Blood tax

The first time I encountered the Shadow Devourer was on the Flying Leaf in the Sea of ​​Tranquility.When Griffith faced this monster again, his first thought was to wonder how could there be its kind in the swamp of the underground world?

Countless swollen and twisted dark red tentacles whipped wildly on the surface of the water, opening their disgustingly huge mouthparts to feed greedily.

The nightmarish dark red body exuded a stench, squirming in the swamp water, and the clusters of tentacles were like amorphous swelling bubbles, shining with a faint light.The spots on the skin bag that emit green light are like eyeballs, constantly forming and decomposing on the surface.The body that filled the entire field of vision crushed the panicked person under the water, and crawled through the swamp with strange reflections.

That terrifying, mocking cry rang in my ears.The cryptic words were swept up by the strong wind from unknown sources, echoing under the desolate ancient troll city.

'Tekeli-li! Tekeli-li!'

Confused thoughts and confused and complicated memories gripped Griffith tightly in this flute-like cry that covered a wide range of sounds.The voice seemed to be issuing orders, and also like hypnotic suggestions.

Without any hesitation, Aaron quickly chanted a magic spell, and two large bubbles emerged from the swamp, wrapping him and Belia and flying to the shore.Commodus instinctively slashed with his sword. After cutting off several tentacles, filthy flesh and blood gushed out from the section, and new tentacles regenerated rapidly.Rorschach spread his wings, jumped into the air, and disappeared behind the ancient stone wall.Others were running everywhere in the swamp, one foot deep and one foot shallow. Some of those who were not caught by the tentacles also fell into the swamp.

Experienced Beyonders have long regarded monsters and dangers as commonplace.However, advanced inspiration and occult knowledge must easily complete the hidden and ignored truth.The moment they witnessed the Shadow Devourer, the minds of the powerful Extraordinaries gathered here were activated like triggers and gears, spinning rapidly, unstoppably falling into collective madness and chaos.

Some of them called Aaron's name, asking for instructions, and others shouted for help.There was even an Extraordinary who went crazy: "This is the Shadow Devourer Mouth! It ambush here to catch its prey and make it into a seedbed Mouth!"

He babbled nonsense, ran around, and finally ran headfirst into the gaping maw.

Griffith instinctively wanted to leave immediately, but found that Erza's body was shaking abnormally.

She clutched the breastplate tightly with both hands and remained motionless under the tentacles waving by the Shadow Devourer. Her gaze in the distance seemed to be staring at something that made people tremble from the depths of their souls and made all human creations insignificant. A presence worth mentioning.Griffith even saw the mist rising in her eyes in a trance, spreading and surrounding the phantom of the black mountain peak.

The overly brilliant inspiration eventually became a shackle, reminding her of some secret that should not be known. Her consciousness had been overwhelmed by madness, and the fragmented clues seemed to be alive, piecing together a mysterious secret realm that was beyond common sense and the limits of human physiology.

The illusory sound of the dice hitting the ground flashed by.

This is an ancient nightmare that unleashes distortion and madness. It is an unavoidable and crazy destiny that mankind will eventually face with its own will.

At the beginning of the Sacrifice of the Chosen One, hidden behind the ruins of Anok's collapsed city-state, the black jagged peaks filled with mist indeed hid something more sinister than all the mysteries in the ruins that cannot be seen directly and cannot be described. thing.From the moment they looked directly at it, it was buried deep in the hearts of Galadia and Erza, waiting for the fateful moment.

This is a trap... Griffith connects long-ago experiences with recent encounters and many strange things.

The trap has been activated.

The occult knowledge that should not be known forcefully breaks through the blockage of the will and is embedded in the depths of the soul, as if mocking the resistance of the war knights and the insignificance of human beings.A name was branded deep in Griffith's mind——

"Shoggoth"

This shadow devourer is far superior to the one on the Tranquil Sea in terms of size and pressure. The terrifying aura exuding from it is like a halo, more terrifying and pure.In comparison, Beyond the Tranquil Sea can only be considered a poor imitation.

