The moment Bertram saw the brain, he realized that the development of the situation might have exceeded his expectations. But what happened next didn't allow him to think too much. With a dizzying mental impact, all the dark high priests felt that their senses were temporarily disrupted. The next second, the fully armed and muscular 'brain' began to attack the surroundings violently.
The magic cannons let out a sharp whistle. The swords and spears filled with electricity and heat burst out with electric arcs and flames. The heavy mechanical war hammer whizzed down in the air, shattering everything in its path, be it the wooden limbs or the rock pillars in the cave. The dark high priests tried to organize a counterattack, but every time they tried to mobilize more powerful magic, they would feel a sharp pain in their minds. The strong mental pulse interrupted their spellcasting time and time again. Even Betheim could barely hold up a protective barrier and summon the most basic vines to interfere with the 'brain's' attack.
Compared to the continuous mental interference, the huge shock shook Bertram's cognition even more. He watched as his followers retreated under the attack of the violent brain full of muscles and wielding a lot of heavy weapons. For a moment, he felt that he was experiencing a strange nightmare. A strong thought echoed in his mind — what the hell is this thing?!
* Boom! *
A loud bang came from nearby, and the shockwave that followed made Bertram stagger to the side. His plant-like body, which had mutated into almost no human form, felt severe pain in the shockwave. He knew that he had been hit by a cannonball. The shockwave created by the magic weapon had penetrated the shield and hurt the biological tissue under his wooden skin. The pain that he had not felt for many years finally woke him up from the chaos. He commanded his followers loudly, "This is a trap! Retreat into the passage! "
Yes, this was a trap. He knew that there was a trap here from the beginning, but he never thought that the most dangerous part of the trap was not the ambush outside, but the target himself. He had brought enough cannon fodder, and with enough caution, he flattened all the hostile units in the underground lair. In the end, he even sacrificed part of the roots assigned to him by the grand hierarch in the cave to completely seal off the 'final chamber'. But he did not expect that the most powerful combat force here was … a brain.
He had indeed succeeded in sealing off the place — he had sealed himself and his followers together with the terrible monster in front of him.
A whistling sound came from the side, and a huge sense of crisis arose. Bertram subconsciously raised a shield, and the next second, he saw the brain use its tentacles to swing a huge stalagmite that was broken from somewhere and smash it toward him. The shield and the stalagmite collided fiercely, and the magic surge caused Bertram's dry branches and leaves to break. Along with this violent impact, there was also a powerful mental attack released by the brain.
In the midst of the mental attack, he finally heard Bertilla's voice again. This voice overlapped with a few other voices as if it had spread all the way from the Sacred Plains through a series of thought transmissions, and finally, it was released by the violent brain in front of him. "Betheim, I hope you are satisfied with my hospitality."
"Bertilla!" Bertram's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He watched as one of his followers was knocked unconscious by a boulder thrown by his brain, and then dragged into the depths of the darkness by the vines that suddenly grew out of the nearby cave. A huge sense of frustration and some inexplicable fear made him curse, "You deformed freak, you son of a b * tch, you bastard! What have you created?! "
"That's funny coming from your mouth, my compatriot," Bertilla said unhurriedly. At the same time, the brain raised its muscular tentacles high and hit Betheim's shaky shield with a heavy hammer. "Don't always attribute your failure to the enemy's strength. You have to admit that you are useless. You have come all the way here, and yet you are still going to be crushed to death by me."
As soon as the sarcastic voice in the depths of Bertram's mind, a muffled sound interrupted all of Bertram's thoughts. The shield that he had been holding up until now was finally smashed into light particles by the heavy warhammer. With a few whooshing sounds, several thick tentacles directly entangled his wooden 'arms' and several main branches. At this moment, he felt as if he was imprisoned by several arms made of steel and was forcibly pulled into the air. The roots that desperately grasped the ground were also ruthlessly pulled apart. Finally, he confronted the huge 'brain' at a very close distance. At this distance, he could clearly see the slightly undulating biological tissues on the surface of the thing, as well as the grooves and protrusions.
He suddenly suspected that each of the bumps on the surface of the 'brain' was actually a well-trained muscle.
"I don't admit it … I don't admit this failure …" The temporarily imprisoned hierarch struggled with all his might and tried to mobilize his magic power in vain. At the same time, he tried to resist the erosion of his will from the brain in the depths of his mind. "What are you …"
"You need to use your brain to fight, Betheim," Bertilla's voice disdainfully interrupted him. "You are just defeated by my brain."
All the previous attacks and insults were far less damaging than this sentence. Betheim instantly felt that his mind was stretched to the extreme. He stared at the almost mountain-like 'brain' in front of him, a large number of lethal weapons in its tentacles, and a large area around him that was violently destroyed by its violent attacks. Great grief and indignation surged in his heart. "You call this using my brain?"
"What else?" The floating brain tightened its tentacles, and Bertram felt that his branches began to peel off gradually. Bertram's scornful voice sounded in his mind unhurriedly. "I have a very powerful brain. For today, these synthetic brains active at the front line even have to do five sets of strength training and four hours of combat simulation every day …"
Betheim suddenly fell silent. After a few seconds, he gave up resisting and said, "… Enough. Kill me."
"Don't be so hasty. Your death is of little value to me. The 'information' stored in your brain is more meaningful to me. I will patiently peel out the central hub of your mind, and then digest the stored memories bit by bit. Your followers have already gone through the process, but I believe that you must know more secrets than they do …"
Bertram did not respond to the voice in his head, as if he had completely given up. The followers he brought were almost all defeated by the brain and dragged into the depths of the darkness by the vines that grew out from the nearby caves. Only the last dark bishop was still standing shakily at the edge of the cave. Perhaps it was because he was too insignificant, or perhaps Bertram was focusing all his energy on stripping Bertram's "core", but the remaining dark bishop was not attacked at this moment. He carefully moved his roots in fear and slowly moved towards the exit of the cave. At this moment, he had already escaped to the edge of the exit.
