Silently, without even the sound of churning water, the attack came without any warning.
This time, Salin had absolutely no time to react. A look of sudden realization had only just appeared on his face, and the words had barely started to leave his mouth when his body was pierced by eerie spikes. Unable to utter another single word, the light faded from his eyes.
As his breathing ceased, all the spikes instantly retracted. Salin was left with a dense network of punctures across his body, yet not a single drop of blood flowed. He collapsed to the ground, his gruesome and sickening wounds exposed.
Only then did ripples finally spread across the deep pool. Accompanied by a bubbling sound, the water began to churn violently, the tremors growing so strong that even the ground trembled slightly.
It was an experience far more terrifying than the previous night; even comparing the two was an insult. A heavy pressure weighed on Lynch's heart, causing his muscles to twitch uncontrollably. Looking at those around him, Rooney and Karl had turned pale with fright, while Judy was the only one who still had some color in her face, though her expression was incredibly stiff.
Although many mysteries remained unsolved, the scene before them forced the four to cast aside their mutual suspicions. For the first time, they had to truly stand together.
Under the speckled bioluminescence, a pale, massive, and bizarre silhouette was rising from the depths of the pitch-black pool.
Even before it fully revealed itself, terror struck directly at their souls. The mere hint of its aura was already this horrifying, as if an ancient beast was awakening from its slumber, opening its massive, star-like eyes to gaze upon humans as tiny as ants.
Splash.
Water splashed everywhere as the colossal entity broke through the surface, emerging from the deep pool.
Regardless of its actual dimensions, its bizarrely twisted body seemed to stretch as wide as the pool itself. Its coloration was a deathly pale-blue like a floating corpse, and its soft, slimy skin looked like rotting meat that had been soaked in sewage for years. Thousands of massive eyeballs grew across its body, blinking like human eyes, staring in every direction with a chaotic, twisted rotation that was both eerie and nauseating. Between the eyeballs, countless hollow spikes protruded from the decaying flesh, sharp and slender, their tips gleaming with an eerie, blood-red light.
This was the mysterious creature from the Second Age, an entity that had come within a single step of joining the ranks of the evil gods—a terrifying monstrosity whose name was whispered only in nightmares: Glaaki, the Inhabitant of the Lake.
“Damn it, how can it be here?” Karl Jones's face looked even worse than Glaaki's skin. Casting aside his disguise, he shouted in a dry, raspy voice, “This is impossible! It lives in the Dreamlands year-round. Under normal circumstances, it shouldn't be able to appear in the mortal world!”
“With so many questions, are you planning to write a thesis and publish an academic report on it for the Archaeological Association?”
Seeing Glaaki fully surface, its bizarre body writhing in waves, Lynch did not bother with pleasantries and took a deep breath.
【Authority, Death, Ability, Death Extraction.】
The deathly aura filling the tomb surged into his body through every pore, then poured out from the tip of his index finger, condensing into a skull of thick mist. The dark-green skull grew increasingly solid, resembling the soul fire churning in the River Styx.
“No, this means its appearance is unnatural. It was lured out by someone, just like last night.”
Seeing the skull take shape, Karl Jones replied while his body shuddered. Several bizarre vines sprouted from within him, writhing violently behind his back. The grotesque and strange sight made it hard to tell who the real monster was.
Then why did Salin still die? Did he have an accomplice? Right, his behavior right before he died was like he had figured something out and was silenced.
Could the accomplice who lured Glaaki out still be among the four of us?
These thoughts flashed through Lynch's mind in a split second, leaving him no time to ponder further before a sudden divine sense forced its way into his mind.
“Sub... mit... and... be... gran... ted... e... ter... nal... life!”
Though there was no actual sound, it was deafeningly loud, filling the entire main tomb chamber with this eerie, silent voice.
As the divine sense entered his brain, it felt as if a ten-thousand-ton boulder was pressing down on his heart. The heavy pressure made his legs tremble, urging him to kneel and worship.
Submit? In your dreams.
I am protected by the neighbor, and I have already embarked on the path of immortality. A mere mysterious creature who doesn't even qualify as an evil god wants me to bow? You're not worthy.
His energy burned rapidly as the power of death continuously poured into his fingertip. A Death Coil, with a power far exceeding rank two, shot from his finger. The skull's mouth gaped wide, unleashing a piercing sonic assault as it screeched toward the writhing colossus in the pool.
