Chapter 604: A Strange Location (2)

Chapter 602

"So, what did I miss?" Bruce inquired, lifting a brow as he briefly scanned their surroundings.

"...Judging by the fact that we’re in a cave, I must have missed a lot. Interesting."

Elyon couldn’t control himself.

He didn’t know why or what had come over him, but he suddenly lunged at Bruce, throwing his arms around the Werewolf as his eyes welled up with tears.

"Yo-You’re safe!" Elyon cried, hugging the Werewolf tightly.

His tears soaked Bruce’s back, causing an irritated expression to form on the Werewolf’s face.

"Of course I am! Now get the hell off me before I plunge my claws into your ass!" Bruce barked, forcefully pushing Elyon away from him.

Ray blinked a few times before spinning his chair around to look at the Werewolf, who stood there looking as hateful as ever, while Elyon rubbed his side with a painful grimace.

"Will you ever stop being a hateful brute?"

"Will you ever shut your mouth hole?"

"...."

Ray smiled before giving the Werewolf a nod.

"Welcome back."

"What happened? When that bastard came to summon you and we vanished, I barely got a glimpse of where we appeared before I felt something yank me away.

It was like a force I couldn’t seem to explain."

Ray and Elyon looked up, their interest piqued as the Werewolf continued speaking.

"...It felt like a million... no, a billion hands pressing against me and suppressing my consciousness. The force put me in some weird state where I was asleep and, at the same time, somewhat conscious.

I saw myself in a void, different from this Mindspace. It was so dark and gloomy that I couldn’t understand what was happening. And yet, my body was completely unresponsive. I was being suffo—"

Bruce clenched his hands in frustration as he recalled the experience he had endured in the void.

"—Suffocated. Time crept by so slowly, and then a bright light shone in my eyes. Just like that, I was pulled back into here."

Ray couldn’t help but shudder at Bruce’s experience.

’Damn.’

"Elyon, fill him in. I still have to understand where we are," Ray muttered before spinning his chair around.

Elyon sighed and began explaining everything they had gone through while Ray had regained control over their body.

With every step he took, Ray cautiously twisted and turned his head, examining his surroundings from different angles.

Even though he couldn’t sense any threats within the entire cavern, that didn’t mean he was going to let his guard down.

Purple lightning crackled around his hand as space tore open, and soon, a dagger appeared in his grasp.

He then approached the computer sitting gloomily to one side.

He examined the keyboard before turning his attention to the dull screen.

Tapping several keys in an attempt to get it to turn on, he received no response. After a few more attempts, he eventually gave up and left it alone, walking towards a tube lying on a nearby table.

Picking up the tube, he wiped away the dust covering its surface to get a better look at what was inside.

Even though Bruce was listening to Elyon, he rested his palm on Ray’s shoulder, allowing him to share his vision of the outside world.

That was when he noticed the tube Ray was holding.

Bringing it closer to his face, the Tribrid squinted at its contents.

’Is this... is this dried blood?’

The dark smudge inside looked like a stubborn stain that wouldn’t come off no matter how hard someone tried to wash it.

But there was no mistaking it.

It was blood.

Black as shadows.

Dropping the tube, Ray looked around the chamber.

His keen eyes caught faint splatters of blood that would have been invisible to ordinary eyes. They appeared to have been wiped away, but Ray could still make them out.

’I wonder what sort of research went on in this place.’

Moving towards another table off to the side, Ray bent down and picked up a half-torn note.

It looked as though it had been hastily ripped out of a book, and rather roughly at that, judging by how several words were missing.

’Huh?’

Ray’s eyes twitched as he examined the page before turning it over and squinting at the other side.

There were clearly words written on it, but he couldn’t read them. They were written in a language he simply couldn’t understand.

He was about to toss it away when—

«Day 100 and yet why can’t we just figure out how to make it work? I have asked for... uh... that part is broken. I just can’t seem to understand what the missing piece is, and extinction is imminent.»

Ray and Elyon blinked a few times in surprise before turning to look at Bruce, whose expression was as serious as ever.

"You can read that?" Elyon questioned, arching a brow.

"Yeah? You guys can’t?" Bruce inquired, looking between Elyon and Ray for a moment. "Strange."

Ray decided not to dwell on it too much as he looked at the page with a blank expression.

’Extinction? Make it work? Just what is going on here?’

Unfortunately, no matter how hard he examined the writing, he couldn’t find anything that could answer his questions.

The note in his hand was the only one with legible writing, and unlike the others, it hadn’t been torn to pieces or burnt to ashes.

So, he stored it in his Inventory and looked around once more, frustration evident on his face.

His gaze eventually settled on the computer sitting there, dead and unresponsive.

"If only I had Van here with me. He could probably bypass its security or hack into it. Maybe then we could find some useful information. Tsk."

The Tribrid turned his gaze away, and it settled on a door that led to heaven knew where.

He had noticed it the moment he walked into the room but had decided not to pay it any attention for the time being.

However, now that there was nothing else worth examining in the chamber, he mentally made a note to return to this place one day with Van.

Since he now knew how to craft the rune that brought him here, he could visit whenever he wanted.

But for now, there was only one thing left for him to do.

He walked towards the door at a hurried pace, his dagger clutched tightly in his grasp.

"Time to figure out where the hell I am and find a way to reach Felix in time before he gets executed," he murmured as he pulled the door open and walked out without hesitation.