Douluo Dalu Chapter 301

Chapter 301

(TL by Bagelson)

Qian Renxue raised the Sword of Angels she held, the light of the sun once again withdrawing to her body. At the same moment, Qian Renxue’s Angelic Raiment shone, frantically absorbing the true sun fire. On the originally gloriously golden armor, each line brightened, becoming brilliant pure gold, brilliance roamed, like lava floating on top. Qian Renxue’s eyes flickered with divine light, her gaze targeting one spot on the ground. The next moment, she shot down like a shooting star.

With a tearing sound, Qian Renxue ripped straight into the ground like there was nothing in the way, disappearing. Where she entered a one meter diameter hole was left, and its edges were melting in pure golden light like the pit from the previous Sacred Sun Sword attack.

Qian Renxue really was skilled and daring, the way she chose to pursue Tang San was extremely overbearing, actually relying on the true sun fire and her own divine angelic force to bring the temperature of the Angelic Raiment to a truly frightening level. Where she pa.s.sed, the earth was left melting, letting her pierce into the ground to attack.

Without a doubt, Qian Renxue’s method exhausted her way more than Tang San. Tang San had the power to control the earth, while she directly destroyed it. The pressure and resistance she met was much stronger than the resistance met by Tang San. However, the G.o.d of Angels in her complete state was also way stronger than Tang San. Her divine power recovery speed was also far faster than Tang San’s spirit power. Being underground was admittedly an enormous hindrance to Qian Renxue, substantially weakening her strength. But she was still the terrifying G.o.d of Angels. Surrounded by that true sun fire, she closed the distance to Tang San in practically an instant.

Was this fine too? No matter how calm he was, as Tang San sensed what kind of method Qian Renxue used to chase him, he still couldn’t help bursting into curses. His mental strength was completely suppressed underground, and right now he used the fusion of mental strength and Force of Earth to sense Qian Renxue’s pursuit. That astonis.h.i.+ng speed and scorching hot energy waves told Tang San what method she was using. Originally Tang San had fused his mental strength and Force of Earth only to sense where Qian Renxue would attack and be able to dodge, but this fusion had now become his eyes. This was where Qian Renxue was obstructed underground, if it was anywhere else, Tang San’s mental strength would basically be useless.

Come then, I don’t stand a chance above ground, but underground the result isn’t so certain. Showing a cold smile, Tang San sped forward, at the same time constantly heading deeper.

His method was definitely harming others without helping him. The deeper he went, the greater the pressure he faced. The earth and the sea weren’t comparable, that enormous pressure definitely wasn’t alike. Where he pa.s.sed the earth immediately collapsed, and the deeper he went, the larger the pressure would be.

Relying on Force of Earth to control the surroundings, Tang San’s speed still wasn’t influenced. But without a doubt, the deeper he went, the faster his spirit power would be consumed.

Tang San knew it very clearly, he was competing with Qian Renxue in attrition. No matter how it was put, Qian Renxue using the sun’s fire to forcefully bore into the earth was a lot more exhausting than for him. The deeper they went, the faster her exhaustion would be magnified. Because the earth was constantly pressing down, her sun’s fire would have to constantly melt the soil. The deeper they went, the faster it pressed down, and the more soil she would have to melt. Moreover, the deeper they went, the larger the pressure, the larger the consumption was for Tang San, the consumption would increase geometrically for Qian Renxue. At least relying on Gravity Control and Force of Earth, Tang San’s speed wouldn’t be influenced for a while, but Qian Renxue’s speed definitely would.

Of course, Tang San’s method was also extremely dangerous to him. If he ran out of spirit power and couldn’t control Force of Earth, then he would immediately be crushed by the pressure, without chance of survival.

Very soon, Tang San’s plot showed results. As he pa.s.sed a thousand meters underground or so, and Qian Renxue chasing him was less than two hundred meters behind, Qian Renxue’s speed was also already falling.

