This cave was a naturally formed fissure, likely caused by shifts in the underground structure, which made the passageways quite complicated—twisting and turning, sometimes ascending, sometimes descending, and muddy all along the way.
Everyone’s shoes were caked with gray mud, making their steps heavier, and it was much colder inside the cave compared to outside.
The temperature change was now very noticeable.
Marpel, the axe-wielding female warrior and the strongest member of the group, suddenly stopped walking at the front.
As soon as she halted, the others also stopped in their tracks.
No one made a sound; instead, they exchanged glances in the faint light.
Milly stepped forward a few paces and closed her eyes, reciting a prayer.
“…Merciful Goddess, please grant your devoted follower the guiding light.”
When the prayer ended, five orbs of light appeared before Milly, lively and spirited like the fairies of legend.
They bounced about, then flew ahead of the group.
Although the glow from the orbs wasn’t strong, it was enough to illuminate the entire narrow cave.
After passing Marpel, they floated downward.
There were five orbs in total, lined up in a row, clearly marking the height of a small cliff.
Marpel looked down, then jumped without hesitation.
Nearly two breaths later, the sound of her landing could be heard.
Ruby glanced down to make sure it was safe, then turned and scooped up Anna.
Just like that, Ruby jumped down with Anna in her arms.
But unlike Marpel, she didn’t crash straight into the ground.
Instead, she kicked off the steep rock wall a few times, easing the force of the fall.
Now, only Milly and Aisdael remained atop the cliff.
The priestess turned to Aisdael, smiled, and said, “Sorry to trouble you, Aisdael~”
From Mapelle’s jump to her landing, it took a full two breaths, so the height was estimated to be forty or fifty meters. As a warrior, with magical energy protecting her body, Mapelle wouldn’t be injured by such a fall.
But for Anna, a fire-type mage, and Milly, the priestess, jumping down alone would mean even a fracture would count as a minor injury.
In the past, Anna would cast Featherweight Spell on herself and Milly, then Ruby would carry them down one at a time. Now, with Aisdael, things were much easier.
“Alright.”
Aisdael responded, stepped in front of Milly, and Milly wrapped her arms tightly around the girl’s neck. Just like that, the young girl, holding the much taller Milly, also jumped down.
Below the cliff was a spacious underground cavity. It didn’t look like a naturally formed karst cave; there were some neat marks left from artificial excavation.
The ground was covered in dust, and there were quite a few piles of rubble here.
Anna lit a small flame, glanced around at the surroundings, and offered a brief analysis.
“There must have been a collapse somewhere underground, causing a huge tremor and shifting the strata. The rocks here haven’t been lying around for long—probably just a few years. That’s likely when the fissure we entered appeared.”
She looked back, squinting at Milly and Aisdael.
“Aren’t you coming down?”
Even though they’d landed, Milly was still clinging tightly to Aisdael’s neck, as if she didn’t want to let go.
Anna couldn’t help but frown at the sight.
But Milly just pouted and said, “Aisdael doesn’t mind me, so what’s your problem, Anna?”
“……”
Anna rolled her eyes at her and walked toward the top of the rubble pile.
Though Milly said that, she eventually put her feet back on the ground. Still, she stayed close to Aisdael. Ever since Aisdael had saved her from the Thunderhorn Earth Dragon, Milly had stuck to her side.
Milly felt that, though Aisdael was small, she gave an incredible sense of security.
After this brief interlude, they pressed on.
Once the passage widened, the group kept their formation, moving at a steady pace in the direction the airflow came from.
Anna occasionally took out the map to check their route and make sure they hadn’t taken a wrong turn.
This section underground was actually much easier to traverse than the surface. The Magical Beast population in the northern mountains was dense—they would encounter a territory-guarding Magical Beast almost every hour or two.
They didn’t kill every Magical Beast they met. As long as the beasts didn’t attack first, the group wouldn’t strike either. Most of the time, they simply passed by under the watchful gaze of the Magical Beasts.
Only the more aggressive ones, or their target Magical Beasts, would be hunted.
There were far fewer types of Magical Beasts underground, but they couldn’t let their guard down. Magical Beasts came in many categories, and some were insect-type Magical Beasts, hunting lower-ranked beasts with traps underground.
Anna blasted a suddenly appearing Black Furball with a fireball.
“Everyone, be careful. The deeper we go, the more cunning and powerful the Magical Beasts we encounter may become.”
Since entering the underground, they hadn’t faced much danger. That Black Furball was the first Magical Beast they’d seen, which made Anna feel a subtle sense of unease.
If a large place had no small Magical Beasts, then it was very likely that something big was living here.
After descending two more fault lines and crawling through a collapsed hole, the group found themselves in a stone chamber, where they saw a ghastly white skull—and nothing else.
The sight made their hearts tighten.
High risk, high reward—that was the life of adventurers. Anna and her group didn’t touch the skull.
They stopped at the intersection of several branching paths.
Anna picked up the map and, by the light of Milly’s Lightening Technique, carefully studied it.
At that moment, Aisdael seemed to sense something. She turned to glance at the way they’d come. Milly noticed Aisdael’s movement and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong?”
Aisdael didn’t reply, but silently drew her sword.
The others had also sensed an unusual tremor and gripped their weapons tightly. Milly, slow to catch on, shut her mouth and held her staff firmly.
They’d been traveling so comfortably that she’d almost forgotten this wasn’t a picnic!
Several pairs of eyes stared at the tunnel entrance.
The air grew tense, and as the sound grew louder, the atmosphere became even more strained.
What could it be?
Other adventurers? Or a Magical Beast living underground? As a black shadow crawled in from outside, the answer was revealed!
That thing had a terrifying pair of pincer-like jaws, filled with jagged black teeth, and dragged a fat, worm-like body, yellowish-white all over.
Milly’s eyes widened. She opened her mouth slightly and whispered, “It’s a demon!”
Magical Beasts were beast-like creatures capable of using magic; no matter how savage, they were still living beings. Demons, however, were different. Demons were not creatures of this world, but things from the Spirit Realm that fed on human souls!
The tremors didn’t stop with this worm—they only grew stronger.
It felt as if a tidal wave was coming…