The underground space was quiet.
Crackle…
The fire flickered within the darkness. A pale orange light illuminated the surrounding stone walls. Beyond the small camp, everything disappeared into the endless black.
Raina calmly checked the contents of her storage ring. One object after another floated quietly through her mind before returning to silence and sweeping past. Spirit stones, medicinal pills, emergency formation plates, preserved food, a few spare sets of robes, and several broken artifacts passed before her eyes in succession.
Meanwhile, the two dragons from the royal clan occupied the opposite side of the fire.
Raina briefly looked over, then shook her head and continued to check their inventory.
Suddenly, her eyes turned.
Hirano quietly sat to the side, sorting through several old scrolls while muttering to himself, occasionally stroking his beard thoughtfully, seemingly lost in contemplation. Gillion continued to search around, dipping in and out of the darkness, while Nodaba, the old demon and their nominal leader, sat silently atop a stone with his spear resting beside him, his old eyes never leaving the two dragons.
Eventually, Raina sat down near the fire and exhaled. "…So." She glanced between both dragons. "What exactly is the Dragon Clan doing here?"
Atllin looked up calmly. "The same thing as everyone else."
"You know that's not what I mean. Why would the Dragon Clan come to the Cross Continent now of all times? I don't believe that you guys are as cowardly as those humans from the ninety-nine."
"What else could we be here for, miss Raina?" Atllin asked with an indifferent voice.
Gillion snorted loudly. "Tch! You dragons really are annoying!"
Lilit lazily looked over, then spat in a cold voice. "And you demons aren't? Don't forget that you failed to live up to the demon kings' expectations. I'm afraid that it's not wrong to say that today's calamity is inextricably linked to you and your kind."
The atmosphere instantly became awkward.
Raina rubbed her forehead helplessly. "…Can we not fight right now? We don't want to suffer another cave-in, and it's impossible to tell just how unstable this underground world is right now."
"We're not fighting!" Gillion jumped up immediately.
Lilit calmly nodded. "Mm. This is merely a cultural exchange? Is that not so?"
Atllin nodded silently from the side, looking at Raina with a strange look.
Raina's brows furrowed, feeling something was wrong.
Hirano sighed deeply, seeming to silently understand something. As he had always known, Gillion had the sharpest intuition since the creation of the demon clan.
Meanwhile, Atllin ignored them while continuing to inspect his surroundings. Since falling, he had extended his spiritual energy outward, seemingly mapping the environment internally.
"…You're strangely calm," Raina suddenly muttered.
Atllin paused briefly, then seemed to almost smile. "Have you been chased around to the point where you jump at the smallest shadow? At our level, even if this whole place collapsed, what could it do to us? Miss Raina, you don't strike me as the kind of woman who cares about her image."
Raina rolled her eyes.
She just didn't want to climb out in that situation. Who knew how long it would take!
"That sounds exhausting!" Raina spat before looking away.
"It usually is…" Gillion muttered, causing Raina to glare at him.
Silence followed.
The atmosphere gradually settled into something strange. It was not friendly, but it was no longer as openly tense. They had struck a strange balance where neither side would move.
Suddenly—
Ooooooooo~
A distant sound suddenly echoed throughout the underground darkness. Everyone froze. The sound resembled singing, low, deep, and an almost mournful wave. It was extremely strange, and seemed to almost unsettle the soul.
Gillion immediately stood up. "What was that?"
He didn't feel a sense of fear; instead, it had sparked his interest.
But nobody answered him.
The strange singing echoed again.
Ooooooooo~
This time, it sounded a bit closer….
Everyone frowned.
Nodaba slowly lifted his head. The old demon's black eyes narrowed toward the darkness beyond the light. Even the strange crow puffed up, looking a bit uneasy.
Raina slowly stood up.
"…That doesn't sound human..." Gillion muttered from the side, causing the others to faintly nod in agreement. The reason they had all become so alert was because, like the creature Trili had followed before meeting Petra, they couldn't sense any aura. The sound seemed to come from nowhere, causing them all to feel a strange sense of trepidation.
Lilit quietly pushed himself up. "No, this should be the prelude to the 'Song of Stone'…"
Atllin rose, then nodded. "I've never heard it before, but this type of detached resonance is indeed the unique ability of that species. This could be bad, even for us…"
Raina looked over, her confused eyes clearly asking them to elaborate, but neither dragon seemed to intend to do so. Instead, Atllin actually closed his eyes, almost as if he were ready to enjoy a show. Raina met Lilit's gaze, but Lilit just shook his head, indicating that it was best not to expect anything.
Raina looked away with a frown.
It was just then that Old Man Hirano began to explain. "The Song of Stone, or the unique ability of the Singing Stone Wolf, is a kind of legend, a rare tale that is said to be almost impossible to encounter. From what I've read, the Singing Stone Wolf is a type of magic beast that possesses an extremely terrifying origin. It is also said that it was a creature that was once discovered by the High Elves and used as a weapon in a war against one of the top-tier calamity species, the Warlord Forge Ant Queen…. Also, don't underestimate it because its name is so simple, this creature is far from simple."
"The Warlord Forge Ant Queen? Why have I never heard about it?" Gillion asked.
Hirano frowned. "It's not strange that you haven't heard about it. That war was extremely bloody, and it happened during the peak of the Elven Empire's rise. Concealing such a battle was not too difficult for those long-ears at that time, and because it never reached outside the continent, it became even easier. As for the final winner of that battle, I heard that it took almost the entirety of the High Elves and their technological civilization at that time to just barely manage to confront that monster. They won in the end, but it wasn't long after that they disappeared, wiped from the face of the continent."
"Did it have anything to do with the Singing Stone Wolf or the Warlord Forge Ant Queen?" Gillion asked.
