Secret Passage

“Ronald, didn't you see anything when you were coming through? Like different paths or things that shouldn't be there?”

Midir looked down at the silver arrow flashing on the device as he asked.

“No, it was too dark in there. I couldn't even see the path clearly. If you hadn't opened this door, I wouldn't have known where I was going,” Ronald said, shaking his head to indicate his uncertainty.

“Then we’ll just have to go down and see for ourselves. Let's go—there's no point in staying here any longer.” After patting the two men—one tall and one short—Aila pulled Rosal toward the hidden door.

“It looks like we have no choice but to go down. If it's as dark as Ronald said, I’ll lead the way.”

Midir waved his hand, condensing four white light orbs and controlling them to hover around the group as he took the lead.

Ronald glanced at the three who had already entered the hidden door, then at the floating light orbs beside him, and followed them with a sigh of resignation.

The tunnel behind the hidden door was like a sleeping beast, its deep and damp maw wide open to swallow the four into endless darkness.

The air was thick with a faint, decaying stench that felt as terrifying as it was endless. Only the floating light orbs provided a sliver of illumination within the tunnel.

After an indeterminate amount of time spent feeling their way through, a three-way junction suddenly appeared before them.

“Right! This is the place! If I remember correctly, that upward path is where I came from. If we’re going to keep exploring, we should go this way, right?”

After carefully examining the surroundings, Ronald pointed toward a path that clearly sloped downward.

Midir took out the Void Energy Tracer again. Just as Ronald had said, the silver arrow pointed into the downward passage, and it was flashing even faster than before.

“It seems the truth isn't far off.” After saying this, Midir stowed the device away, sharpened his focus, and stepped into the passage.

Soon, the narrow tunnel began to widen. The four could faintly hear the crisp sound of running water, and the surrounding walls became increasingly damp, with cold water seeping from the ceiling and walls.

“Does anyone else feel like it’s getting darker? These things on the walls are...” Aila, who had been quiet for most of the way, suddenly spoke in a low voice.

“Is it? Maybe it’s just the dampness and the moss on the walls not reflecting light?” Rosal said, not feeling much of a difference. Using the light from the orbs, she reached out to touch the black objects on the wall.

But as soon as she touched it, she realized something was wrong. The black substance on the wall wasn't moss as she had imagined, but a mass of black thread-like objects.

Upon being touched by Rosal’s hand, they immediately fell away, piling up at her feet like a heap of sludge.

“Ugh, what is this? That’s disgusting! Little Rosal, is your hand okay?” Aila looked at the pool of black substance by their feet with a look of revulsion.

“I’m fine. I’m wearing the gauntlets Mr. Ronald gave me, so I didn't touch it directly.” Rosal held her hand closer to a light orb. Under the light, she could be seen wearing a pair of earthy yellow leather gloves.

“That’s good. You were careful. Wait! Do you smell that? Can you smell it?” Aila frowned, looking into the distance.

“Hasn't there always been a smell like something rotting here? I didn't notice anything different. Is there something else?” After hearing her, Ronald took a few deep breaths but found nothing unusual.

At that moment, Midir, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped and turned to the other three.

“Aila is right. This place is indeed being influenced by something, which is why it’s getting darker. Look at this.”

With that, he created a large light orb and tossed it upward.

Without them realizing it, the space around them had become vast and open, but the details were obscured by some influence. The light orb flew over ten meters high before slowly coming to a halt.

Strangely, the light that should have been brilliant seemed to be suppressed by something, only illuminating a small area around itself.

Under normal circumstances, the lighting effect of that orb would have been far greater.

Seeing the light orb reach its peak, Midir clenched his hand. The light element within the orb exploded, scattering like fireworks in all directions, finally allowing the group to see the scene before them.

They were currently inside a massive cavern, and the walls were covered in the black thread-like objects they had seen earlier.

The light element quickly weakened upon contact with them. It seemed these eerie black threads were responsible for making the area so incredibly dim.

To their surprise, a warehouse-shaped building stood not far ahead, and a bizarre black tree grew on top of its roof.

From their vantage point, the tree was at least dozens of meters tall. Its branches, leaves, and roots were all a deep, abyssal black, looking as though they had been carved from a single piece of obsidian.

Numerous large black spheres hung from the canopy, resembling black fruit suspended in mid-air.

As the light element in the air began to fade and the darkness threatened to return, Midir threw out three more light orbs and detonated them in the air. The four then approached the tree on the roof by following the light.

As they got closer, they saw that the black tree was covered in tiny, crimson veins from its roots to its leaves. These veins pulsed faintly under the light, looking incredibly gruesome.

“Those red lines... they look like human blood vessels...” Rosal said cautiously, staring at the black tree.

“This tree... is a species I’ve never seen before. Ronald, does it look familiar to you?”

Aila looked up, following the light as she searched her memories, but she couldn't identify the origin of this massive black tree.

“Please, I’m not a botanist! In my experience, don't trees need light to grow? This thing is clearly beyond my understanding,” Ronald said, shaking his head without any particular ideas.

Midir, however, stared at the black spheres hanging overhead, his brow furrowed. Upon closer inspection, those fruits were trembling slightly under the light, as if they were alive.

“Step back a bit. I’m going to bring down one of those black spheres to see what it really is.” Seeing the light about to dissipate again, Midir began to condense light element once more.

But this time, the light in his hand didn't take the shape of a sphere. Instead, it transformed into crescent-shaped light blades. Under his guidance, the blades spun through the air like scythes, striking the stems from which the black spheres hung.

However, the connection, which was only about the thickness of a man’s forearm, did not snap as expected. The light blades only managed to leave shallow wounds on it.

Seeing that the light blades were ineffective, Midir frowned slightly. He extended his right hand, and the blue Starflame emerged, surrounding him with the blue starlight emanating from its blade.

Strangely, the light from Starflame was not eroded by the surrounding darkness. The entire blade shone like a bright lamp in the dark.

“What material is that weapon made of? It’s beautiful!”

Ronald stared at the Starflame in Midir’s hand, his eyes full of disbelief and admiration.

The blue light surging from Starflame was as beautiful as the brightest stars in the night sky, breathtakingly so.

It was one thing not to recognize the black tree, but as a dwarf who spent every day in laboratories and smithies, this was the first time he had seen such a weapon. It was yet another thing he had never encountered before.

After wrapping his body in wind element, Midir leaped, instantly reaching a height of dozens of meters. He swung his sword forcefully at the stem of a black sphere.

A brilliant, massive arc of green light swept from the edge of Starflame, seemingly splitting the entire black space in two.

This time, the black spheres before him could not withstand the strike. They detached from where they hung and fell freely to the ground, landing with several muffled thuds.

The sturdy black spheres crashed onto the ground from the great height, creating shallow pits near the group. Under the massive impact, the outer shells of the spheres cracked open.

“Heavens! Come look! Inside this sphere... it's a person!?”

Midir slowly descended from the air. Upon hearing Rosal’s exclamation, he rushed over immediately.