This wasn’t purely because of the depth. Even more decisive was that the true sun fire Qian Renxue relied on was close to exhausted. She originally planned to use the true sun fire to instantly enter the ground and launch an attack on Tang San. But Tang San’s speed underground far exceeded her expectations, and after suddenly going deeper, she couldn’t catch up to him immediately. Attacking underground wasn’t like outside, even her G.o.d level strength wasn’t enough to perform large scale attacks. Because, while large scales attacks might instantly catch up to Tang San, the soil and rocks above would immediately push down, helping Tang San dissolve her attack power. Therefore, Qian Renxue could only conduct single target attacks, reducing the attack area as far as possible to ensure it had enough attack pure. But like this, Tang San naturally had a chance of dodging. Unless within a certain distance, as long as he had enough s.p.a.ce, Qian Renxue would find it extremely difficult to kill him. After all, with the SeaG.o.d’s Trident in hand, relying on the pure SeaG.o.d’s strength, Tang San could still with difficulty manage not to be locked on to by Qian Renxue’s divine senses.

Now the true sun fire was nearly exhausted, and Qian Renxue had to rely on her angelic divine power to cut open the soul and rocks to pursue, and so her speed would naturally drop. Even though she was still a bit faster than Tang San, it wasn’t by much.

Qian Renxue’s heart was already a bit jittery. The soil and rocks were no threat to her, even if she was buried underground, she still didn’t need to worry about directly dying like Tang San did. The powerful G.o.d level vitality was enough to let her not have to breathe for a very long time, and with the defense of the Sacred Angelic Armor, she could get out even if she had to crawl. But, this kind of powerful omnipresent and unstoppable enormously exhausting constant attack made her feel extremely depressed. Tang San’s cunning really was cause for headache.

Still two hundred meters. Tang San accelerated with full power. He knew that Qian Renxue was about to catch up, as long as she got within a hundred meters, it wasn’t impossible for her to instantly kill him with her formidable G.o.d level strength.

Facing danger to his life, Tang San also staked his all. Regardless of the Force of Earth being more and more exhausting to his spirit power, he did his all to go deeper. At the same time he ate a few large recovery sausages in succession to restore his spent spirit power. Mysterious Heaven Skill was like an enormous maelstrom, swiftly circulating within his body, fully using Strength of Earth and Gravity Control.

Tang San still had one secret weapon. That was the weight of the Clear Sky Hammer and SeaG.o.d Trident he held. The Clear Sky Hammer hadn’t released its Spirit Avatar, so its weight still didn’t count for much, but the SeaG.o.d Trident’s one hundred eight thousand jin weight meant that he only had to separate the earth to swiftly sink deeper without needing to even control his body.

The distance between the two quickly shrank to one hundred eighty meters. By this time, Tang San had already brought Qian Renxue one thousand two hundred meters under the surface. This was already a depth ordinary humans couldn’t even imagine. The pressure of the earth grew stronger and stronger, and there were even more rocks mixed in the soil, making their speed in cutting through the ground constantly slower.

Suddenly, Tang San’s heart twitched. As if thinking of something, the expression on his face instantly grew eccentric. The Clear Sky Hammer’s flickering first spirit ring’s light suddenly vanished. Gravity Control as well as Force of Earth withdrew in the same instant. His body immediately came to a stop deep within the earth.

Qian Renxue chasing not far behind grew overjoyed. Her speed was faster than Tang San to begin with, and as her divine sense clearly felt Tang San stop, the distance between the two of them closed to a hundred meters within an instant.

At last she was in a position to attack. Qian Renxue naturally wouldn’t hesitate in the slightest, being underground really was too exhausting, and her divine force recovery didn’t cover the expenditures. The Sacred Angelic Sword in her hand pointed forward, and the decorative lines all over her Angelic Raiment instantly erupted with intense light, the six previously withdrawn wings immediately spread out. Even though this would instantly make her endure even greater pressure, there was nothing she could do if she was to bring out her full attack power.

Intense golden light instantly condensed into an enormous golden flame. In this moment, with Qian Renxue as center, the soil within a five meter diameter was simultaneously melted in the golden flame. The enormous pressure at one thousand two hundred meters underground was unable to enter this range. Surrounding Qian Renxue, a dazzling golden disc of light seemed to appear. The Sacred Angelic Sword pointing forward, all the energy instantly condensed on the tip. Qian Renxue’s wrist flicked softly, slas.h.i.+ng out four cuts in succession, four lines of golden light, crossing in a 米 shape and instantly shooting through the ground. Straight towards Tang San.

