Chapter 81 (2/2)
….He opened the door.
Creak.
The door opened a sliver and light entered their view. It was hazy, grainy sort of light. Seol Ji-Hu felt this sticky moisture cling to his skin before he abruptly stopped breathing altogether. Euh-heup! Rhine craned her neck like a tortoise and then, hurriedly covered her mouth.
Their noses didn't need a lot of time to get used to the smell of rancid air that hadn't been circulated for a long time, plus the combined whiffs of rusted steel and burnt ashes. The end of the stinkfest was soon followed by the sight of a mutated Orc. Seol Ji-Hu reflexively raised his spear only to barely hold himself back.
The enemy's command structure was incredibly annoying to deal with. It also acted like interconnected spiderwebs, so him carelessly killing this creature might make a higher-ranked creature to suspect something was off.
In any case, the monster in front possessed a truly abnormal-sized physique even at a quick glance. Every little thing his eyes could see on the creature's body, from its over two-metre-tall height to those tusks that jutted out sharply from the sides of its mouth, and even the bulging muscles the size of a grown adult's head on its arms, came across as incredibly threatening.
‘Something like this is being ma.s.s produced?' (Seol Ji-Hu)
He fell into a bit of panicked state but then, met the beastly eyes of the monster shooting out yellowing lights and immediately regained his wits. His scanning eyes immediately discovered dozens and dozens of these creatures but not one of them displayed hints of hostility. They simply stood still, not doing anything.
Having fully recovered from his initial shock, Seol Ji-Hu was able to notice something strange. The skin colour of the mutated Orcs came across as quite familiar. Sure, there were some differences in the depth of the shade, but at the end of the day, most of them had peach-like hue - just like humans. There were a few distinct colours mixed among them too, but their numbers were extremely small.
That wasn't all. Other than those that resembled humans in appearance, there were also quite a few with animal-like manes or thick coats of fur all over their bodies.
‘Could they be ‘half'….?'
Just as an ominous foreboding was about to enter his head, Kazuki began walking forward again.
”There are three places we must search within the prison block.” (Kazuki)
Just like his calm, collected voice, his steps had no hesitation in them. They walked past the linear corridor illuminated by the hazy, diffused light and arrived at a wide open s.p.a.ce. There were quite a few mutated Orcs here too, but the j.a.panese Archer didn't even stop to give them a second glance. Only after they arrived at a crossroads did he finally turn around to address the group.
”We were supposed to move as one unit according to our original plan. But we wasted too much time getting here. I'm changing the plan. We need to conserve time from here onwards.” (Kazuki)
Kazuki glanced at the corridors going to his left and right before speaking again.
”Chung Cho-Hong, Mary Rhine and I will go to the left. Seol, you go with Ya.s.ser Rahdi and search the right side. Whether you find someone or not, we meet again here in five minutes.” (Kazuki)
”Shouldn't one of us search the pa.s.sage in front?” (Cho Hong)
Cho Hong offered her opinion, but Kazuki shook his head right away.
”We'll have to go forward when going down to the second underground floor, anyway. We'll meet up back here and go together.” (Kazuki)
”But….” (Cho Hong)
”It's already a big risk splitting up the team like this since we don't have another Archer. I do not wish to increase the risk factor even more than this.” (Kazuki)
Kazuki spoke quickly like a machine gun being fired. Cho Hong didn't look convinced, but she closed her mouth shut as if she too wasn't interested in wasting time b.u.t.ting heads with him.
”I'm sure you have people you wish to rescue yourselves, but… You must keep your eyes open and be thorough. Especially when you see a human. Even if you don't know who it is, do not walk by no matter what.” (Kazuki)
Leaving behind those words, Kazuki and the two nominated rescuers disappeared down the left path. Seol Ji-Hu and Ya.s.ser Rahdi then moved to the corridor on the right side.
‘….Prison?' (Seol Ji-Hu)
They only walked a little bit ahead and soon encountered prison cells blocked off by iron bars on either side of the pa.s.sageway. Not wanting to miss anything, the two men did their best to pay close attention to their surroundings.
Unfortunately, they had no results to show for their diligence. Every prison cell they looked into was empty. They only spotted dirty stains on the stone floor.
