341 Chapter 341: Caving In (2/2)

Nothing.

”…”

I adjusted my glasses, switching between views to ensure I wasn't seeing things. But there was nothing residing in the space beyond except an empty corridor that led further down. Unnerved, I glanced at Anastasia, who merely nodded.

”Let's go.”

”Okay.”

We proceeded down the corridor and toward the room at the end. To our surprise, there was some illumination being afforded from the interior, as if someone had started a fire. We could also hear some murmuring.

”Did you hear that?”

”The wall just opened.”

”Someone's here!”

”Is it a monster?”

”Idiot! Would a monster know how to open that wall?”

Anastasia and I exchanged glances and hurried in. As we burst into the room, we caught sight of three students gathered around a makeshift campfire, sharing in the warmth and light that the flames provided. The trio jumped, startled.

”AAAH!”

”Calm down!” Anastasia told them, raising her empty hands to indicate that she meant them no harm. The three of them stopped panicking, but they blinked rapidly as they struggled to comprehend what was happening. Presenting her best smile, Anastasia took a step forward. ”Are you from Lie Huo Academy?”

She had to ask. The three students were dressed in the exact same winter gear as I was, their uniforms concealed beneath thick layers of synthetic fabric. It was best to confirm – otherwise it might turn out that they were not from Lie Huo Academy, and were from another school. Then we would have problems accounting for the numbers.

”Y…yeah.”

”That's right.”

”Um…who are you?”

One of the three students – the sole girl among them – stared at us, wide-eyed. Anastasia continued to smile reassuringly.

”I'm Anastasia. I'm from the Silver Wolves mercenary guild. We are here to rescue you.” she glanced around. ”Where are the rest of you? If I'm not mistaken, there should be seven more, correct?”

They nodded.

”We split up,” one of the guys – a hulking one whose frame was barely contained by his thick winter coat – explained. ”When the dragon attacked, we were forced to split up to divide its attention. We don't know where the others went.”

”We wanted to go out and look for them,” the skinny guy explained. ”But we didn't dare to go out, not with the dragon still out there somewhere.”

”Oh…don't worry about that. The dragon is gone.” Anastasia maintained her smile and assured them. ”When the Silver Wolves arrived, we didn't see any dragon. It's probably gone.”

”Really?” The girl looked baffled. ”But we can still hear it.”

”Huh? What are you…?” Anastasia trailed off and tilted her head, as if to listen for something. As silence sank throughout the chamber, I realized that I could hear something too. A faint roar echoing somewhere. I met Ana's gaze, and she nodded before turning toward the three Lie Huo Academy students. ”That's not from outside.”

”…huh? It's not?”

”No…” I frowned as I focused on the sound. ”Doesn't it sound like it's from inside this cave?”

At that, the three of them turned frightfully pale and leaped to their feet, looking around warily. The big guy, in particular, stiffened and his jaw dropped.

”They're right. The sound…it's coming from in here.”

”But where?” the girl cried, backing away to a wall. She gazed around the interior of the chamber fearfully. I could only imagine what sort of horrors they went through to be so thoroughly traumatized. ”I don't want to…!”

Click.

”?!”

The girl spun around when she accidentally hit something in the wall. Another switch, just like the one Anastasia found, that allowed us access to this chamber.

The roar grew louder.

”Kyaaaa!” the girl shrieked as she tried to fling herself from the wall. This time, the wall didn't rumble. It was the ground that appeared to shake.

And then it broke apart.

”NOOOO!” the girl screamed as she tried to sprint to safety, but the ground was crumbling beneath her feet. I dashed forward and seized her hand, pulling her up. However, I realized that we wouldn't be able to make it to safety in time. So I whirled around and flung her toward Anastasia, who caught her. The two guys, thankfully, were already next to Ana, having dove to her side in reflex when the tremors began. They would have rushed in to help their teammate, but I just happened to be the closest.

Not that that was going to help me.

The floor disintegrated beneath my feet and I fell through the disintegrating debris, crashing into the darkness below.

”Richard!” Anastasia yelled, and her terrified face was the last thing I saw before I vanished underneath a cluster of toppling rocks.