It is an ancient creation called a Shoggoth, the product of a crazy nightmare, which makes people instinctively want to deny reality.

It is one of the most horrifying creations of the ancient demon gods, and even a single glance can cause sanity to collapse.Creatures exposed to the crazy radiation of the Shoggoths will continue to have sanity checks, and humans who cannot bear it will only fall into the abyss of madness.

"Griffith, use the range attack characteristics of light to contain it."

Suddenly, Griffith heard Erza talking to him.Her eyes suddenly became clear in a short period of time, and she regained her calm and confident look.

"This is a protoplasmic colony overflowing from the decayed remains of the ancient gods. It is good at manipulating and twisting the will of its prey. The longer we delay here, the harder it will be to reverse the loss of sanity.

"On the other hand, if we destroy it, it will be of great help to us."

Griffith knew he couldn't retreat now, or the mad and chaotic chase would engulf everyone.

Hanguang is made of thunder and lightning, and the powerful electric arc will beat with the blade. When it hits, it may throw the high-level lightning spell "Thunder's Wrath" at the enemy.

The blue electric arc burned a tentacle and then jumped to kill nearby tentacles, causing the tentacles to boil violently, dancing like a choked person trying to spit out the contents of his throat.There was a "boom", and the splashing mucus and bone fragments followed the sound waves and covered Griffith's body.

One of Commodus' men devoured by the Shadow Eater exploded in despair, shattering a large chunk of their torso from the inside.Explosions and thunder and lightning intertwined, and the sonic boom silenced the entire world for a few seconds.

When the echo of the eardrums subsided, everyone heard the voice like the morning wind passing through the autumn forest.

"The defense core comes forward and uses range attacks to attract targets." Erza took over the command and issued combat arrangements for Aaron. "The lethality of the Shadow Devourer is not powerful, and it is not fatal to high-level extraordinary people in a short period of time.

"Its life energy is not infinite. The power to maintain its form comes from the spiritual energy cores distributed in the body. If the damage from the outside world is strong enough, the survival instinct will split off the regenerable core and escape into the darkness to hide.

"Give up defense and attack with the strongest firepower. As long as we weaken this monster enough, its fragments will produce split bodies."

Split?Many people thought they heard wrongly. One monster is already difficult to deal with. What would happen if there were several more monsters?

However, Griffith believed in Erza's judgment and rushed into the tentacle bush with a wave of Hanguang, slashing left and right.

"Counterattack!
"Byeland - Won Victory!"

The battle cry of the War Knight was like the roar of hundreds of warriors, shocking everyone.The hot blood almost turned into a solid substance, dispersing the fog, and the tentacles that opened the mouth shrank back one after another as if they had hit an invisible wall.The remaining people cheered up, broke free from the entanglement of the tentacles, and wanted to go to the shore.

The Shadow Devourer was only slightly blocked by the blood energy, and immediately swept in overwhelmingly.

This momentary delay buys time for the others.

Erza's body transformed into a battle robe woven with light and a holy pure gold winged helmet. She was suspended in the air, holding a dazzling spear and shield. She spread her white wings behind her and sprinkled frost and dew. The spear in her hand turned into crystal. The light spots then condensed to form a buzzing light beam held in the hand.

This is the mythical creature form of Erza Valkyrie - the Valkyrie who controls the Aurora!
Erza raised her hand, no one saw the projection clearly, and a beam of light fell from the sky and hit the Shadow Devourer.The powerful monster's thick body was punched through and burned in a ball of extremely high-temperature flames.

This blow actually made many people's minds clearer, as if they were lost in the dark and scary night, and in the midst of panic, the silver moonlight suddenly shone gently on their shoulders.

"This is an angel!"

Several Beyonders calmed down and began to reorganize their formations.

