Chapter LXXXV - Under The Abyss (part 1)

Hod fell into the Abyss.

I was sitting there, on the edge of the hole, staring down at the insanely dark pit, wondering whether or not he will survive.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the pit, a shout can be heard.

"Hey! You set that off too early!"

Marksus shouted at his friend, the hunter. The hunter had an item on his hand, and it looks like a remote detonation controller.

That's what they used.

"S-Sorry! That guy was closing in on us..."

"Marksus, you asshole!!"

That shout came from our side.

Valey and the others are high on their tempers. They all looked like they wanted to kill Marksus, but the gap between us is too large. We can't jump that far. 

Not them, at least.

"Heh! You really think you have time to kill me!? You should worry about your leader! He is down there, you know? And you know what the deeper dungeon has??? 

More monsters!!!"

Marksus then laughed like a maniac, while the others can only bite their tongue. Valey was about to shoot her arrow, but I stopped her with my hand.

"Valey."

"R-Rize?"

I stood up and casted a firebomb. At this distance, blowing him up shouldn't be a problem.

"Hii!! Hey! Close it!"

"Y-Yes!"

Marksus shouted at the hunter, and the hunter took out another remote detonation controller. An explosion occurred on the ceiling between us, closing our room and their room in a thick layer of rubbles.

I slowly removed the firebomb from my hand. I purposely didn't fire that, because I just wanted to scare them off.

We don't have time to torture them. We have to save Hod.

"What should we do?"

Cony asked, but no one else seemed to know what to do. Valey and Barett can only turn their gazes to me, hoping that I would know an answer.

But… I don't.

I wanted to jump down and help Hod. He is probably down there, writhing from surviving from such a high fall. If I jump down, I can probably heal him.

But, only I can go down there. Valey, Barett, and Cony couldn't.

I was conflicted, but then a palm landed on my shoulder.

"Rize."

Valey suddenly said at me and patted me on the shoulder. I turned to her, and found her and Barett nodding.

"Go save Hod."

As simple as that, she pushed me off my balance. I fell down into the pit, with nothing but gravity pulling me down.

I disappeared from the darkness, and Cony quickly walked forward.

"V-Valey!! What the hell did you just do-"

"Hod had a much better chance of surviving with her around. Plus, there's no way she would die from any fall."

Valey's answer made Cony bite her lips. She could go down there and fly by herself, but she doesn't know how long her flight will last. And if something goes wrong, she can just fall to her death.

Not to mention her fear of heights and darkness. She can only stay silent while Rize goes and saves Hod.

"W-What about us?"

Valey turned to face the deeper part of the caves. She can hear howls of monsters far deep within.

"Moving there is… not a good idea. Let's wait until Hod and Rize is ready. In the meantime, we should contact Jrake for help. They should be able to tell our location."

"R-Right… So we stay put?"

"We stay put."

Valey said as she sat down at the walls. She stared at the giant hole Marksus exploded and drop Hod onto. She really wants to kill Marksus, but for now she had to think about her safety and the others first.