Chapter 1561: Disaster

Eccar begins to feel anxious. The reason was simple. He still had not encountered any real danger in this place. The other pilgrims around him looked increasingly uneasy, but their fear came from different concerns. They feared the darkness surrounding them underground and worried that another group of monsters might emerge from somewhere in the tunnels.

A few monsters had appeared along the way, but Eccar had killed them with ease. None of them had posed any real threat to him. He could destroy them in the blink of an eye without even having to use much of his strength.

The pilgrims watched him do it and now looked at him with open admiration. Some of them had even begun to believe that Eccar truly was a miracle their god had sent to protect them.

Eccar could not bring himself to tell them the truth. He did not understand what was happening either. He still had no idea why the Trial had brought him to this place or why it had placed these people in front of him.

What exactly was he supposed to accomplish? Was his Trial simply to escort these people until they reached their destination?

If that was the case then perhaps the Trial would end once they escaped this underground place.

He also wondered whether Erend, Aesa, and Sylven were having an equally easy time with their own Trials. He hoped they were.

Eventually, Eccar and the pilgrims reached a dead end. A massive wall of natural stone blocked the tunnel ahead of them. Beyond it seemed to be another enormous cavern, but there was no visible path leading through the wall.

Eccar knew he could destroy the barrier easily, but he decided to ask the others before doing anything.

He turned toward the oldest man among the pilgrims. The man was clearly the leader of the group and remained remarkably calm throughout everything they had experienced.

"What should we do now?" Eccar asked.

The old man possessed a quiet wisdom that seemed difficult to shake. No matter how dire, desperate, or dangerous their situation became, he never seemed to lose his composure.

Even when they had been trapped underground with monsters surrounding them in the temple earlier, he remained calm to guide the others through their unfinished prayer.

They had already completed the prayer inside the buried temple with Eccar protecting them from the monsters. Now they were searching for a way out of the underground complex.

That proved far more difficult than Eccar had expected because he had no idea where they actually were.

Eccar tried using his Earth Power to sense the structures surrounding them. Normally, the earth itself would have given him a clear understanding of the terrain and the passages beneath the ground.

Here, however, something interfered with his senses. His earth power could reach the surrounding stone, but he could not perceive a clear direction through it. It felt as though the earth itself was preventing him from seeing beyond a certain distance.

Fortunately, Eccar was not worried about losing his strength. His Magic remained completely intact and he had not felt any decrease in his power. It was just his ability to sense through the earth that seemed restricted. He could still fight at full strength if something attacked them.

"If you would be so kind, please make a way for us to pass through this stone," the old man said.

Eccar simply gave him a curt nod.

He approached the stone wall and stopped directly in front of it. He had no reason to hesitate. He pulled back his fist and punched the stone with only a small portion of his actual strength.

The result was completely unexpected.

At first, the wall appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary section of solid cave stone. It looked strong enough to withstand considerable force. But the moment Eccar’s fist struck it, the entire structure reacted strangely.

Cracks spread through the wall far beyond the point of impact. The stone suddenly lost its stability and collapsed across a much wider area than Eccar had expected.

Eccar immediately realized that the structure had been abnormal from the beginning. He could not predict which sections would break loose or determine where the falling debris would land.

The stones scattered through the passage as the wall collapsed, and several large pieces were thrown into the air by the force of the destruction.

Two particularly large chunks flew toward the pilgrims.

Eccar’s eyes widened.

He moved too late.

The two pieces of stone crashed directly into two of the pilgrims and crushed their bodies beneath their weight. Killing them instantly.

Silence filled the tunnel after the rumble ended.

Eccar stared at the remains with a stunned expression. His fist was still raised for a moment before slowly lowering to his side.

He had killed them.

Eccar realized that his strength had caused the very thing he had been trying to prevent. He had killed one of the people he was supposed to protect.

He froze in place. The other pilgrims slowly realized what had happened and turned toward him with wide, horrified eyes.

"You... killed them!" one of the men said.

His words immediately changed the atmosphere. The other pilgrims followed his gaze and stared at Eccar with resentment and disbelief.

Several of them rushed toward the two victims. They appeared to be close relatives of the dead and dropped to their knees beside the remains, staring helplessly at the bodies still trapped beneath the heavy stones.

Some began crying while others called out the victims’ names. Their grief quickly filled the tunnel and turned the silence into a painful chorus of mourning.

The old man remained where he stood. He only sighed as he looked at the crushed remains and the people crying around them. His expression carried sadness rather than anger.

"I... I didn’t mean to..." Eccar stammered.

He stared at the scene as if he could not believe what he had done. His mind struggled to accept that a simple punch from him had caused their deaths. He had only wanted to open a path for them. He had never intended to hurt anyone.

"It can’t be helped. You did not do it intentionally," the old man said calmly.

Eccar heard his words, but they did nothing to ease the weight pressing against his chest.

He still could not accept what had happened. He had entered this place to protect these people, yet his own strength had killed two of them.

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