Skill Extraction: Exploring Dungeons-Chapter 555 - 497: Despair and Elegance

A translucent golden bridge that spans across the sky.

Like crystal, its interior radiates a dazzling light through its transparent shell, bringing a feeling of joy and tranquility.

This light ensures that the continent is never shrouded in night, with daylight eternal.

All living beings are destined to be illuminated under this light.

Under the golden light.

A few gigantic metallic birds, their surfaces reflecting the light, are soaring towards the Village of the Dead.

Set against the light, they resemble golden statues, like divine envoys.

Kane, who is chasing after Jian An up the hill, instinctively shields his eyes from the light with his hand.

It seems that this way, his Eagle Eye might see the birds clearly in the sky, identifying exactly what they are.

Reflecting such luster, their wings hardly flap, almost as if they’re not real birds.

If not for their striking resemblance, Taiwan might think they were some sort of machinery in the sky.

While running downhill, Kane finally sees clearly the object in the sky as the light dims momentarily.

It is a massive Steel Giant Eagle, entirely made of metal, with a shell featuring intricate patterns emitting a subtle golden glow.

The eagle’s skull seems like a transparent crystal, allowing a view of the operator inside, who is human.

One can see the eagle’s wing pattern on the human’s helmet and goggles.

Kane just saw the likeness of this eagle a moment ago.

It’s exactly the stunning coffin Jian An excavated, with engravings of an eagle very similar to this one.

Finally, Jian An stops at the village entrance, gazing at the steel giant eagle in the sky, arms open in triumph.

"It’s Steel Wings, it’s the Steel Wings squadron, my son used to serve with them. Maybe they know where my son is buried."

He turns to explain several things to Kane, then waves his arms vigorously towards the sky.

"Hey! Look here, come down, do you know Gianluan Nico? Hey!"

Watching Jian An shout loudly, Kane wants to say they can’t hear him from that height.

But seeing Jian An’s lively expression, Kane decides to let him vent.

Finally, those steel giant eagles flying towards the Village of the Dead swiftly pass over the village, dropping rapidly falling golden light clusters, then flying away directly.

Jian An still yells, and seeing the eagles leave quickly, seems to give up, running quickly towards the falling golden light clusters in the village.

What are these light clusters?

Kane can sense these light clusters are high-energy objects, but they are too far, unsure exactly what they are, yet he doesn’t sense any danger.

"Watch out!"

As a light cluster falls near Jian An, Kane finally sees the energy inside the clusters.

It’s some kind of mixed energy Holy Light.

Kane calls out, then runs rapidly towards Jian An, shooting out a strand of spider silk.

The spider silk crosses 10 meters, entangling Jian An, pulling him to Kane with a drag.

Kane, holding Jian An with one hand, quickly retreats outside the village.

The light clusters also finally land, smashing in the village.

Upon landing, they don’t explode but instead transform into golden light particles, rapidly spreading from the ground outward.

Retreating outside the village, Kane places Jian An on the ground with one hand.

"You’re okay..."

As Kane speaks to check if Jian An is alright, he sees a large cluster of golden light particles attached to Jian An’s arm.

These particles cling to his hand like swarms, devouring his flesh.

He was just too close to the high-energy Holy Light solid, and some energy in the Holy Light Energy frenzy attached to him.

As these particles consume, Jian An’s arm begins to crumble like sand, turning into gravel swiftly upward.

Reaching out to swipe the particles off, they stick to Kane’s hand, but instead of consuming, they strengthen and heal Kane’s body.

Even if particles are scattered away, the body continuing to turn to gravel doesn’t stop.

Jian An seems to realize his impending death, fearfully shakes his head, and rapidly runs towards the hillside in the Maple Forest.

Yet it’s not just his body that dissipates but also his strength.

He collapses weakly to the ground, clutching the earth with one remaining hand.

Mumbling, "No way, I can’t dissipate like this, my son, I haven’t found my son’s coffin yet, he can’t open it... he can’t open the coffin cover... he will go mad, he will go mad..."

Kane comes and squats beside Jian An; by now, his body, a left arm plus half his torso, is nearly completely turning to gravel.

However, Kane is powerless in this situation; it’s too fast.

Moreover, essentially, Jian An and others can be considered somewhat akin to undead forms.

Even the Healing Potion won’t work at all.

All Kane can do is watch the elderly man, whom he’s known for less than two days, die before him.

