Chapter 114 - - 114 - The Adaptive Beasts of the Hollow

Chapter 114: Chapter - 114 - The Adaptive Beasts of the Hollow

"My little Venn."

Caelia’s face went pale. Nobody had called her by that name since she was a child. It was the private name her grandmother used to call her before she died, a tender memory buried deep beneath years of duty and responsibility.

Step by step, Caelia moved closer to the massive crystal structure, her voice trembling slightly. "Who are you?"

The woman trapped within the crystal smiled softly. "My name is Elyra."

Caelia’s heart stopped for a moment. The name struck her like a physical blow, stirring a sudden, intense memory. She recognized that name—not from the official records of the Hollow of Ten Thousand Forms, but from her clan’s oldest, most sacred family archives. There was one story her family had preserved for generations: a woman named Elyra had once saved the life of their founding ancestor. The ancient legend claimed she had died protecting him during a long-forgotten war.

Caelia stared at the figure encased in the crystal, her eyes wide with shock. "You are Elyra..."

The woman inside the crystal smiled faintly, her faint voice echoing directly through the chamber. "I see."

Her gaze shifted away from Caelia, landing squarely on the human standing beside her. "And why did you bring him?" Elyra asked, pointing towards Lucien. Her look suggested a strange, deep recognition.

Lucien caught the look immediately and asked, "Have we met before?"

"No," Elyra replied simply.

"Then why are you looking at me like that, as if we already know each other?" Lucien asked, his eyes narrowing as he read her expression.

"You are very different compared to everyone else here," Elyra said.

Prince Rumil stepped forward, speaking up to break the heavy tension. "My friend is human and everyone else here is an elf. Of course he looks different."

In Prince Rumil’s mind, Lucien was his closest friend. They had hardly known each other for more than a week, but ever since Lucien saved his life, Rumil considered him his absolute confidant—a trusted light in the dark. Someone who has lived long in darkness will naturally see even a tiny speck of light as freedom. Rumil had been a little upset earlier when he saw Aelene resting in Lucien’s arms, but he understood the reality of the situation. If Lucien hadn’t stepped in to save her, she would have died. His brief flash of jealousy had vanished completely, replaced by gratitude.

Besides, Prince Rumil had his own clear reasons for entering this dungeon. He had received news that his sister, Princess Lysandra, was also coming to this dungeon. As the future ruler, he felt an urgent need to prove his worth. He was terrified that if someone like Aelvera found a supreme artifact like the Heavenly Marrow, she might try to overthrow him and align herself with his sister. He needed to claim the treasure first to secure his throne.

Aelene, on the other hand, had originally come into this dungeon simply to help Prince Rumil with his exploration. But after witnessing the true, terrifying dangers hidden within this place, and seeing how incapable Rumil was when compared to Lucien, her mind was in turmoil. She didn’t know what to do. If a moment came where a hard choice had to be made, which path would she choose? Besriel loved Lucien, but would Aelene choose him and betray her loyal friend?

Her mind churned with conflicting emotions. Aelene was a bold, practical woman. She cared about all races, but that did not mean she was foolish or incapable of making ruthless choices. She hadn’t risen to high status by accident; her father had taught her the reality of political power from a young age. Her deep pragmatism was obvious—like when she placed Prince Andrin into a public healing sanctuary rather than her own private house for recovery, despite him being her childhood friend. She genuinely cared for him, but she would never destroy her own future over simple sentimentality. When the time came, she would always choose her own survival and ambition over anyone else.

Standing nearby was Beiro, Aelene’s dedicated disciple. As her primary student, he had spent most of his time studying the intricate arts of the healing realm by her side. Because of that closeness, Beiro secretly believed he was the one closest to her heart, the only one who truly deserved to stand at her side. He wasn’t merely a silent admirer; he believed his bond with her went much deeper.

