Translator: CinderTL
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
The ground beneath their feet was no longer merely shaking; it had gone completely berserk!
As if an ancient, slumbering giant had been forcibly awakened, the earth roared in primal fury.
The solid ground instantly transformed into a raging sea, heaving, collapsing, and tearing apart with savage force.
Massive chunks of earth were hurled into the air by invisible forces, only to crash back down with bone-jarring impacts. Thick trees groaned like tortured souls before snapping in half like brittle reeds. Countless rocks cascaded down from the fractured mountain walls like a torrential rain.
Most terrifying of all were the sudden, gaping black maws that opened across the landscape.
Bottomless fissures spread across the ground with terrifying speed, devouring fallen trees, scattered cargo, and anything that lost its footing.
The echoes of earth and rock plunging into the abyss sounded like the chewing of hellish jaws, sending shivers down their spines.
"Damn it!"
Roland was thrown off balance by the violent tremors. He watched helplessly as a monstrous fissure, wide enough to swallow a carriage, lunged toward the fallen Black Wind and the kneeling Theresa like a living thing.
Too close, too fast!
There was no time to think, no time to hesitate.
The instinct for survival instantly overwhelmed all fear.
"Theresa! Grab onto me!"
Roland shouted at the silver-haired woman, his body surging with extraordinary strength as he lunged toward Black Wind, who was closer to the fissure's edge.
"Get up!" Roland roared, his hands gripping Black Wind's heavy saddle and mane with a death grip. Muscles bulged in his arms, veins popping as he strained.
The warhorse, previously unconscious, seemed to sense its master's desperate resolve. It let out a painful yet defiant whinny, its hooves miraculously finding purchase in the mud and tremors, managing a few desperate kicks.
Drawing on this sliver of strength and his own explosive power, Roland dragged his massive companion several feet away from the collapsing edge.
But that was all he could manage.
Black Wind collapsed again, white foam bubbling from its mouth and nostrils.
The fissure was now mere inches away, widening relentlessly. Chunks of earth crumbled from the edges, falling into the abyss.
Without even pausing for breath, Roland rolled over to Theresa's side.
She remained deeply immersed in an unknown agony, her consciousness blurred, barely registering the imminent catastrophe around them.
"Forgive me!" Roland growled, wrapping his arms under Theresa's armpits. He locked his arms around her ice-cold, trembling body and hauled her backward with every ounce of strength he possessed.
"Ugh... ah!" Theresa groaned unconsciously.
The instant Roland dragged Theresa clear of their original position...
Crack! Rumble!
The ground where they had stood, along with a massive section of earth, instantly collapsed, plunging into the bottomless darkness below.
Splintered rocks whizzed past Roland's cheek.
"The only way out is behind us!"
Roland quickly scanned his surroundings, then dragged Theresa along, his feet pounding against the collapsing ground.
Almost crawling on all fours, they raced desperately toward the only relatively intact area—the entrance to the demonic beast's storage cave.
The cave entrance trembled violently, sending pebbles cascading down, but its structure seemed remarkably sturdy, showing no signs of tearing apart.
Roland rammed his shoulder against several tumbling rocks, half-dragging, half-carrying Theresa while simultaneously shoving Black Wind's massive body into the cave with all his might.
"Get in! All of you, get in!" he roared hoarsely, racing against the collapsing earth.
Just as the disheveled trio—two humans and a horse—rolled into the relatively safe interior of the cave,
BOOM!!!
Another earth-shattering explosion rocked the world.
With a deafening screech of grinding rock, a massive boulder the size of a house crashed down from above the cave entrance, its immense weight slamming into the last remaining patch of open ground outside. The resulting dust cloud billowed out like a thick fog, instantly blotting out the light.
Deep within the cave, only the ragged breaths of the survivors, Black Wind's pained whinnies, and the relentless roar of destruction from the world outside remained.
"What's happening? Is this the end of the world?"
Roland shook his aching arm, his entire body tense.
The strange sound from afar had vanished, but the earth-shattering roars outside the cave persisted.
After an eternity, the ground gradually ceased trembling, and Roland's taut nerves finally eased slightly.
"Huff..."
Exhaling deeply, Roland activated the white skeletal remains on his wrist. In an instant, a brilliant sphere of light banished the cave's darkness.
He swiftly turned to check on his companions.
Black Wind lay sprawled on the ground, the dried foam around his mouth and nostrils crusted over, but his chest still rose and fell faintly.
Theresa huddled in a corner, her silver hair plastered to her pale face with cold sweat, yet her breathing remained shallow.
In the animal-hide pouch at his waist, Joe's stiff little body twitched faintly.
All were merely in deep comas, their lives not immediately threatened.
Having confirmed this, Roland immediately turned and strode toward the cave entrance, now sealed by massive boulders.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With each heavy strike, his brow furrowed deeper.
"Damn it, the exit is completely blocked. Fine."
Roland had never been one to wait for death.
After a brief assessment of their predicament, he shook his head sharply, as if to shake off all useless anxiety and hesitation.
Turning back, Roland used the Light Spell to carefully examine the cave before him.
As the light advanced, the full extent of the cave gradually unfolded before Roland's eyes.
Magnificent.
This was the only thought that instantly sprang to Roland's mind.
This was no mere shallow cave used by demonic beasts to temporarily stash their loot.
The scene before him resembled an underground hall carved into the heart of a mountain.
The main chamber of the cave was exceptionally vast, its height far exceeding that of the entrance.
The Light Spell hovered in the center, yet it couldn't fully illuminate the ceiling, only faintly outlining the jagged contours of the rocky dome.
The goods previously carried in by the demonic beasts were scattered haphazardly near the entrance, appearing as insignificant as children's toys in this colossal space.
"These are... spell patterns?"
Roland frowned slightly as he observed the intricate, complex lines etched into the illuminated cave walls.
Could the reason this cave remained unaffected be due to these spell patterns?
He didn't dwell on the question, instead cautiously advancing deeper into the cave.
After about fifty steps, the cave's structure began to change.
The single, massive chamber ahead now branched into several tunnels of varying sizes, like the roots of a giant tree, each extending in a different direction.
Roland stopped, the orb of light from his Light Spell hovering above his head, illuminating the fork in the path before him.
The tunnels varied in width, some wide enough to accommodate several people walking abreast, others so narrow that only one person could squeeze through sideways.
They crisscrossed and intersected haphazardly, plunging into the deeper darkness like jagged teeth, forming a complex underground labyrinth.
The cave walls still bore the marks of violent excavation or erosion, particularly evident at the tunnel entrances.
As he held his breath, carefully studying the passages, an extremely subtle sensation brushed against his cheek.
Wind!
Though barely perceptible, it was undeniably moving air.
Like a cool, silken thread, it gently caressed his skin, carrying a refreshing scent that stood in stark contrast to the stale, stagnant air deep within the cave.
Roland's spirit lifted.
He immediately focused his senses, tilting his ear to listen intently while extending a finger to cautiously test the airflow direction at each tunnel entrance.
"There's wind... and it's coming from different directions," Roland murmured to himself, a sharp glint in his eyes.
"This means these tunnels aren't dead ends! They likely connect to other exits, perhaps even... eventually leading to the surface!"
(End of the Chapter)