And Tang San, having stopped further down, had already turned around in the soul. Swinging the Clear Sky Hammer in his left hand, he guarded in front of his chest. The Clear Sky Hammer’s eighth spirit ring immediately brightened, an intense red light spilling out and enveloping him completely. That red light seemed nearly tangible, covering him completely like a carapace, only sticking close to his skin. It didn’t seem like an energy form defense, but rather like physical armor. And at the same time, Tang San raised his right hand. Even though he didn’t have Force of Earth to help him control the soil around him, he still had his spirit power, and moving wasn’t a problem.

The SeaG.o.d Trident sparkled with golden light. This moment Tang San also bet his full strength. The SeaG.o.d’s Light frantically poured into the SeaG.o.d Trident regardless of exhaustion, his wrist constantly trembling, one golden ring of light after another transforming out from the SeaG.o.d Trident’s main blade. Tang San formed nine rings of light in front of him, the defensive position of Unfixed Storm.

The 米-shaped cut reached Tang San almost instantly, and the nine Unfixed Storm defenses were broken almost immediately. However, it was clear that the attack was weakened with each ring it destroyed, and once they were all gone, its attack power was less than half of before.

And by now Tang San had already turned around, using his back to meed the attack.

The Eight Spider Lances folden neatly behind him, and beyond them was the eighth spirit ring ability Tang San released from the Clear Sky Hammer.

Amidst a ma.s.sive explosion, the entire ground seemed to heave. If there was anyone on the surface right now, they would definitely think it was an earthquake. Tang San shot through the soil like an artillery sh.e.l.l, directly boring more than a hundred meters. That carapace energy he wore was now completely shattered, and even the G.o.d level Eight Spider Lances were fractured, even the clothes on his back had turned to ash.

However, Tang San’s body basically didn’t suffer any serious damage. If Qian Renxue was next to him, she would be able to see that the skin on Tang San’s back was completely golden, the full defense of the Eight Spider Lances. After breaking through the Unfixed Storm, carapace armor as well as the Eight Spider Lances, in the end it couldn’t break through the defense on Tang San’s back. It only blasted him flying, and couldn’t take his life.

Tang San only felt a heat on his back, and with a vomiting sound he spit out a mouthful of blood. He felt his blood almost boiling, the violent pain almost choking him.

This moment embodied Tang San’s formidable willpower. Facing that enormous pain, he didn’t hesitate in the slightest, but instantly changed spirits, turning from Clear Sky Hammer to Blue Silver Emperor, and moreover directly detonating his first Blue Silver Emperor spirit ring. An intense golden blue light instantly enveloped his whole body, using detonating a ring as price for filling his body with energy. And Tang San also used this energy to immediately split the soil and quickly advance.

The Great Sumeru Hammer had a lot of limits on its use. If Great Sumeru Hammer was used, the spirit that used it wouldn’t be able to use any spirit abilities. But as that golden blue light covered his body, making Tang San once again fill up with energy, at the same time as he used the power from the Ring Detonation to expel the Divine Angelic Force that had invaded him, he switched back to the Clear Sky Hammer. Meanwhile, the Clear Sky Hammer’s sixth and eighth spirit rings brightened simultaneously.

The carapace from before appeared around Tang San once again, and in Tang San’s hand the Clear Sky Hammer was covered by the sixth spirit ring and sparkled strangely. Strangely, after being covered in the carapace, the pressure from the surrounding soil disappeared completely, even at a depth of one thousand two hundred meters, Tang San didn’t feel any pressure. He already had this feeling the first time he used it before, and this also even further strengthened his confidence in his actions. And on the other side, after that sixth spirit ring covered the Clear Sky Hammer, Tang San only swung it lightly, and the soil and rocks in front were easily split open, automatically s.h.i.+fting to either side. Tang San’s speed forward was even a bit faster than when he used Force of Earth and Gravity Control before. But most importantly, even though using these two spirit abilities consumed a lot of spirit power, after using them, the consumption was still much less than before. This made him able to accelerate without apprehension, and hide even deeper.

How was it possible? After Qian Renxue attacked, she was immediately squeezed by the rocks and soil. The Angelic Raiment radiated intense golden light, but could still only block them nearby.

With her divine sense scanning, she of course knew that Tang San wasn’t killed by her attack. But that attack just now used the true essence of the G.o.d of Angels. Even if she didn’t dare use the strongest G.o.d of Angel abilities this deep underground, by her previous understanding of Tang San’s combat abilities, this should have been enough to instantly kill him! Most incomprehensible to her was that, after she attacked, Tang San not only didn’t slow down in the slightest, but instead after exploding with enormous energy, he dashed forward even faster than before. Plus the one hundred meter distance her attack gave him, the distance between the two had instead pulled open further than two hundred meters.

