The tunnel they were currently in was somewhat different from those they had traversed while fighting the horde of undead monsters. It looked more weathered and decrepit, with its walls and floor smoothed and uneven, as though eroded by something over the course of countless years.
What's worse, it was… wet. With a cold shiver, Sunny realized that they were surrounded by puddles of black water.
The smell of sea salt permeated the air.
Looking up, he found the tall figure of the boisterous huntress and asked in a raspy voice:
Effie glanced at him and gestured up.
"A hundred meters or so below the surface, pretty much exactly under the city wall."
He stared at her blankly, slowly comprehending the meaning of these words. The huntress gave him a nod.
"Yeah, you guessed correctly. Coming night, this place is going to be full of seawater. That chasm behind us is what prevents the catacombs from being flooded by the dark sea."
"So, unless we want to drown or be eaten by some depth dweller, we need to get out of here as soon as possible."
Sunny closed his eyes, imagining a roaring torrent of black water erupting from the mouths of countless tunnels and falling into the abyssal chasm like waterfalls made of pure darkness.
"Please don't make me more uncomfortable." Asher sighed as the walked.
Effie grinned, "What's wrong poster man? Didn't you wander the crimson lybrath for 2 months alone. You should be used to the dark water by now."
Asher felt a vein pop, "I swear if you use that disgusting nickname again... I'll kill you."
Kai laughed a bit, "He is lying Lady Athena." Asher frowned looking at Kai while Effie chuckled.
"Anyway, if we want to make it outside, we will have to act fast. There's a big fat bastard of a Nightmare Creature that lives in that chamber. However, it takes time for it to fully wake up. So… don't stop to look at it, don't panic, don't lose your cool. It might look scary, but if you follow Neph and do what she tells you to do, you should be alright."
She waited for a bit to make sure that everyone understood her meaning, and then grinned.
"Alright. If everyone is ready, let's go meet the Lord of the Dead."
Asher shivered as they reached a giant underground chamber.
The chamber was circular in shape and as immense as the grand hall of the Bright Castle. Its walls were built out of the same grey stone slabs as the mighty walls of the Dark City, but unlike them, the walls of the chamber were covered with whispering streams of cold, nebulous black water.
In the center of it, a vast mountain of human bones rose from the ground, reaching almost halfway to the distant ceiling. Thousands… no, hundreds of thousands of people must have perished to create it.
"That thing looks shittier than I thought." Asher frowned.
Effie had a wry smile, "It's shitter than it looks as well."
"There" She pointed at a breach in the dome of the underground chamber. Follow current novels on 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚⚫𝙣𝙚𝙩
Asher swallowed hard, taking a tentative step forward.
Nothing happened… He exhaled in relief and took another step.
By the third step, his shoulders eased—right until Effie called out from behind, "Uh, Asher? Maybe pick up the pace? That thing's waking up."
"What thing? That pile of bones? It's not even—"
The sound hit him first.
His voice died. His face drained of color. Slowly, he turned his head—just enough to catch the skeletal heap shuddering.
Asher gave a sardonic chuckle.
Suddenly, a spear of bones launched at Asher, barely missing his eye as warm blood slid down his face.
"Jesus Christ…" he muttered, locking eyes with Effie.
"This thing's strong, right?"
Her grim nod said it all.
A sound like an avalanche of teeth thundered behind him. He glanced back—just in time to see a towering pillar of bones rearing up, blotting out the light.
Asher flung himself aside, barely escaping.
Sunny sighed, glancing glanced at Nephis.
The golden rope was already in her hands, and she was passing it to Kai.
Before the beautiful archer could take it, though, the mountainous creature suddenly rippled.
A moment later, a twisted pillar of bones shot from its body, flying in their direction with the force of a siege ram.
Nephis and Kai dove away, and the massive pillar of bone shot past them. Before the thunderous sound of it crashing against the wall of the chamber even reached Sunny's ears, the pillar was already moving, whipping sideways with tremendous force.
Luckily, he and Cassie were behind it… but Effie and Caster were not. Both of them reacted with admirable speed and fell to the ground, allowing the terrifying limb of the gargantuan creature to fly above their heads.
"WHY IS THIS DIGUSTING THING TARGETING ME!!!"
Was actively chased by a pillar of bones.
From somewhere behind, Effie's voice rang out: "It's just thrashing in its sleep! MOVE! We need to get out before that bastard actually wakes up!"
Asher ducked as another bone pillar smashed into the spot where his head had been
"I'm being targeted by floating homicidal bones here!" Asher yelled as he dodged another pillar that was ramming into his head.
Effie laughed a bit, "Good job Asher! Keep distracting it!"
Meanwhile, Nephis was back at her feet. Dashing toward Kai, she pushed one end of the golden rope into his hands and pointed to the breach in the dome of the chamber. In the next moment, the archer soared into the air, flying to his destination with incredible speed.
With a terrifying scraping sound, the whole white mountain rippled once again, and several devastating pillars of bone shot to intercept him.
He gritted his teeth and twisted through them, barely making it to the breach.
The moment Kai tossed the rope down, Asher didn't even pretend to think about it.
In one smooth, shameless motion, he shoved past Effie, grabbed hold, and used her as a springboard while lightening his weight to launch himself up.
A heartbeat later, he was standing next to Kai, panting.
He gave a little wave. "Oh—hey, Night!"
Kai stared at him with wide eyes, his peripheral vision looking at a Effie with what could only be called a weird expression.