A Frontline Soldier Awakened as a Gamer In The War! - FSAGW Chapter 114 (Part 2)
The three ancient monsters, who had served as energy sources for Markein for fifty years, had been released by Kaiyan when he defeated Markein. They had gained their freedom and, in search of regaining their sealed power, had crossed the border zone easily after encountering the Banson Mercenary by chance.
“…It’s absurd. Humans have become even weaker over the years.”
“That’s not entirely accurate… You know, that the organization manipulated Eunasia’s history.”
Lumbanium spat out the words as if displeased with Barian’s statement.
“Ahem… I didn’t mean it like that. Anyway, since the job is done, you should return. There’s a lot to report and take care of.”
“Is it alright to leave it like this? I thought we needed to erase the traces.”
“It’s fine. Elder Hoen from your side will handle that once he finishes cleaning up the surviving humans here.”
“Sigh… Lives wasted so pointlessly. Well then, I shall take my leave.”
**** ****
“Ugh… My head…”
[Uh… My head hurts too!]
“…Are we alive?”
After falling into the abyss and being in free fall for about five minutes, they suddenly felt a tremendous shock and lost consciousness.
[It seems… that way, doesn’t it?]
“Phew, where is this… No, more importantly, how did we survive? Our bodies seem fine.”
The depth of the abyss was seemingly endless, perhaps spanning several kilometers. However, despite losing consciousness during the descent, there didn’t seem to be any issues with their bodies.
Considering the speed at which they were falling, hitting the ground at that velocity should have been fatal. Moreover, the sensation of the ground beneath them was cold and hard, like solid stone. They fell onto such a surface at that speed, and yet there were no problems?
In an attempt to understand their surroundings, they looked around until their gaze halted at the ceiling.
“…Rieka, it seems like we’ve ended up in a strange place.”
[What do you mean?]
“Look at the ceiling.”
[Yes? The ceiling… Why is there a ceiling here?]
They had fallen into an abyss, so logically, they should have seen the sky above their heads.
“Ugh… What on earth is happening… Wait, then where is this light coming from?”
In the midst of this bewildering situation, as they shook their heads in confusion, they realized that light, enough to ensure there was no discomfort in their field of vision, was emanating from somewhere.
[Kaiyan! It seems to be over there! Bright light is emanating from that direction!]
When Kaiyan looked in the direction that Rieka was pointing with her front paw, he could see a bright light emanating from what appeared to be a small crevice in the cave.
“…Let’s get closer.”
Kaiyan got up from his spot, still holding Rieka, and approached the crevice from which the light was emitting. Upon closer inspection, he could see that the source of the light was a crystal-like object.
“Fascinating. Rieka, do you… know anything about this crystal?”
[No! It’s the first time I’ve seen something like this too! They don’t sell these in the shops!]
“Is that so? Hm… Well, let’s take this for now. Having just one of these could be useful for exploring this place. We need to figure out what this place is all about.”
Thanks to his high agility, Kaiyan could still have a reasonable field of vision unless he was in complete darkness. Furthermore, he could always purchase light-emitting artifacts from the shops. However…
[Sure! This seems to be ownerless! You can use it later when we’re at the Lukuba Merchants to sell and buy good items!]
They seemed to understand each other’s thoughts without the need for words, probably because they had been together for a while. Rieka was like a clever cat in that regard.
Kaiyan gave Rieka’s head a pat and then reached out with his right hand to grab the crystal through the crevice. When he did, he felt a warm energy, unlike the cold stone floor.
“Warmth along with the light? Surprising!”
Kaiyan applied some force to his right hand, pulling on the crystal.
Crack!
Perhaps the size of the crystal inside the crevice was larger than he had initially thought because the surrounding walls cracked and dust scattered everywhere. Through the cracked wall, a massive crystal came into view.
[Meow! Wow! It’s a huge crystal!]
“Hmm! It’s indeed larger than I expected. Let’s see if we can take this out. Having something like this would be great for exploring this place. We need to find out what kind of place this is.”
The size of the crystal, now partially extracted, was about the size of a human head. When Kaiyan had first looked through the crevice, he had thought it was just the size of his palm. Encouraged by the prospect, he applied even more strength to his right hand while holding the crystal.
Crack!
Kachunk!
The ceiling and walls trembled as they released a shower of dust, and the partially extracted crystal made a loud noise as it was forcibly pulled out.
“Wow… It’s a gigantic artifact.”
[It’s amazing! I can’t sense any mana from this crystal, yet it emits light.]
With the fully extracted crystal in his possession, the previously dim surroundings were now brightly illuminated. Kaiyan looked around, and except for one direction, the cave’s walls were as dull as he’d expected. The space he was in had no exit except for one direction.
“Let’s go in that direction first. We need to find out what Canien was up to.”
Kaiyan remembered Canien’s words when they fell into the abyss. Havemime.
He had definitely said something about Kaiyan not returning from Havemime. If he was confident enough to say that, or rather, if he was willing to send Kaiyan to this place by getting rid of his tentacles, then it was clear that this was not a normal place.
‘I need to figure out if this is Havemime or something else, and I need to find a way back.’