Let alone Qian Renxue being unable to understand, even Tang San himself had only recalled that he still had even better methods to travel underground through a flash of inspiration. This was also why he suddenly withdrew the Force of Earth and Gravity Control and stopped to take Qian Renxue’s attack.

Even though that moment’s halt delayed Tang San, if he just wanted to change, he still wouldn’t go so far as letting Qian Renxue within one hundred meters. He did so deliberately.

Spirit ability attacks underground, without a doubt, were several times more exhausting than on the surface, and the power would also reduce due to the pressure. There was no need to doubt this. And Tang San also used Unfixed Storm to weaken Qian Renxue’s attack as far as possible, then through his Clear Sky Hammer’s eighth spirit ring hundred thousand year spirit ability to defend him, and the G.o.d level Eight Spider Lances as a final defensive tool, no matter what, he didn’t believe Qian Renxue could kill him in one hit.

Facts proved that Tang San’s estimate was completely correct. When he took the attack, the SeaG.o.d Trident’s Unfixed Storm naturally had the greatest effect, but the second most important wasn’t the shattered Eight Spider Lances, but rather his eighth spirit ability.

After Tang San killed the three Fifteen Ton Ant Emperor brothers, he gained altogether three hundred thousand year spirit rings, arranged on the sixth, seventh and eighth positions on his Clear Sky Hammer. However, the most miraculous was still the eighth spirit ring. As a hundred thousand year spirit ring, it still only gave Tang San one spirit ability. And among the four spirit abilities Tang San got from the three Fifteen Ton Ant Emperor brothers, there were no duplicates.

The eighth spirit ring gave Tang San an ability called Fifteen Ton Rampart, a purely defensive spirit ability. Back when Tang San discovered what this eighth spirit ring’s ability was, he felt enormously helpless. He relied mainly on attack and control, there were very few times he needed defense. Such a potent spirit ability had practically no use. However, in his current escape, this defensive spirit ability’s importance appeared.

A one hundred thousand year spirit ring only gave one spirit ability, what did that mean? It meant one less choice, one less spirit ability. But at the same time it also meant that this sole spirit ability was so powerful that it surpa.s.sed ordinary hundred thousand year spirit abilities, equalling two spirit abilities together.

The Fifteen Ton Ant Emperors had three strongest capabilities: speed, strength and defense. Their carapace was so strong that even Tang San couldn’t crack it with the Clear Sky Hammer, even the SeaG.o.d’s Trident couldn’t harm them with the Golden Thirteen Halberds. In the end he had to rely on the G.o.d level Eight Spider Lances’ formidable corrosive toxin as well as the Eight Spider Lances attribute suppression of the Fifteen Ton Ant Emperors to deal with the three.

Tang San’s Clear Sky Hammer’s eighth spirit ring was the defensive power of the Fifteen Ton Ant Emperors. Moreover, it was even stronger than the defensive power of the three Fifteen Ton Ant Emperors. This wasn’t just because Tang San’s spirit power was stronger than theirs, but at the same time also because the spirit ring that gave this ability evolved to a hundred thousand years, breaking through the level. Ninety thousand years was just ten thousand years away from a hundred thousand years, but the true effect was vastly different, just like the gap between ninety thousand and hundred thousand year spirit beasts.

Therefore, after using the Fifteen Ton Rampart, Tang San’s defensive power reached an unprecedented degree. Even Qian Renxue’s G.o.d level attack lost a lot of power in breaking it, and after being blocked by the Eight Spider Lances, it couldn’t seriously harm Tang San.

This still wasn’t the method Tang San thought of. The reason he was sure he could take the attack was admittedly because he thought of this formidable defensive ability, but it was also equally because he thought of a clever use for another of his Clear Sky Hammer spirit abilities.

