Chapter 286 - 278: Statue in the Depths

Chapter 286: Chapter 278: Statue in the Depths

The two of them broke into a jog and quickly returned to the lumberyard.

In contrast to the earlier racket, the only sound in the lumberyard now was the hum of idling machinery. The ear-piercing shriek of saws cutting through wood was gone.

The ground was littered with the bodies of workers, lying motionless in disarray. Yet every one of them had their eyes wide open, their faces blank and expressionless, creating a particularly unsettling sight.

It seemed that with the supervisor’s ’dismissal’, all the workers had fallen into an ’unmanageable’ state.

’I wonder if there’ll be a chance to wake them in the future...’

As they passed the workers, Kading must have felt unsafe being empty-handed. He bent down and picked up a logging axe. Still not satisfied, he grabbed two hatchets and a few Saw Blades, tucking them into his belt.

Uh...

’Lloyd’s first impression of the man had been that of a refined scholar...’

’Perhaps this was the [Redemption] system? Redeeming people with an axe?’

Lloyd scoffed inwardly before leading Kading to the storage area, where they found the spot the two workers had vanished from.

"This is where they disappeared."

"Mhm, I saw this place during my Spirit Communication. It looks like there’s an Alternate Space hidden in here?"

As Kading spoke, he raised the logging axe and swung it at the empty air, as if trying to cleave it open.

The axe, however, just swung through empty air.

Since it was an Alternate Space, it naturally couldn’t be entered so easily. It would require a specific method.

But Lloyd hadn’t found the specific method for opening the Alternate Space in the supervisor’s memories. He had only seen the man walk to this spot and wave his hand randomly in the air a few times. The next moment, his vision blurred, and he entered a pitch-black, grim space.

’So the hand-waving must be some kind of move that incorporates Spiritual Power, right?’

"Do you know how to get in?"

Lloyd asked.

Kading shook his head and said resignedly,

"I didn’t see much through [Spirit Communication]. For some reason, there are a lot of gaps in his memory. Maybe it’s because he’d already transformed into a Demon?"

Then, he turned to Lloyd and asked,

"What about you? Do you have any ideas?"

Of course, Lloyd could only shake his head as well.

"Can’t you do something with those three Holy Artifacts of yours?"

"Holy Artifacts aren’t all-powerful..."

Lloyd was left speechless, but then a thought occurred to him. ’Maybe the Holy Artifacts won’t work, but what about that brooch from Mizkakotok University?’

’This thing’s purpose seems to be opening some kind of Space Teleportation Gate, right?’

At this thought, Lloyd quickly took out the brooch. Pinching it between two fingers, he held it out toward the spot where the two workers had suddenly vanished.

As expected, the brooch reacted. It began to emit a strange Spiritual Energy, tinged with a slight aggression. It felt like a toothpick poking Lloyd’s fingers over and over at a unique frequency.

Lloyd quickly memorized the frequency. Once the Spiritual Energy from the brooch subsided, he immediately channeled his own Spiritual Power, tapping the brooch in time with the frequency he had just memorized.

A moment later, a fissure appeared in the air before him. Within it was a black, wooden door.

"A Spatial Holy Artifact?"

Kading’s eyes widened as he stared at the brooch in Lloyd’s hand.

He seemed unable to comprehend how this young Judge possessed so many Holy Artifacts.

’Just what family’s young master are you? Isn’t your family background a little *too* privileged and deep?’

Lloyd, however, wasn’t having such complicated thoughts. He didn’t explain the brooch’s origin. Instead, he used his inspiration to probe what lay behind the door. Sensing no Spiritual Contamination or danger, he spoke tentatively,

"There shouldn’t be any danger behind the door, but I’m not sure where it leads..."

"Then I’ll go first."

Kading showed no hesitation. He lifted his logging axe, pushed the wooden door open, and walked straight in.

His figure immediately vanished into the pitch-blackness within. Nothing could be seen from the outside.

But his voice drifted out from inside:

"That’s it! This is the place. I saw it during my [Spirit Communication]."

Lloyd quickly drew his Short Sword, tightened his grip on his Revolver, and followed him inside.

As his vision went dark, he found himself in the ’Holy Land’ he had seen in the supervisor’s memories.

The place was pitch-black, with only a few oil lamps on the walls providing meager light. But the flames weren’t a normal orange; they burned with an eerie, ghost-like blue. The light they cast was a cyan hue that made the space feel exceptionally grim and strange.

Lloyd couldn’t help but recall the Divination he had performed before setting out. What he had seen then was this exact same ghostly blue fire.

’But he had been performing a Divination to find the ’gates’ of Mizkakotok University...’

’To think that these two different matters would circle back and converge into such a coincidence right before his eyes.’

While Lloyd was pondering this, he saw Kading, with his free hand, take out a flashlight. He switched it on and shone its beam around the room.

He was also cursing under his breath,

"Damn it, this hellhole... just breathing the air in here gives me the creeps..."

Next, he shone the flashlight on a nearby wall, revealing bizarre and chaotic patterns. They were rendered in a thick, viscous-looking dark red, like the messy scrawls of a madman. The lines seemed to hold no specific meaning—or at least, none that a sane person could interpret.