Currently, he had collected three of the Bronze City's key fragments, with the remaining two scattered inside the copper pillars deeper down.
The direction pointed to by those two threads in his consciousness was in a much, much deeper place.
Relying on himself alone, it would be absolutely impossible to collect them all. Now that Kraus wanted to head down, he did not even need to look for an excuse, nor did he have to expose his objective.
Of course, Lu Yuan also had a slight suspicion in his heart. The piece of flesh down below might harbor an extreme hatred for the Bronze City's key fragments.
If he showed even the slightest intention of gathering the fragments, some special individuals might very well show up at his doorstep on some random night.
Just as everyone was preparing to move forward, a faint chill suddenly seeped from Lu Yuan's left leg, feeling like cold air seeping out from the gaps between his bones.
That spot was exactly where the Suspended Drowner was.
The Suspended Drowner seemed to have sensed something again, but this time, it did not release any malice; instead, it felt like a warning, or perhaps a sense of confusion.
Lu Yuan could faintly perceive its emotions.
At the same time, a faint, ephemeral force emanated from the Suspended Drowner, pulling Lu Yuan downward as if responding to something deeper within.
Lu Yuan's brow furrowed slightly as he mentally nudged the Authority in his left eye.
In the next instant, the chill in his left leg instantly receded, shrinking back.
He made no sound, his face remaining completely expressionless.
Up ahead, Kraus had already raised his bone sword and slashed down at the swarming ghouls.
“Let's go. Press deeper.”
The moment Kraus's voice fell, the Blue Knight had already charged out.
Her rapier unsheathed, pale blue threads surged from the gaps in her armor, enveloping her entire body. With every step she took, her aura grew stronger. In the next instant, she transformed into a blue blur, slamming into the densest cluster of greater ghouls at the very front.
Sword light flashed repeatedly, severing seven or eight greater ghouls at the waist. The severed bodies instantly disintegrated into tiny fragments, splattering in all directions and slamming against the passage walls.
Margaret followed closely behind. With a water film swirling around her entire body, she pulverized the head of a lunging greater ghoul with a single punch, then grabbed its body to use as a weapon, swinging it to send the nearby greater ghouls flying in droves.
The two of them tore open a gap at the very front.
The Blue Knight's rapier was exceptionally powerful, and her physical combat skills were superb. Faint red patterns flowed across the blade; each slash was clean and precise, devoid of any wasted force. Though the mutated carapaces reinforced by the pollution had hardened, they still could not withstand more than two strikes from her.
Margaret was even more straightforward. Her water control ability perfectly blocked the splattering pollution from within the greater ghouls, leaving her free to dispatch them with one punch after another, leaving a trail of destruction wherever she went.
Though the two of them were not the strongest in the team, this raw, straightforward style of combat actually worked best against these highly polluted creatures. The pollution could not touch them in the slightest, so it naturally posed no threat to them.
Kraus and the Great Ascendant brought up the rear.
Kraus held his bone sword horizontally before him. Dark green crystals sprouted from the blade from time to time, freezing the pursuing greater ghouls into green crystalline blocks before shattering them. Beams of light continuously erupted from the Great Ascendant's chest, piercing through the approaching ghouls one after another.
The attendant's purple light net covered both flanks of the team, blocking the ghouls rushing out from the side openings.
Adrian and Lu Yuan followed beside the attendant. Holy light continuously poured from Adrian's tome; though its coverage was not wide, it was just enough to envelop the entire team.
Lu Yuan only needed to keep up. He knew his strength was absolutely the lowest among this group, so his priority was simply not to cause any trouble.
Up ahead, the Blue Knight and Margaret cleared the way at a rapid pace. Greater ghouls fell in heaps within the passage, their shattered flesh and carapaces littering the ground and crunching beneath their boots.
Before long, Kraus raised his hand.
The bone ring on his ring finger glowed with an extremely faint green light. His gaze fell to his feet; in the crevices of the dirt floor, a faint green line of light snaked downward, pointing deeper into the passage.
“Follow this light,” Kraus said without offering further explanation.
Changing direction, the Blue Knight cleaved through several greater ghouls crowding out from a fork on the right and slipped inside.
The team turned into the narrow path.
The passage suddenly narrowed, and the air grew slightly heavier.
The deeper they went, the more Lu Yuan felt something was amiss. The entire environment was changing. With every step they took, the oppressive feeling in his heart intensified.
The heartbeat that had previously echoed faintly from an unknown distance was now far clearer. Thump after heavy thump, it vibrated so intensely that even the stone slabs beneath their feet trembled slightly. With every beat, Lu Yuan felt the blood in his chest being tugged along.
The pollution grew heavier as well, and the grey-white text in his vision flickered even more frequently than before.
【Environmental Perception: Pollution concentration rising...】
Adrian's holy light stabilized the surrounding air, its golden radiance forcibly suppressing the nearby pollution. The old bishop's lips moved constantly as he chanted prayers without pause; the golden light spreading from him carried a hint of warmth, dispersing the unease in everyone's hearts.
Up ahead, a slight turbidity appeared on the outer layer of Margaret's water film, a sign that the pollution was corroding the water she controlled. With a wave of her hand, she flung the turbid water away, and a new water film instantly condensed around her.
The deeper they went, the tighter the two thin threads in Lu Yuan's consciousness stretched.
