Whispering Verse

The fire continued to squirm little by little under the moonlight, until Grandma Siam Nod suddenly spoke:

"About to arrive."

So the steps of the few people unconsciously speeded up, because the moonlight was getting brighter and brighter, so even from a long distance, Shade could already see the huge worm lying in the sea of ​​sand.

From a distance, it looks as tall as a raised sand dune. And when you get closer, you can find that more than half of the sandworm's body has been buried in the sand.

Shade didn't know whether this thing was dead or not, but it looked very similar to the doomsday monster that was transformed from Professor Drake's body sealed in [Calamity Cards: Gravel Worm].

Even though the thing is motionless now, just looking at the size of the insect's body makes people subconsciously feel fear. As the group of people got closer and closer in silence, Shade also saw that the front of the huge insect's body was indeed a pale head that looked like a giant.

The chin of the head was buried in the gravel floating with silver light, and inside the open mouth was a stone door that fit tightly with the mouth, as if the mouth was forced open by the door. Fortunately, the two eyes on this lifeless head were closed. If the eyes were open, even if it was certain that this thing was dead, Shade would never come close.

The appearance of the giant worm obviously frightened others, but under the leadership of Shade, everyone slowly continued to move forward until they came to the head of the worm.

Miss Knight and Miss Sandel didn't dare to look up at all, and Shade tried not to look at the head. Instead, he directly put his hand on the other person's cold and pale face.

【died. 】

"She" gave very clear investigation results, and now Xia De was finally relieved.

So he took out a large number of gold rings and a gold crown from the supplies he brought with him - these were found by Granny Siam Nord and the others from the ruins. After throwing the precious metals to the ground, there was a pop~ The flames lit up, and then the roaring bonfire illuminated the warm and comfortable camp.

Probably because Shade used a lot of precious metals this time, the quality of the camp was also very high. The burning bonfire provided warmth for everyone on this cold night. Five soft small cushions were placed around the bonfire, and further outside were two single-person tents nailed to the sand.

A circle of not very high but very thick wooden stakes surrounds the camp. Two ropes up and down wrap around all the wooden stakes in turn, leaving only the entrance and exit of the camp, which can be regarded as delineating the boundaries of the camp.

The somewhat tired people found a place to rest in a tacit understanding, and Miss Knight could sit down easily even while wearing armor. She took off her helmet, letting her somewhat pale face appear in the unusual moonlight.

Even if she is just an ordinary person who has experienced so many things in this desert without dying, her own resistance to this strange light is basically the same as that of an ordinary ring warlock. Five people surrounded the bonfire, and the crackling flames pulled their shadows in different directions.

Little Mia probably felt the light, so she stuck her head out from between Shade's buttons again. The appearance of the furry cat head appearing on Shade's chest was a bit ridiculous, but this time Shade did not push it back.

After resting for a while, Xia De, who was in a hurry, was the first to stand up while supporting Sha Mian:

"I don't know how long the dark night can last. Let's move quickly. You continue to rest here, and I will try to open the door first."

So Grandma Siam nodded to Shade, Miss Meister just smiled, while Miss Knight and the mermaid girl were still recovering from their own state.

The camp that Shade set up was right in front of the head, on the edge of the shadow cast by the huge head due to the moonlight. Therefore, in just a few steps, he came to the door. The insect corpse contained The strange and twisted mental interference even made Sha De feel dizzy.

He confirmed that the pattern on the ancient stone door was roughly the same as Miss Sandel's description, and then took out the prepared "key" to open the door.

"Earth-a figurine from Vanessa."

As soon as the cat-shaped clay statue appeared, little Mia screamed in dissatisfaction. But before it could reach out its claws, Shade pinned the statuette against the door.

The small clay statue was quietly "swallowed" by the stone door, and a quarter of the strange lines on the door were lit up.

"Moon - Flawless Moonstone, Light - Broken Ancient Sacred Emblem."

The next two items were "swallowed" by the door without any surprise, so three-quarters of the pattern on the door was lit up, leaving only the items symbolizing the "sun".

Shade originally prepared little Mia, but now that the door is actually devouring the symbol, he doesn't dare to let little Mia go through:

"What if the doorknob swallows little Mia too?"

But now that he has come this far, Shade cannot give up the mission casually, so he lowered his head and glanced at the cat:

"If I pull out a few of your cat hairs, Mia, will you have any objections?"