What were the Fifteen Ton Ant Emperors? Bugs. They specialized in building nests underground, living deep below the surface. Their earth attribute was even purer than the t.i.tan Giant Ape’s. At least Er Ming still lived above ground. And Fifteen Ton Ants excelled in moving underground. After Tang San released the Fifteen Ton Rampart, he immediately discovered that the pressure from the soil disappeared. This was clearly the properties of the Fifteen Ton Ant Emperors helping him. And the sixth spirit ability he used was one of the two abilities from the spirit ring, called Earth Ant Emperor Chop. In theory it was like Fifteen Ton Ants swinging their forelegs to break open the soil to move forward. It was a straight line attack, a bit similar to the Orca Evil Spirit Hatchet. However, Tang San’s way of using it was different from the Orca Evil Spirit Hatchet, let alone that the shape would definitely be different when used through the Clear Sky Hammer, just that it came from the Fifteen Ton Ant Emperor gave Tang San a large hint. Also relying on the Fifteen Ton Rampart defense, without a doubt, it was even easier and more comfortable than when he used Force of Earth and Gravity Control. The spirit power consumption also reduced a lot. Without the pressure, his spirit power recovery speed also increased. With all this, he could naturally stay underground for even longer.

Tang San lured Qian Renxue into launching the attack, and was amply prepared for it. At least it was much better than being caught up to and suddenly attacked. At the same time it also consumed a large amount of Qian Renxue’s divine power. And that he picked the Blue Silver Emperor to use with Ring Detonation wasn’t so he could display the optimal effect with the Clear Sky Hammer, but also so he could use the Clear Sky Hammer’s spirit abilities.

To be able to plan all of this within a short few breaths, Tang San had brought out his full potential. Ever since he ran into Qian Renxue, he had always been balancing on the edge of life and death. This kind of enormous pressure had inadvertently accelerated Tang San’s progress even further. Right now even Tang San himself was a bit surprised he had pulled it off. He knew that his overall strength had risen somewhat under Qian Renxue’s pressure.

Any creature that met adversity, would either adapt, or die. Tang San absolutely didn’t want to be annihilated, and so he had to constantly progress, unceasingly approach the G.o.d level, use all kinds of advantages to obtain a chance for survival.

Sensing Tang San hide even deeper, Qian Renxue frowned, pursuing closely behind, refusing to give up. When she caught up to Tang San today, she had already set her heart. No matter what difficulties she faced, she definitely wouldn’t let Tang San see sunrise tomorrow. Even though she was now enormously exhausted, after reaching the G.o.d level, her divine power was also an unknown number of times higher than before. Even though she was exhausted, it still wasn’t enough to make her give up on killing Tang San.

However, as they continued deeper underground, Tang San’s spirit power consumption remained level due to using the two Fifteen Ton Ant Emperor spirit abilities, while Qian Renxue’s consumption increased. She didn’t care about the divine power consumption speed, but she couldn’t ignore her speed constantly dropping. The distance between her and Tang San was already closing slower and slower. Now it was still one hundred meters to Tang San, but closing in further was already very difficult. What angered Qian Renxue the most was that this distance was showing signs of gradually increasing. If it went on like this, without a doubt, she wouldn’t be able to kill Tang San before he reached the sea. She also didn’t know how long Tang San’s spirit power could endure, but she couldn’t allow these circ.u.mstances to continue. Once in the sea, who knew what methods Tang San had for dealing with her. Her attributes were light and flame, and the flame attribute was substantially restrained in seawater. Her strength could very possibly be suppressed even further. But Tang San possessed the SeaG.o.d Trident, he clearly wouldn’t have this disadvantage. To him, it was on the contrary an advantage.

Tang San swiftly advanced. Suddenly, he discovered that Qian Renxue had stopped behind him, just like he stopped before, extremely abruptly.

Originally Tang San should be excited that Qian Renxue halting would let him pull open the distance, but what he truly felt was his heart thumping violently. He vaguely felt something ominous. As a G.o.d level power, Qian Renxue’s divine power definitely wouldn’t be finished so quickly. Even though they were already one thousand five hundred meters deep, she definitely wouldn’t give up on chasing him this easily. There was only one reason she would stop: she was going to use some divine ability.

But no matter how it was put, right now Tang San still had no choice. He could only rush forward with all his strength. With the Fifteen Ton Rampart for defense, plus his own contingencies and the SeaG.o.d Trident, this deep underground Tang San was at least confident Qian Renxue couldn’t kill him in one hit.

