After giving this brief instruction, she suddenly raised her hand and pointed her palm at a certain position at the back of the team.
"Please, Holy White Gate, grant us the chill of winter..."
The slightly pale lips moved slightly, and he muttered something, then he clenched his five fingers tightly, as if trying to grab something in mid-air.
“Snap!”
A slight shattering sound came from the space where her palm was pointing.
Immediately, a large area of fine, translucent lines suddenly burst out from there, expanding radially in all directions with a certain point as the center, as if the condensation process of snowflakes and ice crystals was accelerated countless times.
"Snap! Snap! Snap! ..."
There were more than one such "snowflakes". The moment she clenched her palms, continuous shattering sounds came from that area, and each snowflake pierced a space with a radius of at least two or three meters.
In an instant, dozens of huge, rapidly expanding "snowflakes" almost completely covered the space within a radius of dozens of meters.
The street leading to the square behind the team suddenly turned white, and all you could see were white, translucent crystalline masses.
“Did you catch it…?”
Hill watched with trepidation, his eyes fixed on the paleness that covered an area of dozens of meters not far away. All his inspiration was focused on it, trying to find any clues of the "breeze" just now from the messy witchcraft spiritual fluctuations.
In terms of comprehensive perception of inspiration alone, she is of course far inferior to Ottilia, who is her own "requiem master", but she noticed the abnormality earlier than Ottilia.
The reason is... although Hill's inspiration is not that sharp, but because the spiritual power system she practices is "Mage", she will naturally be more sensitive to spiritual fluctuations of the same origin or similar nature.
Yes... that strange and terrifying "breeze"... carries some spiritual power that is very close to "magic"...
"What on earth is going on with this relic... Why is there a force from the 'outside world'?!
"Could it be that the former residents here...had some connection with the 'outside world'?
"Or is it that the 'magician' system bestowed upon me by the 'True Creator' is not completely unrelated to this land, but is affected to a certain extent...?"
Hill was puzzled. At this moment, the "snowflakes" piled up in the air suddenly shrank and faded. In the blink of an eye, they all disappeared, revealing the ruins of the dilapidated streets that had not changed at all.
"solved."
Otilia put down her arms, and after a few seconds of silence, she spoke slowly, her voice as cold and clear as ever, without the slightest change:
"Some special spirit, not a ghost, but it cannot be ruled out that it is affected by the Rust Plague."
“Could it be an automatic defense measure left behind by the original inhabitants of this ruin?”
The air froze strangely for a while before someone spoke in a heavy voice:
"The people of the city disappeared in an unknown disaster, but the products they created still faithfully but rigidly play their original role."
"possible."
Otilia nodded slightly without comment, then said calmly:
"Note the coordinates here and leave them for the follow-up reinforcement troops to handle."
She did not let the team go deep into the tunnel because the previous accident showed that there was indeed a considerable degree of danger inside.
They are just a vanguard investigation team, and their primary purpose is to "confirm the situation" rather than "eliminate the threat." If they encounter real danger, they don't necessarily have to eliminate it.
"Yes, Lady Otilia."
The team members had no objections and nodded in agreement. The person in charge of recording began to briefly but honestly repeat everything that had just happened in his notes.
Hill immediately put aside the distracting thoughts in his mind, lowered his head and marked the location of this place on the simple map he had drawn in his hand, and handed it over to the main force after returning.
“Uh uh…ah…”
Just as everyone was about to leave, they all suddenly heard faint moans coming from below them...
"This direction is..."
Hill realized something, swallowed, took a few seconds to prepare himself mentally, then turned his neck with difficulty and looked towards the source of the sound.
On the land stained with ominous colors such as deep red, yellow-green, purple and black, a head that was twisted beyond human shape was shaking slightly and alone.
The two bloodshot eyeballs bulged outward, as if they would be squeezed out of the eye sockets in the next second, and the facial muscles were so distorted that it was impossible to recognize their original appearance.
This was the civilian member who was first attacked by the "Breeze". Most of his body was mixed with the soil and bricks.
However, his head, the only part that could be considered intact... was still wriggling and shaking, and his purple-black lips were obviously trembling, uttering incoherent syllables.
"He...he's still alive?!"
Everyone was shocked, but soon felt a deep sadness.
Becoming such a miserable person...I think death is a mercy to him.
“Cough… cough cough… ugh… uh…”
The head made a hoarse and rough sound. It was not the voice of a human, nor was it the sound that any ordinary creature should have. It was more like the cry of a building's supporting structure when it was overwhelmed.
"I'll...give you freedom..."
After a few seconds of silence, a warrior holding a long sword took the initiative to walk up to him, his face showing deep helplessness. He raised the weapon in his hand, pointed the tip at his crown, and stabbed it hard -
"Puch!"
The sharp blade pierced through the head, bones and flesh, crushed the brain, crushed the spine, and pierced into the land that was a fusion of flesh, blood, bones and internal organs.
"……What?!"
Then the soldier was stunned.
Chapter 372 Collapse and Fall
The skull was pierced, the brain was crushed, and the spine was turned into powder.
Anyone would be killed instantly with such an injury.
However... the red and purple head on the ground was still shaking and roaring, and the amplitude was rising sharply. The roar, almost like the howl of a wild beast, came from the mouth and nose that was gushing out dirty blood, which made people feel cold.
"He's still...alive?!"
