Chapter 143: The Depths of the Abyss |
For Levi, this battle was no different from any that had come before.
He aimed at his target, pulled the trigger, and fired.
Logically, the bullet should have pierced the monster's head, turning it into a corpse.
That was how it was supposed to go.
Until a beam of light erupted.
Swoosh!
A beam of light shot abruptly from the monster's eye, colliding with Levi's bullet. With time slowed to a crawl, Levi could clearly see the beam vaporize the bullet entirely before grazing past him.
"???"
Are you kidding me? Is this a wild beast? This is a magical beast!
But what kind of monster shoots beams of light from its eyes? Why don't you just pull Godzilla out while you're at it?
Did I somehow stumble straight into a high-fantasy world?
Levi grumbled internally, but his movements never faltered. Taking a swift step forward while Eye of the Reaper was still active, he shoved the muzzle of his gun directly into the monster's gaping maw.
He pulled the trigger again and immediately retreated.
Bang!
Time snapped back to its normal pace. Levi quickly dodged to the side as the lifeless monster lunged forward, crashing into the adjacent wall before collapsing to the ground. It writhed and thrashed erratically, terrifying the old Professor and his group, who scrambled out of the way. After a few final twitches, the creature finally went still.
Only then did the group cautiously approach to examine the monster's corpse.
"This thing is huge," Joe remarked, looking at the creature. It was roughly the size of an adult monkey, which was indeed quite large for its kind.
"Did my eyes play tricks on me just now? Did it shoot light from its eye?" Miss Godine asked, her face full of doubt and unease. The display had clearly unsettled her.
Even Annie stared closely at the monster's head and spoke in a low voice.
"Its eye is very strange."
"The eye?"
"Yes, it is a human eye."
"Oh?"
Hearing Annie's words, Levi stepped forward and swung his gas lamp in front of the creature. The battle had been too chaotic for a proper look, but now that Annie mentioned it, Levi noticed that while the creature was bizarre from head to toe, its eye was undoubtedly the strangest feature.
In nature, animals that closely resembled humans were not uncommon. Yet, even monkeys or chimpanzees had distinct differences in their eyes compared to humans.
"No wonder this thing gave me such an eerie feeling," Levi muttered. He had felt an instinctual discomfort when he first saw it, and now he knew why.
To be honest, no matter how hideous the monster looked, Levi wouldn't have cared. Monsters were supposed to look strange, and a compound eye or a fish eye wouldn't have fazed him.
But a human eye was a different story.
The single eye on this monster looked as if someone had taken a human left eye and a right eye, fused them together, and stitched it onto the forehead. It even had a double eyelid.
Who knew monsters cared about cosmetics?
Such an eye might look beautiful on a human face, but on a dog-like head, it was profoundly disturbing.
"This is... a Night Demon..." an old, trembling voice sounded. Everyone turned to see the Professor, his face deathly pale as he stared at the corpse.
"Legend has it that Night Demons are the emissaries and guardians of the Goddess of Night, watching over her palaces and sacred grounds. Any sinner who trespasses upon the sacred ground will be ruthlessly hunted down by them..."
"..."
Miss Godine's expression shifted slightly at the Professor's words, but she quickly countered.
"But that is just a legend, isn't it? As far as we know, the Night Demon might just be an undiscovered wild beast that lives exclusively underground. Right, Teacher?"
"Whatever it is, it can be killed," Joe said, stepping forward. He prodded the Night Demon's corpse with his shotgun. "Since it can die, it won't be a problem. Teacher, let's leave this place."
"No, we cannot leave."
"Huh?"
The Professor's response caught everyone off guard.
"Why, Teacher? It is so dangerous here..."
"I said it before," the Professor stated, steadying his stance and staring ahead. "Night Demons only appear to guard the temples and sacred grounds of the Goddess of Night. Since there is a Night Demon here, it means this temple must hold a secret worth protecting! We must find it! This is our mission and our duty!"
Joe and Miss Godine were left speechless by the Professor's declaration. Levi gave a light cough.
"Actually, if you want a comprehensive excavation, wouldn't it be better to cooperate with the military? Dealing with these monsters would be much easier for them."
"Heh, we don't have that kind of influence. Besides, even if we contacted the military, they wouldn't care about the secrets here. They would just blow the entire place to pieces, and that is unacceptable!"
True enough. From Levi's perspective, if this temple really was a monster's nest, he would gladly blow it up. There was no need to risk his life to verify some impractical legend.
Of course, there was no harm in sticking around these archaeologists to watch the drama unfold.
"Then let us go see what secrets are hidden in this temple," Levi conceded. He didn't object; after all, this was the Professor's dream, and the old man clearly harbored a deep obsession with this place.
Furthermore, this was a good opportunity to ask the Professor about the Goddess of Night.
Levi felt it would be wise to learn more about the deity who had already appeared before him twice.
"The origin of the Goddess of Night?"
As they walked down the silent corridor, the Professor's voice was low and raspy.
"No one knows where the gods originated. By the time we knew of them, they were already there. Humans knew them, worshipped them, and believed in them. But that is all. Creation myths are filled with ambiguities and contradictions. They say the Creator God made the current world and humanity. But if that is the case, a question arises..."
The Professor paused to catch his breath.
"If the Creator God made humanity, why are humans divided into so many different groups? Why are some tall and others short? Why do some have white skin while others have dark skin? Even if environment shapes and changes humanity, the differences shouldn't be this drastic..."
The Professor looked at Levi with a faint smile.
"Therefore, aside from the orthodox legends, there is another piece of folklore."
