The black mud swallowed the two of them, and the guardian who self-destructed on the spot was reshaped in the black mud, and the reshaped body was once again covered in filth.
Relying on this "self-destruction-rebirth" mechanism, he can not only remove the "balance" effect exerted by Iluna, but even remove the body that was just purified.
However, the crazy guardian who reshaped his body did not attack the two people who fell in the black mud, nor did he even look at them. Including the two eyes on his head, all the eyes on the guardian's body were closed.
The feet slowly left the ground under their feet, keeping their hands clasped together and flying towards the sky above the magma lake:
"it's time."
As he ascended into the air, the black sludge that originally flowed toward the magma also flew toward the top of the underground space bit by bit.
Finally, the guardian's body, together with most of the black mud, entered the high rock formations and headed towards the ground. Shade and Iluna, who had just faced the self-destruction of the spirit body, struggled to crawl out of the black mud.
come out.
"Ahem, in the heart of the earth, even if Iluna and I can beat him together, we can't subdue him."
Shade coughed while covering his chest and stood up on the ground. His whole body was entangled with the guardian just now, so his reaction was half a beat slower than Iluna's. He was almost completely faced with the power of the spirit's self-destruction. But fortunately, the other party's
Self-destruction was not considered very powerful, it was just a way to escape. In other words, the guardians did not want to kill them at all, so Shade was not seriously injured.
As for the black mud on the ground, because of [Night Watch]'s effect of isolating evil and filth, it actually didn't stick to him much.
Looking at Iluna again, the girl with long brown hair was also standing up in the mud, holding on to the ground, but her movements were extremely stiff. When Shade stepped on the hot mud on the ground to help her, she had not even finished standing up.
Actions.
Looking carefully, Shade observed that there were large areas of petrified traces on Iluna's body, which almost covered her whole body.
"Oh, this is terrible."
The seventeen-year-old girl said weakly. Even though she still held the fragment of the ancient Heart of the Earth in her hand, when the crazy guardian blew himself up and faced the filth that was almost the root of the earth, her body was still unavoidable.
Contaminated by the distortion of the earth.
They didn't lose to the guardians, they lost to this twisted land.
"It's okay, I carry the Holy Grail with me!"
Shade hurriedly rummaged through his pockets to find the Holy Grails that had been turned into toys by a huge amount of spirits. Because he gave Miss Sylvia two Holy Grails half an hour ago, he only had the last three in his hand, but fortunately there were still enough.
He used it, and Shade always carried the ingredients for making the elixir.
He hurriedly wanted to make it, but was stopped by Iluna's trembling hands.
Shade was sitting on the hot ground, holding Iluna, who was covered in black mud, in his arms. The seventeen-year-old girl said in a weak voice:
"No need, I heard the old priest in the church said that the pollution near the heart of the earth is the root cause. And after all, your Holy Grail is not the real Holy Grail that was used to worship the ancient gods in the ancient era."
Shade himself has extremely high resistance to petrification because he has absorbed [Weeping Angel], and he has been exposed to these filths many times and has the ability to resist, but Iluna is not at all:
"You don't have to worry about me. I have the talent of being chosen and I will be fine for a while."
She looked at Shade and her voice became weaker and weaker:
"Go after the Guardian. He has left the Heart of the Earth now. According to the church's estimation, he should be acting as the agent of the Crazy Earth to pollute more land. Go and stop him. I'll be fine."
"What a stupid thing to say."
Shade reached out and lifted the brown hair covering her eyebrows, and then took the ancient fragment of the Heart of the Earth in her hand:
"Even if the magic medicine doesn't work, we still have this."
"No. If you consume this stone now, how are you going to purify the guardian? Do you really want to watch Siris Lassus die?"
Iluna's eyes gradually became tired, but she still looked at Shade firmly:
"Shad Hamilton, you know what to do."
"I'm not used to you calling me by my real name."
Shade frowned slightly, put down the long sword, and showed her another item:
"How do you think I stepped into the heart of the earth?"
The silver cube reflecting the firelight, after Shade entered the heart of the earth, finally revealed the sixth chapter of the story, which is also the deepest secret of the Randall Valley:
【Guardian of the Earth——
At the beginning of the Sixth Era, in order to cope with the coming crisis, the earth spirits of Randall Valley chose noble souls to protect the earth. Since then, this responsibility has been passed down among mortals, and generations of sacrifices have passed on the great responsibility. Deep underground
, near the Heart of the Earth, the guardians maintain the stability of the Heart of the Earth. But when the Heart of the Earth becomes completely distorted and filthy, the guardians will also go crazy. The two coexist, and noble souls will also fall due to despair. This is
An irreversible tragedy.]
