Chapter 2052: Scales

"Finger of Death" had a probability of bestowing an instant-death effect; once successful, unless there was corresponding resistance, death was inevitable, and even with resistance, one would suffer severe injuries.

At that moment, the black light erupting from Miss Miss Beiya's fingertips was like an invisible grim reaper brandishing a scythe in the air. With the reaction speed of that small, giant-sized werewolf, it could have originally dodged it, but the effects of the three negative sorceries left its body completely stiff in place, and it was then thoroughly struck by that black light.

The next second, the pitch-black fur on the werewolf illuminated by the firelight turned gray-white, and then even its body size began to shrink. But it did not die from this; the werewolf, which had clearly become weaker, seemed to have temporarily broken free from the control of the sorcery by borrowing the influence of the peculiar effect after being hit by "Finger of Death," turning around and lunging at the blonde lady who had exposed her specific location due to using sorcery.

The witch was not panicked at all; the golden bracelet on her wrist shook lightly, and then a pair of shackles abruptly shot out from the muddy ground of the cave, binding the leaping werewolf and then forcibly locking its right leg to the ground.

The werewolf, forcibly brought down, made the cave tremble again. Miss Miss Beiya looked somewhat displeased at the top of her head where dust was falling, while the fallen werewolf curled up into a ball. The maid ladies immediately surrounded it, wanting to pursue the attack, but the werewolf, whose right leg was locked and unable to move, actually sprang up again.

The right leg bound by the shackles on the ground was forcibly bitten off by it just now. But even with only one leg left, its appearance when lunging was still terrifying.

"Careful!"

When the pitch-black chains shot out in the nearly lightless cave, apart from the sound of breaking through the air, there was no trace at all. And the giant wolf, after being locked by the neck by the chains, immediately maintained its lunging posture and fell back to the ground for the third time.

The torches had just been extinguished by the wind generated by the werewolf's lunge, and at this moment, they were relit. Six pitch-black Sin Runes flickered with eerie light under the firelight. Xia De, standing behind Miss Miss Beiya, explained while holding the chains:

"I have a pet cat at home. Although cats are different from dogs, the action of curling up to protect themselves has similarities. It wasn't curling up to protect itself just now; that action clearly showed it didn't want us to see it gnawing on its own leg."

As he spoke, he threw out three silver light rings to lock the werewolf's neck, body, and hands, only then retracting the 【Chain of Sin】. Miss Miss Beiya wanted to ask about the chains, but the werewolf had a new problem at this moment.

After the chains retreated, its body shrank again until it turned into the appearance of a curled-up middle-aged woman. The right leg was naturally still broken, but the flesh and blood were regenerating rapidly.

"Such fast regenerative ability? Werewolves don't have such exaggerated recovery ability..."

Miss Miss Beiya was puzzled in her heart. Seeing that the woman was not wearing clothes, she wanted to remind Xia De not to look, but turned her head to see that Xia De had already shifted his gaze away.

"Was the sorcery just now Finger of Death? I have a friend who is skilled in death power, and I also know this kind of sorcery. You used it really well."

Xia De said while examining the cave. The three maid ladies draped clothes over the middle-aged woman who was unable to move and made her temporarily fall into a coma. Naturally, because the werewolf's physical fitness far exceeded that of humans, they had made various insurance measures.

"Yes, Finger of Death. I am actually not skilled in combat; usually, when I fight, I just like to use this kind of sorcery with direct effects. However, I have been in Moon Bay City for many years, and there haven't been many opportunities for me to take action."

She generously admitted that she was not strong enough, so Xia De also said with a smile:

"Apart from the Maze, Miss Lu Lu Weiya is actually not very skilled in combat either."

This was the evaluation Miss Jia Lin Na gave to that female opera singer when Xia De first arrived in the Landaer River Valley. Looking back, this evaluation was not incorrect; after all, that duchess was definitely considered quite powerful in combat among eleventh-tier witches, and compared to her, Miss Lu Lu Weiya was naturally inferior.

"She has her own Maze, and later demonstrated the ability to summon a giant stone statue; this is already strong enough."

After Miss Miss Beiya finished speaking, she sighed for some reason. After confirming that the werewolf was unconscious, she locked it in place temporarily, and the group continued to go deeper to the end of the cave:

"Your control-type sorcery is also very powerful; those chains and light rings are both good."

Crossing the field where they fought the werewolf and passing through the narrow part in the middle of the spacious cave, they reached the end of the cave under the tree. Only, the wall at the end of the cave was not a stone wall, but a curtain composed of disgusting, wriggling vines.

Gray-green mucus filled the space between the vines, and black insects crawling and rustling moved between the vines. Miss Miss Beiya frowned; although she felt disgusted, she was not afraid:

"Torch."

