Chapter 346
Gale stood in front of the western tunnel's sealed entrance. A boulder blocked the western tunnel path, similar to the one at the main entrance, but this one had been deliberately blocked by people. A single paper talisman, a sutra, was pasted at the centre of the boulder.
Extending Presence Between's tendrils toward the boulder and trying to push it inside, the tendrils met something hard as if a wall blocked them. Unfortunately, he couldn't sense anything from it without destroying the sutra, and Erin was vehemently opposed to destroying the blockade right away.
He did agree it was better to take caution, but what could the corruption even do to him? It wasn't able to last time. Glancing around at everyone else except Erin, they were all humans, susceptible to the corruption's whispers.
"Do you feel anything?" Rachel asked, standing beside him with her arms crossed.
"The sutra is blocking it," Gale said. "Can't get anything through."
Kyle turned to Mary, the young woman named #6 who had also originally introduced herself as Meilin but was then promptly named 'Mary' against her wishes. "Mary, did you ever have any experience with whatever was behind this boulder? Hm? Anything weird happen that time? Hm? Like anything out of the ordinary?"
"My parents gave me the name Meilin..." Mary muttered.
"Sure, Mary. But please answer the question," Kyle said.
"Time is of the essence, Mary," Clyde said. "Make post-haste!"
Mary sighed. "During the sealing process of the western gate, there was an incident. One of the disciples got too deep into the tunnel while we were surveying the area."
"What happened to him?" Lily asked.
"Qi deviation," Mary said. "His Qi went wild like something had entered inside of him. He kept muttering about going deeper into the tunnels to find the lord over there... Elder Zhou ordered us to put him down before his rampage could start."
Xinyi spoke up from behind Erin. "He was one of the stronger Resonants. It was a necessity."
"That's not enough to suspect there's foul play living inside the western tunnels, though," Kyle said, scratching his chin. He turned to Tony, the former #1 whose real name was apparently Tianming. "Tony, were there any weird behaviours before this was sealed? Anything that made you guys decide to block it off in the first place?"
"Some of the disciples would act strangely near this area. They would walk toward the western tunnels during their rest periods and just... stand there," Tony said.
"Stand there?" Rachel asked.
"Staring at the tunnel entrance. Minutes at a time. Sometimes hours," Tony said. "When we asked them what they were doing, they couldn't remember walking there in the first place. They said they wanted to check out the darkness. That was before we blocked it off. Then Elder Zhou ordered to seal it with a sutra. But we'd notice that some would still stare into the western tunnel and end up walking mindlessly against the boulder."
"Elder Zhou ordered us to reapply the sutras every day after that," Mary said. "Anyone who showed signs of the staring was pulled from western tunnel duty permanently."
"That gives us nothing concrete about what's actually inside," Lily said, narrowing her eyes at the boulder. "It could be just a formation or an anomaly that affects the mind. Maybe it's a creature that has mental attacks. Who knows? We haven't seen anything other than those worm things yet."
"Any guesses, quiet one?" Clyde asked.
"If it has mental attacks, I'll just put up a mental sigil." Lily whispered something inaudibly. Immediately, a sigil appeared above everyone's heads.
Gale looked up, trying to decipher what the sigil was. It looked nordic almost, but he never did read history books, so he couldn't tell. Everyone had a funny looking sigil above their heads that looked like a different version of the plumbob from the sims that made him chuckle a bit.
"Rachel, go for it," Lily said.
Raising her hand toward the boulder, Rachel's hand engulfed in fire. She shot out a small ember toward the single sutra, and it instantly caught on fire.
In a mere 2 seconds, the sutra was gone, and Gale felt something odd within the tunnels, but he couldn't identify what it was.
"Gale," Rachel said as flames dissipated from her hand. "Feel anything now?"
Extending Presence Between again, Gale pushed his tendrils toward the boulder. Without the sutras blocking them, they passed through the stone easily, reaching into the darkness of the western tunnel beyond.
He felt... something.