The Invisible Church, St. Perry's Cemetery, the Chamber of the Masons, the Randall Valley Gold Mine, the Randall Valley Earthquake of 1695, the Guardian of the Earth. When Shade traveled through the land of the Randall Valley, he learned of those long-ago
The stories and legends circulated, and the moment he finally arrived at the heart of the earth, he finally completed the mission he had been exposed to since he first came to this city.
The small mithril cube emitted light, and the inscriptions of six ancient stories engraved on its six sides resonated with a golden miraculous aura. After waiting for a moment, a palm-sized stone floated out of the golden light. It was already familiar.
Iluna, who has mastered the power of the earth, knew what this was at a glance:
"Fragments of the Heart of the Earth?"
The size of this fragment is far larger than the two stones in the hands of Shad and Iluna, but slightly smaller than the gift that Fiona left to Shad in the fifth era.
Shade put away the mithril cube and reached out to hold the stone:
"So everything makes sense, why the great earthquake in 1695 was caused by this Mithril Cube, and why the guardians seemed completely unprepared for their own madness."
"Because they already knew what was in the cube?"
Iluna said weakly, and Shade nodded:
"To be precise, it was after Mr. Thomas Granger discovered it under the family's old cemetery that the guardians became aware of its existence and speculated that it might play a role in their own madness. This cube is
The collection found in the family of the Granger who caused the earthquake is a preparation left by Granger in an unknown era for future generations."
He looked at the two stones in his hand, and finally pressed the larger one on Iluna's petrified chest and clothing:
"Feel the power of the earth, Iluna."
Shad said:
"Try to absorb this stone. Theoretically, anyone can absorb the power of the fragment of the Heart of the Earth, because we all live in this earth and are nurtured and grown by the earth."
He hugged the seventeen-year-old girl and let her lean on his chest. Iluna could hardly speak at this time. She whispered "um" and closed her tired eyes slightly, but she tried to open them again.
By Shad:
"You know how precious this thing is, you definitely want it."
"Iluna, do you really want to say this now? After absorbing the power of this stone, you will be completely unafraid of the dirt of the earth. We still have many battles to fight in the future, and this power is very important to you.
"
So Iluna stopped talking, closed her eyes and leaned in Shade's arms. But Shade knew that she had not lost consciousness, because the black stone he held against Iluna's chest was slowly releasing golden light.
The miraculous aura floated to the petrified skin, and then seemed to light up Iluna directly. When Shade felt the stone in his hand turn into powder little by little, it seemed that the original light dimmed behind the sleeping Iluna.
The dark golden scales glowed again, then turned into life rings and floated behind the two of them.
The miracle element seemed to want to inscribe new spiritual runes, but in the end it failed to achieve its goal. As for Iluna, who fell into a semi-conscious state, the traces of petrification on her body were gradually lifted, and Shade was also very happy to feel that her heart was very heavy.
A powerful beating feeling.
[Think carefully about what you feel.]
"She" suddenly reminded Shade in his ear. Shade was stunned for a moment, then his face turned red and he was about to take back his hand. Unexpectedly, Iluna, who opened her eyes, held his wrist and let him hold it.
The last remnants of the stone were stuck to her chest.
The fragments of the Heart of the Earth disappeared bit by bit until the power was completely absorbed by Iluna. Even the balanced chosen one could not completely digest this ancient and huge power for a while. Although Shade has not tried to absorb it,
But based on "her" description and his own perception, he knew what the stone represented.
【Do you regret it? I gave up my power to her.】
"She" whispered in Shade's ear, and Shade glanced at the position of his right hand and asked "softly" in his heart:
"Isn't Iluna's power my power?"
"She" smiled softly.
At this time, Shade could clearly feel that Iluna's heart was beating extremely powerfully, and "powerful" did not refer to sound.
When an ordinary person's heart beats, it vibrates their own body and then vibrates the air. However, Iluna's beating heart directly vibrates her soul, causing vibrations in the spirit and the earth.
This means that Iluna has not fully digested these powers, and the power of the Heart of the Earth is temporarily entrenched in her heart. When Iluna can fully digest these powers, she will probably be able to obtain the Miracle Spirit Rune.
[Not only that, her heart has also been strengthened. 】
"She" added softly.
"Heart of Stone"
Iluna whispered softly. This phrase really frightened Shade. But then, he understood that Iluna's Heart of Stone was not the same as Haila Oxenfurt's Heart of Stone. The latter was the real thing.
A heart of stone, while Iluna only has the power of stone and earth in her heart.
"How do you feel now?"
He calmly took out his hand, and Iluna opened her eyes and looked at him blankly:
"Just now, I felt like I had become this land. I saw many, many stories of what happened to this land in the past, and also the stories that may happen in the future."