Griffith was about to sigh in admiration when he looked up and saw a pair of pure eyes that transcended human limits staring at him.So strange, so dangerous...

At this moment, Commodus also stabilized his mind and ordered an extraordinary person under his command who was a collector: "Aphrodite, separate this thing from our people!"

A woman with a graceful figure came out in response.She held a rose in her mouth, her long golden hair was tied into a bunch of flowers and leaves behind her head, and her green eyes were fresher than the buds after the rain.When she walked through the mud, the lotus pods and vines surrounded her and held her up as if they were alive, without a trace of water on them.

Griffith was startled.Such a powerful and outstanding extraordinary person has always been in the team, but it is even harder to detect than an assassin who is good at hiding.Aphrodite came to the shore, nodded slightly to Commodus, held a garland of roses in her hand and waved it in the wind.A patch of thorns suddenly bloomed on the swamp.Friendly troops ran over the thorns one after another, but the tentacles that followed were entangled by the wildly growing thorns.At the same time, an illusory rose wreath appeared on the head of the Shadow Devourer.Every distance it advances, the corolla becomes closer and closer to reality.Finally, there was only a loud thunderous noise, and the huge body of the Shadow Devourer shook and crashed into the water.

Once you get this monster to stop, it becomes less scary.Erza showed terrifying killing efficiency.She was suspended in the air, throwing out the particle light spear in her hand every few seconds.The electric light pierced through the tentacles, and large balls of black blood and thick slurry were shot out, as if they were blood fountains.

The Devourer of Shadows was besieged from all directions and was beaten miserably, but the wounds would spurt out streams of extremely smelly black water, making it impossible for hidden assassins to approach. Some extraordinary people with enhanced melee combat were accidentally stained with black water. After the water came out, he rolled and screamed.

As the battle progressed, the speed of the Shadow Devourer's self-healing slowed down significantly.

"Hiss—!~"

The tentacles let out an indescribable roar and burst open one by one, revealing mouthparts densely covered with countless fine teeth.

Curved and pale teeth were like barbs, layered all over the inner walls of the tentacles. The reddish-brown skull was stuck between the sharp teeth, staring at the outside world with empty eye sockets.

The Shadow Devourer was riddled with holes like a piece of worried cheese. When large and small protoplasmic lumps fell into the swamp, they began to squirm and aggregate, forming smaller octopus-like masses and escaping in all directions.

"Destroy those split bodies!" Erza reminded loudly, "It can heal mental trauma and restore sanity."

Seeing that the split body was about to escape, Griffith suddenly felt that his mind was clearer than ever before, and he immediately took out a bottle of secondary love potion.

Seeing him take out this thing, people nearby were shocked: "What are you doing with this thing!?"

Griffith laughed ferociously and hit the monster.Weird pink smoke rose into the sky, and the split bodies that were running around suddenly boiled and rushed towards him.

It's now!

"Frozen Nova!"

Griffith froze the monsters in place, then rolled over.Aaron ran sideways behind him, holding his wand to his mouth. A cone-shaped ball of extremely cold air came one after another, almost rolling over Griffith's back, pulling the monster that was about to break free. Everything was so frozen that it was difficult to move.

In the next moment, Aaron had already flashed into the distance, and the wand he held high was filled with light.

"Extreme cold - Blizzard!"

There was a crushing tearing sound over the swamp, and the howling north wind stirred up the ice that filled the sky, covering the water surface and causing raging monsters.

Almost all of the split body was caught in the ice, and was annihilated in the horrifying scream.

……

The interior of Zulhakar was shrouded in fog, and it was difficult to see the faces of his companions even from a few steps away.

Commodus looked gloomily thinking about his losses, and muttered to himself, "I lost five people, and I haven't even set foot on the steps of Zulhakar. I demand the priority in the distribution of the spoils."

Griffith looked around the thick fog nervously.Not long after the battle, he couldn't find Erza.However, the psychic ripples and the Chosen One's mark made him feel that the Huntress was not far away.

