Through the occult knowledge obtained through touch, Griffith knew that the Lord's flesh and blood was rotting and withering, and the remains were radiating terrible evil every moment. After the corrupted spiritual energy merged with the creatures here, it corrupted them and gave birth to two mysterious existences.
One is the shadow monster.
Shadow monsters are rare shadow creatures that did not exist on this plane before they appeared, so they can attack regardless of most physical and magical defenses. They possess a powerful ability called "Nightmare Aura", and intelligent creatures who witness their existence will continuously lose their sanity.
When the sanity of intelligent creatures is reduced to a certain level, the shadow monster appears in an almost transparent, non-entity form. Shadow monsters in this form can freely pass through walls and barriers, making them nearly unstoppable. As the sanity of the witness continues to decrease, the shadow monster will become more and more visible, and eventually attack.
Generally speaking, shadow monsters are invisible to intelligent creatures with higher sanity and cannot interfere with each other. However, with the help of specific items, beings with higher sanity can also capture the traces of shadow monsters and destroy them.
Killing a shadow monster restores a small amount of sanity.
Griffith encountered this monster soon after he entered school. He lost a lot of sanity in the ruins of the Whispering Forest and was pursued by shadow monsters. If Galadia hadn't arrived in time, he would have been torn to pieces by countless shadow monsters.
The second being is the Shadow Hand. It appears in the form of a flat, thicknessless hand that can extinguish flames, and also possesses a nightmare aura that damages sanity. Shadowhands can sometimes be stomped and driven away by light, but they are attracted to creatures beneath the sanity and will soon reappear. Once the light is completely extinguished and night falls, the Hand of Shadow will become extremely terrifying.
The Shadow Hand is not an independent monster and cannot be destroyed. They are just tentacles of something far more terrifying.
Griffith felt the noisy whispers echoing in his ears, and the whole world seemed to dim. His vision became dim and blurred, and even dense black lines could be seen crawling at the edge of his vision.
Not only him, but all those who touched the Lord's rotten tentacles lost their minds. Everyone has more or less knowledge and realizes that something is wrong.
"Let's go back quickly!" Alandel shouted softly, grabbing Griffith and running back. The other two people pressed their foreheads in severe pain and followed closely.
…
The body of this palace of flesh and chitin has died, but the master's will seems to have been lost to the air, becoming an even more elusive and dangerous existence.
This fallen ruins radiate dangerous psychic energy all the time. As long as they stay here, humans will continue to lose their minds and be attacked by shadows. Eliminating the shadow monster can temporarily restore some sanity, but as sanity is lost, humans will eventually face the real terror.
When Griffith and others returned, they found that Professor Lafayette's situation looked even worse. Diaz, Miss Willow and others have escaped, and Miss Willow's mentality seems to have collapsed. She tore her hair and shouted crazily:
“Where is God!?
"Does God understand the human heart? Did He create us?"
"When we came here, we found this dead, smelly conch! Are you telling me that it is also a god?!"
With a shake of her hand, the wand burst into flames, setting the camp ablaze.
"No one said this dead conch is a god." Knight Patolion tried to comfort her while putting out the fire.
Miss Wendy braced herself and asked, "What did you find on the other side?"
I don’t know what others found just now. Miss Willow and Knight Milban seemed to have been poked into a painful spot, shouting chaotic words, completely on the verge of losing control.
"Broken, annihilated, hopeless rotten remains!"
"No, it shouldn't be like this. This is the temple where God descended into the world, the immortal existence. Why is it so ugly and blasphemous?"
"We need God's guidance. The trumpet of destruction has sounded. The ultimate darkness is about to come. We need salvation! But why is this god's legacy so blasphemous and filthy!"
Professor Lafayette seemed to be petrified, sitting by the campfire and staring at his notes, without turning a page for a while.
Naila stood aside and whispered to the professor.
"We have come to the place where prophecy guided us."
"But the clues didn't appear, and more than half of the members didn't know where they ended up," Professor Lafayette said in a low voice, "I paid such a high price, but I didn't know what I found. I lost my way when I was near the end. "
"Try again," Naila continued, his eyes staring at the remains of the master looming in the darkness, "let me try to activate..."
"No!" Professor Lafayette suddenly became energetic and interrupted Naira's speech. "We have too little information, and it will be very dangerous to act rashly. I can't use the entire Metini investigation team, no, I can't use it." This is a gamble on the future of humanity.”
What are they talking about... Griffith was curious when he suddenly saw Diaz's momentum becoming more impressive.
The extraordinary demon hunter held a flaming spear in his hand, and his slightly narrowed eyes turned with murderous intent: "Nara, that's enough. This is not your personal investigation. Obey our constraints, otherwise I will punish you in the name of my lord."
Sanctions? Can you punish the hand of God? Don't you know how powerful he is! Griffiths who was listening was shocked. However, he soon discovered that almost all Odessa investigators unanimously supported Professor Lafayette's decision.
Naila did not protest, nor did he use his power of "nostalgia turns into sorrow". He just lowered his head and said respectfully:
"Yes, Professor, I obey."
…
Just like that, the Odessa investigators neither evacuated nor continued their exploration. They looked depressed and moved slowly, working slowly in place, or wandering around, as if they were spending their last time in useless waste.
Griffith was still confused, but he had determined that he could not stay here any longer. Just when he was about to take Alandel and escape quietly, Naila suddenly found him again, and also pulled the unconscious Neferti.
"What do you think?" Naila asked calmly, her rationality not seeming to be affected at all.
Griffith shook his head: "I think this is a dangerous place. The other half of the investigators and the ancient unknown creature should not just disappear without a trace. In any case, it is unwise to continue to stay here."
"Who says it's not~" Naila nodded and smiled, then pointed to her sister, "Please help me take her with me."
Griffith's expression changed slightly: "What are you going to do?"
Naila pushed Neferti and asked her to come to Alandel: "Have you ever heard a story——
"There is a group of poor people imprisoned in a cave. They have been here since they were born. They are bound by chains and cannot look back. They can only look at the shadow on the rock wall in front of them.
"These men are prisoners in a cave. Behind them there is a fire and a path to the outside.
"People outside the cave walked between the fire and the prisoners carrying various utensils, and the firelight cast all kinds of strange shadows on the cave wall in front of the prisoners.
"These trapped prisoners couldn't see the identity of the people and equipment behind them, so they thought the twisted shadows on the rock wall were real things in the world, and they gave the shaking shadows many names. The shadows on the wall were very long and very Large and so different from humans, the prisoners worshiped these magical shadows as gods.
"Suddenly one day, a prisoner accidentally broke away from his shackles and turned around. He saw the fire behind him and people walking around carrying equipment. The scene in front of him subverted his understanding of the world. It was strange and suspicious, and made him feel uncomfortable. He couldn't believe these were real things.
"He even tried to find his reflection in the water to find his familiar feeling. Later, slowly, he began to accept this normal world, and even came outside the cave to see the outside world. Since then, he began to sympathize with those who still Imprisoned prisoners.
"He went back into the cave and tried to free the prisoners. However, everyone felt that the outside world had evaporated his sanity and that he was crazy. He could not convince the prisoners to leave with him, and the prisoners did not feel that he was helping. "
When Naila said this, she stopped and looked into Griffith's eyes: "What do you think this miserable person should do?"
Griffith shook his head, not wanting to answer the question.
Naila didn’t force it, raised her finger to point out the way, and then said to the three of them:
"The old gods are dead."
