Chapter 232
Chapter 232
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 232
Chapter Title: Abyss of the Deep Ravine, Erebos #2
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“There’s something over there.”
Hippolyte raised her finger and pointed ahead.
There, faintly glowing in the darkness, was something. A few stones piled up—it was an artificial structure, no matter who looked at it.
“A tower…?”
Who said that?
It was probably Antiope, and as she said, it was a tower. A small stone tower.
“Be careful. We don’t know what might be there.”
Shring-clank.
Hippolyte drew her long sword from her waist, and we all drew our weapons, raising our vigilance to the max.
Even Antiope, who had been so carefree until moments ago, dropped into a low stance and leveled her spear in every direction.
That’s the thing about darkness where you can’t see an inch ahead.
It has a way of making people tense and sharp.
Of course, thanks to my newly acquired grace “Dark Eyes,” I could see farther than the torchlight reached.
Unlike everyone else on high alert, all my eyes showed me was the barren cave interior.
As we approached the stone tower warily, a small handkerchief tied to a tree branch was stuck atop it.
“This is Edwin’s stone tower.”
Elfride pulled out the handkerchief stuck on top. The fabric had a reddish glow and looked quite soft—definitely expensive.
Seeing it, Hippolyte threw out a question.
“Doesn’t look like it was just set up randomly. Must mean something, right? A red handkerchief. Some kind of bad omen?”
The fairy, Elfride, answered Hippolyte’s question.
“It’s just a marker that a battle happened here.”
“A marker for battle, huh.”
Hippolyte scraped the ground with her gauntlet. Beside her, Antiope—who’d been scanning the surroundings—ran her palm over what looked like scratches on the wall.
“Definitely battle traces. Scratches from a blade. Sharp rapier type?”
“Delphina, probably.”
“Hmph. Her skill doesn’t look half bad.”
They chattered on among themselves, but it was all Greek to me. How they drew those conclusions from such tiny clues was beyond me.
Still, standing around idly felt off, so I crossed my arms with a serious look. As I kept quiet, Hippolyte turned to me.
“What do you think?”
“My thoughts?”
“You’re a Samaritan with some real battle experience. What kind of fight do you reckon went down here?”
“Well—”
As I struck a pose, a stifled snicker—kuk—came from somewhere. I turned and saw Elfride smoothing out her expression.
Rustle.
Normally, I’d bullshitted something plausible to keep face, but with Elfride—who knew damn well I was a klutz—right there, I couldn’t pull it off.
“No clue.”
So I just told the truth.
Hippolyte let out a thoughtful “Hmm-.”
“Let’s keep moving for now.”
And so we pressed on into the dark, chilly cave.
“Antiope, don’t be scared—jump. Sis’ll catch you.”
“Sis still treats me like a damn kid.”
Partway through, we hit a sheer drop-off and had to hurl ourselves down.
Whoosh-.
The deeper we went into the lower levels, the heavier the air felt. Breathing got harder little by little.
I thought it was just me. But Hippolyte, Antiope, and even Elfride were breathing raggedly, drenched in sweat.
Hot?
No, if anything it was cold—unseasonably so—and nobody looked good.
What the hell? That’s when Hippolyte spoke up.
“Phew. The rift must be massive. Even up here in the upper levels, the erosion aura’s this intense. Might not be able to pull your party out safe.”
“Sis… I think I’m gonna puke…”
“Hold it in. Vomit could draw monsters.”
Hippolyte and Antiope’s faces were draining to ashen, which set me on edge. Guess there was some otherworldly nasty vibe here I couldn’t sense.
“Hell’s mana—. Horrifying.”
Even mana expert witch Elfride covered her nose and mouth with that red handkerchief she’d just gotten.
No idea exactly what was up.
But they were taking what looked like constant dot damage from something awful. Breathing rougher by the second, sweat pouring—it wasn’t pretty.
Wondering if there was anything I could do, I remembered the pouch on my belt.
Inside were those acorns—or lightning buckeyes, whatever—Luna had packed for me to eat.
