Chapter 106: Cha.106 Old Team (3)

Very important: please don’t read the next Chapter because it’s a mistake

My apologies (T-T)

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Team Four returned to the tunnel split.

This time, they took the right path.

Something immediately felt different.

The roots were still everywhere.

But they weren’t attacking.

They simply crawled along the walls and ceiling, moving in the same direction.

Forward.

Almost as if they were focused on something waiting ahead.

Nasun raised an eyebrow.

"Don’t let your guard down."

Nobody answered.

They continued.

The tunnel itself looked completely ordinary.

Old stone.

Dirt.

Roots.

Nothing unusual.

Until, after several minutes, a faint light appeared ahead.

The roots became fewer.

Then they stopped entirely.

Team Four stepped forward.

And froze.

"What the fuck...?" Mark whispered.

A city was hidden beneath the ground.

Green blocks formed roads and pathways.

Strange buildings stood on both sides.

There were lamps.

Houses.

Structures that almost looked like shops.

It was an entire underground settlement.

But something was wrong.

Nasun couldn’t explain it.

Neither could the others.

Yet all four of them felt the same thing.

The city felt...

Alive.

They took another step.

A cold shiver ran through their bodies.

Everyone’s eyes widened.

Slowly, they lowered their heads.

At first, the ground beneath their feet looked like an ordinary green stone path.

Then it blinked.

An eye.

A real eye.

It stared up at them.

Filled with pain.

Filled with terror.

Syran’s face went pale.

"What..."

She looked around.

The path was covered in them.

Eyes.

Hundreds of them.

Mark slowly stepped backward.

"Don’t tell me..."

They looked at the buildings.

That was when they saw them.

The buildings had eyes.

Ears.

Small hands.

The lamps weren’t lamps at all.

They were heads.

Heads that burned endlessly.

Their mouths opened and closed without sound.

Gareth’s grip tightened around his shield.

"What is this place?"

Nobody answered.

Then something moved in the distance.

Everyone turned.

Something was being dragged between the buildings.

It was attached to one of them by chains.

Its head had horns.

Eyes.

But where its nose and mouth should have been, there was only a cluster of flesh-like spikes.

Its head was connected directly to several small hands.

There was no body.

No legs.

Just a head crawling forward on its hands.

And it wasn’t alone.

There were dozens.

Maybe hundreds.

Syran covered her mouth.

Then she saw something else.

A massive creature crawled across the street.

It looked like a centipede.

Except it wasn’t made of insects.

It was made of people.

Several human bodies had been fused together into one long, crawling mass.

Their flesh had been surgically joined together.

There were no limbs.

No eyes.

They simply dragged themselves across the ground, helplessly moving forward.

Mark’s face turned white.

"Get us out."

That was the first time Nasun heard fear in his voice.

"Now."

Nasun didn’t argue.

"Back!"

They ran.

None of them looked behind.

They didn’t need to.

The images were already burned into their minds.

The screaming buildings.

The burning heads.

The horned creatures.

The human things crawling across the streets.

And the thought that there might be something even worse deeper inside—

That thought alone made their bodies tremble.

They reached the tunnel.

Then the temple.

Then the forest.

Nobody stopped until they were far away.

Not one word was spoken.

They returned to the kingdom in silence.

Eventually, Nasun broke it.

"Something that dark doesn’t simply exist beneath our kingdom without a reason."

The others looked at him.

"If it’s connected to a rising criminal organization, a forgotten civilization, or some potential threat..." Nasun continued, "we need to know."

He clenched his fist.

"And I know exactly where to go."

Later that day, Nasun stood before an old woman.

Her face was hidden behind an ugly mask.

"The Shadows know."

His voice was calm.

"I found a place near the Goblin Forest. Strange roots led us underground. There was an entire city down there."

The woman remained silent.

Nasun continued.

"There were things made from humans."

Still nothing.

Then the woman finally spoke.

"Follow me."

She turned around.

Nasun followed her deeper into the building.

As they walked, he noticed children training.

Young children.

They held small blades.

Some practiced throwing knives.

Others moved silently between targets.

Assassins.

Nasun’s expression darkened.

I’m disgusted by this.

Then another thought followed.

And yet I’m here because I need information gathered by people like them.

He almost laughed.

What a hypocrite.

They finally reached a room.

Inside sat someone Nasun couldn’t identify as male or female.

They sat on a pile of cloth, covered by animal hides.

A white mask covered their entire face.

There were no holes for the eyes.

No holes for the nose.

No holes for breathing.

A red flower had been painted down the center of the mask, surrounded by a dark color resembling its shadow.

"Welcome."

The voice sounded like a little girl.

Nasun’s eyebrows rose.

Then, halfway through the next sentence, the voice suddenly became old and cracked.

"...Nasun."

Some kind of technique.

He sat down.

"What does the Tree Race have to do with what I saw?"

Silence.

Then the strange voice answered.

"The Tree Race."

Nasun waited.

"What you saw..."

The voice changed again.

"...is what remained of the Tree Race."

Nasun’s eyes widened.

The roots.

The temple.

The drawings.

The underground city.

Everything suddenly connected.

But that’s impossible.

The Tree Race had gone extinct.

Everyone knew that.

"How?"

The masked figure remained silent for several seconds.

Then it spoke.

"Those who know the truth suffer a horrible fate."

The voice became impossible to identify.

"Do you still want to know?"

Nasun didn’t hesitate.

"Yes."

Silence.

Then the masked figure began to speak.

One hour later, Nasun returned to Team Four’s base.

Mark, Syran , and Gareth immediately looked toward him.

"Captain, you’re back—"

They stopped.

Nasun stood in the doorway.

His face was pale.

His eyes were wide.

His entire body looked tense.

For the first time since they had met him...

Nasun looked afraid.

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Very important: please don’t read the next Chapter because it’s a mistake

My apologies (T-T)