Lightning felt goosebumps all over her body.
She immediately recalled the stories circulating among explorers—demons crawling out of the abyss, vengeful ghosts meeting their end, or wandering undead. Each was an explorer's nightmare; even a glance could cost one's life. Illusions and deception were their specialty. Could such monsters also be hidden in this ruin?
Although Thunder said these stories were just nonsense made up by third-rate explorers, she felt a tremor in her heart at this moment. Otherwise, who could keep shouting for months, with unchanged intonation and interval, while under attack by demons?
She now faced a dilemma—if it really was a legendary evil, having killed all the demons, venturing inside might still lead to her doom. But if the person had truly persisted until now, then the demons should still be in the ruins. What to do?
After hesitating for a moment, she decided to fly back and discuss it with Maisie.
After briefly explaining the situation, Maisie raised her head and said, "We can extinguish the torches and sneak in quietly, goo. That way, the demons won't see us."
"Uh, but we won't see them either."
"I can turn into an owl," the pigeon rubbed against her face, "Even the darkest night won't be a problem for me, goo."
Lightning's eyes lit up. "That's a good idea, but... those legendary evils live in darkness all their lives. They must have a way to find prey, right? Otherwise, they would have starved to death long ago."
"Didn't you say they were all made up to scare people?"
"Not me, my dad," the little girl corrected.
"It's all the same. Anyway, I've never heard of immortal monsters in Graycastle, goo. If they were really that terrifying, shouldn't they be more than just in that small fjord area?" A light emanated from Maisie, and the pigeon suddenly swelled, turning into a grayish-brown owl, her eyes full of eagerness. "I thought you'd be interested in these legends."
That's right, if she was a qualified explorer, she would never miss an opportunity to verify a legend. Moreover, she still had a mental barrier to overcome. Running away now would undo all her efforts. After a moment's hesitation, Lightning decided to do as Maisie said.
But, wait... she came here to overcome her fear, why was the other party so interested in exploring the ruins? Could it be...
"You're so impatient, it's not for a basket of eggs, is it?"
The owl blinked her large, hunyuan eyes and turned her head away.
...
Standing at the entrance of the basement once again, Lightning took a few deep breaths, gripped the turnlunshouqiang tightly in her hand, and tiptoed into the deep darkness.
Perhaps it was because Maisie was perched on her shoulder, but she felt much calmer than before.
The ground felt damp, and she occasionally encountered a pool of water. Being at a low point, rainwater falling into the tower would slowly collect downward. Although most basements had hidden drainage ditches, after hundreds of years of wind and rain, these ditches were probably blocked to pieces.
Maisie patted her head with her wing, which meant there was a downward staircase ahead.
Lightning slowed down, tentatively probing the edge of the stairs, then carefully went down step by step. After turning a corner, she suddenly saw light.
Soft, huangsè light shone from the end of the stairs, spilling onto the ground and reflecting shimmering waves.
After careful observation, she discovered that the slightly shaking ground was actually a pool of sewage. Based on the lower half of the door frame buried in the water, the water at the bottom of the basement was probably knee-deep.
She carefully walked to the junction of the stairs and the water surface, lifted her feet off the ground, slowly floated to the door, and peeked inside.
The room inside was empty—the underground space of this stone tower was unbelievably large, far exceeding the above-ground part. She didn't see a burning torch; the yellow light came from stones embedded in the walls.
They roughly outlined the contours of the basement while also allowing Lightning to see everything in the room clearly.
In the center of the room was a raised stone platform, on which stood several figures. From the armor on their backs and their burly figures, it was clear that they were demons. Fortunately, the enemies hadn't noticed the movement at the door. Instead, they were holding spears and large shields, surrounding a square blue stone pillar.
At this moment, the cries for help became clearer and clearer, as if ringing in her ears.
"Save me, save me..."
Lightning swallowed. What to do next?
"We..."
"Hurry up and save her, goo," Maisie whispered in her ear.
"Eh?" The little girl was stunned. "But, there are several demons there... We can't possibly beat them!" She felt her hand holding the gun handle was covered in sweat. "If Nightingale was here, it would be no problem, but I alone... can't do it."
"Are those what you call demons?" Maisie tilted her head. "They seem to be already dead, goo."
"What, dead?"
Before she finished speaking, Maisie had already taken off and flew toward the high platform, startling Lightning to a standstill, even forgetting to reach out and grab her. By the time she reacted, she had already pounced on a demon. Lightning had no choice but to grit her teeth, raise her gun and follow, silently reciting the shooting tips taught by Nightingale.
The scene that unfolded was surprising. The demon pecked twice by the owl collapsed with a bang, like a weathered and dilapidated stone, turning into a pile of flying ashes in an instant.
What... what's going on? Lightning landed beside Maisie, looking at the other three demons in surprise.
Under the illumination of the yellow light, their bodies were covered with fine cracks, and there were spider webs between their legs. Through the grimacing headgear, their eyes and skin were grayish-white, completely devoid of life. So that's it, she thought. In dim light, the owl's vision was several times better than her own, which was why Maisie had said such things.
But before she could relax, Lightning's attention was completely drawn to something else.
In the high platform surrounded by demons, stood a huge cube. From a distance, it looked like a stone pillar, but on closer inspection, it turned out to be transparent. Enclosed in the cubic crystal was a woman wearing gorgeous robes. Her eyes were closed, her hands were open, and her long blue hair spread out behind her, as if still maintaining a pose of fluttering in the wind.
"Is this a witch, goo?" Maisie flew above the crystal and pecked hard. This time it did not break, but made a crisp tapping sound. "So hard, goo!"
"I don't know," Lightning murmured. She placed her hand on the crystal. A cold chill transmitted through her skin—the surface of the crystal was covered with thick dust, obviously, the woman had been in this "stone coffin" for a long time. Her expression was lifelike, her tightly furrowed eyebrows raised upward, looking somewhat flustered, but more of it was anxious and worried.
"Save me..."
The voice came again from behind the crystal. (。)