OBS Chapter 3617 Underground Water Veins and the Appearing Demon
Chapter 3617 Underground Water Veins and the Appearing Demon
Chapter 3617 Underground Water Veins and the Appearing Demon
"Claire, do you really believe the underground is a dark world?"
Megan asked her companion curiously, and Claire nodded:
“Older people have this idea, but I don’t. My mother mentioned something similar when she told stories when I was a child.”
"So, are there any large-scale mineral deposits here? I only knew that there were high-quality iron mines in the western part of Time Wheel City, which is the basis for the development of the high-end watch business here."
Shad also asked a question Claire could answer:
"Yes, the island is rich in underground natural resources. Not only the open-pit iron mine you mentioned, but I also knew when I was in school that there were several gemstone veins beneath the island. But the Fatu people would never mine in their own homeland and turn it into one of those mining cities with terrible environments on the Old Continent."
Sylvie agreed with her point of view; the Aurora family's home island was no longer habitable due to overdevelopment.
In short, the clue provided by the association was indeed worth investigating. So after lunch, Shad called Claire and Flora, who had just arrived in the area, and together they headed to the western part of the island.
The entrance to the cave is in a secluded cave at the foot of the mountain. The cave is not large, but its interior is extremely complex. Normally, one could walk out of the mountain from the cave, but the map provided by the association indicates that one should head towards a secluded corner of the cave and find a man-made brick wall, which means that one has found the right place.
"How did they know about this place? I've never heard of it before."
Claire was surprised by this.
Sure enough, behind the brick wall was a winding passage leading downwards. The passage appeared to be naturally formed, but after walking a short distance inwards, one could see traces of human modification and widening.
The underground cavern is not a single straight passage; it branches off in different directions. Although Shad's [Enhanced Spatial Awareness] can detect which passage extends the longest underground, he cannot discern which one the ancient Fatu people chose.
Therefore, they could only explore one branch at a time when they encountered one. Fortunately, the ancient Fatu people obviously did not want to go too far underground. So when they encountered the second branch, they directly found the excavated underground living area.
Stone beds were arranged in the largest space, and along the branch of the cave, one could find functional areas such as storage rooms. Claire even found a stone chamber that appeared to be used by priests for meditation, but due to its great age, these traces were hardly of any value.
The three's main purpose in this trip was to find an altar, but they did not see anything resembling an altar on this branch.
"Could it be deeper underground?"
Now that they were already here, they had no intention of turning back. So they returned to the passage leading deeper underground and continued their search downwards.
The three chatted as they walked. Flora and Shad's conversation revealed more details about the Vista Grove incident to Claire, who learned that Flora and Danist were now on good terms. Meanwhile, the artist subtly inquired about the development of Claire and Shad's relationship and realized that the latter's progress wasn't actually very fast.
Although there was no danger underground, searching for something that might not even exist in the dark was still very difficult. From 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm, a full three hours, they found nothing.
Just as the three were wondering if the Prophet's Association's prediction was wrong, Shad's ears twitched. He heard a sound deep underground:
"There is the sound of water."
"Underground rivers? You've said that there are abundant underground water systems inside and beneath the snow-capped mountains."
"Let's go take a look. If we still don't find anything, we'll go back. I'm starting to miss the sun."
Shad's hearing was extremely sensitive; he could hear the sound of water not very close to its source. But after deciding to only take a quick look at the underground river, the three of them descended along the deepest passage, ignoring the maze-like branches of the underground caves, and arrived at the end of the cave after more than ten minutes.
The sound of water came from behind the cave wall. After exploring the space and confirming that the area behind the wall was not filled with liquid, Shad grabbed the two witches and used spatial teleportation to enter the area behind the wall.
The space suddenly opened up, and the three people suspended in the air felt as if they were above an underground lake, but in reality, it was not a lake but part of a water vein. Accompanied by the rushing sound of water, the underground water flowed past their feet and into a deeper underground area.
"If we continue downstream along this river, where will we end up?"
Flora gazed into the darkness to her right:
"I feel like this place no longer belongs to the living; some people might even believe it's connected to the world of the dead."
“We’ve gone too far underground, and I feel very uncomfortable. If my grandfather knew what we did today, he would definitely scold us.”