And Jian An seems to finally give up, trying his best to roll over, the marks of dissipation already reaching his neck.

"Why, why is it like this, why did Steel Wings do such things."

He murmurs incoherently.

Looking at Kane, as if grasping at a lifeline, the remaining hand clutches Kane’s shoulder desperately.

"I know you’re certainly not ordinary, remove this curse, don’t let people live like this, you must... must..."

His words don’t conclude, for half his face has turned to sand, leaving only one eye staring at Kane.

A haze of yellow fills his vision, with only a plea remaining.

Just like that, Kane watches the old man turn into wind and sand before him.

He isn’t familiar with this coffin-toting old man, having only met him two days ago.

Kane doesn’t know how he feels now.

He looks at the grains of sand in his hand, tilting his palm slightly, the sand pours onto the ground, caught by the breeze before ever touching it. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

"Hmm, I promised you."

Saying this softly, Kane swiftly heads toward the village.

As Kane enters the village, cries and shouts of terror ring out from all around.

Meanwhile, Yoyo also runs over from the tavern, following at Kane’s heels.

Of course, not all the cries are of fear.

For the people here face nothing more than yet another death.

"Ding! Ding!"

From within a blacksmith’s shop, the crisp sound of hammering transmits clearly.

An elderly man with graying hair yet a robust body is swinging his iron hammer, striking iron pieces on the iron ingot before him.

The iron pieces are glowing red-hot, spiraling sparks with every strike.

Perhaps the area covered by the light sphere is too broad, so these undead bear few light spots on their bodies.

This also results in the dissipation of these people at a much slower pace than Jian An.

The blacksmithing old man glances at the gap on his shoulder, which is turning to sand.

After a brief look, he continues to wield his iron hammer, as if the gap isn’t on him at all.

Kane walks through the village, watching scene after scene unfolding around him.

He heads toward the tavern.

"Mama, my hand turned into sand and disappeared, hehe!"

"Look at me, look at me, my leg is gone."

Kane looks toward the source of the voices, to the gate of a wooden house he passed by earlier.

Sitting by the door are the only two children he had seen in the village before, with a woman by their side.

She holds her children with two hands, one of which has a dried finger.

Each hand gently rests on the backs of her two children, with the dried finger angled outward, careful not to touch them.

"You are so strong, such good children."

Her voice carries sobs, yet a smile graces her face.

"Mama don’t cry, it doesn’t hurt this time."

They console their mother, one using his little hand to wipe away her tears earnestly.

The other, having lost both hands, jumps up trying to place his cheek against hers.

"As long as it doesn’t hurt, as long as it doesn’t hurt."

The mother says, then pulls her children tightly into her embrace, burying her head in their bosoms.

Kane stands nearby watching.

Until the ground is left with a pile of sand, scattering with the breeze.

He averts his gaze, quickening his pace toward the tavern.

Upon arriving at the tavern door, Kane hears an unsettling commotion inside, contrary to yesterday’s calm.

Kane pushes open the door and steps inside.

Only to find the place already packed with people, each bearing various gaps, slowly eating away at their flesh, transforming them into sand.

"Woohoo! Finally don’t have to eat these damn roots anymore."

A middle-aged man with half-white hair stands one foot on a stool, the other on a table, taking a vicious bite of the red root in his hand, then forcefully slamming it on the table.

"Hey! Fellows! Look at me, look at me." A somewhat stout old man shouts loudly, garnering everyone’s attention.

He laughs with the remaining half of his mouth, saying: "See? I’m dying, haha..."

The laughter abruptly stops, leaving only a body fallen onto the floor.

A middle-aged man picks up the red root in his hand, raises it high, and shouts: "Let’s bless Nico, he’s finally free from eating terrible roots."

"Bless Nico."

"Bless the damn old fat man."

"He ran ahead of us, what a waste, hahahaha."

The crowd cheers, biting the red roots in their hands, spraying the crimson juice everywhere.

Kane watches this frenzied crowd, bypasses them directly, and heads inside, only to see a smiling Clark at the bar watching the scene unfold.

In front of him stands Clark, perfectly intact, without any signs of gaps.

"You didn’t get touched by the golden light spots?"

Looking at the suddenly arriving Kane, Clark sizes him up, realizing Kane is free of gaps, his smile grows brighter.

Then he laughs, saying: "How could that be."

He stands and shakes his body, sand grains slipping out from his pants.

He lifts his trouser leg, revealing a noticeable gap on his lower left leg, turning to sand.