Chapter 2391: Sand Sea Worm

Chapter 2391: Chapter 2391: Sand Sea Worm

The firelight continued to squirm bit by bit under the moonlight, until Old Lady Sianod suddenly spoke:

"We’re almost there."

Their steps unconsciously quickened a little. As the moonlight grew brighter, even from far away Shard could already see that colossal worm lying in the Sand Sea.

From a distance, it rose like a towering dune. Coming closer, one could see that more than half of the sand worm’s body was already buried beneath the sand.

Shard wasn’t sure whether this thing was truly dead, but it looked remarkably similar to the Calamity Card: Sand Worm, the apocalypse monster formed from Professor Drake’s corpse sealed within.

Even though the thing lay completely still now, the sheer size of that worm’s body made people instinctively feel fear. As the group drew nearer in heavy silence, Shard saw the foremost part of the giant worm’s body—a huge, pale head shaped like that of a Giant, just as he’d expected.

The jaw of that head was buried in gravel that shimmered with silver glimmer, and in its wide-open mouth sat a stone gate that fit perfectly to its lips, as if the gate were forcibly prying the mouth open. Thankfully, the two eyes on that death-ridden head were closed; if those eyes were open, even knowing the thing was dead, Shard would never have approached.

The sight of the massive worm clearly stunned the others as well, but under Shard’s lead they still slowly advanced until they came right up to the worm’s head.

Miss Nate and Miss Sander didn’t dare lift their heads to look at it at all. Shard, too, tried his best not to look directly at that head and instead simply pressed his hand against its cold, pale face.

[Dead.]

"She" gave a very clear result from her probing, and only then did Shard finally relax.

He fished out a handful of gold rings and a Golden Crown from the supplies he carried—precious metals Old Lady Sianod’s people had found in the Ruins—and tossed them onto the ground. With a soft whoosh, flames flared up, and in the next moment a roaring campfire lit up a warm, cozy campsite.

Perhaps because Shard was using a large quantity of Precious Metal this time, the quality of the campsite was quite high. The blazing campfire provided warmth to everyone in the frigid night; five soft little pads were laid out around the fire, and farther out stood two single tents pegged into the sandy ground.

A ring of stout, not very tall wooden stakes circled the campsite. Two ropes ran around the stakes, one high and one low, leaving only a gap for the entrance and exit, marking out the boundary of their little camp.

Somewhat exhausted, the group tacitly each found a place to rest. Even in Armor, Miss Nate sat down with ease. She removed her helmet, revealing a somewhat pale face under the strange moonlight.

Even as an ordinary person, surviving so many events in this desert without dying meant her resistance to this abnormal light was now roughly on par with that of an average Circle Sorcerer. The five of them sat around the fire, the crackling Flame stretching their shadows in five different directions.

Mia must have sensed the Brightness, for she poked her head out between Shard’s buttons again. The fluffy cat head appearing at Shard’s chest looked a bit comical, but this time Shard did not push her back in.

After resting for a short while, Shard, pressed for Time, was the first to brace himself against the sand and stand up:

"I don’t know how much longer the Darkness will last. Let’s move quickly. You stay here and rest—I’ll go try to open the gate first."

Old Lady Sianod nodded slightly to Shard. Miss Mister only smiled; Miss Nate and the Mermaid Girl were still recovering their strength.

The camp Shard had set up lay right in front of the head, at the edge of the Shadow cast by the enormous head under the Moonlight, so it took only a few steps for him to reach the gate. The twisted, abnormal mental interference emanating from the worm’s corpse even made Shard feel a little dizzy.

He confirmed that the patterns on the ancient stone gate roughly matched Miss Sander’s description, then took out the prepared keys for opening it.

"Earth—little statue Vanessa gave me."

The cat-shaped clay statue had barely appeared when it immediately drew Mia’s displeased meow. But before she could reach out a paw, Shard pressed the little statue against the gate.

The clay figurine was silently "devoured" by the stone gate, and a quarter of the strange patterns on the gate lit up.

"Moon—Flawless Moonstone. Brightness—damaged Ancient God Holy Emblem."

The next two items were also swallowed by the gate without surprise, and thus three-quarters of the patterns on the gate lit up, leaving only the object symbolizing the Sun.

Shard had originally prepared to use Mia, but seeing that the gate was actually devouring the Symbol, he no longer dared to send Mia over:

"What if the gate swallows Mia too?"

But now that things had come this far, Shard couldn’t simply abandon the task. He lowered his head and glanced at the cat:

"If I pluck a few hairs off you, Mia, would you object?"

