Chapter 630 – 630. Sinkhole (2)
“This… What is it?”
Cain, the vice-captain of the Artia Knights, gazed suspiciously at the ‘door’ in front of the sinkhole.
The target he asked was, of course, Eun-hyeon, who had installed the door.
“It is an artifact called a gate. Beyond this door is connected to the ground at the end of that sinkhole.”
“Such an artifact…”
Not only Cain, but all the other Arthia knights, priests, and adventurers were at a loss for words with a dumbfounded look on their faces.
Everyone was reacting with surprise at the existence of an artifact they had never seen before.
Among them, only Riod, Eira, and Cha Han-seong, who had used the artifact called the Gate, were the only ones who showed a calm reaction or did not show any reaction.
“… Aren’t you surprised, Captain?”
Cain asked after seeing Leod’s calm reaction.
“It’s a waste of time now to be amazed at everything he does.”
“…”
On the contrary, Riod’s insensitivity, which showed a reaction of not being interested, made me even more excited.
But Cain, like Leo, couldn’t stop thinking about it.
‘This… Is it good if it turns out like this?’
Eunhyun casually used the artifact called Gate in front of others, but this artifact is not good for many people to see.
The fact that you can move to another point through the installed door is because there is a merit that can be described as fraudulent in many ways.
Since it has many uses, whether commercial or military, my head was full of complicated thoughts.
“Then let’s go.”
After confirming all the preparations for the gate installation, Riod gave the order to depart without hesitation.
However, the knights who heard the order made a puzzled expression.
It was a very rare reaction for the Knights of Artia, who absolutely carried out the orders of the Knight Commander, Riod.
“Hey, wait! Captain! Are you just going to go in like this?”
“Is there a problem?”
“That… But for us, it’s a bit embarrassing. Isn’t that artifact completely new, different from the ones we’ve seen so far? First of all, it’s better to check that there is no risk…”
That judgment was natural.
To Cain and others, the artifact itself was a strange thing they had never seen before.
Until now, there had been no idea, idea, or concept that the space beyond the door was connected to other places, but no one was willing to pass through that door installed in the air.
In addition, beyond that door installed in broad daylight, it is a space that is very reluctant to enter because it is full of pitch-black darkness where not a handful of light can be seen.
“Haha, what Cain said is right.”
Eunhyeon smiled as if anticipating Cain’s concerns.
“This is an artifact that I and my wife, Illyana, developed and produced together. I have already used it several times and its practicality has been verified.”
“The witch…”
If it’s Illyana Kennifer, she’s a wizard stronger than Simon Magius, the head of the Court Magic Division, known as the most powerful wizard in the kingdom of Pernias.
Everyone knows her as a magician, and she is a woman with such a high reputation that even nobles and knights can hear about her.
The fact that it was her artifact developed with her added to her credibility.
I belatedly realized that it might have been because I knew that Riod’s action of trying to pass through that door without any hesitation was an artifact created by Illyana and Eunhyun.
“If you still have a hard time believing it, you should verify it first. Erin.”
Eunhyeon called another wife of her own as if it was nothing special.
“Huh.”
Erin said nothing, but she understood what she was asking and without hesitation she went through the door.
When she went through the door, the knights and adventurers who witnessed the scene showed a surprised look at the sight of her Erin’s body disappearing in an instant.
And seconds later, Erin came through the door again and returned.
“Connected properly.”
“I see.”
After completing the demonstration of the gate artifact without any fear or hesitation, an awkward silence hung over the crowd.
Eilana and Cha Hanseong, who were mixed among the Artia knights, smiled bitterly in sympathy with the reaction of those around her.
I couldn’t help but laugh when I thought that this was the reaction they had the first time they used this gate.
“Then let’s go in.”
When it was proved that there was no problem, Riod gave the order again.
“Ah, I see.”
Cain, who was wearing a dazed expression, hurriedly woke her up and nodded at her superior’s command.
Taking the name Illyana, she showed that there was no problem by going back and forth across the door herself, what more do I need to say here.
He immediately ordered his men to prepare.
“Then go first.”
“I get it.”
After hearing Riod’s answer, Eunhyeon and Erin rode through the gate and entered the sinkhole.
Its stability has been verified, but it will take some time to enter as long as you are in command of over 200 people.
It is to guide the attackers who enter the inside first and enter the inside of the sinkhole in turn under the control of Riod and Cain.
The inside of the sinkhole, which I moved through the gate, was pitch black.
Looking up, the light leading to the ground seemed like a very small hole.
Right now, the inside of the sinkhole could be seen because of the ground light streaming in through the gate door, but without this, it would be immersed in complete darkness.
“… Hyuna.”
After the two of them were alone for a while, Erin called Eunhyun.
“Huh?”
“Were you down here alone?”
This gate artifact is definitely convenient, but there was a restriction that it must be installed where you need to move in order to activate it properly and connect the spaces.
In other words, two artifacts are installed at the starting point and the ending point and must be activated.
“Yes?”
“It was almost dangerous! You know what’s in here!”
“I checked beforehand and came down. If it wasn’t for that, no matter how much verification was needed, I wouldn’t have asked you to come in here alone.”
Eun-hyeon went down the sinkhole by herself and set up her gate while Erin went out to meet Leo De and her raiding party.
At the same time, she did not miss the search for something that could exist inside this sinkhole through her senses.
If she hadn’t confirmed that there was no danger, she wouldn’t have given Erinn such an order.
[Shinsu Ai speaks well. Please scold me more.]
