But it was so hard to concentrate with Cassie's soft body pressed against his…
'DEADLY! MONSTER!'
Finally able to get his mind out of the gutter, Sunny sighed and focused on observing the centurion.
The hulking creature was moving through the wasteland, slowly drawing closer. Soon, he was able to see every crimson line and every spike on its weathered carapace. However, his eyes were glued to something else.
Cautiously held between the centurion's scythes, a beautiful crystal was gleaming with hypnotic inner light. It was bright and strangely alluring.
A transcendent soul shard.
They had already seen a similar scene, back when a pair of centurions were retrieving two of such crystals from the remains of the giant shark-like creature.
'So that was their destination.'
Sunny glanced at the magnificent tree standing atop the Ashen Barrow. With its onyx branches and vibrant scarlet leaves, it looked striking and majestic.
Like something holy hidden in the depths of hell.
He shared his findings with the group, careful to keep his whisper as quiet as possible.
The centurion was about to walk past their hiding spot. Despite the fact that there was some distance between its path and the knoll, Sunny was still nervous. This was the most dangerous moment.
The monster came level with the knoll, then proceeded forward without blinking an eye.
He exhaled.
"It's walking toward the Barrow."
Nephis did not relax, still ready for things to go south at any moment.
"Follow it."
Sunny nodded. A moment later, his shadow slid from behind the knoll, sneakily pursuing the Nightmare Creature. With how much the range of Shadow Control had improved, he was pretty sure of his ability to tail it to the footsteps of the ashen hill.
The centurion crossed the wasteland with the transcended shard clasped tightly between its scythes. Its bearing was somewhat strange, seeming almost… pious. It looked like a pilgrim walking toward a mysterious, sacred site.
Soon, it approached the Ashen Barrow and suddenly stopped, as though afraid to cross some invisible line. Then the centurion carefully placed the shard on the sand and backed away from it, its eyes turned to the ground.
After distancing itself from the gleaming crystal, the massive creature… kneeled.
Sunny had to rub his eyes to make sure that he wasn't seeing things.
He wasn't. The carapace centurion bent its eight legs and lowered itself to the ground, submissively placing its terrifying scythes in front of its bowing torso.
Noticing Sunny's strange behavior, Nephis raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?"
He hesitated.
"Wait."
At this moment, his shadow, which was safely hidden some distance away from the kneeling monster, noticed a slight change on the surface of the Ashen Barrow.
The bright glimmer they had seen from the top of the leviathan's spine was back. Only this time, it was even more blinding.
The glimmer rose into the air from the shadows cast by the branches of the towering tree and moved, slowly approaching the footsteps of the hill.
When Sunny was finally able to discern the source of the shining, his eyes widened.
Feeling a cold shiver running down his spine, he forgot to breathe.