Blood tax

Chapter 361 The Prisoner in the Cave
Through the occult knowledge obtained by touch, Griffith knew that the flesh and blood of the master was rotting and withering, and the wreckage was radiating terrible evil every moment.After the corrupted psychics fused with the creatures here, they corrupted them and bred two mysterious existences.

One is the umbral.

Umbrals are rare shadow creatures that didn't exist on this plane before they manifested, so they can attack regardless of most physical and magical defenses.They have a powerful ability called "Nightmare Aura", and intelligent creatures who witness their presence will constantly lose their sanity.

When a sentient being's sanity drops below a certain level, the umbral emerges in a nearly transparent, incorporeal form.This form of umbral can move freely through walls and barriers, making it nearly unstoppable.As the witness's sanity continues to decrease, the umbral becomes more visible and eventually attacks.

Generally speaking, umbrals are invisible to intelligent creatures with higher Sanity, and cannot interfere with each other.However, with the help of certain items, beings with higher sanity can also catch traces of umbrals and destroy them.

Killing a umbral restores a small amount of sanity.

Griffith encountered this monster shortly after entering school.He lost a lot of sanity in the ruins of the Whispering Wood, and was pursued by umbrals.If Galadia hadn't arrived in time, he would definitely be torn to pieces by countless umbral monsters.

The second existence is the Shadow Hand.It appears in the form of flat, thicknessless hands that can extinguish flames, but it also has a sanity-damaging nightmare aura.Shadow Hands can sometimes be trampled and light repelled, but they are attracted to creatures with low sanity and will reappear soon.Once the light is completely extinguished and night falls, the Hand of Shadow will become extremely terrifying.

The Shadow Hand is not a standalone monster and cannot be destroyed.They're just tentacles of something even more terrifying.

Griffith felt the noisy whispers echoing in his ears, and the whole world seemed to dim.His vision became dim and blurred, and he could even see dense black lines wriggling around the edge of his vision.

Not only him, but everyone who touched the rotting tentacles of the Overlord lost their sanity.Everyone has more or less known some knowledge, and they all realize that something is wrong.

"Let's go back quickly!" Arendelle yelled softly, holding Griffith back and running back.The other two also pressed their painful foreheads and followed closely.

……

The body of this palace of flesh and chitin carapace is dead, but the will of the ruler seems to be lost in the air, becoming a more elusive and dangerous existence.

This depraved ruin radiates dangerous spiritual energy all the time. As long as they are in this place, human beings will continue to lose their minds, and then be attacked by shadows.Destroying umbrals can temporarily restore some sanity, but with the loss of sanity, human beings will eventually face the real horror.

After Griffith and the others returned, they discovered that Professor Lafayette's situation looked even worse.Diaz, Miss Willow and others have already fled back, and Miss Willow's mentality seems to have collapsed.She tore her hair and yelled frantically:

"Where did God go!?
"Does God understand the human heart? Did He create us?"

"We came here to find such a dead stinky conch! You tell me it's also a god?!"

With a shake of her hand, the wand burst into flames, crackling and burning the camp.

"No one said that this dead conch was a god." Patriot Knight tried to comfort her while putting out the fire.

Miss Wendy braced herself and asked, "What did you find on the other side?"

Hearing this, Miss Willow and Knight Milban seemed to have been poked at a sore spot, roaring chaotic words, completely on the verge of losing control.

"Broken, annihilated, hopelessly rotting wreckage!"

"No, it shouldn't be like this. This is the temple where the gods descended into the world. An immortal existence. Why is it so ugly and profane?"

"We need God's guidance. The horn of destruction has sounded, and the ultimate darkness is about to fall. We need salvation! But why is this god's legacy so blasphemous and filthy!"

Professor Lafayette seemed petrified, sitting by the campfire staring at his notes, without turning a page for a long time.

Naira stood aside, whispering to the professor.

"We have come where the prophecy directed us."

"But there are no clues, and more than half of the members are missing," Professor Lafayette said in a low tone, "I paid such a high price, but I don't know what I found, and I lost my way when I was approaching the end. "

"Try again," Naira continued, his eyes fixed on the remnant of the master looming in the darkness, "let me try to activate..."

"No!" Professor Lafayette suddenly came alive and interrupted Naira's speech, "We have too little information, and it would be very dangerous to act rashly. I can't use the entire Metini investigation team, no, I can't use it." The future of humanity is a gamble."

What are they talking about... Griffith was curious, and suddenly saw Diaz's aura become louder.

The extraordinary demon hunter held a flaming spear in his hand, and his slightly squinted eyes turned with murderous intent: "Nara, that's enough. This is not your personal investigation. Obey our restraint, or I will punish you in the name of my lord."

sanction?Can you punish the hand of God?Don't you know how powerful he is!Griffith, who was watching, was shocked.However, he soon discovered that almost all Odessa investigators unanimously supported Professor Lafayette's decision.

Naira did not fight, nor did he exercise his power of "nostalgia into sorrow", but just bowed his head and said respectfully:
"Yes, Professor, I obey."

……

In this way, the Odessa investigators neither evacuated nor continued to explore.They look downcast, work slowly on the spot, or wander around, as if they want to spend their last time in useless waste.

Griffith was still confused, but he was sure he couldn't stay here any longer.Just as he was about to take Alandelle and flee quietly, Naira suddenly found him again, and she also dragged the distraught Neferti.

"What do you think?" Naira asked calmly, her sanity didn't seem to be affected at all.

Griffith shook his head: "I think this is a dangerous place. The other half of the investigators and that ancient unknown creature shouldn't just disappear without a trace. In any case, it's unwise to stay here."

"Who said no~" Naira nodded and smiled, then pointed to her sister, "Please help me bring her."

Griffith's expression moved slightly: "What are you going to do?"

Naira pushed Neferti, asking her to go to Arendelle: "Have you ever heard a story——

"There is a group of poor people imprisoned in the cave. They have been here since they were born, bound by chains, unable to look back, and can only look at the shadows on the rock wall in front of them.

"These people are prisoners in the cave. Behind them there is a fire and a path to go outside.

"The people outside the cave walked between the fire and the prisoner with all kinds of equipment on their backs, and the firelight cast all kinds of strange shadows on the cave wall in front of the prisoner.

"These trapped prisoners couldn't see the people and the objects behind them, so they thought that the distorted shadows on the rock wall were real things in this world, and they named the shaking shadows by many names. The shadows on the wall were very long and very long. Big, so different from humans, the prisoners worshiped these magical shadows as gods.

"Suddenly one day, a certain prisoner accidentally broke free from the shackles and turned around, and saw the fire behind him and people walking around carrying utensils. The scene in front of him subverted his perception of the world. It was strange and suspicious. He couldn't believe that these were real things.

"He even tried to find his reflection in the water to find his familiar feeling, and then slowly, he began to accept this normal world, and even came outside the cave to see the outside world. Since then, he has begun to sympathize with those who still The imprisoned prisoners.

"He went back to the cave and tried to free the prisoners. But everyone felt that the outside world had evaporated his sanity and that he was crazy. He couldn't convince the prisoners to leave with him, and the prisoners didn't think he was helping. "

When Naira said this, she stopped and looked into Griffith's eyes: "What do you think this pathetic person should do?"

Griffith shook his head, not wanting to answer the question.

Naira didn't force it, raised her finger to point out the way out, and then said to the three:

"The old gods are dead."

(End of this chapter)