Even actively empathizing with Erin, who criticized her reckless behavior, Belldandy nodded her head.
I grabbed his hair and tore it off saying it might be dangerous, but Eunhyeon stubbornly refused to listen to Belldandy.
“No. But… I didn’t come down blindly either. I checked that there was nothing properly and came down, and it wasn’t that I was going to attack this place, I was just going to install a gate…”
Would that be such a scolding thing?
“I can do the gate installation too! I’d rather come down with me, have Hyuni watch, and I’ll do it for you…”
“Thank you for your concern. Still, I wanted to make sure that Riod could enter right here as soon as he arrived.”
Eunhyun smiled bitterly and stroked Erin’s hair.
Anyway, his wives and her goddess worry too much about him, so they are masked.
Erin finally said, pouting her lips.
“Tooth… If you do this one more time, I really won’t be alone.”
“What if I don’t stay still?”
“I’ll tell Illyana-sama everything!”
“… That’s kind of scary.”
It was to the point where Eunhyun’s hand gently brushing Erin’s hair stopped.
[That’s a good idea.]
Belldandy also sympathized with Erin’s reckless warning as if he remembered her trick.
“… For now, let’s talk about this later.”
Eun-hyeon turned her attention to guiding the knights who crossed the gate one after another, led by Riod, and hurriedly changed the subject.
“In case of any unforeseen circumstances, 50 personnel were kept on standby.”
“I guess so.”
Eun-hyeon nodded his head in agreement with Rio de’s standard judgment.
He brought in 200 people for the capture, but putting all 200 people into this sinkhole is not very efficient.
Eun-hyeon was convinced that this sinkhole was a place where there was something unknown that swallowed more than 30 adventurers, but he also needed to leave troops in case his confidence and judgment were different.
“Cain. Please pass this on to the drivers.”
“What is this?”
What Eunhyeon held out to Liod and Cain was a stick shaped like a long stick.
As he poured magic power into the round orb attached to the tip of his handle, the orb emitted light, revealing the dark inner vision.
Seeing the effect, Cain noticed the use of this tool with her eyes shining.
“It’s a lantern.”
“You’re right.”
In such a dark place, light is a tool that brightens one’s vision, but on the contrary, it also carries the risk of informing demons of one’s location.
Eunhyeon and Erin had the ability to pinpoint the location of the enemy without these lanterns, but the Arthia Knights and adventurers did not.
The first priority was to at least secure a view even if it meant taking risks.
“We will distribute it immediately.”
The search preparations for the inside of the sinkhole did not take long due to Eun-hyeon’s prior preparation, and proceeded in an instant.
And finally, the search began.
The search party, which consisted of a large group of 150 people, was very quiet.
There was no conversation, and the stale underground air filled with the smell of earth and the darkness ahead where the lanterns did not reach aroused tension in the people.
The only sound echoing inside the sinkhole was the rattling of the knights’ armor.
In the midst of a heavy silence with no conversation, about 30 minutes of exploration was conducted and a break was given.
“Whoa…”
Half stood guard, and the other half sat down, leaned against the rock wall, and exhaled.
When about 20 minutes were given to take turns breathing, Riod asked Eunhyeon.
“What do you think?”
“… It reminds me of an ant nest.”
“An anthill?”
Lyod tilted his head at the first words he heard.
“It’s a burrow where ants dig holes and live together.”
An anthill is a burrow that starts with a small burrow and creates worker ants, and as the scale grows, more and more rooms for various purposes are created.
A food warehouse, a place to store new eggs to be hatched, a garbage dump, and a queen ant’s chamber.
The uses are diverse.
“… How do you know that?”
Lyod gave a rare and incomprehensible reaction.
Eun-hyeon’s knowledge of the ecology of ants, which are insects the size of a fingernail, in detail was amazing.
“… It’s disgusting.”
Erin, who hates bugs, frowned as well.
“Well, I just happened to see it. That’s not what I care about.”
Eunhyun took out a piece of paper from her bosom and showed it to Liode and Erin.
As the search progressed, it was a map that mapped the path the search team had taken.
The map marked the forks in the roads we had passed along the way.
“There are a total of three crossroads we have encountered so far.”
30 minutes of searching and encountering 3 crossroads means that there is one fork every 10 minutes.
Erin immediately recognized the meaning of what Eunhyeon was trying to say.
“… It is a very complex structure.”
“Yes.”
It was very easy to get lost here, where it was clear that there would be countless crossroads to be encountered as the search progressed, and no matter how well mapped it was, one could not even be sure of one’s sense of direction.
“I’ll have to mark all the crossroads I passed so that I can at least know the direction.”
“That’s right.”
“… Hyuna.”
While sharing her meeting about sinkhole exploration, Erin called to Eunhyeon in a nervous voice as she felt a presence nearby.
Erin, who had been shaking slightly with goosebumps all over her body, was holding on to her silver shirt sleeve.
“There is something.”
The signs I felt were not human.
However, the sense of incongruity in her resemblance to a human made Erin nervous.
Upon hearing the story, Riod acted quickly.
“Everyone! Be alert!”
The attitude of the knights who were taking a break all of a sudden changed, and each of them took a vigilant posture so that they could draw their swords at any time.
As everyone looked in the direction Erin was looking, something shook and moved in the black darkness.
Kirik
A terrible sound like scratching the vocal cords.
It sounded like laughter, but also like a scream of pain.
The knights were astonished when they saw something slowly emerging from the darkness.
“Um, what is that… !”
