Chapter 749: The Slums
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 749: The Slums
Creak.
Muen pushed the door open.
Blood.
So much blood.
Hot, crimson, vivid blood.
The room was so flooded with it that there was nowhere to step.
"This place again?" Muen sighed.
It wasn't just the blood-soaked floor that was familiar, but the ancient decor surrounding him.
Compared to the last time, not much seemed to have changed. The patterns on the walls and windows remained ancient and exquisite—artworks that would undoubtedly be of immense value in the outside world, sparking bidding wars among collectors.
However, the eerie voids—spots that looked as if they had been wiped clean out of existence—had undergone a visible change.
Have they grown in number?
Something had vanished.
Yet, Muen had no memory of what those missing things were.
Perhaps a piece of furniture, a specific pattern, or... something else entirely inconsequential.
Muen ran his fingers over a porcelain vase resting on a mahogany side table. The cold sensation felt remarkably real.
But he didn't find the increasing voids or the mysterious disappearances strange.
It was only natural. This was a dream.
No matter how real it felt, it was still just a dream.
No one can remember every detail of their dreams with perfect clarity. No matter how thrilling or vivid a dream might be, once you wake, it becomes nothing more than a hazy phantom glimpsed through thick glass.
People dream every day. How much do they actually remember?
"But I wouldn't be having this dream for no reason, let alone having the exact same dream twice in a row."
"Which means..."
Muen knelt down, studying the girl lying on the floor.
"Are you trying to tell me something?"
"..."
The girl remained silent; she had been dead for a long time.
Only the fresh, red blood continued to babble from the wound on her neck, pooling into a lonely, sorrowful river.
Vaguely, Muen began to hear voices.
Laughter.
Crying.
Anger.
Cursing.
Prayers.
And...
"Save them."
That most humble... pleading voice.
*
"Huff... huff... Dammit... how much longer has it been?"
Ariel paused to catch her breath, pulling out her pocket watch to check the time.
Being deep within an underground cavern, it was impossible to tell day from night, but it seemed seven full hours had passed since she began fleeing with Miss Muse on her back.
During those seven hours, she had been moving non-stop, save for one brief rest.
After shaking off those "Ghouls," Ariel shouldn't have needed to be in such a rush. After all, her own injuries hadn't healed and she’d picked up a few more during the previous skirmish. Furthermore, she was carrying Miss Muse, who looked light but was actually heavier than that big cow, Liya.
The energy she had stored up during her previous nap was almost entirely spent.
However... the words of that strange white-haired loli she’d encountered kept weighing on her mind.
She had to reach the destination Miss Muse had pointed out as soon as possible.
And.
Zagu and those other demons might have already caught up.
"Curse them. Even at a time like this, they’re still haunting us like ghosts?"
Though she had expected Zagu to be relentless based on her earlier conversation with Miss Muse, Ariel couldn't help but curse aloud.
The situation had changed slightly.
Back when she and Miss Muse were talking by the campfire, neither of them had likely anticipated the existence of those monsters the white-haired loli called Corruptors.
Things were difficult enough as it was. If Zagu joined the fray now, it wouldn't just be adding fuel to the fire—it would be like throwing a bomb into the flames!
"The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Sooner or later, I’m going to pay them back double for everything. Honestly, that white-haired loli acted all high and mighty and clearly knew me and Miss Muse—couldn't she have lent a hand? Even if some 'taboo' prevented her from explaining things, she could have at least given us some items to help clear this mess!" Ariel huffed.
Wasn't that how stories usually went? The Hero about to face the Demon King meets a white-bearded old man in front of the Demon King's Castle, and the old man gives the Hero a seemingly useless item that ends up being the key to the final battle!
Even if it wasn't a white-bearded old man, a white-haired old loli should be close enough!
"No, what am I thinking?"
Ariel suddenly clenched her fists, her neatly trimmed nails digging into a wound that hadn't yet scabbed over. The sharp sting of pain finally cleared her head.
How could I think like that?
How could I rely on someone else?
In a crisis like this, the only person she could trust and rely on was herself. She had to overcome this with her own strength!
"This is how I've made it this far, isn't it?"
Even with her Teacher's assistance, she had walked this path alone most of the time.
That was what made her strong.
"How embarrassing. Is it because Miss Muse is too warm?"
Ariel gave a self-deprecating laugh. After gently nuzzling Miss Muse’s soft cheek, she tightened the ropes binding them together.
"Let's keep going."
Ariel took a step forward and crossed the boundary of the flower sea.
The withered flower sea ended abruptly; her feet were now on ordinary dirt.
