334 Bearded Ladies (1/2)
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Having a statue of a Kraken Priestess here is a sign that she holds a considerable status in this castle. While Raven cannot say whether she owns this castle or not, he's sure of one things. And that is, the statue of the Kraken Priestess who's preventing the Nagas from completely taking over this castle.
The Kraken Priestess came from a race known as the Bearded Ladies.
They worshipped Krakens as their almighty God Ancestor since they believed that it was the Krakens who created them. All of them having lower bodies of a squid is their best proof of that.
As a marine lifeform, they of course took the sea depths as their home. They have an innate ability to control bodies of water and the likes, but what really sets them apart from other marine beasts is their ability to judge someone's soul.
As Raven stared at the statue of the Kraken Priestess, the statue gazed back at him.
All of a sudden, the statue's eyes gleam with a brilliant gleam of green light and caused Raven's focus to slightly falter. The castle suddenly shook and Raven heard the statue speak.
”Welcome to the Sunken Ivory Castle, stranger.” The voice of the statue sounded on his ears. Her voice sounds like there are three people speaking at the same time, saying the same words. She's also using the Elven Language.
”Whether you came here on your own accord or by accident. It matters not. You may never leave unless you prove yourself worthy.”
After saying that, the statue of the Kraken Priestess suddenly disappeared and the scenario in front of him changed. A wide and long staircase showed itself. Space warped and then green phantom tentacles of different size and shapes suddenly appeared all around him. Raven felt a stir on the depths of his body yet he ignored it since he already knew what that was.
Even if the Kraken Priestess is nowhere to be seen, Raven could still hear her voice.
”If you want to leave, then look for my totem once again.” She said, ”That is, if you can.”
Everything went silent after she said that, meaning that Raven's task of finding her statue or totem according to her, begins now.
Raven merely smiled and spoke softly, ”This is easier than dealing with the Nagas.”
He then placed the hammer on his shoulders and walked calmly towards the stairs.
As soon as he placed a foot on the stairs, a nearby tentacle suddenly moved and smashed down at him. Raven didn't anything to defend himself nor was there any need to do so since it would be useless anyway. He just allowed the transparent tentacle to strike him down.
The tentacle went through his body but even if it looked hollow, it still struck something. It's target is Raven's soul.
Bearded Ladies could see through the souls of living beings and also directly attack it. Those that are chosen as the Kraken Priestess could rip out someone's soul or use their ancestral treasure: The Stone of the Kraken God, to summon tentacles and directly consume the souls that it touches or simply attack it.
The tentacles that are surrounding Raven right now are the same tentacles that comes out of the stone.
These tentacles could completely ignore any kind of material defense. Energy barriers, talismans, formations, ancient arts, anything so long as it exists in a material form means nothing to this tentacles. It targets the soul, which is often the weakest link on one's existence.
Soul is the most sensitive and the most mysterious sector of one's existence. Even after millions of years even since the creation of humanity, only a few dared to delve into its mysteries, causing it to become one of humanity's weaknesses. Even the tiniest damage to the Soul could prove to be extremely lethal, specially here in the lower realms where ingredients that could heal damages to one's soul are extremely sparse.