She signaled the maids to burn the vines blocking the way, but as soon as her voice fell, a face actually appeared among the wriggling vines. This world did not have the concept of "becoming a spirit" like the outsider's hometown. Whoever had wisdom must have a reason for producing a soul. And as soon as that face produced by the vines appeared, Miss Miss Beiya saw through the essence of the other party:

"A vengeful spirit attached to the tree, huh? It looks like it doesn't have much wisdom."

She was actually intending to have a conversation with the other party, but that vengeful spirit directly attacked the group. Overwhelming tree roots and vines surged from all directions of the originally empty cave. The insect tide composed of pitch-black small insects also spread toward the ground under everyone's feet like a water flow.

"Girls, kill it."

"Yes, Miss."

The five people summoned flames together. Even Xia De, who had not learned "Fire Wall," could shape a huge fire wall by shaping the flames. Five fire walls blocked the five directions of front, back, left, right, and top, and then slowly pushed outward to burn those vines. As for the insect tide and vines surging from under their feet, they were directly blocked underground by Miss Miss Beiya's "Turn Mud into Stone" spell.

The vines and insects that looked terrifying were also ordinary goods, and they were soon burned to ashes by the flames. But this also made the interior of the cave even more foul-smelling and suffocating. Fortunately, the physical fitness of the five people was very good, so there was no need to worry about problems like lack of oxygen.

Under the flames, even the vengeful spirit attached to the giant tree became weak. When the fire walls of the group disappeared, the vengeful spirit, having completely lost its reason, personally manipulated the tree roots and vines, revealing its actual form and launching an attack on the five people.

It was difficult to evaluate what that pitch-black thing actually was. The overall form was close to a horse, but it also had deformed wings. It was absolutely not a Pegasus or a unicorn, and looking closely, the head part looked somewhat like a dragon.

Thus, flames appeared again until that vengeful spirit was thoroughly eliminated. Afterward, the vines blocking the way were cleared one by one, and only then did everyone squeeze behind the curtain.

Behind the curtain was a very small space. It was not convenient for five people to stand together, so Xia De very gentlemanly took the initiative to wait outside. Afterward, the two nine-ringed ladies also came out, leaving Miss Miss Beiya and Miss Jia Lin Na inside.

The witch skilled in divination could definitely play a big role in this kind of occasion, and Xia De was not too worried, choosing instead to chat with Maggie Vincent and Lina Pensett outside. At first, the two were not very willing to talk, but after chatting with Xia De about the topic of fire sorcery, they gradually became interested in the topic.

When Miss Miss Beiya crawled out of that cave entrance, the three people waiting outside were just talking about the topic of attaching flames to weapons. Seeing the witch appear, they all closed their mouths. Miss Miss Beiya looked suspiciously at her two maids, worried that they had also been "charmed" by Xia De:

"We didn't find the wrong place. Inside, there is a very ancient sealing stone slab. I suspect that the evil spirit and this tree being able to have such power is due to the influence of that stone slab. Even the werewolf's fast recovery ability might be related to this. The method to open the stone slab requires using a specific secret phrase or the power of a dragon."

She paused for a moment:

"It's a pity, although I found this place in the family records, I didn't find the secret phrase. Jia Lin Na and I tried just now; ordinary sorcery related to dragons didn't work. It is estimated that it requires a dragon-born or an artifact related to dragons. I am very sure my followers don't have one, so do you?"

After speaking, she shook her head again:

"It doesn't matter if you don't have one. Seal this place, and we can return to the city to think of a way."

"I can try."

So Miss Jia Lin Na came out, and Xia De swapped with the witch to re-enter the narrow cave. The so-called "sealing stone slab" was actually above their heads. Miss Miss Beiya had likely divined the location and cleared away very thick mud to find it.

That square stone slab was embedded in a thick rock layer. It was impossible to obtain the sealed object inside by destroying the structure of the rock layer.

The light orb illuminated this place, and also illuminated the runes on the stone slab. Miss Miss Beiya was just about to explain the meaning of those ancient dragon runes to Xia De, but she did not expect Xia De to read them out himself:

"Do not move if not a dragon. Hmm... strange grammar, but easy to understand. Oh, why are you looking at me like that? I am very skilled in ancient languages; not only dragon language, but I also understand mermaid and elf languages."

Xia De said, reaching out to touch that stone slab, confirming that it was also difficult to forcibly open it with the "Key of the Gate":

"I probably have a way, but can you turn..."

He wanted the other party to turn around, and also thought of the role of the "other me" of the ring-sorcerer. He wanted the witch to go out and wait, but then thought that if they were to continue cooperating, he would have to let the other party know some secrets sooner or later.

So he shook his head and stopped talking, instead taking out the right-hand glove that Fiona had given him, which he kept close to his body. He put the glove on his hand and reached up to touch the stone slab. Although Xia De did not use much force, the stone slab almost immediately showed cracks.

Crack—

A few seconds later, the stone slab shattered completely, revealing a shiny scale embedded inside. ===== CHAPTER 2053 =====