Endless Crystal Tunnel
"Great... it will be easier from now on."
Atlas felt elated, yet he knew that being too arrogant only brought disaster. So, he calmed down a bit and cleared his mind.
Uranus was already resting a few steps away, adapting to his new powers. After the last battle, his Cultivation Realm grew again, stepping into the Peak Stage of Primordial Descendant Lord.
His cultivation speed was way higher than that of Atlas. After all, he could feast on his prey and absorb the turbulent energy on their flesh and body.
Shrouded by the darkness, Atlas and his companions healed patently, but the Stony spirit made a strange sound at some point.
Ouuur!
It was different from his usual battle cry and attracted both Atlas and Uranus' attention, yet none of them knew its meaning.
Atlas was almost healed, so he stood up and moved closer to it.
"Hey... What's going on? Have you noticed something?"
Uranus was lying peacefully on the ground as nothing dangerous was around them.
So why was his Stony Spirit acting so strangely?
Ouuur... Ouuur...
More noise came out from the creature's mouth,
"Mhm... little fellow... is this your language?"
Atlas has tried communicating with him more than once in the last months, yet today was the first time it actually made a different sound.
Ouuur... Ouuur...
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand you." Atlas looked directly into its eyes, confused.
Even Progenitor Nihilir's gift, Soulis of Nihilum, was useless in this case.
Ouuur... Ouuur...
Probably realizing the problem, the Stony Spirit started walking toward one of the passages.
"Hey... where are you going?"
Atlas was intrigued by its bizarre attitude, so he sent Uranus into the pocket dimension and hurriedly followed behind.
Dangers were practically everywhere in the Maze, and to reduce the risks, he took out his precious cloak, Darkisher, and hid his presence in the darkness.
The Chaos Energy at his disposal was more significant than before, allowing him to use this precious treasure more conveniently.
Although he couldn't use it to cross the entire Maze of Despair, it proved helpful several times.
The duo kept moving deeper into the passage, yet strangely enough, even after two hours, they still didn't encounter a single creature.
It was the safest period since the entrance.
'Odd... where are all the monsters?'
There was no explanation for this peculiar case, so Atlas followed silently, not underestimating the dangers inside the Maze.
They walked for hours without rest, and finally, something changed.
Ouuur... Ouuur...
The Stony Spirit mumbled something in his language and...
Crack... Crack...
The rocky wall in front of them moved.
"The hell is that?"
A dim light escaped from the fissure. It wasn't the pure light of the sun but something artificial.
The space between the ground and the wall was short, yet it was enough to let it pass the Stony Spirit's fingers.
CRACK!!
The creature pulled up the wall, opening a passage a bit taller than its body.
Atlas looked at the scene in wonder, waiting to unveil the secret behind the hidden passage. He was trembling from the excitement.
Swoosh...
A strong wind flowed from the doorway, and the room finally revealed itself, making the young man exclaim in surprise.
"Impossible..."
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At the same time, when the hidden passage was revealed, somewhere not too far from Atlas, an ancient creature awoke from its slumber.
Sniff... sniff...
Its nose twitched a little as if reacting to a delicious smell.
Grlll...
"Mmm... it's opened again..."
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An intense stretch assaulted his nose. It was as if it came directly from an undead pit.
But what truly shocked him was the view. An endless passage made entirely by an indestructible crystal.
It was well-illuminated, yet the light didn't come from torches but from an internal layer of the wall.
Only Atlas was enchanted by it. Indeed, his companion, the Stony spirit, started walking again as if that crystal world was a regular thing.
"Hey... wait!"
Atlas wanted to stop him. Alas, the creature ignored his shout and kept moving downward even faster, as if running.
"Damn... the cloak here will be useless... Should I recall it?"
The young man was momentarily lost. He didn't know if moving forward was a good choice since only one way was available.
"Fuck... That dumb creature..."
Seeing his companion moving further away, Atlas put his cloak in the space artifact and followed its step.
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"Hehehe... there it is..."
An hour after the duo entered the passage, the creature that had woken from his long slumber was standing three hundred feet away from the opening.
"Yummy... Yummy... After so long, I can eat that delicious thing again..."
Its attitude was quite sloppy as if the world around him was nothing.
However, it turned serious when he noticed the doorway closing at an incredible speed.
"FUCK!!"
The creature acted immediately, but the strange thing was that when his curse reached the wall, its body was already on the other side.
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Crack!
The duo was already far from the entrance, yet the sound coming from behind still reached the young man's ears.
"Bloody Hell! That damned wall closed again..."
Atlas was so angry that his curse shocked even the Stony Spirit running at his side.
"Stupid fellow... I hope you find another way out from this pit, or I'm screwed."
As if it was trying to reassure him, the creature made some strange noise...
Ouuur... Ouuur...
"Whatever... let's keep going..."
The tunnel seemed endless and kept bringing the duo deeper.
Hours kept passing, yet none of them was feeling tired.
"Luckily, the wall emits this intense light. Otherwise, it would have been troublesome. But... where the hell are we going? If this keeps up, we will step directly into hell... damn."
Ouuur... Ouuur...
Unexpectedly, the Stony Spirit slowed down, but there was nothing ahead.
"Hey... Old fellow, are you tired?... Come on... don't stop."
Ouuur... Ouuur...
Atlas wanted to keep going, yet the creature eventually stopped.
"Mhm?!" Atlas looked everywhere, but clearly, there was nothing other than those luminous walls around them.
"Why did you stop? Have you found something?"
Their communication was practically non-existent. Alas, Atlas couldn't help but open his mouth.
Ouuur... Ouuur...
This time, the Stony Spirit was even more direct and pointed one of his rocky fingers on the left.
Atlas followed it, but nothing.
"Well... I don't see anything. Are you sure you're okay? Maybe fatigue is playing tricks on you."
Since he didn't believe him, the creature walked in the direction indicated earlier, as if there were no wall in front of them.
"Ohi... Oh... there is a wall t..."
Atlas tried to stop him, but his Stony Spirit disappeared into thin air.
"What the hell?!"
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"Fuck your grandmother, old fellow... What the hell is this endless tunnel?"
Far behind Atlas's group, another creature was swearing loudly against the creator of this annoying tunnel.
"As soon as I reach the end... damn, I will eat even that shaky tree."
The creature had enough of walking around and started running even faster than Atlas.
It reached the exact spot where the Stony spirit had disappeared in just an hour, yet Atlas was nowhere to be seen.