The sealed bronze door opened to Cassandra's stolen command.
Nothing waited immediately beyond it. A narrow bridge crossed a cylindrical chamber whose upper and lower limits vanished into darkness. Hundreds of bell ropes hung around the bridge, all perfectly still.
At the far end, an original bell rested inside a silver frame.
Black flesh clung to its outer surface.
The mass uncoiled when Martin stepped onto the bridge. Long limbs unfolded from beneath the bell, each ending in fingers shaped like narrow clappers. Smaller bronze mouths opened along its body. Some carried human lips. Others had the fanged mouths of Sairren.
The original bell lifted inside the creature like a stolen head.
[Bell-Eater Cantor (Epic Monster) Lv. 60]
[Upper Belfry Guardian: Corrupted]
"Open the way," it repeated in Cassandra's voice.
Cassandra's expression hardened. "It copied me without taking my voice. It must have heard us through the relays."
The Cantor's bronze mouths opened together.
