CA - Chapter 248
Chapter 248
Erin had always known her luck wasn't great, but she never imagined it could be this bad.
After emerging from the teleportation array, she looked at the sky, thick with black clouds and flashing with lightning, then at the muddy, damp ground covered in a thick layer of rot. In an instant, she realized this was not the Statu continent she was familiar with.
The fierce wind felt like it was laced with sharp blades of ice, bringing a piercing pain as it scraped against her body and face. Erin wrapped her black robe tighter, her frail body swaying precariously in the cold wind.
Behind her was a river so black its bottom was invisible. Despite the gale, its surface remained stubbornly ripple-free. Erin silently took a few steps forward, away from the strange river. Although... she looked up at the menacing and gloomy cave ahead and sniffled pitifully. This cave in front of her looked just as strange.
A bone staff appeared silently in Erin's hand. The temperature was so cold that her hand, gripping the staff, was trembling slightly. Erin bit her lip, raised the staff, and tapped it in front of her. A white skeleton emerged from the ground.
Erin commanded the skeleton to pick her up, then ordered it to enter the cave.
She couldn't tell what era she was in, nor did she know if Tang Qiu and the others had been teleported here with her. Erin had no time to ponder such complex questions; her brain felt frozen. Right now, all she wanted was to find a warm place to thaw out.
Although the cave was strange and gloomy, it at least blocked the cold wind. Erin pulled her hands out from her black robe and rubbed her stiff face. After a moment's respite, she began to survey her unfamiliar surroundings.
From the outside, the cave entrance seemed narrow, but the interior was surprisingly spacious. The fierce wind, now blocked, howled outside like an enraged beast. Erin raised her hands to cover her ears, trying hard to observe her surroundings in the darkness, when a speck of green light caught her eye.
She instinctively turned to look. The green light flickered like a firefly. Though its glow was faint, it was trying its best to dispel the darkness. Erin was startled at first, then curious. She gestured for the skeleton to approach the green light, wanting to see if they were indeed fireflies.
As Erin drew closer, more and more green lights appeared in the darkness. The gloom was partially dispelled, clearing her vision. When she saw the source of the green lights, her expression froze, and her voice changed pitch. "...Back, back, back! Get out of here, quickly!"
With a trembling hand, Erin slapped the skeleton's head. The skeleton turned and ran out of the cave with Erin in its arms. Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to shake violently. The cave walls trembled and then, without warning, began to move.
Erin mustered the courage to glance back. The green lights rushed toward her—pairs of green pupils scrutinizing her carefully, a strange light flickering within them.
A scream tore through the dark sky, and the wind howled even more fiercely. The "cave" suddenly stood up from the ground. Its body, dozens of meters tall, nearly blotted out the sky. It flexed its stiff arms and bent down slightly, searching for Erin.
Thanks to its numerous eyes, it quickly found Erin hiding behind a tree. The monster stretched out a long arm to grab her, but halfway there, it was knocked aside by a dark green demonic dragon. The demonic dragon had appeared out of thin air, its tail, covered in sharp scales, lashing viciously at the monster and sending it flying over ten meters away.
The monster roared in fury, waving its arms in front of it as it began to fight the demonic dragon.
Both were enormous. As they fought, the ground trembled ceaselessly, and lightning flashed in the sky above. The demonic dragon's long, thick tail seemed to whip a crack into the very sky.
Erin clung to the skeleton's arm to steady herself, staring blankly at the terrifying scene. She muttered to herself, "What in the world is this place..."
It seemed even more terrifying than the Blood Domain.
The two behemoths fought with earth-shattering force, turning dozens of li around them into ruins. While they were distracted, Erin commanded the skeleton beneath her to sneak away, wanting to escape this dangerous place as quickly as possible.
Although this place was dangerous, the dark aura was surprisingly dense. Not only was it twice as effective for Erin to use dark magic, but even the skeleton she summoned was much stronger than before.
Under the gloomy sky, it was impossible to feel the passage of time. The skeleton carried Erin for who knows how long before they finally left the battlefield of the demonic dragon and the monster. Having learned her lesson from the monster-cave, Erin stayed far away from any caves or strange mountains, directing the skeleton to wander aimlessly through the boundless wasteland.
Erin sat comfortably on the skeleton, her heavy cloak pulled up past her chin to block the cold wind, leaving only her gray eyes to scan her surroundings warily. This place was simply too vast. She had been traveling for days without encountering a single human, though she had run into plenty of demonic creatures.
Moreover... Erin thought of the E Leaves that had nearly filled her Space Gem, and her expression grew a little strange. She suspected this place might be the legendary Dark World.
Only the Dark World would have so many E Leaves, as well as all sorts of unknown demonic creatures.
"The Dark World..." Erin looked up at the gloomy sky in a daze, her face full of worry. If this really was the Dark World, how was she supposed to leave?
