Chapter 154: Deep Pit? Just Jump!
Just as the female secretary finished speaking, Ye Tian happened to walk over, catching the tail end of her sentence. He let out a cold snort.
"They deserved to die," he declared, his voice hard as iron. "Did they really think a mere box of potions could compensate for my teammate's life? If I didn't kill them, what right would I have to call myself a leader?"
Ye Tian's gaze shifted to Haruto, seeking validation.
"Besides, if it were you, you'd have done the same thing, right?"
"I would have," Haruto nodded in agreement, a placid smile on his face. "But I think you were far too lenient. If someone touched my people, not a single person involved would be left alive. And eventually, I'd uproot that so-called 'Seventeen' and disband them entirely."
Hearing this, Ye Tian shot a triumphant look at his secretary.
"See? Even Brother Haruto thinks the same way I do. I was too lenient. How could those crappy potions they offered possibly be worth my teammate's life? And they wanted to reconcile? Impossible!"
A trace of helplessness flickered in the secretary's eyes. In truth, she had never questioned Ye Tian's decision; it was just that forming a blood feud with a power like Seventeen was an enormous risk for their organization, Ascending God. Others might not care, but as a manager, she had to weigh the pros and cons.
Her gaze drifted back to Haruto.
If he wasn't joking, and if he could truly provide a sufficient quantity of high-grade potions… then the so-called Seventeen would be nothing to fear at all.
Time was pressing.
Ignoring these minor interludes, the group followed Lin Xuelao's guidance. Her enhanced senses quickly led them to an entrance sealed by a heavy metal plate, hidden beneath a pile of ruins at the edge of the plaza.
Haruto stepped forward and tried pressing a few buttons on a rusted console nearby, but there was no response.
"The switch is busted," he announced, then looked over at Ye Tian. "Think you can smash it open?"
"Of course."
Ye Tian hefted his greatsword, taking half a step back as the muscles in his arm bulged with power. The next second, the massive blade tore through the air, slamming down onto the heavy metal floor.
"BOOM—!"
Amidst the deafening roar, rubble and dust exploded outwards.
When the cloud of debris cleared slightly, a gaping hole had been torn into the floor. The solid metal plate was gone, and only after a long seven or eight seconds did a dull, distant thud echo up from the darkness below.
Everyone peered into the abyss. The bottom was pitch-black and seemed bottomless, with only a single row of rust-covered metal rungs extending down the side, forming a makeshift ladder.
A collective gulp went through the crowd. At a height like this, one slip would mean ending up as a pile of broken pieces.
"Eight seconds in total," Lin Xuelao judged, her head tilted as if listening to the echo. "The distance is roughly 250 to 300 meters."
"Three hundred meters? That's not too long," one of the team members muttered, breathing a small sigh of relief.
The female secretary shot him a look. "Running three hundred meters on flat ground isn't far, but climbing vertically is a different matter entirely. Even without accounting for psychological pressure and potential mistakes, it will take at least ten minutes, probably more."
Ten-odd minutes… Everyone's heart sank.
That might be nothing to professional players, but they were just ordinary people without specialized training. It was a truly daunting task.
But this was the nature of the instances. No matter how reluctant they were, they had to go down. The players could only try to steel their nerves and cheer themselves up internally.
"Let's go," Haruto said simply.
Under Yotsuya Miko's dazed gaze, he grabbed her by the back of her collar and walked straight toward the hole.
"B-Brother Haruto, I can do it myself!" Miko finally stammered, her feet scrambling to find purchase. Although she knew carrying her was no effort for him, having him do so while everyone else had to climb felt unfair.
"You climb too slowly," Haruto replied, not letting go. He turned to Ye Tian. "Do you need me to store that big sword for you?"
"Hmm? You can do that?" Ye Tian was intrigued. He had seen that Haruto possessed a storage-type ability, but he wasn't sure about its capacity.
"It's fine," Haruto nodded.
