Chapter 78: Guarding the Miracle with a Miracle
Chapter 78: Guarding the Miracle with a Miracle
The light dimmed. Colin realized that this time the light was about to extinguish soon, and it would be troublesome to approach afterward. Besides, the wooden wheel was still at the other’s feet. He didn’t know how the priest had used this weapon before, but his first strike was quite effective, regardless of the posture, special effects, or sound effects. However, it was rather awkward to run over and retrieve the weapon.
“You all wait here, I’ll go ahead and handle something,” Colin decided in less than a second, mainly because he believed that since this person was a follower of the priest, and given the task description, he shouldn’t be playing tricks at this moment.
“I’ll go with you,” Sanna stepped forward and said.
Colin nodded without much thought, as this was his plan anyway, though Sanna had suggested it first. With two people, as long as they didn’t die on the spot, he could survive for a while with the “Shield of the Just Knight.”
Without further ado, Colin took the lead and quickly arrived there, stepping into the shadowless light. He first picked up the still glowing wooden wheel. Then, despite the stinging pain in his eyes, he looked at it, took out a pile of explosive barrels as a precaution, and retreated.
Sanna stood about ten meters away, aiming the “Shielf of the Just Knight” at him, ready to swear a duel and pull Colin out of danger at any moment. But nothing unexpected happened. Colin successfully retrieved the wooden wheel and then retreated ten meters. He then took out fresh red blood from his inventory and poured it directly on a root at his feet.
This root, resembling cracked rock with many branches, extended all the way to Kimino’s ankle. Clearly, this was his foot transformed into the olive tree’s root. The fresh, wriggling blood was immediately absorbed upon contact with the root. Instantly, the root from Kimino began to wriggle and emit a red light.
Suddenly, a strong aura of terror burst from Kimino, a horrifying pressure pouring out like a landslide, making Colin stagger and retreat without hesitation. The light from the wooden wheel in his hand faded faster. After absorbing the blood, Kimino’s body swelled and became more hideous.
“Ah…” A painful, low shout came from his throat. His skin turned extremely rough and cracked, like an old tree. The speed of the “Miracle of Suffering” accelerated. The black metal began to shatter and bend, increasingly unable to restrain the terrifying entity that was Kimino.
Finally, as Colin and the others retreated about a hundred meters, Kimino broke free from his bonds. At this moment, Colin clenched his fists, holding his breath, eyes fixed on the now unbound and free-to-move terrifying entity. Fortunately, the anticipated danger did not occur. The creature, neither fully human nor fully tree, exuding a horrifying aura, and hard to define as still being Kimino, charged in one direction upon breaking free.He forcibly created a path through the dense olive trees. Colin and the others watched, feeling that his destination was the cave.
“Should we follow?” Li Chou asked.
Colin was about to speak when a sound from afar changed his expression. The living olive trees, which had given up chasing them because of Kimino, began to stir again after his awakening and departure. The low sobbing resumed, echoing around them. Colin knew from the prompt that they would charge within a minute at most.
“Let’s follow and see,” Colin said, not having time to retrieve the explosive barrels, and led the group down the path Kimino had created. The path wasn’t very wide but was flat, having been forcibly cleared with great strength. It retained the aura of a lord-level mutant, so the living olive trees dared not approach for now.
Halfway through, Colin heard a loud, mournful cry from the direction of the cave. The piercing sound caused brain pain and inner agitation. It was clearly from Kimino, whose wail was even more terrifying, overpowering the cries of the olive trees.
“Is he competing with the olive trees to see who can cry louder?” Colin couldn’t help but rub his forehead and mutter.
Rumble…
At this moment, Colin felt the ground shaking, the tremors coming from the direction of the cave. Despite this anomaly, he continued forward, enduring the pain. Shortly after, with shaky steps, Colin reached the place and saw the olive trees inside the cave torn to pieces. The entrance had a path opened, and faint sobbing continued from within, gradually weakening as if it could cease at any moment. Additionally, there was the sound of branches growing inside.
?You realize that now is not the time to enter; you need to wait.?
Seeing this prompt, Colin decisively chose to stay outside the cave. The living olive trees seemed to have returned to silence, though Colin felt they were still alive but no longer moving. Soon, Kimino’s wailing ended completely, and the terrifying aura disappeared.
This time, Colin didn’t hesitate, lit the lantern again, and led the group into the cave surrounded by countless living olive trees. The cave corridor was littered with the remains of these trees, with condensed light stones embedded everywhere, making it not dark even without the lantern. As Colin and the others entered, they felt like a girl was crying in the wind brushing past their ears, sending chills down their spines.
But fortunately, there was no more threat; everything had been dealt with by Kimino. As they entered the corridor, the sight inside the cave caused everyone to hold their breath. In the spacious cave hall, just ten meters ahead, stood a giant humanoid olive tree, seemingly crying with its head bowed.
The humanoid part was less than ten meters tall, maintaining a roughly human shape, hands covering its face, with countless olive tree branches extending from its back, enlarging and supporting the entire cave. “Is this… Kimino?” Colin remembered the sound of plant growth he had heard earlier. As he looked, a hint appeared in his mind. For the first time, Colin couldn’t help but read it aloud quietly.
“Ultimately, Kimino, the son of suffering, could not escape the fate of becoming a ‘miracle.’ Here, he transformed into a giant olive tree, crying with his face covered. In front of him, not far away, is the resting place of the girl he secretly loved during his life. Here, he became the girl’s favorite olive tree, eternally guarding this place.”