Taste this.
Boom.
An invisible shockwave exploded across Glaaki's surface. The condensed power of death caused tangible arcs of electricity to crackle across the skull's surface. The black-mist-shrouded Death Coil slammed heavily into Glaaki, and in that instant, a screech that sounded as if it came from the Netherworld echoed through the main tomb chamber.
Yet in the next moment, Glaaki's rotting flesh-like surface rippled like water. The smoking skull held its ground against the monster's body for only a brief second before being sent whistling back by the tremors of the beast's skin.
“Watch out!”
With the mysterious creature taking higher priority, Rooney did not care about fighting cultists anymore and instinctively cried out. However, he immediately saw Lynch take a sudden step forward, meeting the sphere of light with his right hand. He grabbed the deflected Death Coil and forcefully shoved the sphere, crackling with black mist and electricity, straight into his own chest.
A massive surge of power welled up inside him, rapidly spreading through his limbs and bones. At this moment, Lynch felt as if he were omnipotent, as though a single punch could shatter mountains.
“Be careful, it is currently in the process of manifesting. Once it is complete, it will begin its attack. Fortunately, this is only an avatar, not its true body,” Rooney explained quickly, letting out a sigh of relief upon seeing Lynch handle it so well. “Unlike its true body, which has the strength of at least a legendary Soul Severer, this avatar only has the power of a rank seven.”
Karl Jones glanced back at the entrance. “That still isn't something the few of us can defeat. Should we retreat first?”
“We can't enter the main tomb chamber without defeating it, so retreating is pointless. And... damn it, it's starting!”
The massive, bloated body rapidly contracted inward before suddenly expanding outward. In an instant, the spikes on its body shot out in all directions. The entire main tomb chamber was filled with infinitely extending spikes, immediately filling the air with Glaaki's rancid, rotting stench.
Danger was everywhere; there was nowhere to hide.
Yet the four of them reacted simultaneously. Rooney instantly transformed into a mass of formless light, while Karl's body twisted and merged with the moss on the ground. As for the two ladies, two blazing humanoid flames appeared in the chamber. The dancing fire was similarly formless and intangible, allowing the spikes to pass right through them without causing the slightest harm.
Burn!
Two Flame Spirits materialized out of thin air, shrieking with glee as they lunged toward Glaaki. The other fiery figure grew even brighter as two fireballs split from his body, flying toward Glaaki in the pool alongside the Flame Spirits.
Hm? The pool?
A curtain of water shot into the air, meeting the scorching flames head-on. With a sharp, sizzling sound, the fireballs were completely extinguished, instantly filling the area with choking steam.
“Sub... mit... or... die!”
The cold divine sense echoed once more. Then, Glaaki's body expanded again, suddenly splitting open like a gaping mouth. A vast number of bizarre entities spewed from its open maw.
They were countless bizarre humanoids, their cracked skin resembling mummified corpses, yet they moved with high speed and agility. Hundreds of these humanoids dashed forward, rushing toward them, giving Lynch a massive sense of pressure that felt straight out of a World War Z scenario.
“They're servants of Glaaki! Why are there so many? I'll temporarily suppress them, you guys find a way!”
Rooney instantly reverted to human form. Leaving behind those words, he leaped into the air. Mid-jump, his body transformed back into a mass of light, which then erupted with an immense brilliance, illuminating the main tomb chamber as bright as day.
【Authority, Light, Ability, Daylight】
The surrounding servants of Glaaki let out piercing shrieks. Green smoke billowed from their bodies as they collapsed to the ground, writhing in agony. Within the range of the light, not a single one could stand back up.
It was an absolute, overwhelming counter to their weakness.
Seeing this, a thought suddenly struck Lynch, and he raised his voice. “Karl Jones, find a way to restrict Glaaki for a moment! I might be able to deal a heavy blow to it!”
“As you wish, beautiful lady.”
The voice seemed to come from nowhere. Immediately after, countless thick vines erupted from around the pool, rapidly wrapping around Glaaki's bloated body. Glaaki writhed, snapping a large number of vines, but new ones constantly wound themselves around it.
“Hurry, I can't hold it for long!”
“That is not something a man should say.”
With a flick of Lynch's wrist, the ancient parchment fell into his hand.
【Parchment of Max (3)】
Aunt Nyx bless me. Do you believe in light?
Rate on N.U.
