Fenna continued following the original plan, advancing her steps toward the hazy silhouette in the distance, trudging through this seemingly endless windblown sand.
"...I still don’t know why only I was ’sent’ to this strange desert," Fenna thought to herself, "but it’s clear that this place does not correspond at all to the ’forest’ described by Nina or Miss Lucrecia. I am now trying to walk toward that distant ’circle of huge stones’ that resembles a city ruin. So far, I haven’t found any traces of civilization activity here..."
Duncan’s voice echoed in the depths of Fenna’s mind: "...Pay attention to anything around you that defies common sense or any sudden changes in your environnt. That ’Corrosion’ Sherry ntioned might also appear near you, be extrely careful."
"Understood, Captain," Fenna nodded slightly, she looked up into the wind toward the horizon and stepped deeper into the windswept sand, "I will continue moving forward."
...
"Rabi doesn’t like this place... Rabi likes lively places with lots of people... This isn’t the kind of ’Dreamscape’ Rabi knows, not a single person in sight..."
Rabi’s incessant chattering voice ca from beside her, the gigantic rabbit doll clumsily navigated through a clump of shrubs and dead branches and leaves, endlessly complaining since a while ago.
But Lucrecia completely ignored the rabbit’s implications. She just walked ahead by herself and stopped by a clearing on the edge, carefully watching her surroundings.
After entering this "Dreamscape" for the second ti, she hadn’t seen the elf girl who called herself Xilin, nor had she found any traces she previously left in the forest.
Surrounded by similar towering giant trees everywhere, the forest had no landmarks or paths to guide her way, and as much as she hated to admit it... Lucrecia knew she had lost her way in this boundless jungle.
"...Rabi," Lucrecia suddenly turned her head to look at the rabbit doll, who was struggling to get through a clump of bushes not far away, "Can you sense any other ntal entities?"
Rabi imdiately stopped his ongoing complaints and hurried over to his mistress’s side, miming the posture of listening intently to the surrounding noises—its two long ears, sewn from fabric strips, dangled from the sides of its head, their edges faintly taking on a hazy texture.
After a mont, the rabbit shook its head: "No, Rabi didn’t hear any other thinking voices."
"Hm." Lucrecia nodded her head, then once again looked around, trying to determine the direction to move forward in next.
Just then, a gleaming reflection that flashed across her field of vision attracted the "witch’s" gaze.
Lucrecia imdiately looked toward where the reflection had appeared—there, about a dozen ters away, was a tall tree. At the base of the tree, among dead branches and fallen leaves, seed to be sothing.
Her figure suddenly turned into a whirl of fluttering colorful paper, and in the blink of an eye, she arrived under the tree, morphing back into form.
Looking at the sowhat familiar object before her, Lucrecia’s eyes widened slightly: "This is..."
A silent but stylized weapon that seed a cross between a spear and a battle-axe lay quietly among the leaves, like a mute and frozen symbol.
Different from her mory, the long shaft of the weapon was now broken, as if it had been completely destroyed after enduring a violent impact; its axe blade was covered in serrated scars, apparently from a fierce and prolonged battle, and many dark traces still lingered on the chipped blade.
It seed to have broken a very long ti ago—after a forgotten, long-over battle.
Lucrecia stared silently at the broken hafted axe, her gaze filled with contemplation. Rabi’s footsteps approached from behind and, after peering curiously at his mistress, the doll rabbit couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked, "Mistress, what is this?"
Lucrecia didn’t respond to Rabi. Instead, she carefully bent over, hesitated for a bit, and then reached out her hand toward the broken weapon.
Her fingers touched the cold tal, and a sensation that felt like crossing between illusion and reality suddenly flowed up her fingertips. Before she could fully comprehend this fleeting feeling, a sharp, howling noise abruptly interrupted her action!
The next second, piercing howls ca from all directions, as if the entire forest was roaring in a tumultuous collapse with thunderous noise, the ground shook, heat waves rose, the sky was shrouded in chaotic phantom lights, and countless screams of battle cries, cries, roars, as well as the forest’s own sounds of lant and rage, all surged into Lucrecia’s senses—
The "Sea Witch" jerked her head up to see the entire forest around her already ablaze, the towering trees collapsing and flowing like lting in the flas, the distant ground, as if lifted by an invisible colossal force, began to bulge upward with fearso cracking and surging magma, the whole earth slowly curling toward the sky, while incomprehensible huge shadows and chaotic beams of light kept rolling down from above, as if the entire sky was burning in the light, tumbling toward the whole world!