However, Aelene had taken him as her number one disciple for two very specific reasons: first, he possessed genuine talent as a master of the healing realm; second, he belonged to a highly influential family. Beyond those two facts, there was nothing more and nothing less to their relationship.

Furthermore, if Aelene had not chosen to enter this dungeon alongside Prince Rumil, people would have tried to sully her reputation—even though she was his fiancée and the premier healing master in Azurefall. Deep down, she also craved the treasure hidden within the Hollow, whether she obtained it through Prince Rumil or claimed it for herself.

Everyone in the room was driven by their own hidden desires. Prince Rumil wanted the treasure of Heavenly Marrow to prove he was superior to his sister; Beiro wanted the treasure to win Aelene’s heart; and Caelia wanted the treasure to uncover her clan’s buried secrets.

People like Caelia—the ones praised as the "saviors" of their clan—lived for their family and were expected to die for it. More often than not, such prodigies ended up sacrificed by the very people they tried to protect. That tragic reality was precisely why Lucien found her so interesting.

Elyra’s voice broke through the silence once more as her gaze remained locked on Lucien. "You are not here for the inheritance. You don’t care about the Heavenly Marrow."

Lucien tilted his head slightly. "What makes you think I don’t want it?"

Without another word, Lucien allowed a fraction of his astral energy to flare outward from his body. He held back considerably, releasing only a tiny taste of his true strength, but the sudden density of the aura made everyone in the room shudder. The heavy pressure instantly forced them to realize that even if Lucien was an outsider and a traveler, he was far from weak.

Beiro’s face tightened in shock. Because Lucien had mostly stayed in the background observing things rather than stepping into fights, Beiro had assumed he wasn’t a true combatant. Seeing Lucien’s terrifying aura shattered that assumption completely.

Yet, despite the overwhelming pressure of Lucien’s spiritual energy, Elyra didn’t even flinch. Her physical body was completely sealed inside the crystal, her meridians were frozen solid, and her soul was fractured and incomplete, yet her spiritual willpower remained abnormally vast and terrifying.

Lucien observed her closely, quickly understanding the reason behind her insane mental strength. Three hundred years of consciousness trapped inside a crystal body... three hundred years without being able to move a single muscle, three hundred years without speaking to a soul, with nothing to do but cultivate her mind and process her own thoughts.

There was no doubt about it—her raw will was frighteningly powerful.

"You really are an interesting one," Lucien murmured, a subtle smile touching his lips.

Aelene’s eyes widened in disbelief as she felt the true depth of the spiritual energy he had just exposed. "Axel... you are in the peak of the Spirit Forge Realm?"

Lucien simply smiled in response, but before anyone could say another word, the entire subterranean chamber violently shook with a deafening.

BOOM!

A massive crack ripped through the vaulted ceiling above, and a heavy shower of dust and crushed stone rained down upon them.

"What’s going on now?!" Prince Rumil shouted, stumbling as the ground buckled beneath his feet.

Elyra’s composed expression instantly changed, her eyes sharpening with urgency.

Lucien kept his balance effortlessly, eyeing her reactions. "You know what’s going on, right?"

Suddenly, the surrounding darkness was lit by a strange, chaotic light. The thousands of crystals lining the ancient walls began to crack, spiderwebbing in every direction as a terrifying energy surged through the cavern.

"Tell me, what were you guarding?" Lucien asked again, his voice cool despite the collapsing environment around them. He had explored countless dangerous dungeons throughout his life, but something this mysterious was a first even for him. In a place like this, every single answer required careful observation.

Inside the surrounding crystals, the dormant bodies of ancient cultivators began to twitch and open their eyes. They were waking up. Lucien realized a massive, terrifying mechanism had been triggered, but even with his experience, he couldn’t fully piece together the exact truth just yet.

"So much power and so few answers," Elyra whispered softly, looking at Lucien with a complex gaze.

