Chapter 168: The Residual Will

Chapter 168: The Residual Will

The interior of the forest, which should have been dim and decayed, was filled with orange-red light from the twilight. Where it was dense, it burned like fire, yet inevitably carried the feeling of splendor reaching its end, of something irreversible.

Derrick Berg held the Unshadowed Crucifix, which had condensed into pure light, and walked slowly at the very front. To his left and slightly behind him was the gray-haired Demon Hunter Colin Iliad, holding two straight swords. To his right and slightly behind him was Haim, carrying the massive hammer Thunder God’s Roar. This “half-giant” over two meters tall was ready at any moment to exchange the sealed artifact he controlled with Derrick.

The radiance emitted by the Unshadowed Crucifix grew increasingly dim here, like the sun already sinking to the horizon with only a streak of golden afterglow remaining.

Of course, none of the City of Silver’s people had ever seen such a scene. They could only imagine it through descriptions in ancient texts. Likewise, this was also their first time witnessing what “twilight” meant.

Wooo!

As the exploration team went deeper, wind began to howl in the Decaying Forest, which had been so quiet it had nearly solidified. It sounded like countless living beings weeping in the depths.

Yet Derrick and the others did not feel the wind blowing across them at all.

Wooo!

The sound of the wind became fiercer and fiercer, shaking their hearts more and more. Suddenly, Derrick felt an icy chill on the back of his neck. It made his hairs rise and his body and mind turn cold.

Under ordinary circumstances, human instinct at such a moment would be to shrink the neck, raise the arm, block behind oneself, and half-turn the body to observe the situation while preparing an attack. But Derrick did not do so. In a dangerous environment, recklessly turning one’s head often led to terrifying things. Moreover, behind him were the Chief and his teammates. He fully trusted that they would respond in time, entrusting his life into their hands.

With a swoosh, a silver-white blade wrapped in tiny electric snakes flew past the side of Derrick’s neck, evaporating a blurred, distorted figure within the light of twilight.

At the same time, as though stimulated by something, the Unshadowed Crucifix abruptly broke free from its dim, dusky state, causing the light it emitted to become bright and pure again.

The surrounding area instantly entered dawn. Black shadows impossible to describe in shape emerged one after another within the morning glow, then quickly dissolved.

After everything settled, Derrick stared ahead and asked in confusion, “What are these? They don’t seem like resentful spirits, shadows, or evil spirits…”

Demon Hunter Colin looked around once and slowly said, “Some kind of residual aura… It seems to have combined with the power of twilight and undergone a certain mutation.”

A monster I’ve never seen before… Derrick tightened his grip around the Unshadowed Crucifix and moved another unpierced finger to the thorns.

Relying on the Unshadowed Crucifix’s targeted abilities, the exploration team’s advance went relatively smoothly. Before long, they arrived in the depths of the Decaying Forest and could faintly see, through the trees, the cliff and the orange-red clouds in the distance.

This area was not too badly damaged. Branches and leaves connected in midair, blocking the frozen twilight and making the environment dark all at once.

After carefully circling around this place, Derrick’s vision suddenly brightened, and he saw two upright, gray-white, mottled stone steles.

Before he had time to observe them closely, the rays of twilight shining in through gaps in the branches and leaves simultaneously underwent strange refraction. They interwove, condensing into an enormous figure nearly ten meters tall.

The figure was extremely blurry and carried an air of immutable antiquity, as though it were a projection cast from the age of myths.

Its skin was gray-blue. It wore silver-gray armor stained with blood-like patches. Upon its face was a mass of light like the setting sun, seemingly the manifestation of an eye. Its mere existence caused the surrounding trees and even the void to bend, making all things uncontrollably begin to decline.

Upon witnessing this scene, without any reason, a thought surfaced in the hearts of everyone present:

“Giant King, the ancient god Aumir!”

Joshua, Haim, Antilna, and the other exploration team members developed goosebumps one after another. Gray-blue gradually seeped through their skin, and flesh began wriggling at their foreheads, as if some monster were about to drill out.

They simultaneously entered a state close to losing control.

They had not even seen a mythical creature form. Merely approaching that figure had caused them to display signs of losing control, and those signs were growing more severe.

Derrick Berg fared comparatively better, because the pure light of the Unshadowed Crucifix enveloped him, bringing warmth and allowing him to briefly resist the erosion of decay.

At that moment, Colin Iliad had already bent his back, holding two straight swords coated with medicinal paste, and was charging toward that terrifying figure at a speed that raised a hurricane.

However, this Demon Hunter did not advance in a straight line. His footwork was peculiar, driving his body to sway left and right as he approached the enemy in a wavering, wave-like path.

The enormous figure standing within the twilight watched everything with its eyes like a setting sun. It showed not the slightest emotional fluctuation, like a statue carved from stone.

