The battle continued for Rhode.
Some people craved battles, but were forced to lead peaceful lives instead. Even though peace was only temporary, it was long enough from their perspectives.
“… How much longer do we have to walk, Your Highness Erin?”
Angelina hugged the shapeless sword with green magical power spiraling around it, stumbling as she followed Erin closely. At a glance, there was nothing other than underground tunnels. The last time they met something that made a sound was a rat from three days ago—hmm? Or was it four days back? This god-forsaken place made them forget about the concept of time.
“Sigh… Let’s have a break, Angelina.”
“Yes, Your Highness Erin.”
Even though they wouldn’t feel any discomfort without consuming food and water for days as a wyvern and vampire respectively, the problem was that even if there were no issues with their bodies, the mental exhaustion was still torture. They had no idea how long they roamed the underground tunnels and failed to find the exit. There were instances when Erin thought of blasting a hole on the surface with her dragon breath. But considering the dangers lurking up there, she decided to go on foot. What made them helpless was that even though they didn’t know who built these escape routes, Erin was certain that it must be an incredibly-capable person. Judging from the distance of the routes, there was no doubt that they crossed the entire Darkness Capital. If the routes were wider and more spacious, Erin could transform into her dragon form and fly. But it was a pity that the routes were only two to three meters tall and wide. There were also corners everywhere, so it was impossible even if Erin and Angelina were to fly. Perhaps they might even crash head-first into walls if they couldn’t stop in time.
“Sigh…”
Laying down the sword in her hand, Angelina let out a sigh and sat on the ground. This was simply a disaster for her. Of course, this wasn’t because she was trapped in the underground with Erin, but the source of disaster was the sword she carried around. Angelina was displeased at the sight of the sword. She initially remained at a respectful distance from this mysterious sword that slashed her randomly. But she didn’t anticipate the sword to continue pestering her. As soon as Angelina tried to escape from the sword, the sword would flourish and turn her into a human pillar (or vampire pillar) immediately. The tortured and enraged Angelina tried to toss the sword as far away as possible, but it was a pity that the sword was self-willed. As soon as Angelina hurled it away, she was hacked into chunks of meat. It seemed like the sword recognized the fact that Angelina wouldn’t die so easily as a vampire and slashed to its heart’s content—even Erin couldn’t stop it.
Wherever there was oppression, there was resistance. Wherever there was resistance, there was suppression.
After reattaching her limbs for the 123rd time, Angelina finally stopped bearing a grudge against the sword and helplessly assumed responsibility as its ‘sheath’. Since all this sword wanted was for Angelina to bring it along, wasn’t it? In that case, Angelina might as well do it, right? Anyway, it was much better than the sword puncturing her body as the pain was excruciating.
“Your Highness Erin, is there really an exit? We’ve spun around here for a long time. All we saw were dead-ends.”
This was what depressed both of them. Logically speaking, this was an escape route, so there must be an exit somewhere. In the end, they walked into several forked roads and turned corners upon corners, only to face dead-ends. Erin suspected if she had fled into some secret routes that the ancestors used to punish traitors and chasers. If that were the case, they wouldn’t be able to escape with their lives. Fortunately, there weren’t many traps or monsters, though Erin and Angelina would rather meet them, so as to inquire relevant information. But it was a pity that they didn’t meet anything along the way, apart from that rat from a few days ago.
Even though the sword in Angelina’s arms was considered a ‘local resident’ of this place, it was a pity that the sword spirit seemed entirely disinterested in communication. Although Erin and Angelina tried communicating with it several times, the sword spirit didn’t respond at all. Other than slashing Angelina into several chunks whenever she tossed it on the ground, it wasn’t any different from ordinary swords. Besides, the specter that appeared before them also vanished to nowhere and never appeared again.
“Sigh… How much longer does this have to go on for!”
Gazing at the repetitive underground tunnel, Angelina couldn’t help but grumble. She extended her hand and scratched the wall with a bat-like mark to indicate that they had already been through here. This was the method they used to mark their journey. If not, they would go crazy while being confused, roaming in this intricate maze.