If only Tang Qiu were here, Erin sighed deeply. Just as she was lost in thought, a small black bundle fell from the sky and landed in her lap. Startled, Erin quickly looked down and met the eyes of a small demonic dragon, only a dozen or so centimeters long.
The little demonic dragon stood on Erin's lap, tilting its head back to look at her with innocent green eyes. Its two negligibly small wings fluttered, and it opened its mouth to let out a series of faint cries.
As if sensing its master's tension, the skeleton stopped walking. Its head swiveled around to look down at the little demonic dragon, and a bone-white hand reached out to grab it.
The little demonic dragon hopped to dodge the skeleton's hand. As if frightened, it leaped directly onto Erin's shoulder, then burrowed into her hood, hiding itself completely.
Erin: "..."
The skeleton tilted its head and reached for Erin's head, but she slapped its hand away. Erin took off her cloak, pulled out the hiding demonic dragon, and studied it for a moment before frowning. "A demonic creature's young?"
The little demonic dragon trembled in her grasp. Its tiny tail curled a few times in the air before wrapping around Erin's finger.
It rubbed against Erin ingratiatingly, its green eyes pure and innocent, making it impossible for Erin to associate it with the demonic dragon that had been fighting the monster.
Sure enough, no matter how ferocious and terrifying a demonic creature was, it was always cute as a cub. It reminded her of Little Fur Ball. Erin stroked her chin. Seeing the little demonic dragon shivering as if from the cold, she placed it on her cloak and wrapped it up, murmuring to herself, "Seeing as you're so pitiful, I'll take you in for now."
Although she was pretty miserable herself... Erin's spirits sank as she thought about her own situation. She rubbed her face, trying to cheer herself up.
She hadn't slept properly for several days. Erin was holding the little demonic dragon, wondering if she should find a seemingly safe place to rest, when the skeleton beneath her suddenly stumbled, nearly throwing her to the ground.
Without warning, the ground began to tremble violently. Cracks spread across the earth like a spiderweb, widening into bottomless abysses. A huge vortex suddenly appeared in the sky overhead, with bright light shining through from the other side, bringing light to this dim world for the first time.
The demonic creatures of the Dark World grew restless. Several black shadows flew out from all directions, heading toward the vortex.
Erin stared at the vortex in astonishment, not yet understanding what was happening. The skeleton beneath her suddenly missed its footing and fell into an abyss. A sense of weightlessness hit her, and before she even had time to chant a spell, she was swallowed by the darkness. Her consciousness faded, and she passed out during the fall.
The little demonic dragon flew out of the cloak. It glanced up at the massive vortex in the sky, its trembling demeanor from before completely gone. Its green eyes flickered a few times, its body suddenly elongated, and it flew down to catch Erin, carrying her up into the sky.
The demonic dragon circled the vortex a few times with Erin in its grasp, as if considering whether to enter. But before it could decide, it caught a glimpse of several somewhat familiar figures rushing out of the vortex.
The demonic dragon paused, glanced down at Erin in its claws, and a cloud of black mist suddenly appeared, enveloping her. It looked at the gray figure in the center of the group, a flash of contempt in its green eyes. It then turned and carried Erin swiftly away from the vortex, disappearing in an instant.
After Wolf Fang, Rona, and the others entered the Dark World, their first priority was to search for Erin's aura to pinpoint her location. But surprisingly, Erin's aura was gone.
Rona froze for a moment, saying in disbelief, "That's impossible..." Just a moment ago, outside, she had clearly sensed Erin's aura within the Dark World.
She glanced cautiously at Wolf Fang. "Boss, did you sense Erin..."
Wolf Fang shook her head, her expression blank. Her gray eyes looked somewhat dim as she said coldly, "...Search."
She refused to believe Erin could have vanished into thin air.
The demonic dragon brought Erin to an open wasteland. It placed her on the ground, its body slowly shrinking until it landed on her shoulder. It stepped on her hair, craning its neck to study her face carefully. It lifted a foreclaw slightly, and a ball of black mist appeared beside it.
The black mist swirled slowly, and a somewhat blurry image appeared within it. In the image, a frail and petite figure was pacing back and forth in a palace-like place. Her features were indistinct, but her long brown hair and gray eyes were quite noticeable.
The little demonic dragon looked at Erin, then at the black mist, comparing them several times before finally confirming that the person pacing inside was indeed Erin.
Although, to it, all humans looked rather similar.
The demonic dragon stomped excitedly on Erin's shoulder. It used its claw to push aside the troublesome hair piled at the side of her neck. Looking at the patch of fair skin, it opened its mouth, leaned down, and bit right into it.
The taste of blood spread in its mouth. The demonic dragon lifted its head, a hint of confusion in its green eyes. It wiped the blood from the corner of its mouth with its claw and stared blankly at Erin's neck... its heart filled with bewilderment.
This taste... why does it seem a little off?
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