If I remembered right, she’d said to crack one and munch when things got hazy?
So I pulled one out and held it out to the lead Hippolyte.
“What’s this? Why’re you giving me that?”
Her reaction was sharper than I expected. Hippolyte could be stern, sure, but not this prickly.
Maybe the deep, dark, confined space was making everyone aggressive.
“Well, since you’re not looking great, thought you might try one.”
“…”
Hippolyte took the lightning buckeye from me without a word. She eyed it dubiously before popping it in her mouth and crunching down.
Crack-.
The sound exploded everywhere. I thought she’d bitten into a damn cymbal. A buckeye make that much noise?
But her reaction was even wilder.
“Ughack, ugh, uwa, uwaaaah-.”
All her priestly poise was gone—she retched wildly like she was about to hurl everywhere.
Not actually puking, just pure agony.
“Th-this… what the hell is this? Such a monstrous thing!”
Hippolyte bellowed, forgetting all about stealth. Her voice boomed and echoed through the cave.
“Thought lightning struck right in front of me! Damn it—.”
“Really…?”
“Mind’s sharp as a tack now. Mind… really sharp. Guess the abyss poison was eroding me. Pass ’em out—one each. Whew-.”
At Hippolyte’s words—drool slipping from her lips—I handed one to Antiope and Elfride. The women crunched them reluctantly.
And all at once, they shrieked like they’d been stabbed with burrs.
“Uwaa! My tongue’s getting assaulted! What the fuck is this!”
“Ugh…. Sher. Too damn spicy—hot damn! Wanna die?”
Reactions all over the place, but way better than keeling over depressed moments ago. Antiope spat out the shell with a “Ptoo-.”
“Poison’s way stronger than expected. If the upper levels are this bad, what’s lower? Won’t last two days like this—. Ugh, sher.”
Her point must’ve landed. Hippolyte—who’d stopped with arms crossed—spoke up.
“Plans changed. One day. Gotta wrap this in one. Elf, your comrades’ rescue: one day limit. Past that, can’t guarantee our safety. You in?”
Swipe.
Elfride glanced at the handkerchief in her hand at Hippolyte’s words.
“Fine. No choice. If it drags, you pull out. I’ll go solo.”
“You really treasure your comrades, huh. Haven’t seen your type in ages.”
“Because they said they wouldn’t ditch me. Unlike some—. So I can’t ditch them.”
Elfride’s words hit me weird—my back itched like crazy, body shivering.
*
*
*
Maybe because Hippolyte cut it to a one-day round trip, we had to tear through the darkness practically sprinting.
Hippolyte and Antiope both had serious speed chops, so matching their pace wasn’t easy.
Rustle. Fucking winded.
Couldn’t let it show, though. As I kept up casually, Elfride—who was covering my right—slapped a hand on her knee, heaving for breath.
Slink-.
Hippolyte’s steps halted.
“Wizard, you slacking on stamina too much?”
“…Shut it.”
Sweat streamed from Elfride’s brow, trickling down her chin. I nearly yanked out my handkerchief to offer it.
Old habits die hard, huh.
Even after crunching several lightning buckeyes, Elfride wasn’t improving. Probably that World Tree brand dragging her down.
Normally her stamina stat topped 10—superhuman territory.
“Hang in there a bit longer. See that? Gondola to the abyss depths. Old Pluto priests built it.”
Hippolyte’s finger pointed to a pretty familiar-looking pulley setup.
The kind I used heading to the skeleton knight’s shack?
Looked a tad different, though.
Per the skeleton knight, multiple deep descent routes existed. This one headed somewhere else than his spot.
If this party ran into that guy on the way down, shit would hit the fan hard. Dodging him was a relief.
Creak, clunk-.
We piled onto the gondola and cranked the pulley slow to descend.
Hand-cranking a tiller motor—spinning the handle round and round. Rusty groans mixed with the shifting surroundings.
Screech, screech-.
The deeper we dropped, the heavier the air.
“This thing’s rope won’t snap, right?”
“Doubt it.”
Hippolyte answered Antiope’s question while cranking.
