Chapter 2069: Approaching The Colosseum City

As she thought that and fully realized that, quite possibly, an Ancient Titan Goddess of Life and Nature had somehow landed in the Netherworld and been turned into a small zombie, Elayne reached out and opened a large black and golden door. The heavy metal creaked loudly as it swung inward, revealing a descending path of ancient stone steps that disappeared into pure darkness.

"This is the entrance... It’ll bring us underground," she said, her voice echoing slightly in the sudden stillness.

"Why didn’t this Spectria woman just allow the survivors to take refugee underground instead?" Blank asked boldly, crossing his arms with a skeptical frown. "Seems like the obvious choice if she actually cared about keeping them safe."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing," Sailor nodded in agreement. "Really weird, if you ask me. Why leave them up top to struggle when there’s a whole underground space like this?"

"You don’t seem to understand," Marble replied with a calm but firm tone. "Being allowed here was already her form of help. Queen Spectria is the closest thing you would ever see to a true War Goddess. If the people staying above had nothing of their own to offer, they would have been forced to fight for every scrap of food and every bit of shelter. Simply being permitted to remain near her domain was already merciful enough... and well, I built most of the surface defenses myself. The monsters were kept away with a formation I carefully constructed. To think you managed to kill them all, though."

"Doesn’t that prove we’re strong then???" Sailor asked, puffing out his chest with a hint of pride. "What could possibly be down there that’s even more of a challenge anyway? This whole trip already feels like a total waste of time to me."

"I am surprised," Blank said with a teasing smirk. "From all the people in this world, I imagined a thieving bandit swashbuckler like you would be excited about the chance to fight inside a real colosseum."

"What?!" Sailor asked in pure disbelief, his face flushing slightly. "Why would I ever— you damn...!"

As the two continued bickering behind them, Elayne and Mark followed Marble in relative silence, their boots echoing softly against the stone.

Slowly, a vast new world opened before them, completely hidden underground.

The underground realm seemed to function as a second, secret floor of the dungeon they had previously exploded through. It was still made of caves, of course, but the space was far more open and immense. Gigantic stone pillars rose from the ground and hung from the distant ceiling like frozen waterfalls of rock. At the center of these endless caverns, beyond dense forests of towering giant mushrooms and massive clusters of glowing crystals, there stood a city.

The city was enclosed within a large, star-shaped wall forged from dark blue, deep red, and black metal mixed with polished stone. Several massive blue flames burned steadily at each corner of the walls, casting an otherworldly light across the entire underground expanse.

From their elevated position they could clearly see a massive colosseum at the heart of the city. It was the largest structure any of them had ever witnessed. Thousands of spectators packed the stands and cheered loudly as the battles inside raged on without pause.

These were not normal one-on-one fights either. Large groups clashed against one another across a vast interior that resembled a carefully constructed battlefield. The arena floor had been shaped into an abandoned, ruined city complete with broken buildings and collapsed streets. Teams fought for dominance, and Elayne guessed that the side which completely defeated the others would be declared the winner.

The crowd seemed completely excited as they watched every move. From this distance it was difficult to clearly discern every race present, but she could make out undead of various forms, translucent white ghosts, blue-skinned ghostly goblins, and many other strange beings mixed among them.

Above all, what surprised her the most was the presence of an entire living city surrounding the colosseum. Protected by those towering walls, thousands of buildings rose around the central arena. There were large inns with glowing signs, busy marketplaces filled with stalls, and elegant castles and palaces where people of high prestige could reside in comfort.

The great furnace itself — or what she believed to be the furnace — sat at the absolute center of everything, spreading waves of blue flame in every direction. It fueled the entire city with both energy and constant light, always keeping the underground world illuminated even in the natural darkness of the deep earth.

At the very heart of it all stood a dark blue palace of black and red stone, which appeared to have been built directly into and around the furnace. From within those walls, Elayne could clearly feel an incredibly strong and powerful presence that pressed against her senses.

"Could that presence be your sister, Ignis?" she asked quietly.

"It is...!" Ignis gasped, his spectral form flickering with emotion. "To think I would meet my elder sister here of all places... I had no idea she would go so far. I mostly slumbered myself or sometimes talked with Ambil, but this is... truly shocking! She must have been a little bored, I guess."

"A little would be a massive understatement," Mark said, staring at the blue flames with narrowed eyes. "Say, are those flames... hers?"

"...!" Ignis gasped again. "I believe they are... hers? She has expanded her power all across the city! But how?! How is she so strong...? I mean, I always knew my big siblings were stronger than me, but... this is incredible. Everything she has built and accomplished... I cannot help but admire her."

"Me too," Elayne nodded, a spark of genuine excitement rising in her chest. "I kind of feel excited now. There’s even music. Do you hear that?"

In the distance a large band was performing without rest. The deep sound of drums, the clear notes of flutes, and other instruments echoed loudly through the caverns. Those sounds mixed with the constant cheers of the crowd, creating the unique and electric atmosphere of a gigantic colosseum city ruled by an almighty divine spirit.

As they carefully descended the incredibly long and somewhat dangerous, yet ultimately boring stone stairs, the group finally reached the lower level and began walking toward the dense forest of giant mushrooms that stood between them and the glowing colosseum city.

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