novelraw Chapter 757: Breaking Away
Chapter 757: Breaking Away
Vague shadows swayed around them.
Shroud-like robes concealed their forms.
Fragments of fluorite emitted a faint glow, unable to pierce the surrounding darkness, only pushing it back from the immediate vicinity.
A human-faced hyena lay at Lu Li's feet, trembling with fear.
Indistinct silhouettes roamed the darkness, denser than the blackness itself. Devoid of human form, they were vast and dark, reminding Lu Li of the projections from the In-Between he would see when his Mind Level was low.
This place teemed with anomalies, each no less powerful than the giant Model.
Lu Li clutched a piece of fluorite, his head bowed and his face hidden in shadow as he moved forward slowly.
His hood bulged unnaturally—the Elder Sister was hiding inside, clinging to Lu Li's hair, not daring to make a sound.
The creatures from the depths of the Old Sewer seemed to mistake them for heretics and kept their distance.
But after they had walked some way, the surrounding gloom began to flicker like a developing photograph, and new images replaced the old.They found themselves on a mountaintop. The roar of the ocean echoed in their ears, the wind drove dark clouds across the sky, and raging waves crashed against the cliffs.
In the distance, the wreckage of islands could be seen.
The Lennon Archipelago.
The name surfaced in Lu Li's memory.
A swirling, formless shadow, like a plume of mist, materialized before him.
“...ghlg...vo...”
An indistinct voice emanated from the shadow, speaking in the incomprehensible language of anomalies, composed entirely of vowels.
“She says this is no place for you followers, and asks why you have come,” the Elder Sister whispered.
“We are merely passing through,” Lu Li replied.
“...ghlg...ghl...”
“She says the exit is just ahead and tells us to get out quickly.”
Before Lu Li could respond, the shadow dissolved.
The surrounding landscape vanished as quickly as it had appeared, and they were back in the depths of the Old Sewer.
Knowing the way out and having spoken with an anomaly that seemed to control this section, they felt a little more at ease. But trouble found them when they least expected it.
A black silhouette, like a moving wall, was approaching them. If Katerina hadn't yielded, she would have collided with it.
Katerina froze but did not move from her spot.
The black silhouette drew closer and closer, while Katerina stood with her head down, her expression unreadable.
At the last moment, just before impact, the silhouette sidestepped, gliding past Katerina.
Once the black silhouette had moved away, Katerina suddenly choked back a moan.
Lu Li glanced at her, and Katerina whispered, “Don’t worry about it, I can bear it... We’ll talk when we get out of here.”
They walked a little further, and once again an unfamiliar language echoed around them, accompanied by the sound of crashing waves.
“Someone is following you,” the Elder Sister said quietly.
Lu Li stopped and turned around. The black silhouette that should have been long gone was standing silently behind them. The indistinct speech, full of displeasure, came from it.
A clap of thunder roared, rain began to pour, and the shadow seemed to start swearing.
The black silhouette mumbled an indistinct reply and silently withdrew, melting back into the darkness.
At that moment, a medallion bearing the image of a lightning bolt appeared before Lu Li.
The dull stone resembled Anomaly Currency.
The indistinct speech sounded again.
“She says to take it. With this, no anomalies will bother you. But you cannot take it outside,” the Elder Sister translated.
Lu Li took the medallion, maintaining the silence befitting a heretic, and continued on his way with Katerina.
They encountered no more obstacles.
A few minutes later, they reached the edge of the deep sector—before them lay a winding tunnel leading upward.
Lu Li left the lightning stone at the edge of the tunnel and entered it with Katerina.
After navigating the narrow, winding passage, they returned to the fluorite-lit section of the sewer.
The oppressive darkness remained behind them, at the tunnel's entrance. Stepping out of it felt like returning to the surface.
Though, in reality, they were still deep underground.
Passing creatures instinctively avoided the tunnel leading into the depths, so no one bothered them.
Katerina suddenly threw off her cloak and, drawing her dagger, slashed it across her own shoulder. The cloth tore, and on her skin, alongside the cut, a human face with closed eyes was revealed.
Sheathing the dagger, Katerina pressed her hand to its eye, trying to pull the anomaly out.
“Let me,” Lu Li said, throwing back his hood and placing his left hand on the face.
A sharp pain made Katerina break out in a cold sweat and let out a low growl.
The face on her shoulder did not stir, as if it couldn't be roused from a deep slumber.
A few seconds later, it detached from Katerina’s shoulder. Tentacles tore free from her flesh, fell to the ground, and withered like a dying flower.
A barely perceptible amount of humanity flowed into Lu Li.
Katerina furiously stomped on the withered face. When she lifted her foot, only ash mixed with dust remained.
Picking up the torn piece of cloth and clumsily bandaging the gruesome wound, Katerina threw her cloak back on and whispered breathlessly, “I’d rather have been eaten by that monster than go back into the depths again...”
“It’s not all that scary in there...” Prusius, barely alive from the terror, lay sprawled on the ground. “It’s a good thing Mr. Lu Li and Miss Katerina were so convincing with their act.”
“We weren’t exposed not because of our disguise, but because of the Elder Sister,” Lu Li said, turning to her. “Thank you.”
Perhaps the shadow had known who they were from the start. The fact that it had let them pass was likely due to the Elder Sister—she had a special relationship with the entity of the City of Phantoms.
The Elder Sister, sitting in his hood, sniffed and, raising her head arrogantly, crossed her arms over her chest, but she no longer hid herself.
“Mr.... Lu Li, can you say that to me too?” Prusius stood up beside Lu Li and looked up at him, his expression a mix of hope and timid fear.
“Say what?”
“Thank you...” Prusius stammered an explanation. “Everyone in the Old Sewer is so rude, and I’d like to live on the surface, because I haven’t done that in a long time.”
It was a strange request from a monster, but Lu Li gave a slight nod and said to Prusius, “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Lu Li!” Prusius immediately straightened up, then muttered, “Why don’t I feel the joy they write about in novels when someone thanks you?”
“Maybe because you haven’t done anything worth being thanked for yet,” Katerina added, then turned to Lu Li. “Is it still following you?”
“Yes.”
The malice from the giant Model hadn't disappeared, only weakened slightly.
“Dammit...” Katerina swore, then hurried the dejected Prusius along. “Hyena, how much further to Midnight City?”
“I don’t know... I need to figure out where we are.”
With those words, Prusius went off to scout before they left the tunnel. Lu Li and Katerina followed him.
They didn't stray far from the tunnel. If the giant Model suddenly appeared, they could still retreat inside.
Nearby, Prusius was talking to some creature, his tail suddenly wagging like a dog's.
“I hope he has good news,” Katerina said, leaning wearily against the cold stone wall. After hours of walking and the wound she’d sustained, she desperately wanted a good, long sleep.
And a hot bath—that would be simply wonderful.
Wagging his tail, Prusius returned to Lu Li. His youthful face was beaming with joy. “There’s a Wormhole in the next passage! We can shake it off our trail!”