As he spoke he was already reaching out, and as if it understood Shard’s words, the cat immediately began to struggle, clearly not very willing to contribute its beautiful fur.

This time it really did seem somewhat angry; it even spat a few tiny, not very threatening sparks of flame at Shard, and then those sparks were casually slapped aside by him.

The sparks drifted on the austere night wind toward the stone gate set in the great head’s mouth; when they touched the surface of the gate, they were absorbed just like the three Symbols had been just now.

Thus, all the patterns on the gate lit up with Brightness, temporarily interrupting Shard and Mia’s "roughhousing."

Man and cat turned their heads to look; in the ever-brightening Glimmer, the stone gate slowly Ascended, as if being drawn up into the flesh of the giant skull’s upper palate. And on another long, narrow Stele rising from below, graceful carved lines emerged:

[In the year 358 of the Fifth Era, the second Witch of the Earth of this Era Sealed the desert Worm here.]

[After the Sealing is opened, the Sealing may be reactivated by activating the Stele. Do not enter or exit the Worm’s body without necessity.]

[This dangerous creature is not recorded in existing materials; wherever it travels, all is Transformed into irreversibly desertified terrain. After joining forces with colleagues to slay it, its abdomen still contained an unmanageable source of pollution. To prevent leakage, a special Sealing was performed.]

[Beyond the gate lies a forbidden dangerous area. If, centuries hence, its polluting effect weakens, one may attempt to enter and destroy the source of pollution. If no Witch of the Earth in office accompanies you, do not undertake this dangerous action. Should entry be forced due to circumstance, at least five people must go together.]

Below was recorded a ritual requiring five people to perform together, to briefly isolate the strange influences inside the Worm’s body.

The Grand Witch who lived in the early Fifth Era did not leave her specific Name, but she was without doubt a Demigod. Merely the characters she had carved into the Stele, seemingly with a Sword or blade, still made Shard—who was equally proficient in swordsmanship—feel as if his skin were being pricked by a Sword tip.

He tried reaching out to touch the Stele, but unfortunately did not receive any prompt about "obtaining Witch Echo."

Stuffing Mia back into his chest, Shard finally looked at the scene beyond the Stele. That was the interior of the gigantic Worm Corpse, but it looked more like the mouth of some cavern. The pitch?black passage revealed nothing, and Shard also did not sense any particularly strong corrupting Power.

He tried stepping around the Stele and taking a step inside; after feeling it out, he retreated again:

"Its Power is very similar to that Worm I saw at the Apocalypse, but not exactly the same. At least here at the entrance, the influence is not great. Could it be that the Corpse’s Power really has been worn away by the passage of Time over hundreds of years, or that the Sun’s Abnormal Light has dissolved its inherent ability?"

He did not attempt to go deeper into the Worm alone, but returned once more to the camp outside the gate. His companions had already seen that the gate was successfully opened, and Shard explained the contents of the Stele to them:

"I suspect that when the Witch of the Earth fought this Worm back then, the Compass Fragments she carried on her were swallowed into its belly. Of course, there are other possibilities. But as things stand, we’ll have to go into this Worm’s stomach and take a look no matter what."

"The Stele says five people must go together?"

Miss Sander asked hesitantly:

"We do indeed have five people, but Miss Nate..."

"The ritual is simple. Of the five, only three actually need to maintain the ritual; the other two are just there to complete the two remaining points of the Pentagram’s Symbol. In fact, four people would work as well, but then the fourth would have to bear much more pressure."

"I’ll go with you."

Holding her helmet, Miss Nate volunteered, and everyone had already guessed she would make that choice, so Shard pointed to Old Lady Sianod and Miss Mister:

"Then we three will maintain the ritual. Miss Sander, you and Miss Nate just follow along with us. If we really can’t hold out, we’ll back out again. It’s a pity that the Sealing has only opened a single entrance, and we can’t break through the Worm’s outer hide, otherwise entering directly from the Worm’s tail might be more convenient."

"We don’t understand the Sealing of Ancient Witches, so let’s stick to the proper procedure. Then let’s set out now, and not waste Time."

The rested Old Elf said to the people by the fire:

"This ritual needs five people, and we just happen to have five. I never believe there are coincidences in this World, and this really is the end of the journey. No matter how many of us can bring the ’Heart of the Oasis’ out in the end, this is our Fate. So, whatever happens later, remember that getting the ’Heart of the Oasis’ out is the most important thing."

"Grandma, don’t say that."

The sentimental Mermaid Girl spoke; she understood that Old Lady Sianod meant there might be Sacrifice.

The Old Elf shook her head, and together they all rose from the fire and headed toward the gaping "Giant" head.