Not strong. Not overwhelming. Just a faint residue, like the smell of smoke, oil, and rot at the same time. The smell was also oddly dissipating. From what he knew of the scent and feel of the corruption back in Kair rift, and the rate of dissipation of the signature in the tunnels, it had left just about 24 hours ago.
"I think whatever was inside the western tunnels has gone and left," Gale said. The thing under the church below Kulbran's castle didn't look like it had the capability to move, though. Then how did it leave?
Gale walked toward the boulder, examining its surface. The stone was twice his height, probably weighing several tons. Best to move this to let the others see what he means.
Tony and Mary moved forward, positioning themselves on either side of the boulder.
"I can do this myself," Gale said, waving them off from the boulder. "Bambam's got this."
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Rachel grumbled something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like "that's not even a real nickname."
"Proceed with caution, young hunter," Erin said, floating closer. "Should you feel a pull on your consciousness, immediately let the void in to interrupt its whispers."
Gale nodded. Easy peasy, lemon squeezy. Presence Between was ready and locked in to get inside of him at a moment's notice. Placing his hands against the boulder's surface, he pushed.
At first, he pushed it slowly, careful as to not let out whatever was hiding inside the western tunnels, more so that it seemed to be hiding from his tendrils. But then, confirming physically and visually, there was nothing there.
Suddenly, Gale shoved the boulder to the side, causing the whole cavern they were in to shake.
"Bambam strikes again," Clyde whispered.
Gale turned to face the group, dusting off his hands. The western tunnels had nothing inside except the corruption residue. It was dark, no torches or any light source. "Looks like nothing is in there. Whatever was there before, it's just gone, I guess, probably."
"Should we just go in then?" Rachel asked.
"Light it up first," Gale said.
Rachel lifted her hand and lit it up with fire that grew too bright to look at directly. It illuminated the entrance of the western tunnels until just about where it slightly curved to the left.
Gale and Rachel looked at each other and nodded. No communication needed. Rachel knew what he was thinking. Lily, Kyle, Clyde, and Erin fell behind them while Xinyi was at the rear along with Mary and Tony.
Taking the lead, Rachel moved forward, lighting up the way as she goes. On the first right they encountered, Rachel paused for a moment and saw what was below and all over the walls.
Dying organic material stretched across the stone surface. A mixture of black and bloody veins webbed all around the walls, with pus and unknown liquid seeping out of them. At some spots, it was yellow, others, it was red mixed with black ichor. Unlike the one under Kulbran, this one had no pulse. It was dead. Or at least, it was cut off from its main body, maybe.
As they moved through the tunnel, Lily suddenly gagged. Even Gale and Rachel were starting to get teary eyed from the disgusting smell that permeated through the whole tunnel. Xinyi and the two disciples also had their masks on at this point. The only ones that didn't seem to be bothered were the twins and Erin.
Lily whispered under her breath. A sigil formed around the group. The smell vanished, replaced by clean air.
It was the purification sigil she had used before.
Rachel's flames intensified. Around her, a ring of fire formed that burned the floor as she walked. Moving through the tunnel, the organic material that lay on the floor became as crisp as stone.
"What the fuck is this?" Kyle asked. "Shit's worse than the zerg creep back in the tomb."
"The corruption," Erin said from the back of the group.
"That doesn't say anything," Clyde said. "That's like saying water is wet."
"Correct. The corruption is the corruption," Erin said.
"Idiots, can't you see?" Lily moved closer to the wall, her hand reaching out toward the flesh. Her fingers got within an inch of the surface before she stopped, pulling back. "This thing looks like what holds the rift core together. The structural material around rift cores."
"That is correct," Erin said. "Every rift you encounter, a rift core exists because of the Mohrusy. It is their universal anchor to our universe. The flesh you see on these walls is an extension of that anchor, spreading outward from the core to establish a stronger connection."
Gale turned to look at Erin, his eyebrows furrowed. "Why didn't you mention that to me before?"
"You never asked."
Gale really wanted to shout, but he shut his mouth right then and there. Taking a deep sigh, he shook his head. He should've seen that answer coming a mile away.
But then what was the point of her being his teacher?!
