Elden Ring, but with Wind Spirit Moon Shadow

Chapter 413: The Vortex of Devouring Light
Bai Shi was stunned when he found that he could understand the meaning of the death ritual bird.

The Death Ritual Bird was actually able to communicate directly with him normally, and words emerged in his mind.

I inexplicably understood what the other party meant, which was really beyond my expectation.

In the spiritual world, can the birds of death, as messengers of death, convey their thoughts normally?

Bai Shi was overjoyed. Now he didn't have to worry about communication.

Moreover, the information revealed in the words of the death ritual bird made Bai Shi extremely excited.

There is no other possibility for the mother in the bird's mouth during the death ritual, it can only be the "double bird".

It is said that the twin birds are messengers of some external deity and the mother of many dead birds.

Before the golden tree is born, death will be baptized by spiritual fire and then thrown into the spiritual world to wait for rebirth.

The original spiritual world was managed by the birds of death.

But after the advent of the Golden Tree era, death was stripped from the borderland and was no longer one of the laws of the world.

Because in the ideal constructed by Queen Marika, the era of the golden tree should be an era as eternal as gold.

From then on, the ancient spiritual world and death rituals gradually disappeared from the border area and were replaced by the tree-reincarnation system.

Unfortunately, the golden tree is not eternal, and the moment when its roots rot comes more unexpectedly than anyone could have imagined.

After the Shattering War, the Golden Law's control became weaker and weaker.

Those ancient beliefs that were once driven away and disappeared by the golden tree began to return to view.

The two birds led the dead birds back, and the spirit world was rebuilt again.

This new spiritual world was built by Godwin's followers and the birds of death together for mutual benefit.

Now the Bird of Death has taken the initiative to approach Bai Shi, perhaps the cooperation between the two parties has broken down.

Bai Shi quickly figured out the possible reason behind this and couldn't help but feel secretly happy.

This is great.

Although the situation in the spiritual world has undergone tremendous changes, it is actually worth being happy about.

For Bai Shi, this change in the situation was not completely out of his control. Instead, it brought him more information.

As long as he can get in-depth intelligence, there will always be a way to deal with it.

Even if it was an unchanging spiritual world before, without any information, we could only cross the river by feeling the stones, exploring bit by bit with great effort.
There is also a high possibility that you will be indecisive or even make the wrong choice due to too little information.

If we can communicate, then all problems can be solved.

Bai Shi looked at the death ritual bird waiting in front and asked:
"Is the mother you are talking about the twin birds?"

"If she has anything she wants to talk to me about, she can tell me now."

However, the Death Ritual Bird seemed not to have heard Bai Shi's question and repeated itself like a machine:
"Your Majesty..."

'Our Mother longs to see you.'

Bai Shi was stunned for a moment, thinking that the bird did not understand the death ritual, so he asked again.

But the Death Ritual Bird did not answer, it just kept repeating itself.

Seeing it like this, Bai Shi knew that it couldn't be relied upon to answer the question.

The Death Ritual Bird itself should have considerable intelligence and strength, but at this moment it has probably been given clear instructions and will not make any moves or responses beyond those orders.

It seems that I must go there and meet the 'two birds' to know what is happening in the spirit world.

Bai Shi shook his head, let go of Xia Duo's hand, and walked towards the death ritual bird.

But at this moment, the words that were repeated halfway by the death ritual bird suddenly stopped and turned into a chirping sound that Bai Shi could not understand.

Bai Shi paused and widened his eyes slightly.

What's going on here?

He didn't do anything just now, he just let go of the hand that was hugging Xia Duo, but suddenly he couldn't understand?
Considering the only variable, Bai Shi guessed that it was probably Xia Duo's fault.

This ability to communicate does not come from the dead birds, but because of Xia Duo?

Bai Shi looked at Xia Duo, and the latter gave him a confused look in confusion.

After thinking for a while, Bai Shi asked Xia Duo:
"Xia Duo, do you still understand the words of the Death Ritual Bird?"

Xia Duo blinked, turned her head to look at the death ritual bird, and felt very strange.

Ever since these death ritual birds arrived, she understood their words and nothing has changed now.

Although she was puzzled by Bai Shi's question, Xia Duo still replied honestly:
“I’ve always understood…”

"You can't understand? Do you want me to help translate?"

Bai Shi shook his head, and getting a positive response was enough.

He was almost certain that it was because of Xia Duo that he could understand the words of the death ritual bird.

"No need for translation."

"After all, I understood it just now, but now it has suddenly changed..."

"The only thing that changed is that I let go of you."

Bai Shi immediately took Xia Duo's hand again.

The meaning of the bird's words in the death ritual became clear again and reappeared in Bai Shi's mind.

Xia Duo tilted her head, not knowing what Bai Shi was doing suddenly.

Bai Shi silently turned his head and stared into the empty eyes of the death ritual bird.

