but at the same time, huge confusion emerged in his heart - because the ritual carving knife cannot kill people, the other party The sudden attack just now only scratched himself at best, which made him not know how to react for a moment. There was only one thing that was certain: Richard was in something wrong!

However, Richard nodded seriously: "Yes, help you, your body is empty, I want to fill it with cotton for you, this can make you feel better."

"...Cotton?" Du Meng repeated this incomprehensible word unconsciously, "What are you talking about?"

He stopped suddenly.

He felt a little itchy where he had just been stabbed on his chest.

This slight itching soon turned into a strange feeling that couldn't be ignored, as if something was growing and crawling there.

He subconsciously stretched out his hand to scratch the itchy area, and then he ignored Richard, who was still alert to the fact that something was obviously wrong across from him, and looked down at his wound.

The blood has stopped flowing, and white floc can be vaguely seen on the clothes stained with some blood - the floc is gradually increasing, as if... it is transformed from blood.

After a slight hesitation, Du Meng opened his collar and saw that the small wound was healing. Between the squirming and shrinking flesh, cotton was getting into his body bit by bit.

The entangled death birds and ghost hounds gradually stopped fighting. The stupid and unintelligent demons did not understand what hatred and anger were. The emotions and cognition of the symbionts determined their behavior - as the bone wings gradually folded , the two demons returned behind their respective masters.

Du Meng raised his head and looked at Richard standing opposite with a subtle expression - he still remembered that the relationship between the other party and him had not always been very good, especially in recent times. Although there was not much hatred, But sporadic frictions occur from time to time.

It was precisely for this reason that when he decided to act in groups just now, he asked the other party to be with him - because he didn't want Richard to make any "little moves" outside his sight.

He would never have thought that this guy would do such a thing to him.

After hesitating for a long time, Du Meng finally said awkwardly: "You are quite a nice person."

Richard laughed, and at that moment, the trivial rift between him and Dumont was eliminated—@#￥%repaired the brotherhood between him and his compatriots.

"We should also help other people," Richard said sincerely. "Everyone's body is empty, and they all need cotton."

"Yes, everyone needs cotton..." Du Meng was still a little uncomfortable with this new self, and his expression was a little awkward when speaking, but he agreed with Richard's suggestion, "We can start with Salir That group started — he was an honest, hard-working guy.”

"No problem, but we need to plan. People who don't have cotton are irrational. They may not know the importance of cotton yet - just like you just now. We have to properly consider their attitude..."

"Yes, Rabbi also thinks you need to plan..."

"We can discuss it as we walk."

"Then let's go." "Let's go." "Let's go."

Richard and Dumont raised their heads at the same time, looking at the misty forest path, and then took steps towards the depths of this misty dreamland.

The rabbi went hunting.

…

The ground covered with ash and black residue creaked when stepped on, and it always gave people the illusion that it would sink at any time. The debris of collapsed and broken branches crisscrossed the ground, which was more of an obstacle than the bushes and vines in the forest.

Nina and Morris walked hard between this huge piece of debris that didn't know how wide it was. After a while, they were still only moving around its edge.

"It's even harder to walk here than in the forest outside," Nina couldn't help but mutter. "At least there are paths trampled by wild animals in the forest... There are ashes everywhere that will sink in if you step on them. .”

As she spoke, she lifted her feet from the ashes and black residue, frowning at the dirty shoes.

She held on to a burnt branch next to her, took off her left shoe, and poured it out with all her strength. Several stones and black slag came out.

"And I feel like we've been just wandering around the edge of this scorched earth," she added. "Can we really find our way into the center of the wreckage?"

"The collapsed tree crown blocked the road to the main trunk of Silantis... This is indeed a bit troublesome." Morris frowned and said, looking at the jagged and intertwined charred branches in the distance.

Although they are said to be branches, the scale of those things actually exceeds the concept of "branches". The remains of branches that fell from the top of the World Tree can simply be described as "horrendous in scale", even if they are "terrifying in scale" in terms of proportion. The branches of "thin branches" are often up to hundreds of meters long, with diameters close to towers - they fall criss-cross on this scorched earth, forming a huge structure that is intimidating. When viewed from a distance, it is not so much that they are charred. The dead branches are more like... a giant city that collapsed from the clouds.

Faced with such a pile of "broken branches and fallen leaves", it is unrealistic to use brute force to open a road. The only way is to take a detour, various detours, or risk getting into the gaps between the branches to find those The path has not been completely blocked by ashes.

"If Miss Vanna were here, she might have rushed in in a straight line." The idea of ​​"brute force to open a way" came to mind, and Nina couldn't help but muttered, "These wreckage blocking the road can't stop her. One fist.”

"Fanna doesn't only have brute strength," Morris, an elder who has known Vanna for a long time, couldn't help but said after hearing this, "And even she, I'm afraid, facing this kind of thing..."

He stopped mid-sentence, as if hesitating.

After a moment, he shook his head: "Well, not necessarily, maybe she really can."

"Actually, I can also..." Nina muttered quietly.

Morris glanced at the girl, as if he wanted to say something, but just when he was about to speak, a breeze suddenly blew over the land of ashes - in the sudden dust mist, he and Nina At the same time, I saw a vague shadow not far ahead that seemed to flash past.

It looked like an... elf standing blankly in the wind?

Nina was stunned for a moment, then turned her head suddenly: "Mr. Morris, did you see that side just now..."

"I saw it," Morris said before Nina could finish, his expression becoming a little serious, "It seemed to be an elf."

"It doesn't look like 'Shireen'..." Nina said uncertainly, "It looks like she is dressed like...but..."

She hesitated, not daring to make a conclusion for a while, but Morris nodded slightly——

"Like the residents of Breezeport."