Facing this hell of a room, I felt sweat began forming on my forehead. This looked like some pretty difficult parkour - jumping from one platform to another would be a pain. Yes, I could just use Sky Magic - Flight, but the problem was, not all of us here had that elemental affinity. Those who didn't would have to traverse the hard way, but these platforms hanging from the ceiling don't seem too safe to me. Who knew when these platforms would collapse from the weight?
But none of this was the main issue here - what concerned me the most was the fact that I could not see an exit to this bloody room, dimly lit by a few scarce red lights on the walls. This gave it a hellish theme, the type you didn't exactly want to enter. Unfortunately, this was the only way to go for us, so we kinda had to just grit our teeth and bear with the ominous atmosphere.
Still, the problem remained - where was the exit? Where was the next room? From where we were standing, all we could see was the lava below, and the platforms that formed - more or less - a 'staircase' downwards. In reality, they were just various horizontal metal boards suspended from the ceiling at different elevations, slowly forming a descending pattern...straight into the lava. The descent was very long, probably around a good 500 feet. This would definitely take some time, if it didn't end up getting us killed.
I scanned the walls for some opening - some hidden door of some kind, but was unsuccessful in doing so.
"So? What's the move here?" Old Man Leng asked, folding his arms.
"Well...we don't really have much of a choice if we want to keep exploring," I replied with a sigh.
"Let's have the people with Sky Magic affinities like myself to scout this room out first," Yu An Yan suggested. "If there are any traps or anything, we can activate them beforehand and avoid them easily with Flight."
"Sounds good," I said, then turned to the men behind Old Man Leng and Old Xia. "Anyone who has a Sky Element affinity here, follow An Yan and I."
I didn't even bother saying 'you have to know the spell Flight', because any Sky Magic user has to know this spell. It's literally the basics of the basics of Sky Magic, after all.
Yu An Yan and I each activated Flight by chanting out loud, and we descended down into the red room. We kept going down, and for now, it didn't seem like any traps were activated. Xiang Peng, Flaria, and Obsidia also followed us, since they could use Sky Magic as well. A few of the men with Old Xia and Old Man Leng followed as well, and that totalled up to around a dozen people scouting. We slowly descended further, and eventually arrived at the very very bottom - right above the lava itself.
I could feel the steam from the hot fluid against my skin, and it wasn't exactly comfortable. But then. I spotted a single opening on the wall - just wide enough to fit one person in at a time. I narrowed my gaze, and flew closer to it. The other scouts followed.
"Just wide enough to fit one person..." I muttered, then landed softly within the opening.
"See anything?" Yu An Yan asked, still hovering outside.
All I could see was an endless corridor. There was a door at the end of it, but by the looks of it, the walk there was a good 500 meters. I didn't want to risk it, so I just backed out of the hallway.
"There's a door at the end of the passage, but...that's about it. I don't want to risk triggering any trips that may be in there, since there would be no escape given how narrow this corridor is. Let's regroup with the guys above, and get everyone down here first," I said, looking up.
And so, we flew back up, and relayed everything we found down there to Old Man Leng and Old Xia.
"Well...we gotta find out what's on the other side of that door," Old Man Leng said. "One person has to scout it out first - these platforms don't look stable. Don't think they can handle havin' people standing on 'em for too long."
I sighed. "Well...that'll be me, I suppose."
"W-Wait, Xuan Kai!" Feng Mian exclaimed. "It's too dangerous..."
I walked over and patted her head gently. "Yeah, well...it's going to be a whole lot more dangerous if all of us went down there. Don't worry...I can get out quickly if things go south."
I didn't want to say too much here, but hopefully Feng Mian understood what I meant by that - my ability to insta-cast, since my mana was constantly active. That could help me use a spell like Space - Eliminate much faster, allowing me to escape a sudden trap or something of the sort.
"But..." Feng Mian still seemed uncertain, reluctant to let me go.
"Don't worry, Feng Mian!" Qing Yue patted her shoulder. "Big Brother Xuan Kai can do it! I believe in him!"
Then, turning to me, she winked and gave me a thumbs-up. I smiled in return, even though it was hidden by my mask.
"A-Alright...be careful," Feng Mian said at last, looking up at me hesitantly.
"Yeah," I replied with a firm nod, then began my descent once more.
Arriving at the opening, I landed gently for the second time, and slowly began walking towards the door at the end of the passage. By this time, I had probably disappeared from the sight of everyone else, minus Old Man Leng's wife who could track our location thanks to her position as command.
I treaded carefully, taking every step with extreme caution. I kept an eye on the walls, since from past experiences, I knew where the traps in this place usually sprung. But alas, there was nothing. I kept walking, and still...nothing. At last, I arrived right in front of the door. Unscathed.
There really wasn't any traps...? Hm...something feels of-
SLAM!
I spun around at the loud noise, and saw...darkness. The opening I had came into the tight passage from was now gone - snapped shut. The walls of this room were made of pure fireproof steel - otherwise, it wouldn't be able to withstand being so close to genuine lava. This also meant that blasting my way out of here wouldn't work. Space - Eliminate only worked when you have vision of the location you wish to teleport to, and I didn't know any more advanced Space Element spells like Warp Gate. Conclusion? I was trapped.
Damn it...they got me good.
I then turned back around to look at the door.
Well...only one choice now.
Clenching my fists, and taking a deep breath, I pushed it open.
I stepped into the new room. It was black - the walls, the floor, the ceiling. All black. And in the middle of it all, sat a single girl. She had long, waist-length white hair, and brilliant red eyes. She also had four red horns on her head - two long ones facing forward, and one above each of her ears respectively, facing to the left and right. Despite the black and red mask she was holding, I knew - she was...beautiful. An otherworldly beauty that can't be described by words. She looked so...perfect. A surreal perfection.
The girl stared at me, and stood up from the seat she had been sitting in. As our eyes met, I felt a familiar connection with her. The girl I had lost. The girl I had came here searching for.
"Mei Gui...?"
But she didn't respond. Instead, suddenly, wings grew out of her back. They were not an angels. but were instead utterly demonic. In the center of her wings, above her head, was a single red eye. She flew up into the air, eyes never leaving me once.
And then, the first words she spoke to me, chilled me to the bone.
"Target located. Action: Eliminate."
*****
- Meanwhile, Outside the Black Room -
(Flaria's Perspective)
It had been a while since Master had entered the corridor down below. And still no response.
Suddenly, I felt a pain in my heart.
"Ngh!" I fell onto the ground, causing everyone around me to back away in surprise.
"Flaria, what's wrong?" Feng Mian asked, bending down and patting my back.
I clutched my chest, and cast my eyes towards the corridor down below. "Master...he's in trouble..."
"What?!" Yu An Yan was the first to yell.
"I can...feel it...he needs help..." I muttered weakly.
As his contracted Magic Beast, I can feel when he is in danger, and would feel pain based on how severe the danger was.
And right now...I was on the verge of death. That meant the danger level was enough to kill Master as well.
Who could be so damn strong?! The Holy Emperor they mentioned...? Ngh...
"Everyone who can use Flight, we're going down there. Let's move!" Yu An Yan instructed, and dove downwards immediately, without a care for anything else.
Master...please be okay...
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