Stray

The special animal hair rope had a sharp hook attached to the top. The reinforcement spell was embroidered on two-finger wide band of fine cloth which wrapped the rope tightly.

The sudden contact of the gray parrot startled Nemo that caused the great Demon King’s hand to slip, and he almost fell off the cliff.

Fortunately, the bottom of his boots was attached with a floating array. Nemo tugged at the guide rope in his hand in horror. While continuing to descend, he cautiously tried to establish a short-term spiritual connection with Bagelmaurus.

As long as the distance wasn’t too far, it could communicate with Nemo without using a crystal. However, it was just they rarely been separated for too long, and the parrot was usually too awkward that it had never actively communicated. After all, the success and failure of a spiritual connection was a mutual matter. If Bagelmaurus was unwilling to accept it, Nemo didn’t really have much of a choice.

However, after the gray parrot screamed in his head, Nemo really fell down.

[What’s going on?] He responded anxiously in his mind, almost speaking out in shock. [There’s a demon seal in that place?!]

[I don’t know what’s going on! In short, the situation is terrible. We are stuck in the Pale Hive facing a bunch of crazy and hungry demons! Cross is wounded, and Dylan, well, I don’t see what his plans are, but he doesn’t look very good either. What to do?! What to do?! There are too many of them that even my flesh will be eaten—] The parrot’s mental fluctuation was like it was crying.

[Where is your body?] Ignoring his beating heart, Nemo forcibly kept his thoughts calm. [Bagelmaurus, remember, you’re a superior demon. Let go of the momentum completely and suppress them! Even if the opposite side is dizzy from hunger, there must have an instinct to survive.]

[My body is injured, listen, injured! This shithole is terribly cold and completely unsuitable for me… Further down is the bottom of the Abyss. All those who dare to wander there are monsters or deadly lunatics. Even if my body comes here, I can’t output any momentum with my injuries— Not to mention the time to get Cross and the others out in one piece, I might attract even worser guys myself!]

At present, his side was still calm, and Nemo thought quickly. Considering Jesse’s identity, this was indeed not a battlefield suitable for him. He could take advantage of the two members of Horizon to temporarily protect the team while he and Oliver teleport themselves through the rift in space.

Nemo subconsciously went to find out the location of the gray parrot.

Then he was shocked to find that its position was like a small boat covered by sea fog, and it was almost impossible to locate it.

The positional reactions of countless demons were stuffed into his head, and his starry sky became blurred due to an unknown factor, and it was constantly fluctuating.

The Abyss was too wide, and the other team moved in the exact opposite direction to them. Even the aura of a giant dragon would be completely swallowed by the atmosphere near the bottom of the Abyss. Countless huge superior demons were close at hand, and the aura was as strong as some kind of thick slime. They all mixed together in one place, constantly changing and twisting.

If exploring on the surface was like passing through a shallow clear river to pick up shiny pebbles lying at the bottom, at this moment, his arms was plunging into a cold bottomless swamp.

Even if Bagelmaurus was there, he couldn’t accurately perceive its position at this moment. The terrain in the depths of the Abyss had been slowly changing. Experienced commanders would memorize and calculate based on the coordinates. No one would know the exact spatial coordinates of the Pale Hive.

Calm down, Nemo pinched the palm of his hand.

Not to mention Jesse Dylan, his own state wasn’t right. What really sent chills down Nemo’s spine was that he didn’t notice the slightest abnormality before trying to locate the gray parrot.

But he couldn’t panic at a time like this.

[Believe in Jesse Dylan. That guy is not the type who is willing to sacrifice himself. He definitely has his own plans. Protect yourself, Bagelmaurus.] Nemo gave the order neatly, trying to make himself sound confident.

[Really?]

[Really.]

The gray parrot sobbed for a few seconds, and the panic in its mind decreased. [Then… Then I’ll protect Cross at most, and I won’t care about anything else!]

[Please.]

At the moment of disconnecting the mental connection, Nemo quickly concentrated all his energy on the magic formation at the bottom of the boot. In the dimness, he loosened the gleaming guide rope and rushed directly to Oliver’s side above.

“Nemo?” Oliver, who was nervously guarding, blinked.

“The situation here is wrong,” Nemo whispered as he glanced at Godwin who was a little higher. “I can’t feel Bagelmaurus’ position anymore.”

Oliver’s expression instantly became serious. “When did it start? ”

“It wasn’t a problem when we separated just now, but now… In short, it’s the last few days. Not to mention, Mr. Cross and the others were attacked by a demon seal. The situation is very bad. I thought it was strange before, I specifically suppressed my own and Bagelmaurus’ aura yet Witherspoon accurately found it. Now I’m sure that someone is up to no good.”

As he said, Nemo looked at his feet.

