Rhode transformed into a bolt of lightning that zoomed into the tunnel. He shifted so quickly that he couldn’t slow down in time. He turned around, but crashed onto the wall. Rhode gnashed his teeth and hurled out Mini Bubble Gum and Cassidy!
“Bubble, collapse the tunnel entrance!”
“Got it, Leader!”
Bubble, who was thrown into the air, had no hesitation at all. While she was in midair, the pure, white brilliance coalescing between her hands erupted. At the next moment, the bright, holy light beam smashed onto the wall in a loud explosion. In an instant, the earth quaked, sturdy rock walls crumbled, and large rocks fell from the ceiling. In the blink of an eye, the tunnel entrance was buried entirely in gravel. Along with the rumbles, one could hear the snarls of undead creatures. But after a few moments, all the voices were gone as though they were submerged completely.
“Phew…”
Up until that moment, everyone let out sighs of relief. Not only were they relieved that they escaped from the underground creatures’ chase, but because the underground tunnel collapsed, the Chaos aura was also kept out. The heavy, depressing atmosphere vanished instantly, which was the main reason why they felt relieved. To be able to return to the world of Order from the pressurizing Chaos aura felt as wonderful as though a drowning person surfacing to catch a breath of air.
But… Even though the tunnel entrance collapsed and stopped the undead creatures from further pursuing, it also meant that Rhode’s group’s exit was also blocked off. Even if they found Erin, leaving the tunnel was another issue for them now. Order on the surface had reached an unstable critical point, where if it weren’t for Rhode who used his own power of Order to stabilize this tunnel, perhaps Order would have disappeared completely before they entered the tunnel. Judging from this point, even if Rhode’s group were able to dig the tunnel and climb to the surface, maybe they couldn’t find the dark elves’ communication channel. No, perhaps when that happened, they wouldn’t even know where they were.
This is a huge problem.
At this thought, Rhode shook his head, sighed, and stood up. He admitted that his judgment was wrong this time. Even though Angelina reminded him that there were signs of the Country of Darkness being affected by Chaos, he didn’t expect it to be this serious. The situation seemed really dire. Even after rescuing Erin, perhaps they couldn’t evacuate as planned. Maybe a mistake would cause them to be trapped in this godforsaken place forever.
What should we do when that happens? Do we really have to learn to dig holes like dwarves? Forget it. I’ll consider it when it happens since there is always a way out. Maybe I can still find some maps, secret exits, or some other thing…
After all, Angelina and Erin were focused on escaping earlier and didn’t search the area cautiously. Maybe they didn’t discover some secrets yet and now, he would know the results after checking things out himself.
“Let’s go, Angelina. Lead the way.”
“Yes, Master.”
While Rhode considered the situation, Angelina took the time to observe the surroundings. In the end, she was relieved to confirm that this was indeed the path she escaped from. She let out a sigh of relief. After all, she didn’t expect the Country of Darkness to have such dramatic changes in just a few days. If she made a mistake again, she would be thrown off balance. When that happened, not only would they be unable to rescue the princess, but she would also implicate her master. This definitely couldn’t be considered a good result to her at all. Therefore, she didn’t continue speaking, but turned around and led Rhode’s group into the deeper tunnel instead.
The pitch-black tunnel was dead silent. There was no sound apart from their footsteps. It was as quiet as when Angelina left before. Meanwhile, Icy Snow also confirmed that there weren’t any signs of life in this place. Despite that, everyone continued to raise their guard. After all, no signs of life didn’t mean there weren’t any enemies around. Moreover, the area they were in was the territory of undead creatures, who couldn’t be considered to be alive.
“Ah…!”
While Angelina led everyone down the tunnel, all of a sudden, Mini Bubble Gum clapped her hands and yelled, startling the group. Angelina trembled and almost jumped up on the spot. Icy Snow’s expression changed slightly. Her constantly swaying tail stood straight up instantly. Cassidy also turned to Mini Bubble Gum with an odd expression, raising the sword in her hand vigilantly. On the other hand, Anne didn’t react at all. She cocked her head and looked curiously at the young lady who suddenly lost it.
“What’s wrong, Bubble? You gave Anne a big fright.”