He was about to take action, but the cat, which seemed to understand Shade's words, immediately started struggling, obviously not very willing to contribute its beautiful hair.

It was probably really a little angry this time, and even spit out a few small, non-threatening sparks at Shade, and then Shade casually swatted away the sparks.

Sparks fluttered in the cold night wind towards the stone door in the mouth of the huge head. When it came into contact with the surface of the stone door, it was absorbed like the three symbols just now.

As a result, all the lines on the door lit up, temporarily interrupting Shade and little Mia's "playing".

One person and one cat turned to look, and saw that in the brighter light, the stone door slowly rose, as if it was being absorbed into the flesh of the upper jaw of the huge head. On another slender stone tablet rising from below, beautiful carvings appeared:

[In the 358th year of the Fifth Era, the second Earth Witch of this era sealed the desert worm here. 】

[After the seal is opened, the seal can be reactivated by activating the stone tablet. Do not enter or leave the worm unless necessary. 】

[This dangerous creature is not recorded in the data. Wherever it goes, it is transformed into irreversible desert terrain. After teaming up with his colleagues to kill him, his belly still contained a source of contamination that could not be dealt with. To prevent leakage, it was sealed. 】

[Behind the door is a dangerous place. If its pollution effect weakens after thousands of years, you can try to enter it and destroy the source of the pollution. Do not perform this dangerous operation without a current Earth Witch accompanying you. If entry is forced for any reason, at least five people must be present. 】

The following records a ritual that requires five people to perform together to temporarily isolate the weird influence in the insect's body.

The great witch who lived in the early fifth era did not leave her specific name, but the other party was undoubtedly a demigod. Just the words she left on the stone tablet, like the words carved with a sword or knife, still make Shade, who is also proficient in swordsmanship, feel a sting on his skin as if he was being pressed by the tip of a sword.

He tried to reach out and touch the stone tablet, but unfortunately he did not get the reminder of "obtaining the witch's reverberation".

After stuffing little Mia into his chest again, Shade looked at the scene behind the stone monument. There was the inside of the giant worm's body, but it looked more like the entrance to a cave. Nothing could be seen inside the dark passage, and Shade did not feel too strong a polluting force.

He tried to walk around the stone monument and took a step inward. After feeling it for a moment, he stepped back:

"It is very similar to the power of the worms I saw at the end of the world, but it is not exactly the same. At least at the entrance, the impact is not great. Could it be that thousands of years have really erased the power of the corpse, or maybe the sun The abnormal light dissolves its own ability?"

Instead of trying to penetrate deep into the worm alone, he returned to the camp outside the door. The companions had already seen that the door was successfully opened, and Shade explained to them the content on the stone tablet:

"I suspect that when the Earth Witch fought with this insect, the compass fragments she carried were swallowed by it. Of course, there are other possibilities. But now it seems that we have to enter the belly of this insect no matter what. Take a look inside.”

"The stone tablet says that five people are required to travel together?"

Miss Sandel asked hesitantly:

"Although there are indeed five of us, Miss Knight"

"The ceremony is very simple. Among the five people, only three are actually needed to maintain the ceremony, and the other two are to collect the symbols of the other two corners of the pentagram. In fact, four people can also do it, but in this way, the third Four people have to bear more pressure.”

"I'll go with you."

Miss Knight, who was holding her helmet, said proactively. Everyone had guessed that she would choose this way, so Shade pointed at Granny Siam Nord and Miss Meister:

"Then the three of us are responsible for maintaining the ceremony. Miss Sandel, you and Miss Knight can just follow us. If we really can't hold on, we will withdraw. Unfortunately, the seal only opens an entrance. The outer skin of the insect we It can’t be broken, otherwise it might be more convenient for us to enter directly from the tail of the insect.”

"We don't understand the ancient witch's seal, so we should follow the normal process. Then set off now, don't waste time."

The rested old elf said to everyone around the fire:

"This ceremony requires five people, and we happen to have five people. I never believe in coincidences in this world, and this is really the end of the journey. No matter how many of us can go out with the 'Heart of Oasis' in the end , this is our destiny. So, no matter what happens, the most important thing is to bring out the 'Heart of Oasis'."

"Mother-in-law, don't say that."

said the sentimental mermaid girl, knowing that Granny Siam meant that there might be sacrifices.

The old elf shook his head, and everyone stood up from the fire and set off towards the hole in the "giant's" head.