Unlike another reconnaissance team, their goal was in the Rift Valley. The wide chasm led directly to the bottom of the Abyss, and the teleportation array was built on a bulge on one side of the chasm. It was extremely dark in the chasm and the magic lamp could only illuminate a distance of about five meters around them.

Although the sixth set of large teleportation arrays couldn’t be seen, in theory they weren’t far from it.

There was still calm and cold silence in the Rift Valley. Learning that his companion was struggling in the distant darkness, the current calm made Nemo’s scalp numb.

A thought that made his stomach twitch crawled through his heart— Was this a trap set by his “former self”? The bait was laid on calm and peaceful grass, while the traps were being polished, just waiting for the screams to pierce the peace.

[Don’t peer into the Abyss.]

Not long ago, Teleranea had specifically warned them like this.

Will his own fluctuations in the starry sky be related to the “other Demon King” at the bottom of the abyss?

“Okay, then I’ll help you guard the end of the team.” Knowing that he wasn’t immune to abyssal spells like Nemo, Oliver didn’t propose to go together this time. He simply motioned to Godwin above and slipped down. “Be careful, Nemo.”

“Stop the team. I’ll go down and have a look first.” Nemo pursed his lips and made a quick decision. “Not to mention Dylan, Mr. Cross is a very cautious person. If even he has trouble fighting it, there must be— or once existed— some kind of very powerful abyssal magic over there.”

Nemo didn’t delay. He let go of his speed and descended. Within five minutes, he arrived at the sixth large teleportation array.

His hunch was right.

The rich magic fluctuations of the abyss were cleverly concealed, and a dark shadow circled above the teleportation array with bad intentions. If Mr. Cross and the others really survived this, then the other reconnaissance team would be 80% worser off in face of hungry giant demons.

Not to mention humans, this thing wasn’t something that even a dragon can easily deal with.

And…

Nemo’s fingertips touched the violent power and in the next second it was docile like a sleepy cat.

…This power undoubtedly belonged to him.

From the degree of decay of the spell, this spell should have been activated more than twenty years ago. When it was set in advance, the start time was just after the previous expedition.

This wasn’t unexpected. He closed his eyes in pain.

The expeditionary army that crusaded against Ulysses was wiped out four times, and the Demon King almost slaughtered the legendary Tin Soldiers during the fifth. It wasn’t surprising that two sets of underground teleportation array had deadly traps.

If the other reconnaissance team, together with his companions, really died as a result…

Making sure that this spell had not been manipulated by anyone. Nemo trembled and took a few deep breaths, tightening his fingers. The huge and ominous spell broke in an instant, and out-of-control forces surged in all directions. They hit the nearby cliff causing stone shavings and dust to pour on his face.

But Nemo wasn’t distracted from removing them. He leaned down and brushed his pale and slender fingers across the dull lines of the spell. Except for the fresh curse that was still attached to the magic array and was aimed at the magic array itself, there was nothing else left.

The old power that belonged to the Demon King, and a fresh magic that belonged to strangers. Nemo frowned— If the “former self” just wanted to obtain information and then destroy the visitors, there would be no need to seal a large number of demons in the Pale Hive. Holding such great power in his hand, there wasn’t a need to cleverly use the terrain.

It seemed that the stranger not only wanted to stop the expedition, he or she also very much didn’t want the reconnaissance team to spread the information.

If Witherspoon’s affairs were also the result of this force’s immediate intervention… Those puppet birds flying to Return Town may not be able to successfully reach their destination. Even if they arrive, the information inside may not be original.

If he was that person, that was something he would definitely do. Nemo calculated almost coldly from the bottom of his heart.

If their opponents were really cautious to that point, then even at this moment, someone should be spying on them.

Compared to Mr. Cross, who was almost a dead end, it was calm here, and it wasn’t surprising that there was no summoning formation associated with it. Unlike the Pale Hive, the terrain here couldn’t block the reconnaissance team. If the survivors reluctantly obtain information and bring it back to the surface, even after studying the sixth teleportation array, the conclusion that would be drawn would be nothing more than “there was a remnant of malice left behind by the last Demon King here”.

After all, the other team shouldn’t have Jesse Dylan as a variable on their team and this team shouldn’t have been able to learn the status of distant companions.

Mixed with false information, calculate the part that may be destroyed, the surface races would have gotten an “ordinary and not very successful” reconnaissance result and the scholars would be misled by wrong data, spending years— even decades— calculating a completely useless puzzle.

Such sophisticated destruction took time, and their opponents could use this time to destroy again.

But why? Why stop the expedition on the surface?

Nemo couldn’t figure it out, and he didn’t plan to spend too long thinking about it alone here. The situation was too weird. Now the reconnaissance team could quickly obtain information about this array, and then they will ensure that this part of the team would leave safely by the dragon.

As for the Pale Hive, they could only temporarily pin their hopes on Jesse Dylan.

If it weren’t for the fragile mental connection of this place, and the extreme consumption of attention, he would simply want to ask Bagelmaurus to provide constant updates.