Suddenly, the mass of light on its face flickered.

It immediately crouched, slamming both fists heavily into the ground.

Bang!

The earth shook violently and split open, causing Derrick and the others to completely lose their balance. They staggered and nearly fell.

Yet Demon Hunter Colin had leaped first. He sprang more than ten meters into the air and, with the advantage of height, chopped down with the two swords in his hands.

At the same time, the figure, as if from myth and legend, pulled a colossal illusory sword condensed from twilight light out of the cracked earth and swung it fiercely forward.

An orange-red storm of light suddenly took shape and swept toward Derrick and the others behind Demon Hunter Colin.

Wherever that vast light passed, trees withered, soil turned into sand, and everything irreversibly stepped onto the road of decay.

Bang!

The storm brewed by twilight was blocked by an invisible wall, making the entire forest shake.

At some unknown point, the Shepherd elder Lovia had appeared beside Derrick. In front of her stood a tall illusory figure covered in silver armor.

This figure, whose gaze was dark red like blood, knelt on one knee and had planted an illusory greatsword into the ground, creating an extraordinarily solid invisible wall.

Clang!

At that moment, Demon Hunter Colin’s two straight swords struck the surface of the nearly ten-meter-tall enormous figure, which carried the aura of an ancient god, and unleashed countless arcs of wild lightning.

Amid the darting silver-white light, the terrifying figure suffered no injury. Only the silver-gray armor covered in blood-like patches dimmed slightly.

Using the rebound force, Colin sprang upward once more, flipping in midair before launching another attack.

Within the domain of decay, he did not dare release his mythical creature form, because doing so might very well become irreversible.

Seeing that the illusory figure from myth and legend had been blocked, Derrick hurriedly followed the sudden vibration and heat from the Unshadowed Crucifix in his palm, pressing his finger hard against one thorn.

His blood flowed into the cross along with the pain. A surging, pure light immediately burst forth, flying into midair, bending downward, and instantly enveloping the figure in silver-gray armor whose eyes were like tiny setting suns.

Within that sacred, solemn, pure radiance, the enormous illusory figure stopped. It froze, motionless, as if it had encountered its natural nemesis. The silver-gray armor stained by twilight light even began to show signs of melting.

Seizing the opportunity, the evil-spirit knight before the Shepherd elder Lovia pulled the illusory greatsword from the ground and, amid silver cracks that appeared and disappeared intermittently, slashed instantly onto the enemy.

Demon Hunter Colin’s two straight swords descended from above like a rising sun bursting with light, covering the ancient figure’s head.

Joshua, Haim, and the others did not hesitate. Each launched their strongest attacks.

After three consecutive rounds, the illusory figure that seemed to have crossed through time and space finally began to collapse, breaking apart into orange-red specks like burning embers.

Demon Hunter Colin landed on the ground. Looking at the scene, he considered his words and said, “It should be the Giant King’s residual guarding will, fused with this environment over many years and thereby gaining a certain power and form. It belongs to a kind of evil spirit.

“What secret is hidden here…?”

Hearing the Chief’s words, everyone turned their gazes forward, toward the place that terrifying phantom had just been guarding. The atmosphere became heavy and solemn for a moment.

Thank goodness it was merely an evil spirit, restrained by the Unshadowed Crucifix… Just a remnant of will, almost devoid of power, separated by thousands of years, and it is still this terrifying. What must a true ancient god have been like… Uh, why did He possess such a powerful will to protect this place? Because the ones buried here were His parents? Derrick sighed in relief while carrying doubt and curiosity, following the Chief and the others toward the two gravestones.

Whew… I didn’t need to intervene after all… I have to say, this Unshadowed Crucifix is far too useful in the Giant King’s Court. Useful enough that I’m beginning to suspect whether this was Adam’s purpose… Above the gray fog, Klein also sighed in relief and lowered the raised Sea God Scepter a little.

He then turned his gaze toward the place the Giant King’s will had continued guarding even after thousands of years.

First to enter his eyes were two mottled, ancient gravestones. Written upon them in Giant language were the words “Father” and “Mother.”

They contained a mystery capable of mobilizing the forces of nature. The moment one saw them, one could intuitively experience an emotion blending attachment, sorrow, pain, and guilt. Without realizing it, one would become infected and sink into low spirits.

Behind the gravestones was a tomb, but it had already been destroyed, revealing two dark coffins underneath.

The coffin lids had been opened by someone unknown, as if they had been checking something. As a result, the two gray-white skeletons lying inside were bathed in light that pierced through the branches and leaves, staining them with an orange-red color like blood.

Both sets of bones were human-shaped. One was no taller than 1.9 meters, and the other no taller than 1.8 meters.