Chapter 22: Underground Passage
“Medea…” Nuo clutched Medea’s arm, her voice trembling with fear in the dim surroundings. “Is Asker really in that direction?”
“Of course.” Medea said. “This anomaly greatly amplifies the range of my psychic abilities.”
“I’ve already scanned everyone within my range. Asker is in that direction. I could recognize the fluctuations of his mental body even with my eyes closed.”
Nuo wanted to ask “How can you be so sure?” but…
Ever since the two of them had been teleported here by the anomaly, the strange surroundings had filled her with such fear that she didn’t dare ask any more questions, just hurried along, keeping pace with Medea.
They walked along a long passage, the walls made of concrete reinforced with steel plates. Many of the steel plates showed signs of corrosion and rust, silently proclaiming how long this place had been abandoned, making Nuo feel extremely uncomfortable.
It’s a good thing Asker is also nearby, she thought to herself, feeling slightly reassured.
As they continued forward, the terrain gradually sloped upwards. The clear footprints in the dust showed that this passage hadn’t been used in years, the air thick with the smell of dust.
At least the ventilation seemed to be okay; they weren’t having any trouble breathing.
Finally, they reached the end of the passage, blocked by an iron door embedded in the ceiling. Medea tried pushing it, but it wouldn’t budge.
It wasn’t locked, but seemed to be held down by something heavy, preventing them from opening it from below.
“Medusa, are you there?” Since Nuo was no help, Medea could only call out mentally.
“This anomaly…is strange…” Medusa’s voice was strained.
“Is your mental body damaged?” Medea asked, frowning.
“It…split me…when it teleported you…” Medusa said weakly.
“Split?” Medea paused, then understood.
Medusa was originally a fragment of her split consciousness. Being split again would undoubtedly cause even more serious damage to the already incomplete Medusa.
“It split you? Then where is the split-off fragment of your mind?” Medea asked hurriedly.
“I don’t know…” Medusa gasped. “I can’t maintain… Now…I have to hibernate…”
“My power…I’ll lend it to you…” Her voice trailed off. “Take it back, Medea…”
“Take back our…mind…”
Medea stood still, speechless.
“What’s wrong, Medea?” Nuo asked.
“Nothing.” Medea said lightly, pulling Nuo back a few steps, then raising her left hand and aiming it at the iron door.
Her main consciousness sank, connecting with Medusa slumbering in the depths of her mind.
As Medusa had said, her sub-personality was now extremely weak, having lost about a third of her mental body, like someone who had been cut in half and was bleeding profusely—Medusa was in immense pain, forcing her into hibernation.
The small amount of pain leaking from her personality made Medea’s body stiffen, cold sweat beading on her back.
But this small amount of pain was enough. The open connection from Medea allowed her to communicate with Purgatory, exchanging pain for increased power.
After all, this was her “talent,” the talent of the Witch of Suffering.
Blue-white flames surged from her hand, instantly melting the iron door, the lock, and everything else above it, even burning through the building’s roof and into the fog-filled sky.
Nuo also felt the intense heat, hurriedly retreating dozens of meters to avoid the scorching air current.
Medea stood in place, a huge stream of flames continuing to pour from between her fingers. The rapidly heated air created a wind in the passage, blowing her wine-red hair backwards. Tiny sparks swirled around her hair.
“That’s!” The swordsmen in the church in the foggy town also saw the towering flames.
Medea? Asker guessed mentally and gave Nuremberg and the others a look.
They hurriedly rushed over and finally, at a building entrance, saw that the flames had dissipated, leaving only a gaping hole in the roof.
“Is this, the town hall?” Nuremberg looked at the building in front of him, taking his sword from his back. “Everyone, battle ready!”
So all the swordsmen drew their swords, holding them vertically in front of their chests with both hands.
Nuremberg took the first step, stepping onto the steps of the town hall, then pointed his sword forward, turned his head, and said respectfully:
“Master, after you.”
Asker, watching from the side: …
Richard Tennar didn’t speak – unless he encountered a skilled swordsman, this old Sword Saint didn’t usually talk much (or perhaps he didn’t have the urge to recite poetry). He stepped onto the steps indifferently and walked inside.
“Let’s go, Chief Asker,” Nuremberg gestured and followed Richard Tennar inside.
Asker followed, noticing the melted marks on the surrounding walls. The air was still filled with heat, the room temperature around 40 or 50 degrees Celsius. The old Sword Saint seemed unaffected, while he and Nuremberg were already sweating profusely.
However, level 5 or above physical strength meant they wouldn’t suffer from heatstroke. They continued forward through the heat, passing through several rooms and corridors, and arrived at the place where the flames had burned through.
It was a warehouse-like room, but the things originally stored inside had been completely burned. The large hole in the ceiling let in light and fog, making it cooler than the other rooms outside.
There was also a large hole in the center of the floor, where the flames had burned through from below. Asker looked down and saw a head emerge from the hole.
“Medea?”
“Captain!” Medea exclaimed, as if surprised. Her mental vision had already detected them.
“Hey, hey, hey, is that Asker?” Nuo’s voice came from below Medea. “…Ow! It’s hot!”
“Be careful not to touch the edges of the hole!” Medea warned her.
“You, know each other?” Nuremberg looked at the two beautiful girls in the hole in surprise, then back at Asker.
“Let’s verify our codes.” Asker said, taking out the crumpled paper from his pocket.
The two girls in the hole also took out their paper balls, unfolded them, and held them up high.
Both sides compared them, no problem.
“So,” Medea breathed a sigh of relief, “hurry up and pull us up…”
Asker jumped down and turned his head, asking, “What did you say?”
“Nothing…” Medea pouted. “Because of the residual heat from the flames, the edges of the pit are incredibly hot, we can’t climb up.”
“It’s alright, it’ll cool down eventually.” Asker looked down into the passage. “What is this place?”
“An abandoned passage,” Nuo replied.
“Leading to where?” Asker asked.
The two girls looked at each other. Leading to where? How would they know? Shouldn’t the priority be getting out first?
“Uh, there seems to be a huge iron door inside,” Nuo whispered. “We didn’t dare get too close…”
“Then we have to go take a look.” Asker replied, thinking from a player’s perspective. A game dungeon wouldn’t have a useless passage, there must be something hidden there.
Medea was about to say something when she saw Richard Tennar also jump down, staring at the end of the passage, silent.
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