Wandering Child was stupefied immediately.
Under the hollow eye sockets’ stare, an indescribable, deep, and chilling fear overwhelmed him.
He suddenly felt that his back seemed to be itchy.
It was an itch, like having a wound healed.
It was like the bones had sprouted and were slowly growing.
“Elle” touched it lightly. She vaguely felt that there were some protrusions on her originally smooth back. Her spine seemed to be squirming and chafing as they sharpened.
Wandering Child was attentive and gently stroked his spine. He couldn’t stop himself stroking. At the same time, he felt that his elbows and knees were beginning to become a little itchy as if something was about to break out of his body.
“What’s wrong, Elle?”
At this moment, Amos asked again with some concerns.
Wandering Child was surprised.
He returned to reality at once.
He recovered, only to find that Amos’s face was as usual.
His face didn’t turn into a skeleton. It was the same as before. No white bones were piercing out from the skin on the back of the neck. The skin was smooth and even without wounds.
As if everything just now was just an illusion.
“No, I’m fine.”
Elle responded softly and began to change clothes.
She put on those three heavy cashmere dresses.
Amos felt that her gaze was a little creepy, but he didn’t continue to pursue it, just scratched his face again and turned back.
But that is definitely not an illusion. Wandering Child was confident.
Not only because he still felt the itch deep in his body.
The rowdy bullet text that flashed in front of him also confirmed this in the first time moment:
“Fuck, I’m scared to death!”
“It’s the ghost father.”
“Motherfucker, this terrifies me.”
“Be content. At least the face is clean and free of maggots.”
Just by looking at this chaotic bullet text, Wandering Child could be sure that the horrible scene was not his illusion.
So what is going on?
Wandering Child subconsciously opened the attribute panel.
Then he froze for a moment.
[Health: 95%]
[Erosion rate: 5%]
Wait, 5%?
Wasn’t it 2% previously?
Obviously, it will only increase by 2% once I die. But the erosion rate has just increased by 3%.
Bullet text also saw this line of numbers:
“Is this sanity drop?”
“No, it should be a supernatural vision.”
“This seems to be more severe than the dying punishment!”
“Wait, will the erosion rate continue to increase? This is just preparation for the ritual, right?”
It turns out that there are ways of increasing the erosion rate directly in the nightmare. Annan frowned slightly.
Annan checked on himself immediately and confirmed that his erosion rate did not rise after seeing this scene through the live broadcast. He then breathed a sigh of relief.
“Is that the Venerated Skeleton?” Annan muttered.
But, it doesn’t look like it.
According to the books, the Venerated Skeleton was a giant skeleton of two and a half meters tall:
“He should be wearing a ducal blue and white fur robe. It was said to be unicorn hair. He wore a sacred copper-nickel crown on his head and a golden mask akin to a human face. He had heavy steel boots with dragonhide gloves on each hand. The Venerated Skeleton was covered under clothing entirely. The standing collar of the robe would cover up even the back of the neck.
“The Venerated Skeleton is mainly identified by height, followed by his appearance. There are only bones underneath his clothes, so he must look skinny. The Venerated Skeleton is the ancient giant’s deity. The height of modern giants is generally four meters. Only ancient giants had short statures of less than three meters but more than two meters.
“Remember, when looking directly at the Venerated Skeleton, do not use any ability that helps in perceiving the essence. The ducal outfit he wears is a kind of protection for others. If one sees any bone of the Venerated Skeleton, they will be continuously eroded by the curse. At the same time, ‘Ossification’ will occur. Each bone will reject the body’s will. They will actively swallow all flesh and blood around to grow frantically.”
The Ossification recorded in the book was somewhat similar to the situation of Wandering Child just now. The situation of increasing the erosion rate also coincided with it.
Annan remembered that the bones at the neck of “Elle” did start to become a bit sharp and protruding at the moment that illusion appeared.
But it was not quite right.
If it was the Venerated Skeleton, then “Elle” should not be alive at all.
It appeared that the brutal nightmare gave more than death threats. Even if you are in a dream, but you see something you shouldn’t see, the erosion rate will still increase.
It related to why someone would go crazy after entering the nightmare when only a small amount of erosion rate was increased after the death in the nightmare.
This should indeed be a silver level nightmare.
Annan was in doubt why the nightmare was so simple.
Although it was only a level of “gallery,” it was the lowest difficulty of the silver level. But now, as long as the challenger failed to complete the portrait at the beginning, the difficulty would immediately rise to the silver level.
So, what is the mechanism that triggers this?
Is it painting? Basement? Ritual? Or Amos’ mood? Annan pondered on it.
“It’s all ready, Elle.”
Finally, Amos breathed a sigh of relief.
Elle, on the other hand, had already changed her clothes.
She wore a three-layer cashmere dress. She now bloated like a zongzi [1]. It was hard to move, let alone fighting. She felt a little breathless.
But, Wandering Child was relieved a lot.
Judging from this situation, at least there is no need to be ‘stung.’
This is great.
Amos approached Elle and comforted her quietly,
“Don’t be afraid. It won’t hurt. It’s just a simple ritual. Fortunately, it’s June, so it won’t be too troublesome.”
“Yes, father.”
Elle paused and said softly.
Seeing that there was no fear or even curiosity on her face, Amos smiled with satisfaction.
Under Elle’s gaze, Amos respectfully lit three thick candles, placed in the direction of 1 o’clock, 2 o’clock, and 4 o’clock of the bone bed.
Then, Amos motioned Elle to climb onto the bed from the 3 o’clock direction.
Amos proceeded to take out a protractor, three black male sheep horns, three black male goat horns, and three pairs of cow horns. He put them on both sides of the three candles, forming three inward angles of 120 degrees, engulfing Elle at the same time.
At the moment when the three angles were formed, the candle trembled at the same time.
The warm orange glow suddenly turned into ice blue.
Wandering Child suddenly felt a strange cold fall on him.
It was as if his whole body was immersed in ice water. His body couldn’t feel the slightest heat, but he wouldn’t be trembling hard.
Instead, Wandering Child found it quiet and peaceful. He didn’t want to move at all and then slowly closed his eyes.
At the last moment, he tried to open his eyes.
But, he saw the flesh on Amos’s face falling one by one. Amos’s body began to decay, and his bones remained.
Wandering Child vaguely heard that Amos was chanting something in a low volume, but his consciousness was fading. His body seemed to be held down by something, and his limbs went immobile.
After that, Wandering Child lost consciousness altogether.
When he woke up again, he found himself still lying on the bone bed. Those three candles had utterly burned out.
Not only that, but Elle’s weak body suddenly became strong.
Even more powerful than his body outside the dungeon instance.
It was as if he could jump to the ceiling without exerting much strength.
There was only one difference.
Wandering Child felt some discomfort in his left eye.
He reached out and touched it subconsciously.
But, he only touched something cold as if it had been dead for a long time-the eye socket of the corpse.