RNP Chapter 619 The Unkillable Living Being
Chapter 619 The Unkillable Living Being
Chapter 619 The Unkillable Living Being
Outside the window, the gray-green rain continued to fall slowly, making a chilling "plop" sound.
Inside the room, everyone's expressions were very solemn.
"Are our men unharmed?" Tang Zijun's voice was low and deep. He asked directly, referring to the city defense troops and reconnaissance sentries who were at the forefront, facing the forest's strange changes.
These people are the eyes and first line of defense of Black City; their safety is of paramount importance.
Tang Cao met Tang Zijun's gaze. "There have been no casualties so far."
This answer eased Tang Zijun's tension slightly, but Tang Cao's next words immediately made him frown again.
"Those newly appeared monsters," Tangcao's tone turned serious, filled with intense confusion. "They're acting very strangely; their aggression seems to have been intentionally reduced."
She walked to the window and pointed in the direction of the Ghost Mist Forest, although the thick stone walls and the gray-green rain curtain blocked her view.
"They lingered in the thick fog at the edge of the forest. Although they were terrifying in appearance and roared constantly, they did not charge at our outposts like the previous mutated creatures that had lost their minds."
"Our outposts, relying on the terrain and simple fortifications, and equipped with tempered weapons, can temporarily withstand their sporadic attacks, but strangely, they seem more like they are 'testing the waters,' or... 'waiting'?"
Tang Cao turned around and looked at Tang Zijun. "They just cowered there. In the forest, I always felt there was some conspiracy, like they were brewing something, or waiting for some opportunity."
"Moreover, the fog in the forest has changed. It is thicker and heavier than ever before, carrying a strong aura of mental pollution. When the scouts tried to get close, they felt dizzy after just inhaling a wisp of it. It was as if countless whispers were roaring in their ears, and they saw distorted hallucinations, but I don't seem to have noticed anything."
"With the protection of the Rainbow Crystal Flower, you naturally won't be affected." Little White tilted its head.
Tangcao continued, "The fog is too thick, so we can only stay at the outpost for now and rely on the watchtower to continuously monitor the movement at the edge of the forest."
Tang Zijun's fingers tapped unconsciously on the armrest, her eyes deep and unfathomable.
"Hiding in the forest...waiting for the right moment...the increased mental pollution from the dense fog..."
"Actively contracting, reducing unnecessary consumption, utilizing the dense fog barrier... This sounds..." Tang Zijun raised an eyebrow, glancing in Scáthach's direction. "...More like an organized tactical maneuver."
Scáthach gently swirled the wine in her glass; she knew perfectly well what Tang Zijun's words meant.
This means that the unknown "awakened one" or "descendant" deep within the Ghost Mist Forest not only possesses terrifying power but also considerable intelligence, and can even command these twisted monsters to carry out tactical actions.
This is a hundred times more terrifying than a group of monsters that only know how to charge wildly.
"What are they waiting for?" Qin Nan couldn't help but whisper, voicing everyone's question. "Waiting for the rain to get heavier? Waiting for the pollution to get worse? Or... waiting for 'that thing' in the forest to completely complete some kind of ritual?"
Tan Zhixin spoke softly, her voice tinged with worry. "That intensifying fog and mental pollution are probably more than just a barrier; they're more like an incubator, or an amplifier... nourishing something deep within the forest while preventing us from peeking in."
The forest is dormant, transforming, and gestating unknown terrors. The calamity caused by the fallen god seems to be providing nourishment and cover for this transformation. The soldiers on the front lines are temporarily safe, but this eerie calm is more suffocating than the fierce battle.
"Grélando".
"exist."
"The outpost must remain on high alert and in a defensive posture. No one may launch an attack without my order, let alone venture into the dense fog. Reinforce the outpost with additional personnel to ensure the observation array continues to operate. I need to know every abnormal change at the edge of the forest."
"Yes."
"In addition, inform Terella to allocate a batch of the highest-level mind protection amulets and purification potions, prioritizing supply to the outposts and the troops responsible for the city's defense in the forest direction, so that the alchemists in the city can be prepared to deal with any possible large-scale mental shocks."
"clear."
Grelando accepted the order, then immediately put down her cup and beckoned Desque to get up quickly, blending into the tense atmosphere outside as a storm brewed.
