Chapter 617: Chapter 21: Descent

“Nicholas Avalon!” Kong exclaimed softly, “The legendary slave mage who overthrew the Eternal Tower! Legend has it that he came from a place called Gri Town!”

“So that’s it…”

A look of understanding flashed in Lynch’s eyes. No wonder he felt a sense of familiarity when he heard the name Gri Town earlier—it turns out it’s Nicholas’s hometown!

Thinking back, he does remember reading about it in the history books.

It’s said Nicholas was born in a small town in the remote areas of Acadia, which is this very Gri Town, and like most of the residents here, he was one of the peasants under the rule of the local nobles.

However, later the wizards of the Eternal Tower came to the town to select a batch of test subjects, and unfortunately, Nicholas was chosen.

And then… and then…

Lynch remembered the last mention of Gri Town being that it was struck by a storm, destroying the town and its people overnight.

At the time, it seemed like nothing, given that this world is inherently unstable, plagued by natural and manmade disasters, and fragile humans have no resistance. A storm or earthquake destroying a town is not uncommon.

But looking at it now…

Lynch bent down and gently stroked the tombstone before him, “Is Nicholas buried here?”

According to history, the destruction of the town happened shortly after Nicholas left. How could a destroyed town still bury him afterward?

However, Lynch remained skeptical. After all, whether Nicholas truly perished is still undetermined in history.

Besides, for someone as powerful as him…

Honestly, even if he were still alive today, Lynch wouldn’t find it strange.

“There seems to be something here!” At that moment, Kong’s voice rang out.

She stopped at a corner where the base of the tombstone met the ground. The moss there seemed thinner than elsewhere, and the stone’s color slightly different.

Kong took out the Cross Sword and tapped the ground below. The sound of ’bang, bang, bang’ echoed, like in an empty basement.

“Hmm?”

Lynch went over and carefully scraped away the surface moss and soil with his nails, revealing a shallow groove underneath that almost blended with the stone. The groove had an irregular shape, resembling some natural pattern, but upon closer inspection, it bore traces of human guidance.

“It indeed seems…”

Lynch touched his chin, then said to Kong, “Could you try perceiving this place?”

His Space Domain hadn’t fully formed, whereas Kong had successfully constructed hers. Despite the domain being somewhat restricted in this peculiar place, perceiving it should still be possible.

Kong squatted down, letting her slender fingers hover above the groove. She closed her eyes, and a faint ripple of void emanated around her.

A moment later, she opened her eyes, “Below… there are strong spatial distortions. Very faint, suppressed by the materials of the tombstone itself and the rune power above, but they do exist. Below… there seems to be a space.”

Lynch squinted his eyes.

He immediately began cleaning the dirt and detritus around the tombstone base. As the cleared area expanded, they discovered that the groove was not isolated but connected to a stone slab about half a meter square under the tombstone base. This slab was incredibly tightly bonded to the surrounding soil, yet the edges still revealed tiny cracks.

Lynch tried inserting his fingers into the cracks, exerting force to pry upwards. The slab didn’t budge.

“It’s not a physical opening,” Kong observed the texture of the groove and the slab, “It might require specific energy… or a key?”

Gazing at the shallow groove, Lynch had a thought. He extended his right index finger, a pinpoint of intensely concentrated silver light appeared at the tip—this wasn’t offensive space slicing, but pure spatial energy.

He carefully pressed his fingertip into the groove, cautiously guiding that sliver of spatial energy inside.

Hum…

A subtle vibration, as if from deep beneath the ground, resonated. Those ancient patterns on the tombstone base briefly flickered with a weak light! Immediately, the half-meter square slab emitted a dull ’click’ sound.

Lynch and Kong promptly stepped back half a step, watching warily.

The slab slowly recessed inward, then silently slid to the side, revealing a dark opening below, just wide enough for one person!

A gust of wind, colder and more damp than in the graveyard, laden with a strong musty odor and… a peculiar, indescribable lament of souls that seemed to have settled over endless ages, gushed out from the hole!

The edge of the hole led to a descending, roughly hewn stone staircase that plunged into the deep darkness below.

The stairway to the underground lay right before them.

The source of the dead spirits from last night, along with the secrets hidden between this small town, Nicholas Avalon, and the Eternal Tower, seemed to be buried beneath this staircase.

“Let’s go down and take a look.”

Without hesitation, Lynch released an alchemy firefly and stepped first onto the cold stone steps leading downward. Kong closely followed, her figure quickly vanishing into the dark entrance.

“Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!” Footsteps echoed. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on novel⚑fire.net

The icy stone steps stretched beneath their feet, diving into a darkness that seemed to devour light. The alchemy firefly’s weak glow only illuminated a few steps ahead, casting flickering, enormous distorted shadows on the damp, rough walls.

The air carried the scent of earth, mold, and a deeper, as if the soul had decayed, musty odor, suffocating. With each downward step, the chill resonating from deep within the soul intensified, as if countless icy fingers slid down the spine.

The stairway was narrow and steep, forcing them to descend one after the other, cautiously moving downward. The footsteps were infinitely amplified in the deathly silent passage, each accompanied by hollow echoes as if knocking on the inside of a giant sepulcher.

Lynch could clearly sense Kong’s taut nerves beside him, her silver-gray eyes scanning the enveloping darkness warily in the dim light. Occasionally, they glimpsed simple, primitive carvings on the stone walls, resembling marks of struggle or desperate prayers.

They descended for an unknown duration, the air becoming increasingly dense and cold, with the musty odor now mixed with an indescribable, burnt soul-like acrid smell. The oppressive feeling of the passage reached its peak. Just as Lynch questioned if this staircase would ever end, the path suddenly opened up.

The stone steps disappeared beneath their feet, replaced by a hard, cold surface. The firefly’s light, freed from the confines of the narrow passage, quickly spread forward, as if cast into an endless void, the light rapidly diluted and swallowed, barely outlining the contours of an immense, vast underground space.

The alchemy firefly’s glow floated forward. At this moment, its light seemed to touch something, casting in relief a glimpse of the space ahead—

“Thunk!” The footsteps abruptly ceased.

Lynch’s stride halted sharply at the bottom of the stairs.

Simultaneously, his once tranquil pupils suddenly contracted, as if he had seen something shocking.

“This… this is…”

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