Qian Renxue nevertheless stopped, floating in the depths of the earth. Intense golden flame once again appeared all around her, once again pus.h.i.+ng away the soil. The six wings unfolded behind her, layer after layer of intense golden light erupting from the Angelic Raiment and angel wings. Qian Renxue gave a roar underground, raising the Sacred Angelic Sword high. Behind her flashed a shadow of herself, instantly infusing into the Sacred Angelic Sword. The next moment, intense golden light burst from the blade.

Where the golden light reached, it directly melted the soil within a one meter diameter. That intense golden light actually broke through the earth, shooting towards the surface.

What was she doing?

Qian Renxue very soon gave the answer. Terrifying G.o.d level might manifested in this moment. That tyrannical golden pillar of light actually directly pa.s.sed through the one thousand five hundred meter distance, forcibly breaking out and charging at the clouds. Qian Renxue actually broke open a channel like this, letting her once again see the sky.

With the appearance of the channel, the pressure of the earth instantly ceased to exist. Even though it was just a one meter diameter, it was enough for Qian Renxue. With the pressure gone, Qian Renxue’s divine power instantly began to recover several times faster than before. G.o.d level powers’ recovery ability absolutely wasn’t something ordinary spirit masters could imagine. In just three breaths time, Qian Renxue’s previously exhausted spirit power was nearly half restored.

But this wasn’t the reason she opened the channel. Even if she didn’t use this kind of method to recover, her divine power could still last for a very long time of underground combat. She had an even more important reason.

The sky grew dark once again, because the light of the sun could only envelop a one meter diameter range. Scorching hot true sun fire pured straight down that channel. To the true sun fire, with this channel and the draw of the Sacred Angelic Sword, this distance basically wasn’t an issue.

A pure golden color instantly extended all over Qian Renxue’s body. This time she not only used the Sacred Angelic Sword to draw the true sun fire, at the same time she also launched the attributes of the Angelic Raiment. Her entire body sucked in and held the true sun fire’s energy like a river running into the sea. Gradually, her Angelic Raiment actually turned pure red. Even the long hair on her head was rendered in the same color.

Two flames flared in her beautiful eyes. Qian Renxue gave a cold snort: Tang San, let’s see where you can run now.

The pure red figure left afterimages as it shot straight into the ground. Intense true sun fire instantly erupted, and Qian Renxue’s speed was at least three times what it was before. It was just like a scorching hot meteor appeared underground, frantically pursuing Tang San. The three thousand meter distance was pulled close in an instant.

Moved to true anger, Qian Renxue was erupting with the true strength of the G.o.d of Angels. Even here underground, she would still prove that her strength was far superior to Tang San, and also utterly annihilate him.

Qian Renxue stored up strength for a total of eight seconds. In these eight seconds, Tang San had already moved three kilometers away. Deep underground his mental strength couldn’t spread too far, and adding in that he didn’t have the support of Force of Earth, he had already lost track of Qian Renxue. By now Tang San was even speculating whether Qian Renxue really was letting him go?

However, the next moment, an intense feeling of danger spread through his whole body. Tang San practically instinctively took the most proper action.

The SeaG.o.d Trident brand on his forehead flared, instantly connecting with the SeaG.o.d’s Heart. The SeaG.o.d’s Heart used the spirit ability Vast Ocean Mad Wave to have a blue ripple spread over him. At the same time, Tang San instantly switched his spirit back to the Blue Silver Emperor form, and without hesitation, detonated all the remaining eight spirit rings.

This was all Tang San could do now. Because that heartfelt fear, fear that made even the SeaG.o.d Trident tremble, told Tang San that his life might very possibly end here. Therefore, at this moment he didn’t dare hold back. He fully exerted all his abilities and strength.

Boom—— Golden blue light instantly wrapped up Tang San completely. Having lost the support of the Clear Sky Hammer’s two spirit abilities, Tang San’s speed underground also instantly slowed.

At this moment, Tang San’s body had already turned completely golden blue. Detonating eight spirit rings simultaneously, even the Clear Sky Sect ancestor who created the Great Sumeru Hammer had never tried it. But this moment, Tang San had no choice. If he didn’t, he basically wouldn’t feel any security. And at the same time as this energy erupted, he poured nearly all the berserk energy into his SeaG.o.d Trident.

It was also at this moment that incomparably terrifying red light filled Tang San’s surroundings, like a malevolent maw opening that could devour everything.