Wasteland Echoer

Soon, "Elmimana", which was previously knocked down by Dak and Wulfya, also joined the ranks of decomposing and melting.

They twist, squirm, and sway wantonly like earthworms, as if they are dancing a enchanting and crazy Cruzeid swan dance.

But this artistic performance that should have been about flexibility and ultimate beauty has evolved into a visual feast that makes people feel collapsed and crazy as the legs, waist, abdomen, chest, arms and heads of the robots melt in sequence.

In less than half a minute, these "Elmimanas" that had endured hundreds of years of pain and torture, these robots that Ivan XXIII had envisioned as [Guardians] for his father, finally disappeared completely in this area. In the long night of the wasteland where dawn seems to never come.

After these special asphalts swallowed up these "Almima Nas", they actually emitted a deep purple light that condensed resentment and pain under the churning bubbles.

Immediately afterwards, the special asphalt began to solidify rapidly, revealing the "double-headed eagle holding a sunflower in its mouth" pattern exclusive to the Cruzeid royal family.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The searchlights that had been extinguished for nearly a thousand years at the top of the "Red Fantasy Experimental Site" were turned on one after another under the influence of the "ancient" power that gradually became stronger. In addition to illuminating its broken and rusty lampshade itself, it also made the entire experiment The field was covered with a fairly bright white light.

"Have we... won? Is this... the first level over...?" Dak fell down near a straight, huge steel column and gasped.

The tense battle just now left him no time to take care of his body's energy consumption. It was not until the enemies fell to the ground that he realized that his magic source power had been reduced by the continuous activation of the [Chaos Inducer] professional ability and water source skills. Not much left.

A strong sense of hunger and dizziness instantly eroded his body and spirit, leaving him in a state of extreme exhaustion as he slumped to the ground. Saliva longing for food continued to flow from the corners of his mouth, and his arms were waving helplessly. , seeming to swallow everything within reach into its belly.

Until a sweet taste symbolizing happiness entered his tongue, taste buds and mouth, spreading along his esophagus and throughout his body.

"Don't endure hunger by force, Dak. Especially, don't endure hunger in a place where extraordinary power is excessively concentrated. More than three years ago, from the time you first joined Mayan City's 'Special Task Group', the military commanders I told you." Wulfya reminded with a worried look.

Seeing that Dark's eyes were back to life, Wulfya breathed a sigh of relief, smiled and touched Dark's head, stood up from him, and threw the last sugar cube in his pocket to Dark through the air.

"This is..." Duck asked in a hoarse voice, looking down and seeing a white candy wrapper lying alone on the ground covered with solidified special asphalt.

Duck picked up the candy wrapper and looked at it carefully. On it were written "Military Special Sugar Cube" and "Cruseder Federation Ice City Factory" written in distorted and blurred Krusted characters.

He instantly understood that he had fallen into a short-term state of hunger due to the near depletion of his magic power and excessive physical exertion. If Wofya hadn't fed him a piece of sugar cube, he might have been surrounded by the rich "ancient" , "Shang" and other extraordinary powers, he fell into an irreversible state of madness, and even degenerated into a "alien monster".

"Thank... thank you, Wulfya." Dak said from the bottom of his heart. After his breathing stabilized a little, he supported the ground with one hand and stood up reluctantly.

"There's no need to thank me, Dark. It won't be too late to thank me after you see the 'Echoer' you're haunted by, and after we dismantle the 'Fire of Punishment' planted by Ivan XXII. "Wulfya deliberately made a proud expression, but when his eyes touched the piece of solidified special asphalt that the "Elmimana" had just melted, his face instantly darkened and his brows frowned slightly.

"Duck, you should have felt it a long time ago. The power left by countless 'ancient gods' is condensed here. Yes, your sense of smell is right. The breath you just smelled belongs to the deep sea. , it is indeed theirs," Wofya said.

"Them?" Duck asked.

"That's right, they are them, the 'ancient' gods." Wulfya nodded, then raised his head, staring at the unbearable messy light of the searchlight, and said:

"Legend has it that the ancient gods and their servants were born earlier than any of the living gods we know. The Creator created the world we live in in the gap between the two epochs of 'the time when the universe was established' and 'the time when the stars were multiplied'. of this continent and the planet that hosts its existence.

"The original planet was a hell world made of lava. When the Creator came and dropped the first water, clouds formed and heavy rains began. The new lava kept squeezing the originally existing lava, eventually sending them into another annex. In the dimension of our planet we call it 'Hell'."