"You will get it, Your Majesty. The extraordinary characteristics of the Shadow Devourer will provide us with a powerful weapon, enough to make up for the loss." Aaron became more and more excited as he walked, and his expression was too excited to hide. "Finally, we entered Zuha Ka, the Eternal Stairs enshrined in the High Pyramid will provide us with the spiritual energy we need. Great times are coming, free from the corrupt past."

Commodus' eyebrows were tangled and twisted together: "Don't be too proud, wizard, the beasts just outside are so powerful. Can you guarantee that we will live to see a leaf of the eternal staircase?"

As he spoke, he said to the troll governor in disgust: "Since this is your holy land, where are those noble priests and tribesmen? Where have they gone?"

"I don't quite understand, Your Majesty," Overseer Ekirum replied with a puzzled look. "It's also my first time to enter here. According to my guess, maybe they are gathering, or the road we are taking has a specific the use of."

"Enough, enough," Commodus waved his hand impatiently and said to Aphrodite, "Someone is following us, send your plants to be on guard. Then, do a good job of reconnaissance, I need your plant affinity to accurately locate eternity The position of the stairs. Damn it, I have a bad feeling. The next enemy will be unimaginably powerful."

Miss Collector walked in front of the group.After a while, she suddenly stopped, turned around with an incredulous look and said:
"Your Majesty, gentlemen of God's Hand, I think you have to come and take a look."

After hearing this, Griffith, Erza, Aaron and Commodus all stepped forward.One after another, when they passed through a collapsed ruin, the scenery in front of them suddenly opened up.

A majestic pyramid emerged amid a circular lake and majestic ancient buildings.There is no trace of fog here, as if I am afraid of some kind of existence here.From the edge of the mist to the steps of the pyramid, there is a field of bright red flowers.

Until this moment, Griffith had never remembered how to describe this strange plant—a blood-red orchid with slender, nerve-like stamens.

The bottom of the blood orchid field is not soil, only layers of bones.Red flowers that looked like nerve clusters sprouted roots from the bones, and an unusually red flower bloomed from the wide open mouth, dripping with transparent mucus that had a texture that was almost like glue.

Countless skeletons merged into a gurgling stream, which was gentle, sticky, and vaguely glowing. It was indescribably evil and ferocious.

A strange smell became stronger and the temperature rose.

Griffith's heart skipped a beat.He suddenly saw that not far ahead, in the ominous and strange sea of ​​flowers, Erza was standing among white bones and red flowers, facing the direction of the pyramid. On the towering top, there was indescribable oppression like a dormant beast. .Its phantom looms in the sky - a throne of bones, with roots embedded in the skeletons, sucking the juices of decay, and swaying vines still demanding tribute from the unfortunate.

Everyone nervously drew their weapons, even Aaron felt like he was facing a formidable enemy.An illusory whisper echoed in the air——

"Can you hear my breathing? The rushing wild and hot blood."

"Please hold me tight and let's start from now on,
"Please hold me tight and never let go,

"I'm obsessed with you and can't help myself."

Griffith heard the chattering of the teeth of the extraordinary people around him, and their tiny footsteps moved back.

In front of them, a strong wind blew up, and the blood orchid stamens fluttered upward. Erza, who had been in poor condition, seemed to be free of all burdens. Her flamboyant red hair was flying in the wind, almost the embodiment of this scarlet world.

When she turned around, Griffith was shocked to find a deep wound on her wrist, and the blood was condensing into a blood-red spear in her hand at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The blood dripped and spread upwards along Erza's wrists and arms, eroding petal-like marks on her right shoulder and cheeks.

Erza walked towards the crowd.With every step she took, scarlet filled Zul'Haka.She opens her arms and invites people to meet the true God:

"Yes, I want you so much, (Och jag vill ha dig)

"Please come here and hold me tight now! (Kom och hll om mig nu)" (End of Chapter)