Chapter 127
Chapter 127
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Underground
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I race down the slick, sticky stairs like I'm fleeing for my life. If you asked what I'm running from, I couldn't give you a straight answer.
Right now, I just want to see this basement with my own eyes. I'm sick of this vague tug-of-war over the truth.
It's time I knew.
I don't want to wait any longer.
I don't have time to wait.
Out there, Rophuk and the moon's minions are locked in a brutal fight, blood flying everywhere, and here I am, rushing to the basement without siding with either.
Of course, if I had to pick between Rophuk and those demons, I'd choose him in a heartbeat. He's a man who shares my pain, and he's strong—stronger than I could ever imagine.
Strong in every way. From his battle prowess that ignites like a red-hot engine, to his ruthless tactics that corner enemies without mercy, even his savage negotiations—I respect it all.
But Rophuk, who carved out the heart of the succubus who helped me and used it to blackmail me,
and if he makes me choose from among the succubi who've suffered despite abandoning their own kind to help me...
"Hah... huff..."
I don't know.
In a situation tangled up like a knotted ball of yarn, where no answer reveals itself, rational judgment becomes impossible.
Or more precisely, rational judgment loses all meaning.
How can I judge anything when I can't even tell truth from lies?
All that's left for me is frustration and headaches. A fierce determination to see everything for myself and judge it takes over my body and mind.
Wasn't my heart more at ease back when I was thrashing desperately in the forest and lake just to survive? Back then, I didn't have time for thoughts like these—every moment was a raw fight for life.
"Elder...! Come with me!"
Nephyr calls out to me, but her voice bounces off the temple walls as a fading echo.
I don't slow down, plunging down the stairs in one go. Ignoring the rising chill and ominous aura, I leap into the dark pit to judge right from wrong for myself.
Like a moth to a flame.
Legs that won't stop despite the gut feeling I'll see something horrific.
I want to trust Rophuk. Maybe that's why I'm rushing to the basement so desperately.
"..."
My legs finally carry me to the basement door.
I've believed Rophuk's words until now—that entering here could harm living beings.
And even now, standing before it, my body screams with an unpleasant tingling.
Still, I circle the locked door, searching for a way in. There's a control panel beside it; figuring it's the lock, I jam my knife into it.
Krunch!
One strike isn't enough. Only after six or seven more does a crack form, sparks finally flying.
Grind—
The heavy metal door scrapes open across the floor.
As the gap widens, stale, suffocating air rushes out, wrapped in such a sinister aura that it nearly makes me puke.
"Urk..."
I barely cover my mouth and press forward.
The corridor from the entrance is lined with sleek metal walls.
But strangely, parts of the metal are corroded. I can't make sense of it, but it looks like the metal itself is rotting away.
From those corroded gaps, damp, decayed sand packs in tight, oozing a foul, toxic stench like pus from a wound.
I sense something deeply wrong is happening in this basement.
And I realize Rophuk wasn't entirely lying—something extremely toxic and repulsive to living beings really lurks here.
"Succubus, can you hear me? If you can, answer!"
But that toxicity doesn't apply just to me.
If the succubus is imprisoned here, she's surely writhing in agony too.
"Jenny, are you here too? It's me! Joo-ho!"
I call out for Jenny as well. Considering Rophuk's intentions in hiding the succubus, there's a chance Jenny's locked up here too.
Finding them isn't easy, though. The basement is vast and labyrinthine; searching it alone would take ages.
"Elder!"
Nephyr steps up for me in my pinch. She followed close behind and now willingly ventures into this ominous space for me.
"I-I'll check left. If I find anyone, I'll bring them straight to you."
"Thanks."
We split into two paths, scouring the temple basement.
"No one's here? Anyone, just answer!"
I call out desperately for others, but...
Groooan—
From afar comes a sound too tortured to call a scream.
"...What?"
My steps halt. Facing this chilling wail out of nowhere, I hesitate for a moment.
But I can't stop now. With no idea what's happening above, I have to resolve everything before Rophuk comes back down.
'It's the succubus. Maybe this'll sort itself out easier than I thought. It could all just be a misunderstanding.'
I hate myself for clinging to such vague hopes.
I don't want to doubt Rophuk,
and I don't want to fight Lilith either.
Yet I can't leave the succubus suffering,
and I don't want to keep averting my eyes from secrets like the basement or those fingers.
"Succubus, you here...?"
Rushing toward the cries, I arrive in a pitch-black unfamiliar zone.
The moment my foot hits the floor, lights flicker on one by one ahead of me with a click.
Grooo—
As if reacting to the lights, wails erupt in unison. Countless lights flicker into view.
"Aaaah! W-what...!"
I instinctively grip my door cutter and dagger tight, fear surging, but then...
"...What."
My pounding heart drops and stills because,
unlike the sanity-shredding horror of the cries,
its form is breathtakingly beautiful and crystalline—a massive, unfamiliar gem.
The door cutter in my hand vibrates. It's like the gem embedded in it is screaming to return to that colossal cluster.
I barely control the trembling rising from my palm and circle the gem.
The fist-sized gem is shielded by a crackling energy barrier too intense to reach through.
Yet an immense energy pours out undeterred.
My mutated eyes capture every beam of pure white light emanating from it, stinging so badly tears well up.
"Damn it, what the hell is all this?"
You might not grasp "the gem is wailing," but
it's clearly vibrating unstably, spewing excess energy and screams at once.
Crackle—
"Ow...!"
Even my plan to trust my regeneration and grab it fails.
The barrier repels all foreign matter. Its power is so fierce that just the tip of my finger turns to ash.
But I can't just leave this gem. My instincts scream it.
A gem shrieking in agony while radiating incomprehensibly dense energy...
Kyaaak...
As I ponder how to extract it, a deeply familiar wail echoes from the corridor's end. Like a baby bird desperately calling its parents.
"Jenny?"
My instincts tell me—this is calling for me.
Leaving the irremovable gem behind, I bolt from the storage room toward Jenny's voice.
Even in this thick stench, she sniffed me out and cried for help. It's so impressive; I vow to hug her tight when we reunite.
"Jenny!"
Not far from the gem storage,
in a room with thick hoses protruding from the entrance,
I finally face familiar faces.
Jenny, the succubus...
and
countless nameless creatures.
"My God."
Transparent tubes line up in rows.
Inside, beings fixed so tightly they can't move show faint twitches—you can't tell if they're alive or dead.
Aliens from various civilizations, all mummified dry, crumbling at a touch,
while Jenny and the succubus lie unconscious, spines pierced with countless thorns.
Those thorns connect to wire-like lines converging on one wall,
where the beautiful gem I just saw slowly crystallizes, gaining a body of its own.
"...That bastard."
A gem born from stripping and extracting everything from living beings.
More beautiful—and repulsive—than anything else.