Chapter 280: The Abyss

The violent trembling drew a low growl from Nina. She swung her blade again and again at the surroundings, but her strikes had no effect on the magic, nor could they halt its operation.  

Wu Qingsong grabbed her arm to keep her from falling.  

“Something must have gone wrong,” he shouted to her over the chaos.  

The teleportation array they had used in the capital to travel from the lower city to Padamia had been far smoother and quicker than this. Even if the Crimson Demon Lord’s magic belonged to an entirely different system than the elves’, the disparity was far too extreme.  

The increasingly intense vibrations made it impossible for Wu Qingsong to think clearly about what kind of monster the Crimson Demon Lord might be, or how they would deal with it. They were like passengers on a roller coaster without safety restraints. Wu Qingsong had to cling tightly to Nina to prevent himself from being flung away.  

Then, in an instant, everything went still.  

“Nina…” 

Wu Qingsong was thrown about, but thanks to his resilient body and mind, he quickly recovered.  

“I’m fine,” Nina replied, struggling to her feet.  

Her powers were still active. The faint silver glow of her lunar energy illuminated their surroundings. This suggested that they hadn’t been in the teleportation magic for very long.  

“What is this place?”

“I don’t know,” Wu Qingsong shook his head. “Maybe we’re in some part of the Third Layer of the Abyss, or maybe we’re just in a forgotten corner of the underground world. Nina, that strike of yours might’ve saved both our lives. Wherever we are, at least we weren’t sent straight to that monster, the Crimson Demon Lord.”

The ground around them was strewn with fragments of unfamiliar stone. Nearby, a massive rock was slick with moisture. They both stood silently for a long time, straining to hear anything. Apart from the sound of water dripping from some unseen height, the cavern was utterly silent.

The space seemed vast. Despite the reflective surfaces of the stones, the silvery moonlight radiating from Nina was quickly swallowed by the darkness. It barely illuminated a radius of ten meters around them. Beyond that, there was nothing but an endless void, an oppressive blackness masking the contours of the cave.

Wu Qingsong picked up a stone and tossed it into the distance. By listening to the echoing clatter of its impact, he tried to get a sense of their surroundings.

“I think we should head that way,” he said, gesturing in a direction.

“That’s just guessing.”

“Of course it is. But do you have a better idea?” Wu Qingsong asked.

Nina couldn’t refute him, so she simply used her sword as a makeshift walking stick and took the lead.

“You should conserve your energy for now,” Wu Qingsong suddenly suggested. “The area seems safe for the moment, but who knows what we might run into later?”

“I’ll manage it myself,” Nina replied. “I’ll keep it at minimal use. When I feel like I’m running out of strength, we’ll stop to rest.”

“Alright,” Wu Qingsong agreed.

The power of the Silver Moon was invaluable in this situation. It provided light, calmed their fears, dispelled negative emotions, and could even heal wounds. Wu Qingsong found himself grateful that it was Nina who had fallen into this trap with him. If it had been someone else, they would be fumbling blindly in the pitch-black darkness—or more likely, already locked in a desperate fight against the Crimson Demon Lord.

The air in the cavern was heavy and stale, as if the oxygen levels were insufficient. It felt like walking at high altitude, leaving them short of breath after only a short distance.

“What exactly is the Crimson Demon Lord?” Nina asked as she carefully searched for a path forward.

“I don’t know,” Wu Qingsong admitted. “I’ve only encountered one of its avatars, but its power was immense, stronger than anything I’ve ever seen. It’s even more powerful than any of the elves I encountered in Padamia. Oh, and it called itself the ruler of the Third Layer of the Abyss.”

“The Third Layer of the Abyss…” Nina muttered, stepping over a massive boulder. 

Suddenly, a gigantic creature appeared ahead, startling both of them. Nina instinctively raised her sword, but as they approached, she realized it wasn’t alive. It wasn’t even moving.

Cautiously, she moved closer and saw that it was the molted shell of a giant insect.

“This must have been left here ages ago,” Wu Qingsong said after a quick inspection. “At least it proves there’s been life here before. That’s better than nothing.”

Nina nodded in agreement.

They began carefully gathering fibers and bits of the molted shell. In such a cavern, finding burnable materials would be almost impossible. These scraps might come in handy later to start a fire during their rest.

But for the next few hours, they found no further signs of life.

Before them, there was always another passage—sometimes wide, sometimes narrow. Around them, only unchanging stone, stone, and more stone. Beyond, an endless, impenetrable darkness loomed.

While there was water trickling here and there, there was absolutely nothing else.

Nina suddenly came to a halt.

“Nina?” Wu Qingsong started.

“Let’s rest here,” she said quietly.

Wu Qingsong glanced at her and realized she was exhausted. By his estimate, they’d been walking for nearly six hours, and she’d been maintaining the Silver Moon’s glow the entire time, not to mention the energy spent on that desperate strike earlier. It was clear she needed a break.

Wu Qingsong took out the insect fibers they had collected and used a firestarter to ignite them. Moments later, Nina’s silver glow flickered briefly before it faded, plunging their surroundings into near-total darkness. The only light left came from the faint, candle-like flame of their small fire, which barely held its own against the oppressive black.

He pulled out the jerky and candies he had on him, handing them to Nina. Since they hadn’t planned on being out this long, they hadn’t packed supplies. Nina, in fact, hadn’t brought any food at all. What little Wu Qingsong had was thanks to his habit of carrying snacks to share with the children at the Beastgirls Sisterhood and the church school.

But there wasn’t much.

Nina silently broke off a small piece of jerky and offered the rest back to him, but he shook his head.

“You keep it,” he said gently. “I won’t starve. I can manage without food for now. Besides, if I hold onto it, I might just eat it all out of habit.”

Nina hesitated for a moment. 

“Maybe we’ll find a nest of bugmen soon,” she said, her tone cautious yet hopeful.

“Let’s hope so, but keep it on you until then. We’ll deal with it when we get there,” Wu Qingsong said with a small smile.

The amount of fibers they could collect from the molted shells hadn’t been much. They added the strands to the fire sparingly, just enough to keep a faint glow alive. The flame wasn’t much help for visibility or warmth. It was more of a fragile thread of reassurance in the overwhelming dark.

“I’m sorry,” Nina said suddenly.

“Why are you apologizing? There’s no way the Silvermoon tribe would collude with the Crimson Demon worm, let alone orchestrate sending both you and me into the Abyss,” Wu Qingsong shook his head in the darkness. “We don’t know exactly what’s going on yet, but your people are likely victims in this, too.”

Nina didn’t respond immediately, only nodding silently.

“Don’t worry too much,” Wu Qingsong continued. “If they were truly powerful, they wouldn’t need to resort to deceit to trap us. And once people realize we’ve gone missing, it’ll be impossible for them to cover it up or explain it away. It’s bound to come to light soon. Besides, I suspect the Crimson Demon Lord can’t extend its full power to the surface. If it could, it would have sent itself up there to act directly instead of going to all this trouble to lure us into a trap.”

“Thank you,” Nina said softly.

Her eyes glowed faintly green in the darkness. Wu Qingsong removed his cloak and handed it to her. 

“Get some rest. We’ll need you to light the way when we start moving again,” he said.

“What about you?”

“I can’t freeze to death or catch a cold, so I’ll be fine,” Wu Qingsong replied.

Nina hesitated for a moment, then took the cloak and wrapped it around herself.

“Everything will be fine,” Wu Qingsong reassured her.