The soldier was stunned and stood there at a loss. It was obvious that his actions had caused the poor guy to suffer even more, but he had no way to end this meaningless suffering.
"Step aside."
Otilia glanced at the warrior, who drew his sword blankly and took a few steps back.
The figure in the grey robe and silver-grey hair had the same expression, and his blue, melancholy eyes showed no pity or loss.
His indifferent gaze gently swept over the head that was twisting wildly on the ground, with large chunks of flesh, blood, brain matter, and spinal cord scattered all over the ground.
“Snap!”
With a slight cracking sound, pure white "snowflakes" suddenly burst out, and the spreading crystalline filaments completely buried the sad and miserable head.
"Crash..."
After solidifying for a few seconds, the fluffy white ball suddenly collapsed, rapidly melting and evaporating into the air.
And beneath it, the restless and struggling head was no longer moving. It had shriveled and decayed into a black pool, losing all breath.
"Walk."
Withdrawing his gaze, the senior deacon uttered a word coldly, then walked around the entrance of the secret passage on the ground without looking back, crossed the square and walked deeper into the city ruins.
The team members had no time to be sad about the death of their companions. After simply adjusting their formation, they continued to follow Ottilia.
"May the great 'Pure White Gate' bring your soul to rest in peace..."
Hill couldn't bear to look away from the red and black ground. He silently pointed four times in front of him, outlining a neat rectangle, and prayed sincerely in his heart.
“Knock, knock, knock…”
The dull sound of hard-soled boots stepping on stone bricks sounded heavy and messy in the empty square.
Led by Otilia, the group crossed the square whose purpose was not yet clear and headed towards the densely packed buildings opposite.
“Long…”
But when they were almost in the center of the circular plaza, a slight but high-frequency vibration suddenly came from under their feet, accompanied by a rough and harsh friction and bending sound like a turning stone mill.
"earthquake?"
Hill and the others stopped and felt the vibration coming from the soles of their feet in confusion. An ominous premonition quietly emerged:
"No...Is it because some kind of mechanism in this city has been triggered?"
If the strange "breeze" before was part of the city's former defense measures, then it is not impossible that we destroyed it and triggered a higher-level mechanism... right?
"Boom, boom, boom!!!"
This thought had just popped into my head when a deep and loud noise erupted from below!
This earth-shaking sound did not come from a certain point, but the entire ground, at least the entire square, emitted almost the same muffled sound at the same time.
It was as if this square...had turned into a huge eardrum at this moment, vibrating under the beating of some invisible force!
"Come closer!"
Otilia immediately squatted down and slapped the ground with one hand.
At the moment when the palm of his hand collided with the floor tile, a dazzling white light emerged, outlining a circular plane pattern composed of countless complex runes and graphics, which quickly spread across the ground:
“It’s going to collapse——”
“Bang bang bang bang bang!!!—”
Before she could finish her words, the deafening sound of hard objects breaking and disintegrating drowned out all other sounds.
The ground of the circular plaza collapsed in an instant, splitting into huge pieces of rock that fell straight into the ground!
As the bricks and stones on the ground decomposed, a huge and regular round hole... suddenly appeared on the ruins!
It turned out that the entire square was the entrance to a larger "passage". After the concealed floor collapsed, a circular hole with a diameter of several hundred meters was revealed.
It goes vertically downwards, with no end in sight. No one knows where it leads to, or how deep or far it is.
Everything on the ground was in free fall, including the floor tiles, plants, buildings, and even the team members. All of them were suspended in the air, losing support, and fell down together with the crumbling floor tiles, and were completely swallowed up by the darkness deep in the pit.
Except Ottilia and the pale shape spreading out from her palm!
The circular formation composed of a huge number of complex lines and runes seemed to be unaffected by gravity. When all the tiles fell to the ground, it did not move at all. As a result, a "platform" emitting a pale light was formed above the huge hole.
Due to the existence of this "platform", many team members rushed up in time before stepping into the air and avoided falling into the unknown dark abyss.
"not good……"
When Hill heard Ottilia's cry, he immediately ran towards her as fast as he could.
But maybe it was because Hill was standing a little far away from Otilia, or maybe her physical fitness was not as strong as everyone else...
“…Ah!”
Even though she used all her strength, she still failed to reach the pale round platform before her feet stepped on empty air.
"Hill!"
Some team members on the platform wanted to pull her up, but the distance between Hill and the edge of the platform was far beyond the reach of their arms, and they ended up failing to grab her.
So, she could only watch as everything around her suddenly rose up, getting faster and faster, and becoming more and more blurry.
The light in the field of vision, which was not very strong to begin with, was quickly consumed by the thick darkness.
……
…………
……
Falling, falling...
Falling, falling...
Hill only felt that everything within his sight was falling.
Including myself.
When she barely came to her senses from the initial panic and panic, she had no idea how much time had passed, or how far she had fallen in this bottomless dark cave.
The light coming from the cave entrance has now been diluted by the surrounding darkness and is barely noticeable.
She could only vaguely see a lot of irregularly shaped brick and stone fragments within a radius of ten meters around her, falling deeper at a similar speed as herself. In her eyes, it seemed as if they were "floating" beside her, motionless.
If the cold wind from the bottom up had not been still blowing wildly at her cheeks and clothes, she would have even suspected that she was not falling, but floating quietly in the dark void.
