Chapter 330 328-Santos Tower
Ethan drew a sharp breath as he looked at the red cloths on the Mother-Child Wraith Tree.
Those bulging items wrapped within the red cloths, though unseen by Ethan, had already sparked a guess in his mind.
Could they possibly be the remains of the stillborn infants?
A chill enveloped the surroundings, making Ethan shiver slightly, eager to distance himself from this place.
"I'm actually curious, why must the infants be buried under this particular tree?" Ethan frowned, stroking his chin in thought. "Wouldn't a better solution be to cremate them?"
King gazed deeply at the eerie tree, his tone uncertain:
"In the Deityforsaken Land, there's a deity named Peggy. Legend has it that burying infants near Her grants the supplicants children with greater power and talent."
"So, everyone is willing to bury the deceased infants near Peggy, hoping their future children will be more formidable."
Ethan nodded slightly, understanding as he looked at the Mother-Child Wraith Tree:
"So what's the connection between this tree and Peggy?"
"The connection is significant," King pointed towards the tree's roots. "Beneath this tree lies one of Peggy's eyes. If not for the numerous dead infants buried around here, this place should be brimming with divinity and revealing the Rune of Law."
At this point, even Lana Mokos couldn't hold back, speaking directly:
"That doesn't make sense. Based on the obsessive nature of the Deity Keepers, wouldn't they have dug out Peggy's eye in their pursuit of becoming deities?"
King slowly shook his head, scratching his head:
"I don't know about that, but that's what the elders in the city have told us. Maybe most Deity Keepers don't want to disturb such a sacred place."
Ethan observed the surroundings of the Mother-Child Wraith Tree, shrouded in gloom, the dense aura of resentment seeming as though it could surge into the sky.
This is considered sacred?
The Deityforsaken Land truly is bizarre!
Not wanting to linger in this place, Ethan led the group away:
"Let's leave this place. It's not wise to stay here long. We should head to Santos Tower instead."
King led the way, with Ethan following behind.
As for the markings left by King's companion, Ethan had already dismissed them from his mind.
After all, this was not a place Ethan wished to explore.
He knew well enough what courting death meant.
As Ethan's servant bound by a Soul Mark, King, seeing his master's lack of interest in finding his former companion, dared not raise the subject.
Those marked with the Soul Mark would unconditionally serve their master.
Passing by the Mother-Child Wraith Tree, Ethan constantly felt as if he was being watched.
As if there were eyes on his back.
But whenever he turned to look, there was nothing out of the ordinary.
Only the red cloths on the Mother-Child Wraith Tree fluttered in the wind, their contents appearing weightless, swaying eerily in the shadows.
Ethan shook his head slightly. This tree had been outside City 32 for so many years without any major incidents.
How could there be anything unusual about it?
With this thought, Ethan focused on following King.
Along the way, Ethan also got a glimpse of the landscape and environment of the Deityforsaken Land.
The sky was perpetually overcast, the land mostly barren, revealing patches of reddish or black soil.
King explained that those lands had been soaked in divine blood, hence their reddish hue.
As for the black soil, it likely resulted from the Deity Keepers' frenzied attempts to extract divine blood from the land, digging up soil tainted with it.
In their madness, they turned the Deityforsaken Land upside down, unearthing the black soil from beneath and creating a landscape mottled with black and red.
Walking along, Ethan listened to King's explanations, realizing just how insane the first batch of Deity Keepers, or even several batches after them, must have been.
Unable to find fragments of divine artifacts, they dug up soil drenched in divine blood, felled trees marked with the Rune of Law...
They even didn't spare rivers altered by changes in the landscape.
The Deityforsaken Land's transformation into a wasteland owed eighty percent of its cause to the Deity Keepers.
They were a bunch of madmen, Ethan thought.
With their formidable strengths, the group made rapid progress.
Gradually, a tower appeared in Ethan's view, just its tip poking through the clouds.
"How tall is Santos Tower, exactly?" Ethan asked, gaping as he looked up at the tower piercing the clouds from a distance.
King shook his head, replying with a simple three words:
"Don't know."
"Don't know?" Ethan paused, "Hasn't anyone left any information about it?"
