“Hey! You two!”
Ileya frowned and shouted into the darkness behind them!
Before her voice could even fade, two Skeleton Soldiers carrying torches had already returned to the cave.
This time, there was no sudden disappearance. Both were squatting in the cave, their backs to the group… seemingly whispering to each other.
“Possessed?” Reliel frowned slightly, scanning her surroundings, but saw nothing unusual. She then glanced at the Lady beside her.
“No, it’s not that.” Ileya shook her head, dismissing her sister’s words without hesitation.
Holly might be one thing, but there probably didn’t exist a Punishing Existence in this World capable of possessing Veil.
On the contrary, that girl’s five senses were very sharp. If something like this happened, it was more likely she had discovered something.
So… Ileya didn’t hesitate as she returned to the Tomb Chamber, leaning over to look at the two squatting in the corner.
“See! I told you so~” Veil hummed triumphantly.
“As expected of Veil Senior!” After the events just now, the Holy Sword Bearer Miss’s title of “Veil Senior” was spoken with genuine conviction.
Meanwhile, her fingers were incessantly scratching at the wall’s surface.
“So… what exactly are you two doing?”
“Uwaah—!?”
The sudden voice from behind startled them both, causing them to cry out in alarm.
Only when they clearly saw the Lady’s face illuminated by the torchlight did they slowly breathe a sigh of relief.
“Veil Senior said there’s the sound of flowing water behind here. After chipping away at it a bit, water actually started seeping out.”
Holly pointed ahead to the corner of the wall she had struck a few times with the Holy Sword and then scratched at with her hands.
“The sound of water?” Ileya also squatted beside them curiously, gesturing for Holly not to stop and to keep digging.
Among the group, only Reliel frowned slightly.
She observed the surrounding terrain, contemplating their current location.
“Maybe we should…”
*Crack…*
Before she could say anything, the Holy Sword Bearer Miss’s claws had already reached out, and she happened to chip off a piece of stone skin at that exact moment.
“Eh?”
*Crack crack crack!!*
A crisp sound of shattering followed their bewildered gazes, spreading all the way up into the endless darkness!
The wall, which had only been damp, was now gushing water!
Furthermore… the sound of the stone wall cracking had not subsided; it was becoming increasingly dense.
“This is bad…” Ileya realized things were taking a turn for the worse.
It was the earthquake from earlier…
After going through so much, even Ileya had forgotten how they had fallen down here in the first place!
Holly’s scratching and chipping was merely the fuse. Following the earlier earthquake, this place was already a precarious wall!
But before she could shout the words “Run!”…
*Boom!!*
The stone wall ahead burst like a pipe with an open valve, and a massive surge of water instantly sprayed out!
“Everyone stay steady… Gurgle gurgle!!”
Before she could finish her sentence, the terrifying impact of the water surge submerged everyone!
The first to be hit were the Holy Sword Bearer, the Lady, and the Goddess Trio!
Holly, who was standing in the center, was even carried by the high-pressure current toward the ceiling of the Tomb!
“Gurgle! Gurgle-aaaah—!”
Although the Holy Sword Bearer Miss had been an expert in freestyle swimming and diving in her past life, the situation here was completely different from a calm swimming pool!
The ice-cold water was like tangled giant pythons, wrapping around her and leaving her with no space for any independent movement!
*Whoosh—! Thud!!*
While her heart sank halfway, her back slammed into the ceiling of the Tomb Chamber!
*Crack…* The clear sound of bone cracking and the dull pain from her back made Holly think in a panic… “Is my spine broken?”
*Splash!*
After playing the role of a human projectile, having a close encounter with the ceiling, and falling back into the water below, Holly was wondering what kind of torture she would endure… but she suddenly discovered something.
Though her back hurt… it… it didn’t seem to hurt that much?
Turning her head in confusion, she realized… a layer of Bone Armor had appeared on her body at some point!
However, the white, hard Bone Armor was now covered in fine cracks. It clearly couldn’t withstand a second impact…
It was… the Lady!
As Ileya’s figure flashed through her mind, Holly instantly felt an endless surge of confidence in her heart!
Watching the water level rise past two meters in a short instant, the swimming skills that had attracted countless gazes at the pool in her previous life (mostly due to her figure) suddenly erupted.
She dove headfirst into the murky water!
Though the water was extremely turbid, perhaps her luck was good enough!
Holly, diving to the bottom, reached out and immediately grabbed someone!
Regardless of who it was, she hugged the person’s waist and swam toward the surface!
*Rumble!!*
But at that moment, a series of muffled, massive thuds echoed not just through the Tomb Chamber, but through the entire Underground Cave!
The impact of the water had expanded that originally tiny crack.
To the ceiling of the Underground Cave, it was like the relationship between a shout and an avalanche!
Water poured into the Underground Cave; for a moment, it felt as if the sky had fallen!
It was completely out of control!
What is happening… Could it be that everything above them is water… an Underground River?
But they clearly came down from above…
Holly held the person she had retrieved and swam upward with all her might.
She didn’t know the volume of water collapsing down here, but if the Underground River really had collapsed, running into the Labyrinth Cave would be a dead end!
The freezing groundwater, the crisis of Death, the motionless teammate in her arms…
Everything was forcing the “weakest” Miss, who had just been slacking off, to make a choice!
So, the best way now… is that hole!!
*Whoosh!!*
Light shone in her hand. The moment Desire Paradise appeared… Holly suddenly felt that the surrounding current was no longer so turbulent!
She could do it!
As long as she swam out through that hole and into the Underground River… they could be saved!
Biting the longsword in her mouth, her physical functions were perhaps boosted tenfold under the pressure of her survival instinct!
Like a fish that naturally lived in an Underground River, she actually traced her memory and found that original hole!
The Holy Sword, which could cut through iron like butter, was plunged into the stone wall to ensure they wouldn’t be swept away by the torrent.
Relying on her tenfold physical strength, Holly actually carried the person on her back and passed through that hole!
*Phew!*
The moment she reached the Underground River, the surrounding resistance instantly vanished! Though everything around her was still dark and cold, the churning mud and sand were gone, and the water became clear at that moment!
Within her line of sight, between countless glowing mosses and aquatic plants, there were also some small fish-like creatures flickering in and out of view.
However…
Holly didn’t have time to worry about all that. Planting her feet on the riverbed, she used the leverage to lunge upward again!
It felt like… this Underground River was very deep.
Holly swam upward at full power for over ten seconds before her head finally broke the surface.
“Hah—!! Hah, hah, hah…”
While treading water, she lifted the person she had just retrieved above the surface!