The two figures disappeared outside the door, and the room was once again divided by the warm light of the fireplace and the coldness of the rain outside the window. Tang Zijun's gaze slowly moved to the deepest shadowy corner of the room, where Scáthach stood like an ancient rock, her dark purple eyes flowing quietly in the shadows.
"Scáthach, is there any chance that this thick fog shrouding the forest, and this foul rain, will be dispelled?"
The Ghost Mist Forest is both a barrier and a threat, but now this strengthened and polluted fog has become a breeding ground for monsters, hindering exploration, while the polluted rain falling from the sky is an all-pervasive source of poison.
Scáthach leaned forward slightly from the shadows. "...You don't seem to fully understand their nature yet."
Her tone was calm.
"This is neither ordinary water vapor condensation nor ordinary energy miasma. The corrosion you feel, the abnormality that Ms. Tan sensed, and the proliferation that Ms. Xiao discovered are all superficial phenomena."
"This fog, this rain... they are 'alive.'"
"They are a living pollution, a mixture of divine abominations and ancient filth, tainted, distorted, and ultimately activated by the profane essence of 'the fallen god of nature, the corrupted and disintegrated divinity,' and 'the creatures of worm-like pleasure.'"
"Imagine crushing the rotting corpse of a god, twisting its remaining divine laws into blasphemous curses, and then infusing it with the hatred and twisted desires of the Old Ones for the essence of life. Ultimately, this broth, a mixture of death, decay, curses, and blasphemy, acquires a chaotic, proliferative, plague-like activity."
"They are not ordinary fog that can be blown away by the wind, nor ordinary rain that can be evaporated by the sun," Scáthach said calmly. "They are living cancers, spreading corruption."
"Their purpose is to erode and pollute all ordered life and matter they come into contact with, dragging them into that eternal, writhing chaos filled with blasphemous pleasure. What drives them is the distorted desire of this writhing pleasure towards life itself, and the blasphemous, painful laws left behind by fallen gods."
"Since it's 'alive'..." Tang Zijun frowned deeply. "Then... can we... kill it?"
Upon hearing this, a very faint, peculiar chuckle seemed to come from beneath Scáthach's bangs, as if it were both approval and a sigh.
"Heh, a very good angle, Tang Zijun. You always manage to find the most direct, and also the most dangerous, path in dire situations."
Her deep purple gaze fell upon Tang Zijun as if it were a tangible object.
"Killing 'living' things is theoretically possible, but the problem is..."
Where does this vitality come from?
She didn't need Tang Zijun to answer; she gave the answer herself.
;
"A god who came from the dead."
"A dead being, whose decaying corpse and the resulting filth gain life, becoming a constantly multiplying, eroding 'living pollution'... This in itself is a paradox, an extreme form of blasphemy."
"How do you kill something whose very life is built upon death? Its very existence negates the meaning of death."
"It's like a flame, yet not fire. If you try to extinguish it like you would a flame, it might spread even faster, like grease. It's like a plague, yet not a bacterium. If you try to eliminate it like you would a bacterium, it might split into more. Its activity is distorted, a deformed product of the union of the will of the ancient rulers and the remnants of fallen gods. What is conventional killing might just be... a catalyst for splitting or transformation."
At this point, Scáthach slightly raised her glass, took a sip, and continued.
"To truly kill" it... perhaps what's needed is no longer the power of destruction, but the power to resolve its paradoxical root, to purify the desecrated remains of that fallen god, and to sever the will of the "creeping pleasure-seeker."
Tangcao blinked and guessed, "So that means as long as we can find a way to get rid of that wriggling pleasure thing, we can counteract this active contamination?"
"But none of us know where that thing is right now. Even if we want to take it down, we should at least know its location, right?" Qin Nan looked at Tang Zijun.
Tang Zijun frowned. They couldn't proceed to the next step because they didn't know where the crawling pleasure creature was.
However, he already had some guesses. If the other party wanted to break the seal, it would need enough believers to perform a ritual for it. And as it stands, there are obviously no believers in Black City. So the only possibility is that "Qin Nan, while I'm gone, I'll trouble you and Heli to keep an eye on the movements on the front lines of the river region."
Tang Zijun turned to look at the girl beside her and said softly.
"I'm afraid what's happening over there is more than just a noble power grab."