Chapter 653 ( Melusine Underwater Ruins - IX )
"Strange, we haven't seen anything strange while advancing to the centre" - said Tio while frowning and thinking that maybe his assumption wasn't correct.
"No, maybe we haven't advanced far enough" - Yue replied while frowning because not only he couldn't sense Cloud's presence on the island, he couldn't sense anything from his surroundings either.
"I think I know what's going on, or at least a possible possibility" - Kaori said as she gained the attention of her companions.
"Just talk" - Yue muttered with annoyance.
"It's simple, maybe Cloud isn't on this island, but on a different one" - Kaori replied as the others' eyes widened, surprised that they hadn't thought of this possibility - "That's why our situations are different. Cloud started seeing these illusions in what he said was a ship graveyard, maybe we have to get to a similar place."
"A ship graveyard?" - Shea asked as she cocked her head to one side.
"Not exactly, it could be some ruins, a barricaded cave, or something similar" - replied Tio as she nodded - "Your proposal is possibly the most accurate, Kaori-san, though that doesn't change what we have to do."
"Right, before entering the jungle, I tried to go towards the sea, but a barrier blocked my way" - said Yue while explaining what she had discovered - "And Shizuku checked that there is another barrier blocking the shore, which makes that our only possibility of being able to advance in this labyrinth, is to walk towards the centre of the island, the place where possibly the exit of this floor is, and the place where we will have to overcome our first true test".
The girls nodded at these words as they advanced towards the centre of the island with all their senses at their best, after all, they were not only facing monsters, but also an unknown person who was strong enough to modify a maze.
* * * * *
Cloud frowned again as he continued to investigate the ship he was locked in and find no way to get out. He had tried to return to the place where he had appeared, but the seal was completely destroyed thanks to his bomb, after all, he didn't think the only way out would be the entrance he had used.
"There has to be another way out of this place, I just haven't thought about it enough," Cloud muttered as he shook his head, though his expression changed to one of irritation when he heard the sound of the slow footsteps of the skeletons approaching his location, "This is ridiculous already..."
"[Turn Undead]" - Cloud muttered as a white aura spewed out from his body, creating a delicate wave of energy.
The skeletons, ghosts and zombies quickly disintegrated, leaving not even a trace of their existence.
[Turn Undead], a holy magic that could instantly eliminate an [Undead] with a low chance, although this chance increased drastically with the level difference between the user and their opponents, and in Cloud's case, it was lethal to his opponents because his level was the maximum possible for this world.
"Though I feel like there's less and less of them" - Cloud muttered as he continued to check the area to make sure he hadn't missed any important details, though after another 30 minutes he failed to discover anything promising - "Am I thinking things wrong?"
The blond slowly walked towards the wrecked bow of the ship and started to check the outside to see if any of the rocky pillars held the way out of this illusory prison.
"Maybe I should just fuck it all up and destroy the place?" - Cloud muttered as he frowned, though he quickly dismissed this thought - "No, if I use brute force to solve all my problems, then I'll be in danger when I fall into a situation where I can't use my power..."
Cloud was silent as he picked up a piece of rotten wood and threw it towards a rock, only to see it shatter midway.
"As I thought, there's another fucking barrier in this place," Cloud muttered as he frowned, "Though now I'm confused..."
Cloud had checked the entire ship, even other ships that were attached to the vessel he was currently on, and hadn't found anything remotely strange on any of them, just illusions from the past.
"If I can't get out the way I came in, and I can't check the nearby rocks, nor is there an additional portal, then I'm completely trapped, but that doesn't make sense," Cloud said as he felt as if he was ignoring something - "What am I missing?"
The blond started walking towards the ship's gunwale and frowned as he noticed something strange - "Wait, I checked only the upper rooms, and I didn't see any entrances to the inner area of the ship..."
Cloud quickly set about searching again, and as he had said before, he didn't find any entrance to the inner area of the ship.
"Maybe this is the solution to this problem" - Cloud lit his fist on fire and started to destroy the ship to see if there were any hidden entrances before trying to drill a hole, after all, he didn't know if there were any traps inside.
* * * * *
"I said it" - smiled Tio as she saw how in front of them some strange ruins were coming into view.
The place looked as if it had seen better days, the houses were almost on the verge of collapse, the windows were broken and the homes were filthy and full of cobwebs.
The girls were a little confused because the more steps they took, the better the village looked.
"Be careful, I can sense a powerful magical aura in this place," Yue said neutrally as she prepared to cast a quick spell against whatever is inhabiting this place.
Tio frowned as well, though at something different - "Yue-san, I think it's not a monster in here, but something very different."
"Oh?" - Yue raised an eyebrow as she waited for her to continue.
"What's here is a magical formation" - Tio continued as she narrowed her eyes - "If you concentrate hard enough, you'll be able to sense the magical circuit right below us"
Yue's expression changed when she heard this as she closed her eyes, only to frown - "That's true, but I don't understand, how is it possible that I failed to detect this magic circuit with my elemental affinity?"
"I'll be honest, I wouldn't have detected it either, were it not for the fact that I sensed the scent of mana right below us, something that hadn't happened all the way to this place" - Tio replied as she narrowed her eyes.
"This means only one thing" - muttered Yue as her red eyes glittered slightly - "We are already in the middle of the test, or rather, we are obliged to participate in this test".
The expression of Shea and the others changed slightly because they didn't know what to say.
"What do we do, Yue-san?" - Shea asked with concern.
"The usual, move forward and hope that here we manage to find the way to meet Cloud again" - replied Yue seriously.
"I think the same, this is just an illusion, although according to what Cloud said, then we'll have to worry about the magical manifestations because those are real" - said Tio while shaking her head.
The girls continued to move forward after deciding that this was the only and best option they had as they watched Ehit's devotees appear around them and run towards the village, which quickly fought back.
The cries of "death to heretics", as well as the madness-filled curls, were getting worse and worse as the girls advanced without much trouble thanks to the barrier Yue had created, though there was one huge problem.
"This is horrible" - said Kaori with a completely pale face as she saw how corpses were piling up in the village, how people were screaming for help, how some women were begging for a quick death, only to start being "attacked" in every possible way.
Shizuku was gritting her teeth as she resisted the urge to run to Ehit's devotees because she knew she would gain nothing in the process. This was an illusion, one that she sincerely did not wish to see and now had no way to stop.
Shea was also disgusted and furious, but there was nothing they could do but continue to move forward in silence.
"Kaori, Shizuku, Shea, close your eyes and keep moving, we'll give you instructions so you don't have to see what's going on around us," Yue said in a voice as cold as frozen hell.
"She's right, they don't have to see this" - nodded Tio as she took a long breath to calm down because she could feel her draconic aura starting to get out of control.
As a member of the [Dragon Men] tribe, she had a huge respect for all living beings, regardless of race, as well as a desire to protect the world, which is why watching these scenes made her stomach churn, more so when she noticed the disoriented eyes of the soldiers.
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