"Oh? I am all ears."
"It says that different human groups were formed from the flesh and blood of different deities, which is why they vary so much."
The Professor stared intently at Levi.
"For instance, the descendants of the Goddess of Night inherited her traits, possessing hair and eyes as dark as the night sky."
"..."
"The offspring of the God of Light have hair as dazzling as gold and eyes like the undulating blue sea."
"The children of the Goddess of Nature have emerald-green hair full of vital energy and eyes as pure as mountain streams..."
"The children of the God of Earth possess robust bodies, eyes like solid rock, and personalities as resilient as the mountains."
The Professor coughed.
"Initially, the descendants of each god gathered to form different nations, worshipping different deities. This continued until Emperor Arthur appeared and unified the entire continent..."
"Teacher, it is better if you do not speak of this outside," Joe quickly intervened, trying to soothe him. "Criticizing Emperor Arthur will bring trouble."
Just as Joe said, as the first person to unify the continent, Emperor Arthur was revered by the Empire. He had unified the realm in every aspect, from culture to currency. Nations that once worshipped different gods and possessed distinct cultural backgrounds were defeated and annihilated. The entire continent adopted Emperor Arthur's imperial system, calendar, and units of measurement.
Consequently, within the Empire, there was nothing but adoration for Emperor Arthur.
For the Professor to speak so carelessly, denouncing Emperor Arthur for destroying diverse civilized nations for the sake of unification, was highly politically incorrect.
"I know, I am just speaking idly," the Professor snorted, dropping the subject. Levi fell into deep thought.
When the Professor spoke those words, Levi knew the old man was hinting at something. After all, didn't he fit that description perfectly?
Logically, he shouldn't have any connection to the Goddess of Night since he was a transmigrator. Yet, despite that, he had already encountered her twice.
Why the Goddess of Night and not any other deity? Did she view him as one of her descendants?
Surely not, sister. You are a goddess. Even without a DNA test, a deity should be able to tell through lineage that I have no relation to you.
Levi merely jested in his mind. He had no idea why the Goddess of Night kept appearing before him, and he sincerely hoped there wouldn't be a third time.
The group continued forward.
Strangely, the number of Night Demons they encountered grew fewer and fewer. At first, they would run into groups of two or three, but eventually, they saw none at all. This surprised Levi. According to the conventions of monster movies, the closer one got to the core area, the more monsters there should be. Why were they thinning out here?
In contrast, the Professor's pace grew faster, to the point where the others could barely keep up with him.
An incomprehensible shout suddenly echoed as they emerged from another tunnel, startling everyone. They turned to see a man dressed like a local running toward them from the opposite side, clutching a young boy in his arms.
The local babbled frantically at the sight of the Professor, gesticulating wildly. The Professor's expression grew solemn as he nodded in response.
"Professor, who is he? What is he saying?" Levi asked. He couldn't understand the local dialect, so he directly inquired.
"He is a local, a guide we hired," the Professor sighed, turning to Levi. "This child is his son..."
"Teacher, you brought such a young child along for an archaeological dig?" Miss Godine asked, rendered somewhat speechless.
"I didn't want to either, but this temple was discovered by his child. If he hadn't led us, we wouldn't have been able to enter at all."
"This..."
Levi and the others had rushed into the dream after the archaeology team had already entered the temple, so they didn't know how the team had located this underground structure. Now it appeared the child was responsible.
"So, what is he saying?"
"He says the demon is about to awaken and we must leave immediately."
"A demon? What kind of demon?" Levi figured those Night Demons were demonic enough already.
The Professor asked another question, and the guide whispered to his son. The boy stared at them, pointing and speaking rapidly in his native tongue.
"What? How is that possible?"
Hearing the child's response, the Professor's face twisted into an expression of sheer shock and disbelief, as though he had just witnessed something utterly impossible.
"No, how can this be? Why..."
Muttering to himself, the Professor suddenly bolted forward, sprinting deeper into the ruins. Almost simultaneously, the ground beneath them began to tremble violently. Then, the floor beneath Levi and the others split wide open.
"Aaaah!"
The group barely had time to let out a scream before they were swallowed entirely by the dark abyss below.
"Ugh..."
An unknown amount of time passed before Levi opened his eyes and pushed himself up from the ground. Not far from him, Joe, Miss Godine, and Annie were also gradually waking up. Despite falling from a great height, miraculously, no one was injured, and there wasn't a single scratch on them.
This made sense, given that this was a dream rather than reality.
"What happened?"
"Where are we?"
The others stood up, looking around in confusion. Only Annie remained perfectly calm, raising a hand to point ahead.
"The Professor is over there."
"Huh?"
Following Annie's finger, the group looked over and gasped. A short distance away stood a massive stone coffin. In front of the coffin, the missing Professor was bound tightly by chains and suspended in mid-air.
Furthermore, those chains did not originate from the walls or ceiling, but from within the coffin itself.
The lid of the stone coffin had slid aside, leaving a gap from which vivid red, blood-stained chains extended, wrapping securely around the Professor and hoisting him aloft.
"Teacher!" Joe roared, preparing to charge forward to help. But in the next instant, accompanied by bizarre shrieks, several Night Demons dropped from above, blocking their path.
At the same time, a voice rang out.
"I advise you not to make any reckless moves, Joe. Otherwise, I cannot guarantee your safety."
The group turned toward the voice and saw a blonde man wearing glasses, who possessed a refined, scholarly aura, stepping out from behind the Night Demons.
He was the final member of the Professor's archaeology team—Creed Jenson.