"I heard that the Ancient God and the Ancient Power come from the ocean. So, has the Ancient already existed from the moment the ocean was born?" Dak tilted his head and looked at the bubbles that were churning with half of his vision. Specially made asphalt, half of the field of vision looked at Wovya's face that was gradually losing its expression.

"This statement is not accurate." Wofya replied:

"It should be said that during the birth of the ocean, the ancient gods did not appear. It was only when the ancient ocean was finally formed that the Creator put this 'seed of dark life' that could breed the 'ancient' into the ocean.

"That period was almost the end of the Seven Era. The world was shrouded in darkness and long nights. There was no light, no warmth, and not many lives with self-awareness. Everything was dim, gloomy, and lifeless. 's, as described in the classic 'Only the Bishop'.

"Which classic?" Duck asked, but his eyes were gradually attracted by the bubbles that gradually became more rapid.

After a slight pause, Wulfya continued to answer:

"The "Old Dark Sutra", one of its first volumes, says: Every ancient life is bathed in endless darkness and loneliness, just like a piece of white paper that is always in the night sky. In any case, He will not be favored by the light.

"The ancient gods, they are all entities wandering in pain, illusion, illusion, evil thoughts and sorrow. The darkness has existed for millions of years, and they have been tortured for millions of years. No matter how bright and friendly they are, If a creature comes into contact with them, even if it accidentally looks directly at them, it will instantly become blind, deaf, or crazy due to the strong 'sorrow'."

"The ancient gods were too cruel." Dak teased.

"It's not that the gods are cruel, it's that the 'ancient' itself is cruel. The gods don't bother to target a certain person, and they don't even bother to communicate with low-level creatures like ants like humans. But these 'ancient' 'The breath has followed their existence for millions of years,' Wofya replied:

“The key to human beings being eroded by ‘ancient’ is actually ‘connection’.”

"connect?"

"Yes, contact." Wulfya kept his head raised and explained:

"All matter in the universe has its own inherent connection with other matter. This 'connection' is like the Creator's 'principle', which has been engraved from the beginning of the universe until the universe evaporates, and time and Until space reaches the end of death.

"When you look directly at the 'Ancient', even if you accidentally see a 'cute' little eye on Cthulhu's tentacles, you will passively establish a 'connection' with it, and your body will also start from that moment , began to receive the crushing part of the 'ancient' power continuously and unstoppably." At this point, Wulfya finally lowered his head, looked at Dak with a smile, and continued to explain:

"But Dak, you don't have to worry about collapse at all. You have 'divine nature' in your body, which can offset part of the erosion of the 'ancient power'. As a [chaos leader], as long as you don't lose your spirit in the first two stages, If you collapse under the pressure of force, your spirit will be difficult to be affected by any force, just like that legendary profession, [Order].

"Unless your body and mind are disconnected and you fall into a state of rage. In other words, dangerous hunger will only make your body go berserk in search of food out of instinct, making you degenerate into a 'monster'. But your consciousness will be very clear from beginning to end.”

"But this will be more painful for me." Dak pursed his lips and said:

"If my consciousness collapses along with my body, I won't feel any pain. But if my mind is awake and only my body collapses, then I will definitely be in a nightmare where I am in endless mental torture but unable to collapse. To be honest... I don't Know...what kind of existence I will become in the end."

"So, Dak, it will be more dangerous for you to endure hunger. This is why no matter how short the food is, the Federation will maintain food supply to people with superpowers." Wulfya patted him. Duck's shoulder turned to look at the piece of special asphalt that was already boiling not far in front of him, lowered his voice and said:

"You asked me just now, after defeating these 'Elmimana', we have achieved victory and passed the first level. Now, I answer you. 'The door has not been opened, everything is still closed. ', these 'Elmimana' who finally died have just been using their bodies and the special asphalt mixed with [dark] ore to provide them with energy, to summon the 'dark one' from the old days. Collaborator's projection."

As he spoke, the fusion of boiling asphalt and machinery began to evaporate. The black steam continued to spiral and dance in mid-air, and finally condensed into a ball about 5 or 6 meters tall with scarlet eyes. , a half-black monster with octopus whiskers, bone wings, eagle claws and tentacles.

"That's...?" Duck asked.

But before he could say the word "who" in his mouth, one of the monster's tentacles turned into something harder and straighter than steel, and penetrated straight through his chest.

"Deepser."

Before the blood gushed out, Duck heard this terrible name spoken in an ancient, weathered voice. (End of chapter)