Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 459 The Mystery of the Heart Wall

The weightlessness of falling into the abyss made the fused body's stomach churn, as if its internal organs were being suspended upside down.

She clung tightly to Xiaoying, curling her body into a ball, the whistling wind and the guardian's heavy breathing filling her ears.

In the darkness, countless glowing veins spread across the abyss wall like blood vessels, emitting an eerie green light that stretched the shadows of the group into twisted and long shapes.

Finally, with a loud "boom," they crashed heavily to the ground, the dust they kicked up carrying a pungent, sweet-smelling odor, as if it were a mixture of blood and rust.

The surrounding walls were made up of countless beating hearts, with bulging blood vessels on their surfaces. Each beat made a "thump-thump" sound, and the rhythm of those hearts was synchronized with their rapid breathing, as if the entire maze was monitoring their every move.

The guardian struggled to his feet, his tattered armor creaking as he moved. The newly appeared silver marks on his arms burned like branding irons on his skin, making him furrow his brow.

He gazed at the fading light of the little firefly in the giant, dark purple eye in the distance, his eyes filled with anxiety and worry. He gripped his longsword tightly and said in a firm voice:

"We must find the core before her source is drained."

Before the words were finished, the heart on the wall suddenly burst open, and the blood vessels twisted and stretched out like snakes, forming mirrors that flowed with viscous fluid.

The slime was dark green and dripped continuously, corroding small pits that emitted white smoke on the ground.

"careful!"

The fusion entity shouted and grabbed the guardian's arm, when a dark shadow darted out from the mirror.

Those were black-robed figures magnified dozens of times. The gears on their mechanical arms spun at high speed, cutting through the air with a sharp whistling sound that pierced the eardrums and sent shivers down one's spine.

The guardian swung his sword to meet the attack, and the silver mark suddenly burst forth with a bright light, illuminating the surrounding darkness. The sword blade struck the shadowy figure, sparking golden flames. The shadowy figure let out a scream like a baby crying, a shrill and eerie sound, before turning into black mist and dissipating into the air.

"This mark... can suppress the afterimage of time!"

The guardian's voice was filled with surprise, and his eyes shone with hope.

But before they could catch their breath, more mirrors shattered at the same time. With a loud crash, hundreds of black-robed figures crawled out of the slime. Their eyes were empty, yet they pounced precisely on Xiao Ying.

The fusion entity hurriedly condensed a light shield, and tri-colored light shone in front of her, forming a solid barrier.

The light shield made a hissing sound when it came into contact with the slime, and she could clearly feel the shield surface thinning rapidly, bearing enormous pressure every second.

Xiao Ying suddenly placed her palm on her chest, and the star-shaped eye mark resonated with the golden light. A ring of light exploded, and the powerful force blasted the black-robed figure back. A series of screams echoed in the air.

Suddenly, the entire maze shook violently, and cracks appeared in the ground, from which black liquid with a rusty smell gushed out.

The liquid churned as if alive, from which emerged the phantom of the Time Watcher.

The crystal fragments on her mechanical arm gleamed red, like a beating heart, and a mocking smile played on her lips.

"You think you can defy fate? The first observers set up a sacrificial ritual with your bloodlines long ago!"

Before the phantom dissipated, it swung out a dark purple chain to entangle Xiao Ying. The fused entity rushed forward desperately, trying to break free of the chain, only to find that it was covered with runes from the First Observer. These runes were identical to the memory fragments she had seen in the Star Sand Space, filling her with shock and confusion.

"The Observer... betrayed us?"

The fused being's voice was filled with disbelief, and its eyes were full of confusion and pain.

The guardian's silver mark suddenly went berserk uncontrollably, his body moving uncontrollably toward the chains, his eyes becoming empty once more:

"No, the runes are saying... This is the only one..."

Before he could finish speaking, his sword was already pressed against the fused entity's throat. Looking into those familiar yet strange eyes, tears welled in the fused entity's eyes, and despair filled its heart.

At the critical moment, the golden light on Xiaoying's body transformed into chains, which intertwined with the chains of the Time Watcher. The shockwave generated by the collision of the two forces swept over like a hurricane, waking the Guardian. He looked at his sword, his face full of regret and lingering fear.

They continued their journey through the maze, each step fraught with unknowns and dangers.

Golden liquid began to seep from the heart on the wall, and the liquid condensed in the air into the maxim of the first observer: "The truth lies on the other side of memory."

The merged entity suddenly recalled the scene it saw when it touched the spacetime fragment—beneath the gatekeeper's ferocious face lay a sorrowful gaze similar to that of the observer.

An impulse surged within her, and she pressed her hand to her heart. The star-shaped mark resonated with the liquid, and with a deafening roar, the wall burst open, revealing an altar with a black sphere suspended in the air.

The surface of the sphere was covered with golden patterns of fireflies, and in the center of the altar stood a stone tablet engraved with the names of the three of them. This eerie scene sent chills down one's spine.

"This is not the core of chaos, it is..." The fusion entity's words were interrupted by a sudden burst of purple light.

The Time Watchers and the Shadow emerged from the bottom of the altar. Their bodies had been mechanized, and huge gear-shaped wings unfolded from their backs, each flap of which brought up a strong wind.

The shadowy figure raised his hand and waved, causing twelve bronze mirrors engraved with runes to rise around the altar. The mirrors reflected fusions from different times and spaces, some of which were destroying worlds, their eyes filled with madness.

Some were guarding the starry eyes, their expressions resolute.

Some even stood side by side with the gatekeeper, a mysterious smile on their faces.

"Did you see that?" The shadowy voice was like the grinding of gears, harsh and cold. "These are all branches of your destiny."

"And now, it is my turn to end all possibilities." He placed his hand on the black sphere, and Xiaoying's light was frantically drained. Her body began to turn transparent, and her eyes were filled with fear and despair.

The guardian's silver mark resonated with the sphere, and a beam of light connected the two, causing his memories to flood into the fused body's mind like a tidal wave.

In ancient times, the first observers created the guardians with their own bloodline to prevent the infant of chaos from awakening, and Xiao Ying is the key to activating the final seal.

Just as Xiaoying was about to disappear, a deafening crash of breaking chains suddenly came from the bottom of the altar, as if it were a roar from hell.

A giant hand covered in mechanical patterns burst forth from the ground, holding a crystal that shimmered with blue light in its palm. The runes flowing on the surface of the crystal perfectly matched the golden light emanating from Xiao Ying.

For the first time, cracks appeared in the expressions of the shadowy figure and the Time Watcher. They looked in the direction of the giant hand with fear and unease in their eyes.

Behind the giant hand, countless eyes lit up in the darkness, emitting an eerie glow. In one of these eyes, the shocked face of the fused entity was reflected, as if silently saying: everything has only just begun.