In the midst of the cataclysmic "Skyfall," a sinister red light erged, spreading like blood-soaked scars through the clouds, nearly instantaneously supplanting all Sky Light. Terrifying fissures began to touch the earth little by little, grazing the towering trees that reached for the heavens and the curled, rising horizon in the distance. As the world began to crack and split upon this deadly "touch," countless dark and fearso beings sward forth—
They surged from the forests, from the red light in the sky, from the world’s crevices; re seconds before, they seed to be re animals panicked by a forest fire, yet in an instant, they transford into unspeakable shadows with bared teeth and claws. Stones ca to life, forests writhed; everything was morphing into forms beyond human comprehension. Horrifying, mutated creatures rushed from all directions, and nearby, soone’s furious roar sounded like a valiant struggle against the encroaching monsters, yet a glance towards the noise only revealed monsters tearing at each other, shadows consuming shadows.
Suddenly, Lucresia stood up. Despite feeling overwheld by this incomprehensible disaster before her, she instinctively assud a combative stance—yet in the next second, all these terrifying aberrations vanished from her sight.
She had let go of the broken halberd—in tandem with this release, all visions of nightmarish changes also disappeared like phantoms.
The forest returned to its original state, and everything that had just happened seed like a fleeting, bizarre nightmare.
Lucresia stood dazed for a long mont. After several seconds, she suddenly ca to her senses and instinctively looked towards the foot of the giant tree.
The broken halberd was gone, leaving only a pile of indistinct dry branches and fallen leaves in its place.
Lucresia slowly furrowed her brow, her mind subconsciously recalling the scene she had just witnessed, when suddenly, the sound of footsteps appeared nearby, interrupting her thoughts.
She imdiately raised her head, looking in the direction of the footsteps.
An Elven girl nad Xilin stood there without her knowing when she had arrived, still clad in the light armor styled by so unknown City-State, brandishing a oddly shaped battle halberd.
Lucresia quickly turned to look at Rabi, the rabbit, only to see that Rabi was also turning to look at her. Despite having only button eyes and a mouth crudely painted, its actions clearly conveyed an apology and surprise—
Rabi had not noticed Xilin’s approach—this indicated that the sentient entity had appeared nearby all of a sudden.
"Xilin?" Lucresia steadied herself, signaling Rabi to stay put as she turned to greet the Elven girl.
The Elven girl nad Xilin revealed a faint smile. Her expression as she looked at Lucresia was as if they had never been parted.
She nodded, "We’ve rested for quite a long ti now; it’s ti to continue our journey—The Wall of Silence is still far away."
As she spoke, she looked towards Rabi, who was obediently remaining in place.
Xilin, with no trace of oddity on her face, naturally said to Lucresia, "Is this your friend? Bring her along, let’s go together."
...
Fenna had no idea how long she had been trekking through this endless desert—the monotonous and boundless landscape, together with the never-ceasing sand and wind, seed to disturb her sense of ti. She even felt as if she had been walking through this desert for a century, or since the day the world was born.
Of course, she was well aware these were only illusions born from her irritation, a test from this harsh environnt on her fortitude.
Fortunately, her prayers to the Goddess were still effective, maintaining her resolve. Her connection with the captain eased her unease and allowed her so stability.
The icy greatsword in her hands emanated a slight chill, bringing a sense of safety and alleviating the desert’s intense heat.
Another gust of wind and sand hit, and Fenna sensed a change in the wind’s direction—she raised her greatsword to shield her eyes and turned her head to avoid the sandy assault.
But at that mont, an unusual presence suddenly entered her perception, causing Fenna’s actions to stop abruptly.
The next second, the seasoned Judge tensed all the muscles in her body, positioning her greatsword to the side in a defensive posture, and looked towards a specific direction in the sandstorm.
As the tumultuous winds ceased inexplicably, and the settling dust cleared, an exceptionally tall figure slowly erged from the mist, becoming increasingly distinct.
It was a... giant.
Reviews
All reviews (0)