She raised a single finger towards the group. The golden, jagged crack running through the black crystal she was trapped in suddenly burst with golden light. Ancient formations and glowing symbols etched into the surface flared to life once more, swirling with powerful spatial energy. Before anyone could react or draw a breath, a blinding light swallowed them whole, and they were forcibly teleported away.

As the world dissolved into spatial turbulence, a thought flashed through Lucien’s mind: Did Elyra just save us, or did she send us straight to our death?

A second later, the disorienting rush of space magic vanished. Lucien opened his eyes and took in his new surroundings. He quickly noticed that Aelene and Beiro were standing beside him, having been teleported to the exact same spot. Prince Rumil and Caelia were nowhere to be seen.

"Are you okay, Lady Aelene?" Lucien asked, looking over at her.

Aelene brushed off her robes, adjusting her breath as she looked around the dimly lit stone chamber. "Yeah, I’m fine... where are we?"

Lucien glanced at the luminous minerals embedded in the dark walls around them. "Judging by these crystals, we are still inside the dungeon."

"What is this place?" Aelene murmured, her brow furrowed in deep confusion. "I’ve explored dungeons before, but this place is completely different."

"This Hollow of Ten Thousand Forms isn’t just a dungeon," Lucien explained smoothly, his eyes scanning the quiet shadows. "It’s a prison—a prison for cultivators. So many experts have entered this place before us, yet we haven’t encountered a single one of their remains until now."

Beiro frowned, stepping closer to Aelene protectively. "But why is she doing this?"

"She’s not doing this because she wants to," Lucien replied softly. "She’s a prisoner here herself."

Aelene looked at him with intense curiosity. "And what about those other crystals?"

"She’s using those trapped cultivators as human resources to nourish and cultivate her will," Lucien said, connecting the clues. "Since her physical body is completely sealed, her will is the only thing she can strengthen. But the golden crack on her crystal shows her seal has been destabilizing—which is likely the real reason why the outer seal of the Hollow of Ten Thousand Forms has weakened over the past few years."

Aelene’s eyes lit up as she followed his reasoning. "So the dungeon’s seal weakened because her stored resources ran out... and that act served as an unwitting invitation to outside cultivators, drawing them inside so she could devour their energy?"

"It’s very possible," Lucien admitted. "But as I said, she was trying to save us from whatever just woke up, even if she wasn’t nearly as merciful to the other cultivators in the past."

Before they could analyze the mystery of the dungeon any further, heavy, rhythmic footsteps echoed from the darkness ahead. Strange, unnatural mana began to gather in the air as wild monsters emerged from the shadows.

Lucien immediately took a step forward. He knew that in this upcoming fight, he would have to handle the heavy burden alone; both Aelene and Beiro were pure healers. They could cast basic combat attacks if pushed, but they lacked the destructive capability to clear dangerous threats. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ

The creatures stepping out of the dark were pale, hairless, humanoid monsters with distorted features and grotesque, pulsing muscles. There were only three of them, but their presence was unnatural and heavy.

Aelene immediately reacted, raising her hand to channel her spiritual energy. A burst of intense fire erupted from her palm, striking the lead monster directly in the chest. But as the flames washed over its pale flesh, the fire harmlessly dissipated into thin air.

"They’re immune to fire element attacks!" she called out in warning.

Beiro drew his sword, stepping up with a sudden burst of speed. He swung his blade with full strength, aiming a sharp, lethal slash across the second monster’s neck. The blade struck the creature’s exposed neck with a dull metallic clang, bouncing off without leaving even a scratch on its bare skin.

"They’re immune to physical slashes as well?!" Beiro gasped in disbelief, taking a hasty step back. "How is that possible? They’re made of flesh and muscle!"

Lucien watched the monsters subtle skin shifting as they absorbed the residual energy of both attacks, his eyes narrowing as he instantly saw through the secret of their power.

"They adapt," Lucien said coldly, his body shifting into a combat stance. "We can only use a specific type of attack on them once. After that, they become completely immune to it."