“Which direction should we head to next?”
At that moment, they stood before a three-way-path. This was a dilemma that pained them the most, as it meant that they had to reconsider their choices. The result of their decision might possibly mean that they would sink deeper, into a more complicated maze.
“Really! Can’t you say something? Would it kill you to point us a direction?!”
The thought of possibly going around in a big circle again aggrieved Angelina’s headache. She clutched the invisible sword, complaining and brandishing it. The instant she swung the sword, a green radiance flashed from the blade and disappeared in sight.
“Hmm, Angelina? That was…”
“I saw it too, Your Highness Erin. It…”
Looking at this scene, the surprised duo exchanged looks with each other. Angelina raised the sword and swung it left and right. Indeed, along with her movement, the invisible sword emanated a faint, green radiance. When Angelina pointed the sword at the rightmost tunnel, its radiance glowed brighter. The moment she moved the blade to the left, the radiance dimmed. Erin and Angelina looked at each other and spotted joy in their eyes. Even though they didn’t know what this meant, there was at least some sort of guidance now. They stood up instantly and sauntered into the rightmost tunnel.
This time, the sword that played dead (said Angelina) finally seemed to be willing to offer a helping hand. Whenever the duo approached a fork, the sword shone at the seemingly correct path. Under the guidance of the sword, Erin and Angelina didn’t face any dead-ends and were advancing smoothly. This should have been great news for them, but…
“Your Highness Erin, why do I feel like we’re heading down…”
“Yeah…”
Gazing at the pitch-dark flight of steps, Erin felt so helpless that she couldn’t even sigh anymore. Even though it was true that they didn’t face any dead-ends following the guidance of the sword, their expectations seemed to be entirely different the deeper they headed down the tunnels. But now, their only choice left was to embrace themselves.
I wonder how the situation above is and what Big Brother is up to.
At this thought, Erin couldn’t help but knit her brows. Deep down in her heart, she had a premonition. And as time passed, the premonition vanished completely. However, Erin didn’t feel entirely relaxed. She knew that a premonition remained one because it didn’t turn into reality. Now that her premonition was gone, it meant that the premonition had turned into an unchangeable truth, so it was useless to worry about it anymore.
Big Brother… Do we really have to be enemies?
At this thought, Erin shook her head and descended the stairs with Angelina.
The pitch-black tunnel was no obstruction to them at all. In just a few moments, they arrived at the second floor, which was more spacious and deserted. But the moment they stepped on the ground, the sword in Angelina’s hand erupted a glaring green radiance!
“———!”
“What’s wrong with you!”
In a dazzling flash, the sword hacked off Angelina’s arm in a single swing. Angelina was already used to this and didn’t cry in agony. She simply picked up the fallen arm and glared fiercely at the sword. However, the shapeless sword apparently had no intention of answering her. Instead, it metamorphosed into a ray of light and shot straight into the deep tunnel. Looking at this scene, Erin and Angelina exchanged looks with each other and made the same decision.
“Chase it!”
The sword moved really quickly, but Erin and Angelina weren’t slow either. They followed the sword closely, flitting across the tunnel. Shortly after, they realized that as they proceeded, the narrow tunnel gradually became wider and eventually turned into a huge underground cave.
Why is there an underground cave under the Darkness Capital? Why am I not aware of it?
With a look of doubt, Erin sprinted ahead. At that moment, the sword came to a halt all of a sudden, before erupting a dazzling brilliance that illuminated the darkness.
“Argh…!”
Even Erin and Angelina couldn’t help but close their eyes to the glare. After a few moments, they opened their eyes and were rooted in their place upon witnessing what was before them.
There was an enormous black dragon, twice the size of Erin and Ion in their dragon forms. It was riddled with scars from head to foot, with countless steel chains extending from all directions puncturing its huge body, binding it in place. Looking at this appalling view, Erin and Angelina were stunned. The former revealed a look of disbelief and murmured.
“… Mother?”