Given her speed, the fact that it had taken seven hours to cross that field spoke volumes about its sheer scale.
"Next..."
Ariel ignited a small flame to light the path ahead.
On the other side of the flower sea lay another vast, pitch-black space that seemed to stretch on forever. This underground cavern was impossibly large. If Ariel hadn't already experienced several ancient ruins that were like worlds unto themselves, she might have doubted whether she was even still underground.
Following the direction Miss Muse had indicated, Ariel continued along the level ground. Before long, the scenery before her eyes shifted abruptly.
"This is..."
It wasn't a dramatic change—it wasn't as if night had suddenly turned to day, or as if the sun and moon had appeared. To describe it, the shock Ariel felt when this sight entered her vision was roughly equal to when she had first stepped into the underground flower sea.
Buildings appeared in the distance.
Low, flat, massive, and densely packed structures stretched all the way to the horizon of her vision. No, at this scale, it was a sprawling complex.
Ariel couldn't count how many buildings there were. She could only see them through the firelight, huddled together in cramped clusters, carpeting the ground like moss.
"What the hell? Cave dwellers?"
Ariel found it increasingly difficult to comprehend what she was seeing on this journey.
A complex underground system was normal; in certain geological environments, intersecting, maze-like caverns weren't rare.
But ever since she woke up the second time, it felt as though Miss Muse hadn't climbed down a cliff as she’d claimed, but had instead jumped straight through a spatial portal.
Bizarre Corruptor monsters, an underground withered flower sea, and now this massive, uncountable cluster of buildings... these were things that shouldn't exist underground. They were more like...
"Ancient ruins?"
Ariel frowned slightly, rubbing her chin as she fell into deep thought.
Yes, this godforsaken place felt very much like a ruin left over from ancient times, which would explain all the weirdness.
However, ruins were ruins because they had survived for thousands of years; such places usually had strict protections. For instance, the ancient ruin she had entered in the Forest of Death was hidden behind a massive bronze gate. But on this path...
"No, looking at this place in isolation, there really isn't any protection. You can come and go as you please. But if you look at everything as a whole..."
Ariel recalled the towering walls and massive gates she had seen when she was brought into Gutons Fortress as a prisoner.
Right. It seemed strange in isolation, but if one viewed all of this as a single entity—part of the demon city, Gutons Fortress... then it started to make sense.
"I see. Gutons Fortress wasn't built by the demons overnight; they dug it out! This entire place is an ancient ruin! But..."
Ariel made her flame burn brighter, illuminating further into the distance.
"This ruin is way too big."
Gutons Fortress was already a massive city, with its towering walls, ornate ancient architecture, and spires that pierced the clouds. Although it had felt empty because most of the demons were at the front lines, Ariel estimated the city could hold at least a million people.
Yet, here at the base of Gutons Fortress, there was another area this vast. Though she couldn't see the full extent due to the lighting and her position, Ariel had a gut feeling that the population this area could hold far exceeded Gutons Fortress above.
This area was completely different in style from what she had seen in Gutons Fortress. It wasn't grand or majestic, nor was it ornate. While the aura of antiquity remained, it looked more like...
"A slum?" Ariel whispered, her eyes flickering.
She thought of Belland.
Belland was the most populous and prosperous city on the continent.
But because of that, through centuries of development and evolution, it had been forced into two halves by the Gulain River.
The glamorous, clean, and orderly Upper District.
The cramped, narrow, filthy, and foul-smelling Lower District.
"So, is this the Lower District of Gutons Fortress?"
No, this was even more extreme.
Ariel ran her fingers over a crumbling, dust-covered wall.
These square buildings lacked any sense of aesthetic design. They were worlds apart from the artistic architecture of Gutons Fortress, stacked together like simple boxes meant for nothing more than storing people.
Just by looking at it, Ariel could imagine how crowded and suffocating life must have been for those who lived here.
She had grown up in the Lower District; she was no stranger to such things.
But there was a fundamental difference between this place and the Lower District of Belland.
And that was... Belland's Lower District was still a "dwelling for humans."
Despite the wealth gap, despite the corners where the sun never shone, and despite the fact that until recently, a lone woman wouldn't dare walk the Lower District at night... people could still live a normal life there.
There would be the sound of children's laughter in the dirty streets; women could walk out during the day without fear; and even in the darkest corners, one could at least buy a pound of black bread for five Emiels.
But this place was too oppressive, too cramped. Even though it was uninhabited, Ariel saw only one thing when she looked at it...
Despair.
If wealth and poverty were what divided the Upper and Lower Districts of Belland...
Then the dividing line between Gutons Fortress and this place was more like...
"Master and slave."