NOVEL NEXT Chapter 171: Transformation
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In another part of the forest, another reddish black ray shot into the sky, before pointing straight toward a certain direction, the big mountain at the center of the forest.
It was the second one to appear that day, and just like the first, the power and malice it released left all the creatures near the place it had sprung from completely shaken.
But it did not stop there.
This time, with the appearance of the second ray of light, a clear sign that another seal had been broken, the air within the secret realm seemed to have changed.
Everyone could feel it. They didn't know what it was, but they felt it very clearly, a foreboding, heavy and threatening.
All felt it, man and beast alike, yet while the humans trembled, the beasts, already agitated since the Beam of light, now descended into madness.
Their cries and roars grew louder and louder, echoing from every part of the forest, spreading confusion and fear among all those who heard them without having the faintest idea of what was happening.
Their behavior, already chaotic and wild, became even more unhinged, as they roared toward the sky, as if announcing the arrival of something.
But the changes did not end there.
Many, their gazes turned upward, noticed that the sky, always clear and serene in the secret realm, was beginning to grow darker.
Clouds were forming and piling on top of each other, shifting from pure white to gray and then to black. Black as pitch. A color so unnatural that all beneath it felt a strange chill crawl down their spines.
It was now clear that something terribly wrong was happening in this place, and the realization of it only further fueled the panic spreading among everyone.
The fear of the unknown had always been in the instinct of every creature, and now, when strange things for which no explanation could be found were happening one after another in rapid succession, that fear began to spill out from the hearts of all.
Yet while all this unfolded on the surface, deep underground, far from everyone's sight, something just as strange was taking place.
The cavern at the base of the mountain had already completely collapsed, making the place, already unsettling, even more chaotic and disordered.
Rubble and debris of every size were scattered and mixed with strange dark liquids and pieces of red black tendrils scattered everywhere.
And yet, if one looked closely, one could still determine a certain direction in their growth: all pointed toward the center of the cavern.
That center, now buried beneath piles of debris, revealed a massive dark membrane, slumped there like a burst balloon, devoid of anything that could support it or preserve its original form.
Looking further below, however, one could see that the roots of this membrane stretched far deeper than the cavern itself, plunging tens of meters downward into a smaller cavity below, much smaller than the one above.
From the ceiling of this smaller cavity hung several strands of dark red tendrils, pulsing with life, wrapping around the space within. Yet instead of filling it completely, they outlined it, leaving a central area free and untouched, now radiating an intense crimson glow that illuminated the entire place.
There, at the center, suspended in midair, was a transparent sphere of light surrounded by several rings formed of rune lines. But this was not the main source of the glow.
Inside that transparent sphere of energy floated another thing, also suspended,
a drop of crimson red liquid, constantly trembling and writhing as if it possessed a life of its own.
The intensity it emanated kept growing as the rune lines that formed the sphere's rings vanished one after another.
By now, their number had dwindled to the bare minimum, and visible cracks had appeared upon the sphere of energy.
The cracks closed only for others to open once again.
This process of healing and breaking continued for some time, until the sphere of energy could no longer withstand the power of the crimson liquid.
It shattered.
A wave of spiritual energy burst forth in every direction, shaking the ground and reaching even the creatures above.
A chain reaction had begun, and for those above who were unaware, the consequences of it were about to arrive.
The ray of light that had shot into the sky and aimed for a precise point on the mountain had finally reached its target, the creature that had emerged from the underground cavern.
It had already tossed aside the lifeless body of Zhu Rong, and when it looked up at the ray, its expression, already twisted in ecstatic frenzy, grew even more unhinged.
It let out a thunderous roar toward the heavens, as if trying to rip them apart.
The sound it produced spread far and wide, and the oppressive aura it released kept swelling, extending from the base of the mountain outward until, in no time, it encompassed the entire forest.
The ray of light that descended upon it did not stop. On the contrary, it accelerated, engulfing the creature in a blinding radiance. Yet it caused it no harm, instead, it seemed to trigger an unnatural and terrifying metamorphosis.
Its body, already long and misshapen, began to twist as it rose higher into the air, lifting itself into the sky.
Bones cracked and stretched, muscles convulsed, and within moments its height surpassed one hundred meters, a colossal, impossible figure towering over everything around it.
Its form grew sharper, its body serpentine and sinuous. From its tail sprouted mighty claws that served as legs, while near its head more limbs appeared, ending in deformed, clawed hands.
Its snout elongated grotesquely, baring thin, razor like fangs, while its crimson mane streaked with black lengthened and thrashed like living fire.
In the blink of an eye, the grotesque being that had once been barely three meters tall had transformed into a titanic, monstrous entity, terrifying and, at the same time, magnificent.