The position of the fourth fragment was much clearer now, but it was still extremely deep, located even further down and at a great distance. The fifth fragment, however, remained blurry; he could feel its existence, but he could not pin down its direction. Perhaps he would only be able to locate it after obtaining the fourth fragment.
At the same time, there was movement in Lu Yuan's left leg once more.
The Suspended Drowner experienced a wave of tension, pulling its black aura back to the absolute minimum. As Lu Yuan focused his mind to sense it, he touched upon a feeling of pure terror; it seemed to be afraid of whatever lay below.
If even a mass of resentment like the Suspended Drowner felt fear, Lu Yuan's heart sank even deeper. It seemed they were getting closer to that forbidden existence.
The passage turned several more corners, and greater ghouls were now barely visible.
This abnormal silence only made everyone's nerves tighten. At this depth and level of pollution, the fact that not even greater ghouls showed their faces could only mean that whatever lurked ahead was far more formidable than them.
Kraus walked at the rear of the team, the green light on his bone ring flashing continuously. The line of light extended forward along the floor of the passage, turning into an even narrower downward path.
The walls of the passage had changed, as Lu Yuan noticed.
The surrounding dirt and stone had vanished, replaced by a layer of pale red flesh-membrane spread along the passage. Its surface undulated slightly, with something seemingly pulsing slowly beneath.
The flesh-membrane was covered with short root-like growths, each writhing gently, with tiny sets of teeth nestled between them, opening and closing.
Deeper down, semi-formed ghouls began to appear on the tubular walls. Half of their bodies were embedded in the fleshy walls, with only their upper halves exposed, their limbs fused to the flesh so that it was impossible to tell whether they were growing or being devoured. The exposed portions writhed slightly, their mouths slightly agape, emitting faint, high-pitched hisses.
The passage grew narrower and narrower; a width that once accommodated four or five people walking abreast now only allowed one person to squeeze through sideways.
The Blue Knight came to a halt.
“It is completely blocked,” she said, looking back at Kraus.
The passage ahead was sealed tight by fleshy walls. Roots and teeth were layered over one another, interlocking and completely blocking the path downward.
Lu Yuan focused his gaze on the wall of flesh, and the grey-white text emerged, appearing in fragments.
【Special Existence Detected (Periphery)】
【A scrap polluted by a forbidden existence; it seems to have developed a weak consciousness of its own.】
A scrap with a bit of its own consciousness. Lu Yuan understood the situation; it posed little threat and simply needed to be smashed open.
Everyone's gaze fell on Kraus. Kraus scanned the wall of flesh and nodded.
Margaret did not wait for another signal. Water condensed around her fist, enveloping her entire arm in a pale blue mist. Stepping forward, she slammed her fist right into the center of the fleshy wall.
Thud.
The dull sound of striking flesh echoed through the passage. A large portion of the fleshy wall caved in, sending roots and teeth flying in all directions as sticky fluid splattered across the ground.
Margaret's expression remained unchanged as she delivered another punch.
This punch was even fiercer. The fleshy wall split down the middle, exposing layers of fleshy fibers within. Rows of teeth on the severed edges snapped frantically, trying to pull the rift back together.
Adrian's holy light gathered from behind, pouring golden radiance into the rift. The scavenger fungus on the surface of the fleshy wall sizzled and emitted scorched smoke. Though the holy light burned intensely, the layer of scavenger fungus covering the wall acted as a protective barrier for this mutated passage; no matter how fiercely the holy light burned, it was a mere drop in the bucket.
The effect was not very noticeable.
In the end, it was the Blue Knight who stepped forward.
With her rapier in hand and pale blue threads wrapping around her entire body, she squeezed sideways into the rift Margaret had smashed open, moving swiftly through the gaps in the fleshy wall. Sword light flashed repeatedly within the flesh, each strike precisely severing the fibers trying to close. She carved incredibly fast, slashing left and right in the cramped space, carving out a passage two to three people wide from the center of the fleshy wall.
Margaret followed behind to deliver follow-up punches, smashing the flesh sliced open by the Blue Knight to either side. One slicing and the other smashing, the two of them worked in tandem to forge a path through this wall of flesh.
The semi-formed ghouls embedded in the walls were severed from their connection to the flesh, falling to the ground where they twitched and struggled. The attendant's purple light swept from behind, shredding those still moving into pieces.
This passage was extraordinarily long, and they had no idea how long they had been carving through it. Even Adrian's holy light had dimmed considerably; the old bishop's face was pale, and the speed of his prayers had visibly slowed.
When Margaret's final punch landed, her fist finally broke through the fleshy wall.
The other side of her fist was empty space.
A strong, pungent stench surged from the hole, so thick it choked them, carrying an indescribable odor of rot. At the same time, the heartbeat that had been faint and distant suddenly grew intense, pounding heavily as if vibrating right next to their ears.
A new line of grey-white text suddenly flashed before Lu Yuan.
【Environmental Perception: High-risk pollution source detected... Please be careful.】
The moment the Blue Knight sliced through the final layer of the fleshy wall, everyone looked forward in unison.
Below lay a pitch-black, bottomless void. At the edges of the passage, several bronze pillars could be seen crisscrossing, showing only a fraction of their shafts before plunging into the depths of the channel below.
Clearly, they were nearing the core of the Bronze Sin.
But that was not the key point. The key was that within the darkness, everyone could see a massive silhouette slowly rising and falling.
They had discovered it.
And it had discovered them as well.
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