"I don't know…" Hirano sighed.
"You two! Focus!" Raina snapped. "Let's find the source of that sound, then we can confirm whether it is or is not a threat. Tell me, what are the properties of this Song of Stone?"
Gillion looked back at Hirano, but Hirano just shook his head. "I also don't know that."
Raina frowned, her gaze instinctively turning to Lilit.
Lilit paused, then walked over before quietly explaining, "The Song of Stone is a kind of… elementally dead zone. It strips away the ambient elemental energy in the air and replaces it with a kind of incomplete domain, but very slowly. Those caught inside cannot perceive aura, direction, or intent, making an ambush effortless for the attacker. If not dealt with, this song and the will it carries will flood the cave system, and after that happens, it will be difficult for us to fight back. Also, depending on the level of the wolf king, we need to be even more careful, because with enough time to set up, this creature can actually raise its cultivation temporarily. As you've probably seen, there is no lack of fourth-order magic beasts in this secret realm, so a fifth-level boss appearing is not impossible. If the source of this song is at the fifth level, even if it's at the early level, then it could become a problem if ignored."
After he finished, Lilit realized that everyone was looking at him.
Hm?
The cave had become deathly silent.
Only the distant sound of singing seemed to remain…
Hum!
Suddenly, as if finally feeling it, Lilit turned to discover several wisps of pale grey light that had suddenly appeared at the edge of the darkness, directly behind him. He frowned, stepping back and not allowing them to touch him.
These wisps were like small spheres, only with four flickering legs and a long transparent tail.
One, two, three…
The floating lights drifted silently through the cave before vanishing behind a distant stone.
Soon, they were gone...
Seeing this, everyone's expression changed.
Gillion immediately stepped forward. "Who's there!?" His roars seemed to rip into the darkness, but he received no response. The underground cave remained completely still. The group immediately spread out while observing their surroundings carefully. Nothing moved. Nothing even seemed to breathe. Even those small creatures that had been secretly lurking around had now disappeared, leaving only the ominous whistling that seemed to spill from every direction…
Aooooooooo…
This time, the sound felt almost invasive, as if it wanted to pierce into their hearts and souls.
Raina's instincts began to sound.
Something underground was watching them! And whatever it was, it was not weak!
After several long seconds, Nodaba slowly stood up.
Tap!
The old demon picked up his spear. "Let's follow it." His cold voice echoed quietly through the cave.
Hirano frowned. "That sounds like a terrible idea. Why don't we just run? Like that, we can know that it is still coming from behind."
Nodaba just looked over with a cold gaze.
He shut up.
After that, nobody disagreed.
Eventually, the group slowly extinguished the fire. Darkness swallowed the cave, then, following the distant sound of the Stone Song, both dragons and demons began walking deeper underground.
-
The underground world stretched endlessly beneath their feet. The sound of footsteps rang through the darkness as the group steadily advanced deeper into the dark abyss.
The terrain ahead was vast and chaotic. This cave system no longer resembled a series of normal underground tunnels; instead, it had transformed into a sprawling subterranean world filled with countless levels of broken terrain. Before this, none of them could ever have imagined that such a massive underground hollow existed below the secret realm.
Towering stone shelves overlapped one another like giant staircases that were carved into the earth. Enormous pillars stretched from floor to ceiling. Some areas rose sharply, forming steep cliffs, while others suddenly dipped down into massive sinkholes that disappeared into the darkness below.
Aooooooooo!
The Song of Stone echoed again, but this time it clearly began to deviate toward the howl of a wolf. The mournful sound drifted through the cavern from somewhere deeper underground.
Raina frowned. As they continued, no one relaxed.
Raina lightly leaped across a narrow stone ridge while carefully balancing her footsteps. Loose stones continuously slid down the edge beneath her boots before silently vanishing into the darkness. Beside her, Gillion simply jumped down several meters at a time, landing heavily atop the uneven terrain with enough force to shake the surrounding rocks.
Further ahead, Atllin had already crossed the terrain with a frightening level of precision, appearing almost as if he were walking on air. His movements were smooth and effortless—almost elegant. He occasionally leaped across large gaps in the terrain without slowing down in the slightest, his pale-gold hair swaying behind his back as his golden figure flashed through the darkness.
Meanwhile, Nodaba and the rest of the demons walked near the very front.
Tap!
Tap!
Tap!
The old demon advanced steadily with his spear resting against one shoulder. His expression never changed, but the strange black crow that constantly followed him repeatedly flew in and out of the darkness.
Soon, the terrain sharply descended. The group arrived at the edge of a gigantic underground basin, and looking down, even Raina's expression shifted slightly.
The area below resembled a collapsed small world. Countless natural formations jutted upward from the earth, looking a little like broken fangs, while dozens of narrow pathways twisted between deep fissures and uneven cliffs. Looking up, a series of massive hanging rocks floated precariously overhead, connected to the ceiling through natural arches that looked like they could collapse at any moment. A cold wind drifted up from below.
Aooooooooo!!
This time, the Song of Stone sounded much closer, but at the same time, it also seemed to echo from everywhere.
Hum!
Suddenly, several pale grey wisps appeared silently through the darkness around them.
One…
Two…
Five…
Fifty…
Two hundred!
The floating lights slowly moved between the stone formations before completely blocking their escape.
Hirano's expression darkened. "…It's those things..."
Rumble!
Just then, a deep vibration suddenly spread throughout the underground world, and the ground beneath their feet trembled violently. Soon, they were completely surrounded…
-
At the same time, in another place, Petra and Trili both stood before a huge white wolf that had just appeared out of nowhere…
-
Meanwhile, while that was happening, in a sealed cave, Rifrit and Petik, who had both briefly stopped their fight, looked up only to see a small sea of white shadows slowly condensing around them…
* * *