"There's quite a bit of speculation, actually. The origins of Santos Tower are quite mysterious. Some say a kind-hearted deity, witnessing the bloodshed of a deity war and not wanting the bodies of the fallen deities exposed in the wilderness, gathered their remains into Santos Tower;"
"Others claim it was created by past Deity Keepers as a means for their descendants to find opportunities left by the deities, placing unsolvable enigmas within the Tower, waiting for future generations to unravel them;"
"Another theory is that Santos Tower itself is a container surpassing divine artifacts, capable of absorbing everything around it..."
"Regardless of which theory you believe, Santos Tower is seen as a place of opportunity that Deity Keepers must visit. But with so many having entered and none reaching the top, naturally, no one knows how tall it is or what exactly is hidden inside."
King spoke at length, and everyone listened intently.
Ethan was still digesting the information and, without saying much, continued walking towards their destination.
As they moved forward, Santos Tower became increasingly visible in Ethan's sight.
The appearance of Santos Tower was ancient and mysterious, filled with the marks of time.
Its walls were made of countless large stone slabs, each slab stained and weathered, as if telling stories of thousands, even tens of thousands of years.
The color of these slabs transitioned from a lush, vibrant green to a deep, somber brown, creating a beautiful natural mural.
Santos Tower stood there silently, towering into the clouds.
It seemed like a miracle between heaven and earth.
The height of Santos Tower was immeasurable, reaching seemingly into the heavens, reminiscent of ancient mythological tales.
Under the overcast sky, Santos Tower shimmered with a strange luminescence, like sunlight reflecting off grey gelatin, resembling a dark gemstone embedded in the earth, its surrounding aura mysterious and ever-changing.
Ethan knew well that Santos Tower was not just a sight of beauty; it also concealed endless dangers and enigmas.
The top of Santos Tower was shrouded in a thick layer of mist, obscuring its true form from view.
Within this veil of clouds seemed to lurk countless secrets and unknown powers.
As they drew nearer to Santos Tower, the surrounding land became more desolate, devoid of life, the soil so deep it appeared to be soaked with water.
The air was filled with a scent of decay, sending shivers down one's spine.
Ethan's internal alarms were blaring, his eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
Yet, the noise emanating from in front of Santos Tower caught Ethan off guard.
A flag fluttered in front of Santos Tower, its emblem causing Ethan to halt in his tracks, his expression turning gravely serious.
The color of the flag had faded, leaving only a dull grey.
Its fabric was tattered, seemingly on the verge of disintegrating into countless pieces.
Yet, it was this very worn flag that bore a chillingly eerie emblem.
The pattern on the flag was peculiar, almost like some ancient totem.
The emblem was composed of countless lines and shapes, intricate and enigmatic, challenging anyone trying to decipher it.
Within these lines and shapes, there was a colossal eye, seemingly observing everything in the world.
Around this eye were a series of strange symbols, flickering with an eerie glow that made one's skin crawl, urging a retreat.
The background of the flag was a deep darkness, like an unfathomable abyss.
Within this darkness, there were vague figures appearing to struggle, attempting to escape from the darkness.
However, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't break free from the shackles of this dark realm.
The expressions of pain on these figures' faces were moving, evoking a sense of empathy.
A pair of hands landed on Ethan's shoulders, transmitting warmth from the palms into his entire body.
It was like a fierce fire in the midst of winter.
Ethan abruptly awoke, snapping out of his focus on the flag.
"Who?" Ethan looked around vigilantly.
Daphne was staring at him with pure, concerned eyes:
"Ethan, what's wrong? You're sweating profusely."
It was then that Ethan realized his back was drenched in sweat.
Without answering, Ethan looked back at the flag.
The flag with a black background no longer gave off the same feeling as before.
Ethan thought he might have been in a trance and shook his head slightly:
"Did you see that flag?"
"Yes," Daphne said, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe Ethan's sweat, "What about it?"
Seeing Daphne and Lana Mokos' normal expressions, Ethan forced a smile:
"Nothing, I was just a bit too engrossed."
Moving past the incident, Ethan turned to King, "Who are those people?"
Underneath the flag stood several oddly shaped humanoids, likely Deity Keepers.
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