Bang! Bang! Bang!
Behind the bronze door, the sound of pounding continued without interruption, echoing through the empty underground chamber as if from a time long past.
Fors tensed up, unable to suppress a shiver, and her voice involuntarily dropped low: "What's behind the door?"
"I don't know," Xio shook her head honestly and swallowed instinctively.
Her right hand, which had just picked up the triangular dagger, showed prominent knuckles and bulging veins from the tension.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pounding on the door came in steady rhythm, neither faster nor slower, each strike falling like a hammer on the hearts of Fors and Xio, making their hair stand on end and their scalps tingle.
"It probably won't come out… If it could get out so easily, it wouldn't have waited until now," Fors tried to console herself with a slightly dry throat.
Xio nodded vigorously: "Once the material is ready, we'll leave immediately."
In such an environment and atmosphere, her curiosity was completely overridden by instinctive fear.
"Okay!" Fors glanced at the spot where the two ancient wraiths had been purified, inwardly blaming "The Moon" for not providing detailed intelligence, without even mentioning that there was such a bizarre door beneath the castle.
At that time, faintly glowing specks of dust fell to the ground like fine gems, dividing into two piles and gathering together.
Around them, nearly intangible residual spirituality condensed into seemingly illusory crystals.
Accompanying the "crystals" and dust were two different items: one was a ring-like object, completely transparent as if eroded; the other was an eye carved from crystal, with a faint trace of black mist flowing inside.
Seeing this, Fors suddenly understood:
Ancient wraiths are ghost-like beings that are a mixture of Beyonder characteristics. Among them, cursed objects are linked to certain parts of their bodies or items from their lifetimes, and combined with the characteristics, they become the foundation of their existence. That's why different ancient wraiths have different manifestations of cursed objects, but they are the same in essence. The dust contains other characteristics, the source of most of their abilities, while the residual spirituality is roughly equivalent to materials like monster blood.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The one pounding behind the bronze door was persistent, never stopping, constantly testing the nerves of Fors and Xio.
The two girls, trembling with fear and caution, had a momentary illusion that the door was trembling slightly, and their hearts remained suspended, beating wildly.
In a state where they could spring toward the stairs at any moment, Fors finally waited until the dust and cursed objects of the ancient wraiths took shape.
She signaled Xio to be ready, then crouched down and took out three square iron boxes she had prepared.
After a moment of hesitation, Fors looked up at Xio and said: "These two ancient wraiths have waited for each other for too long. I think… I think I should separate part of what they left behind and bury them together… Um, that way, I'll take one cursed object, you take one pile of dust, and we'll split the residual spirituality equally. Is that okay?"
Xio didn't hesitate and nodded slightly: "Okay!"
Fors let out a silent sigh of relief, pursed her lips, flipped through "Lehmann's Travel Notes," and slid her finger across one of the pages.
Immediately, five nails on her right hand extended, becoming sharp and covered with black patterns and symbols.
This was the "Corrosion Claw," originating from the vampires.
Looking at the change in her hand, Fors dug a hole in the ground with ease, leaving traces of corrosion.
Then, she placed the crystal-eye cursed object and one pile of dust into the hole, filling it with the stones and dirt she had dug out.
With a few scratches of her nails, she inscribed an epitaph on the smoothed earth: "For your return, for your protection, never to be separated."
Having done all this, Fors was about to let out a sigh when a loud pounding started again behind the bronze door.
Bang!
She was so startled she almost jumped up, hastily putting the remaining pile of dust, the ring-shaped cursed object, and the residual spirituality into separate square iron boxes.
Then, securing the boxes, she straightened up and, together with Xio, slowly made her way toward the narrow spiral staircase.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The pounding behind the bronze door grew increasingly intense. Fors and Xio clenched their teeth unconsciously and quickly ascended the stairs.
They moved faster and faster, eventually breaking into a run, not caring if they might fall and tumble down like a wheel.
Finally, the sunlight came into view.
It streamed in from the outside, spilling onto the steps ahead—bright, pure, and warm.
At that moment, the faint pounding from underground abruptly ceased, with no further sound.
Fors and Xio exchanged a glance, slowed down, took a few leaps, and returned to the upper level of the abandoned castle.
Without exchanging a word, they left the place and headed back toward the edge of the forest.
After walking for a while, Fors composed herself and said, pursing her lips: "That was terrifying just now. Although whatever was behind that bronze door didn't harm us or even show itself, I still think it's scarier than the ancient wraiths. Scarier than anything I've experienced before… uh, scarier than all of it. In those minutes, I couldn't help imagining several gruesome ways to die, each more horrible than the last, but none of them were as frightening as the pounding itself."
Xio turned her head, nodding in agreement: "Yeah, at that moment, I felt like I was walking on the edge of a cliff."
Just as Fors was about to say something else, she suddenly noticed two streams of bright red blood flowing from Xio's nose.
"Xio, Xio, you're bleeding!" Fors quickly alerted her friend.
Xio was startled, her pupils dilating: "You're bleeding too!"
"Huh?" Fors reached out in bewilderment, wiped her nose, and felt a warm, slightly thick liquid.
She was shocked and brought her hand in front of her eyes, seeing a vivid red stain spread across it.
"Was it caused by the tension earlier?" Fors muttered to herself in confusion.