Claire frowned, leaning against Shad. This eleventh-tier Great Witch truly felt a deep desire to leave this place.
"Shad, let's go. There's nothing here, and I even feel like I can't breathe."
Shad also felt uneasy, perhaps due to the instinctive human fear of the underground darkness, but more so because his intuition was reminding him that the area ahead was definitely not one that should be explored.
There's a reason why neither the Fatu nor the Prophet's Association have considered exploring the secrets beneath the island over the years. Claire is right; this is enough. Even if there's more to come, they shouldn't go any further.
The light emanating from the silver moon did not make them feel safe above the water veins; instead, it gave them the feeling of being exposed to the gaze of some unknown being.
Shad reached out and pulled them back to the back of the rock wall, but just then—
Boom!
A dark pillar of light rose from below, engulfing the three of them, but fortunately, Shad managed to move the witches away in time to avoid the attack.
The black light came from the surging water, and as the eddies on the surface swirled, a figure draped in a black robe with an obscured face gradually emerged from the eddies.
Shad took a deep breath:
"Black Hand - Tifreon".
Now Xia De understood why he couldn't find the other person's trace in the snow-capped mountains.
If it were a human enemy, Shad might exchange a few words before taking action, but when facing a demon, there's no need for any unnecessary words.
The streaks of light from the greatsword formed by the brilliant silver moonlight slashed through the underground space like a crescent moon. The invisible barrier in front of the demon vanished along with the moonlight, and the black light it unleashed was then blocked by Flora's Wall of Sighs.
The demon is definitely not seriously injured now. Although it has not returned to its peak condition during the Battle of the Ice Castle, its injuries have been greatly alleviated.
A pillar of bright sunlight rose from the water beneath the demon, which vanished instantly and reappeared at the three's feet, whereupon they were met with an attack from a "unicorn" swooping down from above.
Although Flora's "Undead Dragon" form, which she displayed in Vista Grove, is her most powerful transformation form to date, it is clear that the Unicorn form is more effective against demons.
The transparent barrier reappeared before the black figure, but this time it was shattered by the unicorn. It raised its hand and swung forward, knocking the swooping unicorn away again by an invisible force. But behind the unicorn, the moonlight shot forward by Shad and Claire's solar flare arrived together, this time truly hitting the demon's true form.
Two beams of light, one golden and one silver, pierced through the demon's body, and the black light surrounding it immediately dimmed. But then, it summoned the water from the underground river, sending it soaring into the sky. Thousands of black water arrows, corrupted by the demonic power of the weapon, shot towards the three of them.
Weapons directly controlled by the weapon's demon are not easily blocked, but this time Claire frowned and raised her hand, and the thousands of water arrows froze into ice as she moved, before falling back into the water.
"My ability to manipulate ice and snow seems to have been enhanced here. No, it's that the Holy Mountain is able to respond to me better here!"
Claire understood this and immediately flew slightly backward, letting Shad and Flora in her unicorn form take the lead. Against ancient evil spirits, the Great Witch of Death was actually at a disadvantage; demons had no concept of "death," and most of her death magic had almost no effect on them. Therefore, maintaining her unicorn form was the best option.
Claire closed her eyes behind the two and meditated on Mount Fatumunster in her mind. As if a power she was born with in her blood was awakened, the power of the majestic snow mountain was added to her body.
But this time was different. She even felt a certain power within the water veins beneath her feet responding to her call. The sense of familiarity she felt with that power was even stronger than with the snow-capped mountains. Claire suddenly understood why her power was amplified here:
"The priests who were buried in the water after their deaths, even after their bodies melted, their power still flows in the ever-circulating water veins of the sacred mountain."
Although the souls of the priests and elders had long since departed, their power remained, becoming part of the seal on the snowy mountain of Fatummonte Island. This power resonated with Claire Reinhardt's bloodline, briefly bestowing upon her. Combined with the power of the snowy mountain, she truly felt herself break through to the eleventh rank in that instant, experiencing a higher level of power.
As I opened my eyes, snowflakes began to fall in this underground world. I opened my palm forward, and hundreds of ice crystals shot towards the demon. The relentless bombardment shattered its ever-regenerating shield, and each ice crystal that touched its body immediately turned into a mist of cold air instead of piercing through it.
(End of this chapter)