“Made from Titan sinew. Won’t break.”
“Titan sinew? That pricey shit for this junk?”
“They’re heretics now, but Pluto’s priests were loaded back then. Temples of solid gold underground, they said.”
“Hmph. Heretic scum. Serves ’em right.”
Creak, creak-.
Gondola kept dropping as Antiope and Hippolyte bantered.
Last time descending with the skeleton knight, glowing jellyfish, moss, quirky critters flitting about—stunning view.
Now? Just plummeting into pitch-black nothing. Scary as hell.
“Haa, haa…”
Elfride kept gasping raggedly.
“You good? Told you to work out.”
“…Shut up. Don’t you dare lecture me. And quit acting buddy-buddy.”
Fucking Elfride.
So damn prideful—even concern pisses her off.
Felt awkward as hell; my brow furrowed. Yeah, shouldn’t worry about Elfride.
Staring awkwardly into the black void like that—
Swipe-.
In an instant.
Some freaky face-thing popped up right in front of me.
Goosebumps exploded all over me.
A human face materializing from thin air.
Wait, was it even human? Flat like a mask, eyes pure black—no whites at all.
Black pupils filling the sockets completely would look like this.
Shock locked me up—no words, couldn’t twitch a finger, voice gone.
The airborne face dropped at our speed. Nobody else clocking this? Just my eyes?
“Th-there—”
Barely pried my mouth open when—siik—it grinned.
Welcome.
Ruuush-.
“Wh-what!?”
The gondola—steady till then—lurched into rapid acceleration. Felt more like freefall.
We scrambled to grab anything lest we get flung off.
Something handy popped up right in front of me—squeezed hard. Squishy feel, then a woman’s shriek.
“My—my tits, why grab them, you moron!”
Slap—right across my face.
I’d snagged Elfride’s breast by accident. No wonder it was so soft.
“Sis, sis! What the hell’s going on? Get it under control!”
Ruuush-.
Pulley busted—total emergency, no doubt.
Hippolyte fought the controls with her own hands, but no dice. She yelled like it was hopeless.
“We’re crashing! Everyone, brace!”
My brain flashed a mental image of me pancaked on impact. Dying like this? Fuck no—had to stop it.
I clamped the gondola’s suspension rope with everything I had.
Grrrind-.
Titanium gauntlet screamed bloody murder, sparks flying wild.
Worked, kinda—the plummeting speed eased off a hair.
“Hippolyte! Grab this rope! Slow us down!”
“Right, got it!”
Hippolyte slapped her hands on too—reeeek—like it’d rip, sparks everywhere.
Boom, ruuumble-.
Gondola bucked like it’d shatter.
But fall speed dropped for real now. Antiope managed to steady and cling on.
“Me too—helping, sis!”
“You’re barehanded!”
“Who gives a shit? We’re toast!”
Right as Antiope lunged for the rope—
Halt-.
The gondola—decelerating—ground to a stop.
Wasn’t us, though. Ahead: hard deck, endless dark beyond.
“Floor…. The floor…? We… alive?”
Antiope scrambled up from her ass-plant. Hippolyte, steadying herself, sounded grim as death.
“This… probably the abyss lower levels. The absolute bottom.”
“Abyss bottom? Erebos’s guts? Shit!”
Antiope freaked, yanking her pipe and sucking it down. Her hand shook striking flint—click-click.
Hippolyte spoke.
“…Don’t trust anything. Don’t listen. Get lured in, you’re done. Abyss god Erebos… feeds on fear to grow strong.”
“…Sis, check this!”
Antiope pointed at her wrist: black band-like mark. Me, Elfride, Hippolyte—all had ’em.
The hell?
Right then, Hippolyte—staring at her own wrist—said in a relatively calm voice.
“This… I’ve seen before. Probably the… sacrifice… brand.”
Sacrifice?
The word jolted me. Then a woman’s scream ripped the air—ear-splitting. Come to think, didn’t Antiope flip at “sacrifice” before?
No—the one curled fetal, trembling on the ground was Elfride.