Gale scrunched up his face in frustration as they continued walking while Rachel burnt their path forward step by step.
The tunnel curved slightly to the left, the organic material on the walls getting thicker as they went deeper. In some places, mouths, eyes, and noses of things that weren't human could be identified within the flesh covered walls.
"Is the floating bluey an Arcane?" Xinyi asked.
"I am of a similar stature," Erin replied.
"Is that why you know so much about the corruption and the Mohrusy?" Xinyi asked. "Usually the Arcanes keep everything to themselves."
"She's not an Arcane from the Path," Kyle said. "She's just... Erin. Freeloading off the Ann family mansion."
"Silence. That is incorrect," Erin said. "I am paying off my debt for my recuperation."
"You've paid enough! You should just leave!" Rachel shouted from the front.
"If the woman of fire does not want me in the house, I shall cohabitate with Gale alone in his apartment."
"NO!" Rachel shouted. "Find somewhere else!"
"The reasoning of the woman of fire is, once again, fundamentally flawed," Erin said. "Her first statement is that my residing at the Ann estate is unacceptable due to proximity to her person. However, she simultaneously opposes the logical alternative which would resolve her initial objection entirely. Her position is a paradox, devoid of sound logic."
"I don't care!" Rachel shouted. "That's different!"
Gale couldn't hear their conversation. He was too focused on the residue that became thicker as they closed in on the source of it. It was all dead organic material, but the thickness of the corruption grew thicker than what he had seen before in Kulbran.
"Everyone stop talking," Gale said. "We're close."
The group shut up immediately. Even Rachel snapped her head back toward the front where they were going.
Extending his tendrils further into the darkness, a dead end was just ahead. There was also nothing there other than dead organic material and what looked like a hole in the ground.
"Turn right up ahead," Gale said.
Rachel nodded, turning right up ahead in the curve as more of the organic material burnt from their path. After a couple more minutes of walking, they reached a dead end, yet everyone looked like they had caught onto the same conclusion.
There was nothing there.
On the floor right where the tunnel ended on the right side was a hole.
It was about the size of a wormling, maybe slightly larger, circular as if something had burrowed through the stone.
"Well," Kyle said, crouching down to look at the hole. "That's concerning."
"Investigate the hole," Erin said.
Gale nodded, extending his Presence Between's tendrils through the hole. It moved and curved in a straight line to the east and then south for kilometres until it hit the sand. That's where the trail ended.
"Whatever burrowed here went all the way to the sand," Gale said.
Rachel glared at the twins.
"Ok, we have guesses, but you might find it stupid," Kyle said.
"Just say it," Lily said.
"So, whatever the fuck was here looks like it was eaten by the wormlings," Clyde said.
"And?" Rachel asked.
"What we're thinking is that..." Clyde started.
"If the wormling ate whatever the fuck this was, it might've taken it to its mommy," Kyle said.
"It is indeed strange," Erin muttered.
The tone of her voice shocked everyone, including Gale, who had never heard her actually mutter or have any semblance of emotion in her voice.
"Divine beasts are solitary creatures. There is a high possibility the corruption node has controlled its mind. Should the node assimilate with the divine beast, we may need to kill this world's guardian."
"Guardian?" Lily asked.
"Divine beasts are classified as the world's Origin Spirits' last line of defense. Have you not seen the fauna of this world? There are no others apart from the worms. Should we kill the remaining divine beast, then this world will encounter Origin death."
"And what's Origin death?" Gale asked.
"The world will no longer be able to support life. Its atmosphere would dissipate. Storms would rage. The planet itself becomes hostile to life."
"Then shouldn't we just let the divine beast live?" Gale asked.
"That is not possible. The divine beast will become a conduit of the Mohrusy, allowing gates to pour into the world. The result creates a dimensional annex."
"What's the big deal?" Xinyi asked. "Floating bluey is an Arcane."
Gale did not want to tell Xinyi at that time that Erin had already set in stone that she was only a supervisor in this rift run. Gulp. It was them against the beast, and hopefully, the disciples too.