He had found it strange before. Xia Duo was just an ordinary witch in her lifetime. At most, she might have some unique powers in her family.

If it is just this extent, how can it maintain human form in a place like the spirit world?

The death ritual bird cannot truly communicate with itself, but it has not prepared any other means of communication.

It seems... they are not worried at all that Bai Shi would kill them simply because of the language barrier.

Obviously, the two birds behind the dead birds knew that Xia Duo was able to communicate.

Perhaps Xia Duo still retains her body in the spiritual world, which is also done intentionally by the dead birds. There is some unknown secret.

Now it seems that Xia Duo also has secrets that she herself doesn't know about.

Spiritual fire burned quietly in the eyes of the Death Ritual Bird, and it remained unmoved by Bai Shi's gaze.

It just kept repeating itself, and its natural counterpart continued to circle around, as if it would not stop until it got a reply.

Bai Shi slowly withdrew his gaze.

These guys can't get anything out of me, I hope I can get the answer from Shuangniao.

But before that, Bai Shi thought he had to figure out what happened to Xia Duo first, so he let these repeaters wait for a while.

Why is it that only when I come into contact with Xia Duo can I understand the meaning of the death ritual bird?

Is it really Xia Duo's own power? Or is there some other reason?

Bai Shi always felt that something was not right. This incident triggered a certain intuition in his heart and he couldn't put it aside.

Xia Duo had never shown such an ability before, nor could she communicate with other creatures in the spiritual world. Is this a power that only works on the dead birds?
Suddenly, Bai Shi remembered something Xia Duo had shown him in the past.

Bai Shi suddenly had an idea and stretched out his hand, starting to feel around Xia Duo's body.

Xia Duo's cheeks instantly turned red as if she was drunk, and the heat spread down the side of her neck to her collarbone, as if it was dyed by the sunset.

He twisted his fingers around the corner of his clothes and rubbed them repeatedly. The rough cloth woven from the fiber of the Roya fruit made a slight protesting sound, but it could not cover up the sound of his pounding pulse.

Xia Duo's heart was beating so fast that it seemed like it was about to explode, and her breathing became increasingly rapid.

"Well……"

Bai Shi's hand didn't actually touch anything, he just checked the things Xia Duo was carrying as if she was going through a security check.

However, Xia Duo at the border had never seen such a scene before.

Faced with Bai Shi's constantly wandering hands, Xia Duo twisted her body slightly, at a loss as to what to do.

Her neck was stubbornly straight, but her pupils moved anxiously between the ground and the tips of Bai Shi's shoes.

Xia Duo thought about it and decided that maybe it was time to stop.

Xia Duo stretched out her hand and reluctantly pushed towards Bai Shi's chest.

At this moment, Bai Shi's hand suddenly reached into her robe.

Xia Duo's breathing stagnated, her body tensed as if she had been electrocuted, and the movements of her hands stopped in the air.

She quickly buried her head in Bai Shi's shoulder, and her skin turned red like cooked shrimp.

Xia Duo opened her mouth, her brain almost shutting down.

“Eh…eh——!”

Is now the time to do this?!
Even if she didn't care about Bai Shi's actions, there were other creatures around! While Xia Duo was panicking and feeling shy about what was going to happen next, Bai Shi's actions stopped.

The evil big hand pulled out from Xia Duo's clothes and took out a skull.

This skull has no jaw and is overall smooth and flawless, slightly transparent like glass.

And in the eye sockets of this skull, there is a faint blue flame burning.

According to Xia Duo's past demonstrations, this skull would point to a certain direction in the spiritual world, which was very strange.

Holding the skull, Bai Shi smiled with satisfaction.

Because at this time, with the skull in his hand, Bai Shi could understand the words of the death ritual bird again.

Obviously, the problem lies with this skull.

But for the sake of rigorous verification, Bai Shi asked Xia Duo again:

"What about now? Can you still hear me?"

Xia Duo's lips and teeth were trembling, and there was a hint of mist in her eyes. She wanted to say something but couldn't.

In the end, Xia Duo lowered her head and answered silently:
"Um……"

"I can't hear it now..."

After getting a satisfactory answer, Bai Shi nodded happily.

After simple tests with controlled variables, he already knew the source of the power.

Sure enough, this skull is not a simple thing.

Although he had some guesses when he last saw it, he didn't expect it to have such power.

I hope I can find out the origin of this thing next time.

Bai Shi walked towards the Death Ritual Bird, grabbed the skull in his hand, and raised it towards the other party.

"Take us there."

"Let me go meet the mother you mentioned."

This time, the bird's repetition of the death ritual was finally interrupted.

As if receiving an order, the death ritual bird bowed to the skull and signaled the two to ride on its back.

Bai Shi grabbed Xia Duo and jumped onto the back of the death ritual bird, standing steadily in the center of the huge wings.

Although the body structure of the Bird of Death is very strange, there is still room for it to stand.