As they continued to advance forward, the already-faint fuzzy light grew dimmer and dimmer.
The corridor was enveloped in eerie silence. Seol Ji-Hu finally managed to figure out that the stains on the floor were all dried up blood. Around the same time, Ya.s.ser Rahdi studying their right side slowly rubbed his moustache and murmured quietly.
”Why can't we see anything?” (Ya.s.ser Rahdi)
”I don't know.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu whispered back his reply. With only the two of them here, their nervous tension kept soaring higher and higher. He wanted to say something, anything, to alleviate this sense of foreboding that made him shudder constantly.
”I heard that the first floor was used as a pen.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”I heard that, too. But, we haven't even seen a hair of a captive so far, no?” (Ya.s.ser Rahdi)
”Which could only mean that the enemy's ma.s.s production plan is for real.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
”How did you figure that?” (Ya.s.ser Rahdi)
”If they weren't killed during the battle, they would have been captured as prisoners. However, it already has been many days now since then.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Ya.s.ser Rahdi's complexion hardened to a frightening degree. He finally understood what Seol was saying.
Ma.s.s production meant, well, producing something in great quant.i.ties. It was rather obvious that no one would leisurely wait for the arrival of a rescue team. Even worse, something could've already happened to the prisoners the day they were captured.
”L-look, man. That, that means….” (Ya.s.ser Rahdi)
Ya.s.ser Rahdi's voice was trembling noticeably. Seol Ji-Hu decided not to speak any further. What he said just now was the worst possibility he could think of. All he could do right now was to pray for their survival. Indeed, as long as they were still alive….
They could see the end of the prison corridor and encountered a ma.s.sive open dome-shaped s.p.a.ce. There was almost no light in this darkened place. While Ya.s.ser Rahdi was cautiously scanning around, Seol Ji-Hu activated ‘Nine Eyes'.
The entire surrounding area was immediately washed in the riot of yellow colour. Only one spot was in the deep vermilion hue that wavered into the crimson shade. ‘Retreat' was strongly recommended, in other words. Seol Ji-Hu quickly recalled the layout of the laboratory.
‘Since we went right from the middle of the prison block….' (Seol Ji-Hu)
He finally understood the reason for that crimson hue. Most likely, that's where he'd find the stairs going up to the surface. He had absolutely no reason to go there, and he definitely should not go anywhere near there, either. Not only did they not have enough time to search the surface, the security there must be pretty incredible, too.
‘Is there really nothing here?' (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu tilted his head slightly and s.h.i.+fted his gaze slightly upwards, only to suddenly form a frown. He saw something gleam softly within the darkness up there. When he looked harder, he thought he could see ropes or some such resembling hooks….
No, he was wrong. They were really hooks up there.
”Oii.” (Ya.s.ser Rahdi)
Ya.s.ser Rahdi quietly pointed to the side. There were four, five mutated Orcs standing around in a group in the distance. Other than them, though, there was nothing else to see here.
‘How many minutes has it been?' (Seol Ji-Hu)
Time relentlessly marched on, yet he had no results to speak of. His heart was racing even harder, his throat getting drier. He knew he shouldn't be agitated like this, but he continued to get more and more anxious with every pa.s.sing second.
‘What's going on with the left side, I wonder?' (Seol Ji-Hu)
”Looks like we…” (Seol Ji-Hu)
….Should go back. He wanted to finish his sentence with those words, but his mouth stopped automatically by itself.
Something was off. Those mutated Orcs were all looking above them. Not only that, one of them was frozen still with its arms raised up above its head.
”Should we go back?” (Ya.s.ser Rahdi)
”No, hang on. I just need ten seconds.” (Seol Ji-Hu)
Seol Ji-Hu whispered quickly and entered deeper into the veil of jet-black darkness. He scurried and approached the group of Orcs, and raised his head.
”….!!”
His steps came to a sudden halt, and in an instant, he became completely dazed.
And shortly thereafter…
His eyes staring above shot open even wider than before.
< 81.=”” difference=”” in=”” the=”” temperature=”” of=”” hope=”” and=”” reality=”” (1)=””> Fin.