“Ah—hahaha, it’s nothing. I just suddenly thought of something important…”
Facing the curious gazes from everyone, Mini Bubble Gum smiled and waved her hand airily. On the contrary, her words made everyone more curious. She said it was nothing and yet, she said she suddenly recalled something crucial… What exactly was up with her? However, Mini Bubble Gum didn’t explain her words. She turned around and gazed at Rhode instead.
“Leader, Erin is a princess, right?!”
“Yes, you should remember this as clearly as me, shouldn’t you?”
Facing this ridiculous question from Mini Bubble Gum, Rhode didn’t know what was going through her head. However, he still answered her. Upon hearing his response, Mini Bubble Gum vigorously nodded, clapped her hands, and mumbled to herself.
“Hmm… In that case, it is right! Right! Right! Ahahahaaha!”
What’s going on with her?
Facing Mini Bubble Gum who burst into a fanatical laughter, Rhode and Icy Snow exchanged curious looks. The others who witnessed this scene also couldn’t figure what happened. Even though Mini Bubble Gum’s intermittent madness wasn’t anything new, just which universe’s ultra-long range radio waves struck her this time? While everyone was puzzled, Mini Bubble Gum sized up Rhode and nodded with satisfaction.
“Hmm, that’s right. Princess… Prince. That’s how fairy tales are written. We are going to rescue the princess now! Leader, you’re the prince! That’s right, we’re lacking a white horse now… Really, how wonderful would it be if there were a white horse here! Really, how could such an oversight happen?” Mini Bubble Gum soliloquized and as though she came up with an idea, her eyes glinted brightly. She turned to Anne. “Right! Anne, weren’t you capable of transforming? Hurry, turn into that big white wolf and let Leader ride you! Even though there isn’t a white horse prince, a white wolf prince sounds exciting too!”
“Huh? Really? Leader wants to ride Anne?”
Anne asked curiously, widening her sparkling eyes and staring at Rhode. Mini Bubble Gum raised her arms in excitement and yelled.
“That’s right. Leader, go ahead! Let us witness a fairy tale come true… Ouch!”
“Stop spouting nonsense.”
Before Mini Bubble Gum finished her sentence, Rhode threw a ruthless punch to her head. He felt strange earlier when the usually noisy Mini Bubble Gum became so quiet. At the end of the day, she was actually thinking about such nonsense!
“Ouch… You cried, telling me… that fairy tales are lies…”
Mini Bubble Gum hugged her head and squatted. But after a few moments, she stood up without conscience, continued to follow the group, and hummed the lyrics of a song out of tune. She stared at Rhode with some ill intentions and her eyes displayed a ‘meaningful’ emotion. Meanwhile, Rhode didn’t notice her evil expression.
“This is the exit!”
After that small episode, Angelina finally led the group to the exit she escaped from. It looked similar to when she left the place and nothing had changed. The seal rune shone a faint radiance on the pitch-black, exquisite door. Looking at the door, Angelina felt relieved. This meant that she didn’t bring the group in the wrong direction and that was enough on her part.
“Here?”
Rhode gazed at the stone door and turned to Angelina. The latter nodded. Rhode lifted his hand and shortly after, a card appeared in his palm, emanating a green, spiritual radiance. Then, a transparent, shapeless sword shimmered in his hand.
It feels really odd.
Even though Rhode wielded several holy swords, this sword felt strange to him. Other than the fact that it was transparent and he couldn’t decipher its length, the hilt didn’t feel normal to the touch at all. On the contrary, it was like the warm, finished product of a jade carving.
I wonder what the true identity of this sword is…
Rhode considered the question, but quickly returned to his senses. After all, it wasn’t a suitable time for him to consider such questions. He raised the sword and faced the stone door. Along with his action, a dazzling, spiritual radiance erupted from the blade. The brilliance scattered into a dozen light rays, blasting at the stone door and drawing a mysterious rune swiftly and accurately on the surface.
Then, the stone door opened gradually.
Rumble…
Along with the deep rumbles, cold draughts escaped the gap of the stone door, blowing on everyone’s faces. In the blink of an eye, the heavy stone door opened, unveiling a path to the visitors.
But this time, Angelina turned grim.
“How is this possible… T-This isn’t the tunnel that I escaped from!”
The vampire widened her eyes and stared in disbelief at the path emanating a pure, white brilliance.