As for sitting down... that was not something Bai Shi considered.

That long body looked easy to ride, but Bai Shi had no intention of sitting on that rotten corpse-like trunk.

The Death Ritual Bird, carrying Bai Shi and Xia Duo, slowly stood up.

The pair of huge black wings flapped, and the priests who had signed the death contract chanted along.

The death ritual birds in the sky no longer circled in formation, but followed the leader and crossed the spirit world at a great speed.

Xia Duo overlooks the scenery from the back of the death ritual bird,
Match each place below with the spiritual world in your mind bit by bit.

Before she knew it, she had already been to so many places in the spirit world.

Suddenly, Xia Duo stretched out her hand and pointed to a place to Bai Shi.

That is the edge of the spirit world, the last point that can be reached by land. Beyond that, there is only the ocean of the dead.

"That's it! I've been to this edge before!"

"At that time, I was wandering aimlessly in the spirit world, and then I inexplicably obtained this skull."

"Then, I tried to follow the guidance of the skull and walked to the edge."

Xia Duo looked at the skull, which was now pointing in exactly the same direction as it was heading.

She realized something and suddenly understood.

"Ahh, so that's how it is..."

"Did you point me here from the very beginning?"

Xia Duo gazed at the lone island in the ocean of the dead, and longed for an answer.

A reason why...

Bai Shi looked at the ocean beneath his feet, which was called the 'Ocean of the Dead'.

But the sea water was not liquid, but bones.

The ocean was made up of bone fragments carrying memory fragments, constantly swirling in whirlpools.

Arms reached out to the sky as if longing for liberation, but were swallowed by the whirlpool in an instant.

The reason why this sea water is feared by creatures in the spiritual world is that anyone who touches it will instantly experience a suffocating flashback of various forms of death.

Eventually, you might lose yourself and be dragged into the water.

The death ritual birds flew over the last piece of land and continued to move towards the depths of the ocean.

The isolated island that gradually appeared before my eyes could finally be clearly seen.

The so-called islands turned out to be fossilized skulls of giant whales, paved with tall towers reaching into the sky.

Asphalt-like black tides gushed out from the weathered bones, forming countercurrent whirlpools surrounding the island.

And on top of that isolated island was a spirally twisted tower that stretched continuously upward, deep into the darkness of the dome.

Or rather, that place should be called the Bird's Nest.

Countless spines intertwined together, forming a tower of contradictory spirals, and the cold light of spiritual fire continued to emerge from the gaps.

Countless dead birds circled the tower, scraping the remains of burnt corpses from the furnace with their hooks.

The birds of the death ritual that welcomes Bai Shi return to their nests and fly straight up to the top of the tower.

Bai Shi looked up, towards the top of the tower that led to nowhere.

The first thing that appeared in the sight was the bright colors that were out of tune with the dim spiritual world.

Tens of thousands of soft feathers hang from the top of the tower, draped over the tower like the finest silk, emitting a cold and proud metallic rainbow light.

And just from these feathers, one can tell how amazingly big the owner of the nest is.

Just by looking at these stunning tail feathers, Bai Shi began to look forward to what the so-called pair of birds would look like.

The Death Ritual Bird continued to climb and finally reached the top of the tower. The two birds in the nest also appeared in front of Bai Shi for the first time.

Two birds sat on top of a high tower, covered in rosy feathers. Their completely different heads looked towards Bai Shi, as if they had been waiting for a long time.

The feathers on the left are like molten gold, while the feathers on the right are covered with fine green feathers of malachite.

But no matter which side of the head, there are two ribbon-like crests standing upright backwards.

The necks of the two heads are like intertwined rainbow lights, changing the feathers from pomegranate red to ultramarine, as beautiful as spilled mineral pigments splashed on silk.

Looking at the two brightly colored birds that were completely different from the colors in the spiritual world, Bai Shi was stunned for a moment.

It is clearly the messenger of death, yet it has such warm and dazzling colors.

Bai Shi and Xia Duo landed on the flat roof of the nest and looked around curiously.

The two birds lowered their huge heads and came in front of Bai Shi, and said proudly:

"The Vortex of Devouring Light… our most proud work."

"It is both a hive city and a spiritual furnace that burns the body and soul."

Bai Shi's mouth twitched, and he replied politely:
"really……"

"This is really an amazing construction, it is beyond human power to do."

The name is very good, it even makes him feel a little bit childish.

Xia Duo looked at the scene in the nest and found something unusual.

Under the wings of two birds, I saw a headless corpse sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Xia Duo took out the skull and compared it with the corpse.

Not only the texture and size, but also the feeling it gave her was exactly the same.

Xia Duo couldn't help but speak, and asked Shuangniao:
"what is that……"

Shuangniao's gaze also shifted here, and he explained softly:

"The God of Death."

"That is the master I serve."

(End of this chapter)