Nemo’s efforts were almost successful.

The reconnaissance team obtained the information safely, and even the Mooney Sect, which kept the dragon breath stone flying props, had begun to dismantle the magic props that protect it, ready to mount the red-brown dragon that looked too overburdened.

It was so close.

A tremor erupted, like a heavy mountain hitting the ground. Something huge moved in swarms beneath the Abyss and a soft glow lit up, but the things it illuminated was extremely disgusting.

In the void below the huge crack, a group of huge monsters moved slowly. The monsters had four long legs similar to insects. They were neatly embedded on both sides of a giant body in a standard cross shape, each as thick as Bagelmaurus’ body. The gray body in the middle was decorated with milky white eyes, densely packed, flashing milky white light.

It looked like a star in the night sky.

An ominous premonition wrapped around his ankles, and Nemo swallowed.

“Lantern blind bugs.” The leader of the Mooney Sect, who was about to take out the dragon breath stone prop, stopped. “They are migrating.”

“Yes. Don’t worry, Nemo. Although they are superior demons, they have extremely low intelligence and their personality… Well, they are closer to plants than animals.” As if seeing Nemo’s unnaturalness, Debby took the initiative to explain.

Nemo smiled weakly and didn’t respond— Of course he knew what the lantern blind bugs were, and these things rarely migrated.

There were many corpses of superior demons at the bottom of the Abyss. They feed on the magical miasma and wouldn’t move for decades or even hundreds of years. Although they would change places occasionally, but…

Nemo had a very, very bad feeling. In the dark, there seemed to be a pair of cold arms around his neck, and something was approaching.

“Have you taken care of it over there?” In a drum-like heartbeat, Nemo rarely urged. “The lantern blind bugs are migrating, which is not a good thing. We’d better get out of here quickly.”

Yes, from the Gravity Maze to here, things had gone too smoothly.

It was like someone planned everything in advance, expecting them to die or leave quickly. Regardless of whether the motivation was good or bad, Nemo decided to take advantage of this as much as possible. However…

The older leader of the Mooney Sect took in a deep inhale and put the prop down very slowly. He took off the hood that he had been wearing on his head and revealed an old face that was severely disfigured.

“I remember this feeling,” he said dreamily. “This sense of oppression…”

The lantern blind bugs walked away with star-like eyes, and the darkness under the cracks seemed empty again.

But the sense of emptiness was particularly disturbing.

“It’s Ulysses.”

The old man said in a hoarse voice with an odd tone.

“Listen, Laddists, Preceptor Bishop, right? We’d better cooperate… This is unprecedented and precious information.”

“Ulysses is dead.” Nemo gritted his teeth and couldn’t help but interrupt.

“We’re not prepared enough, and the number of people is too small.” Oliver, on the other hand, made a realistic stepped in to block the way, stopping the old man in his tracks as he walked towards the edge of the rock platform. “It’s better to make sure we take the available information out first, don’t you think?”

“I agree with Mr. Ramon.” Preceptor Felix had a solemn expression. “I do not question your meaning, Lord Karapan. Even if your feelings aren’t wrong, this is really…”

“I can never forget.” The leader of the Mooney Sect let out a hoarse laugh. “I will never forget how it tore apart my soldiers… Ah, Ulysses. I’m absolutely right. If you want to go, you can go Laddists. It’s just a little closer, just a little closer so I can see it with my own eyes… At the beginning, I saw its head cut off and taken out, and now it’s still alive. Is there anything more absurd than this?”

The one-eyed dwarves chatted and discussed, squeezing to the side of Mooney Sect with interest.

“…Then please give us the flying props.” The Preceptor Bishop stretched out his hand solemnly and the red-brown dragon nodded vigorously in agreement.

“No, let’s just take a moment and take a look down a little bit. Since you don’t want to go down, I can only trouble you to wait for us for a while… I didn’t survive the last expedition only to simply die here.”

He clenched the dragon breath stone prop in his hand.

“It’s not that I don’t believe you, but it would be unfortunate if these young men stole it and tried to escape. Aren’t they Black Chapters?”

“Lord Karapan,” Preceptor Felix’s voice began to stiffen. “Pardon my rudeness but if you’re unable to return—”

“If I can escape it the first time, I can escape it a second,” the old man responded indifferently.

As his voice just fell, a familiar aura flashed by and a very fine ray of light passed through the dragon breath stone prop. Then it quickly turned black, decayed, and turned into powder in front of everyone, taking away the only hope of a quick retreat.

“No.” A voice sounded from the darkness far away, full of disgust. “You can’t.”

“You will die here.”

Nemo recognized the voice.

The ill-intentioned voyeur finally appeared. That voice undoubtedly belonged to Talbott Vance— or rather, “Demon Slayer” Aurorae.

The author has something to say:

One of the two people who survived the expedition was Flint, and the other was him XD.