Without a moment's hesitation, Ye Tian tossed the greatsword. The massive weapon spun through the air, flying straight toward Haruto. The other players panicked, but Kaguya's group and Ye Tian himself didn't show the slightest alarm, their trust in him absolute.
Haruto made no move to catch it, even turning his back slightly. Just as the tip of the sword was about to pierce his spine, the very air behind him seemed to open a silent, dark mouth, swallowing the greatsword whole.
Everyone who had been holding their breath let it out in a collective sigh, truly impressed by how effortlessly cool the technique was.
"That cool, huh?" Ye Tian himself was surprised. He'd expected Haruto to make a last-second grab, not to just… let it happen. He immediately started planning to find a storage-type ghost artifact with a similar effect after he returned.
Haruto had already carried Miko to the edge of the gaping maw. With a smooth motion, he shifted his grip, sweeping her up from dangling by her collar into a proper princess carry.
The young girl swallowed hard, an ominous premonition rising in her heart as she spoke in a weak, trembling voice.
"Brother Haruto… you wouldn't be thinking of just jumping down—waaaaaah!"
Before she could finish her sentence, Haruto leaped.
The eyelids of every person watching twitched in unison.
He just… jumped? Directly?
For real? Is he really that much of a monster?
Seeing this, Youmu followed without a second's hesitation. Kaguya didn't say much either; she simply scooped up Lin Xuelao and leaped lightly into the darkness.
Seeing their own boss preparing to do the same, the other members of Ascending God hurriedly tried to stop him.
"Wait, wait, wait! Boss, don't be in such a hurry!"
"They can jump, but we can't!"
"Exactly! If we jump down, we'll be smashed into paste!"
Everyone was on the verge of tears.
"It's fine. You guys climb down slowly," Ye Tian said, striking a dashing pose. "We'll wait for you at the bottom."
And with that, he too jumped.
At the same time, at the bottom of the pit.
Haruto had already landed—or more accurately, he was hovering half a meter above the ground. This was the work of one of Reimu's talismans; its ability was to control levitation.
Tap… tap-tap… With a few soft sounds, Youmu used the wall to cushion her fall, landing steadily beside him.
"Youmu, you…"
A sharp whistle of displaced air interrupted Haruto's words. Without even looking up, he quickly pulled Miko back two steps.
Kaguya landed with a sickening crunch. The massive impact caused her legs to bend at an unnatural angle, the sound of shattering bone echoing in the cavern. Shards of bone even pierced through her skin, and a deep, purplish-blue bruise instantly flooded her ankles. Lin Xuelao, who had been supported in her arms, was merely left dizzy and suffered only minor injuries from the shock.
"Lady Kaguya… are… are you okay?" Miko asked, her heart trembling with fear as she stared at the gruesome sight.
"I thought you were going to turn into meat paste," Haruto remarked dryly.
"Then why didn't you catch this concubine just now?" Kaguya grumbled, clearly dissatisfied. She gave her mangled legs a little shake. In the blink of an eye, the shattered bones mended, the torn skin sealed, and her legs were restored to their original, snowy-white and delicate state. She then shot a triumphant look at Miko.
"Don't you worry. From this height—even if it were several hundred meters higher—this concubine would still be perfectly fine."
Haruto rolled his eyes at her theatrics.
Just then, another sound of rushing air echoed from above.
Kaguya's ears were sharp and her feet were fast; she dodged to the side instantly.
This time, it was Ye Tian. His expression wasn't quite as calm as he'd hoped; he had seemingly underestimated the speed of his descent. At the last critical moment, he pulled two short knives from his black cloak and slammed them into the cavern wall.
Screeeech—
The blades gouged two deep furrows in the rock, slowing his fall just slightly before they snapped under the strain. He barely managed to twist his body, adjusting his posture to land in what he hoped was the coolest way possible.
With a heavy "boom," he landed steadily on the ground in a half-kneeling position, one hand supporting himself on the floor, the other arm bent at a ninety-degree angle with a clenched fist.
It was accompanied by the crisp, distinct sound of a bone breaking.
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