Betheim shifted his gaze to the dark priest. At the same time, he silently sensed every trace of magic wave released by the brain that was imprisoning him. At a certain moment, he finally seized the opportunity.
"Sandok!" Betheim suddenly shouted the name of the dark priest. His voice broke the silence in the cave and stopped the dark priest's movements abruptly. The dark priest instinctively sensed danger, but he still subconsciously turned his head back out of habit. A pair of dark yellow eyes met with Betheim's face that was gradually being torn apart and dissolved. Betheim's eyes were filled with magic radiance.
"No, Hierarch, please …"
The cries of the dark priest abruptly stopped. The 'mark' buried in the depths of his soul was activated. He felt that his consciousness was instantly transferred to a body that was about to be torn apart and could not move. His vision was suddenly filled with a floating 'brain'. Before his consciousness completely sank into the darkness, he saw 'his' body beginning to run towards the exit of the cave.
The next second, the entire underground cave was filled with Bertilla's cold and angry murderous intent.
The murderous intent surged from behind, and it was so cold that it seemed to freeze the surrounding air. Betheim ran wildly in the dark underground cave, constantly giving orders to the nearby mutants and dark roots that he could sense and still could feel, to stop and chase at all costs. The great fear gradually faded from his heart until he began to feel that 'life' had reappeared in his fate.
He knew that he had escaped with his life.
The power of the brain was limited to the "cave" that was covered by the sea of flowers. The mutants and the spreading roots that he had brought from the wasteland had indeed disintegrated the "enemy" outside the cave. After escaping from the terrifying brain, he was finally "safe" again.
"Sandok … I will remember you. Thank you for your 'dedication' …" Betheim muttered in a low voice as he quickly ran towards a crack that led to the surface. "These things of the Eternal Sleeper are still useful … Damn it, this body is still too weak. I have to find a way to restore my strength later …"
He muttered. On the one hand, he was planning for the future. On the other hand, he was using this method to relieve the fear and nervousness in his heart.
At the last moment, he had used a high-level secret technique that he had secretly learned when the Eternal Sleep Congregation was still in a 'partnership' with the Apocalypse Society. He had exchanged souls with one of his subordinates. As a cautious person who cherished his life, he had long buried a corresponding 'soul stealing mark' deep in the soul of each of his followers. But he had never thought that this arrangement would come in handy in today's situation.
In any case, now that he had survived, he had to start thinking about the problems that he would face after he survived.
For example … another shameful, embarrassing, and infuriating failure. And in this failure, not only did he lose all the people that the great hierarch had given him, but he also lost a large number of branches in the root network, lost all his followers, and even … lost his own body.
But compared to these losses, what was more terrible was that some of his followers had been captured alive by the enemy …
He still clearly remembered Bertilla's words. He knew that the captured dark priests would become the source of information for the mortals, and this would be his most terrible sin so far.
"I have to think of a way … The great hierarch will not accept this result … Blame the failure on one of his subordinates? No, that's too clumsy … First, I have to think of a way to make up for it? No, it may be seen through … Damn, that damn crazy woman, if it wasn't for her … "
Betheim said fiercely. A glimmer of light had appeared at the end of his vision. He looked down at his' arms' with the help of the light and saw strange bark and lines. This gave him a new idea. "Wait, I don't have to face the great hierarch's wrath directly … The mistake was made by Betheim, I can be Sandok … A loyal and obedient priest who fought hard but was dragged down by his incompetent superior in the end. Yes, that's it … I escaped with my life and brought out important information. Betheim failed, but an ordinary priest who survived the battle does not have to bear the great hierarch's wrath …"
A false sense of relief came to Betheim's mind. He felt as if he had escaped the punishment that had yet to come. He began to think about how to recover his strength as soon as possible and climb back to the position of hierarch as soon as possible. As for "revenge" … he had completely abandoned this unrealistic idea.
That crazy "ancient saintess" … She was not someone he could deal with. He would leave it to the other hierarchs to figure out a way. He had to stay far away from the entire northern battlefield. If possible, it would be best if he could be transferred to the southern battlefield …
At this moment, the light from the front interrupted the dark priest's wild thoughts.
He had finally reached the end of the underground tunnel. He … had returned to the surface.
The dim sunlight shone from the sky, and the flowing air on the surface of the world blew the branches and leaves of Betheim's new body. He was startled for a moment, and then a late joy came to his heart.
"Ah … I am lucky after all …"
He sighed softly and walked out of a cave that connected the surface to the underground. The cold wind blew on his bark, and he greedily felt the cold air around him, as well as the feeling of freedom and safety.
After a while, he slowly calmed down and began to look at his surroundings. After running away in a panic, he urgently needed to know where he was.
Then, he was surprised to see a small hill. The hill stood against the background of the morning sun, and there was a strange mansion on the top of the hill.
A tall woman pushed open the door of the mansion and walked out. She looked at Betheim who was standing on the flat ground with some curiosity. After a while, she smiled, and some glowing structures that looked like runes flashed around her. As if some kind of restriction had been removed, her figure suddenly became blurred, mysterious, and magnificent.
She smiled and opened her arms.
At this moment, Betheim saw endless starlight, endless colors, endless light, and endless truths and mysteries.
His eyes began to be filled with fear and madness.
Every eye that kept opening on every branch was filled with fear and madness.
(Time to promote the book. Friendly recommendation from "I Kidnapped the Timeline" by "Typing on the Keyboard Every Day", sci-fi category. I feel that the idea is very creative. Although there are not many words at present, the future is promising.)
(End of this chapter)
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