Demon Lord: Erotic Adventure in Another World - Chapter 678

Chapter 678: Alone in the Maw [2]

He didn’t understand what the voice or mural meant, but one thing that Asmodeus realised was that this meeting with Nerim, Logan and even Zahir might not have been just by chance, and they could be related to his fate.

‘But can I really trust people from the mainland?’

Asmodeus didn’t plan to deny or make his judgments quickly. The mainland didn’t hold a good image in his mind, but after meeting Logan, he wanted to learn more. Whether it was the entire mainland or if the reason came from those with power.

“Have you rested enough, Nerim?”

Even after wiping herself several times with a towel, the pretty mermaid’s body dripped with sweat. It seemed she’d pushed herself too far.

“Ah?” She seemed a little shocked when he spoke, her pink hair tied neatly in a high ponytail, while she removed her armour and wore a black suit made of a material like rubber or Lycra. “I’ll be ready in a minute, sorry.”

Ever since the dance and the strange moment where their gazes interlocked, Nerim’s atmosphere changed slightly.

Asmodeus didn’t complain.

He closed his eyes and focused on gathering mana. Since he reached Rank Two, he started gathering divine aura just by existing, but if he focused on gathering power from the air, it increased the speed.

She quickly wiped her bronze body and fastened her leather jacket and thigh armour before stepping back into the light.

“I’m ready now.”

He opened his eyes and examined Nerim’s figure. The perfectly toned muscles and gills flickering in the green light as she stretched with her spear were truly beautiful. He smiled and stood from the stone pillar with an axe in hand.

“Good, let’s see what’s waiting for us on the other side.”

Nerim looked back over her shoulder and curled her lips into a faint smile. “Sure.”

With the rough edge between them fading, the two head into the next chamber, unaware of what might await them.

***

Meanwhile, inside another collapsed tunnel, a plump dwarf lay half buried in rocks and debris, while beside him a young warrior leaned against the wall with blood dripping down his cheek.

“Urk… damn what happened, laddie are you there?” Logan’s body shifted in the dirt, his beard covered in dust.

“Sir Logan?” The wounded Zahir answered.

“Oh! Zahir lad, are you okay?”

“Fine, just a little beaten up.”

The dwarf pushed his upper body free. The rocks crumbled to dust as his elbows shifted more of the stones, allowing him to wriggle out. He looked around before taking out a small water pouch, sipping it, and handing it to Zahir. “Drink slow, and it’ll help ye.”

Zahir nodded and took a small mouthful before hissing and spitting on the floor. His red spit and a tooth rolled across the ground as the young warrior drank a second mouthful.

“Can you still fight, Lad?”

Logan closed his eyes, spreading his mana out to sense if the others were close, but there was nothing but a single passage leading into the darkness. If not for the luminous crystals in the wall, the pair might be blind right now.

Zahir began to stretch his limbs and checked himself.

“I can fight. What about the others?”

Although he seemed not to care, the truth was that Zahir valued companions greatly. He closed his eyes, and the trace of wind spread around him and extended as if searching for Logan’s mana. “…” His lips quivered as he adjusted himself and grabbed both blades.

“The others seem to be missin’. I think we’ll have to go solo, but I trust ’em. They won’t die!”

Zahir’s stoic face shifted slightly as his lips curved into a smile. “Yes, let’s go. Logan.”

“Oh, You’ve dropped the sir? Haha.”

In the darkness, neither Zahir nor Logan could see or sense the enemies, so they stuck close together.

“I’ve lost my crossbow lad, so be careful.”

The hand-crossbow that Logan used could shoot several mana-infused bolts, which helped in hunting the Taken. Without that, he only had a simple Mace and a mining pick and his meagre amount of aura to fight.

Slowly, they pushed through the darkness, grasping sword and mace. The distant sound of footsteps kept them on guard. But they couldn’t stop here, with the previous direction blocked, this passage was the only way forward.

Wet, cold and filled with a fishy scent, they headed along a tunnel for fifteen minutes.

“There’s nothing here…?”

“…”

Zahir’s hands gripped his swords tighter with each step.

Although they didn’t meet any monsters, there was a sense of dread that slowly grew with each step. Like a pair of monstrous hands pushing down on their shoulders, they both approached the distant light that illuminated the end of the tunnel.

“Not long now lad.”

“Mm.”

Step by step.

Breath by breath.

The pair eventually came to a huge opening; the room was at least the size of a regular arena where gladiators fought. Murals and strange glowing stones littered the walls, telling weird stories, and then in the centre was a massive statue of a monster.

To the left was a huge doorway, with the door half broken, and behind the monster, another completely sealed door with a faded mural on the walls.

The floor was strange and separated into three circles, one in the middle with the monster statue, then another around that and finally the circle close to the walls.

“I really don’t like this lad….”

“Yeah…”

On the floor were countless skeletons, some full bodies, others just a skull or torso.

Logan stepped forward, his dwarven bravery limitless; he avoided the boss and remained close to the murals.

“What a bizarre monster, I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Massive, with six arms and huge palms almost the size of the dwarf’s entire body, with long, clawed fingers. What was even weirder was the fact that it had three heads, all facing a different direction.

One faced the sealed door.

One faced the broken door.

The last one faced the passage they came through.

“Is it some kind of trial or test?” Logan tapped the walls with his mining pick, checking each nook and cranny for any information. “The scent isn’t so foul here… and I cannot sense any of those damned Taken either.”

At the same time, Zahir stood on the opposite side of the room, and he started checking the sealed doorway and then stepped closer to the monster.

When he stepped onto the second circle, it lit up with a blue light. And then the room began to shake. The monster in the centre remained idle, but something about the monster’s head made Zahir freeze.

The heads now looked in different directions…

Each head had strange engravings that resembled a flame, the other water and the last one wind. The issue was that the flame door originally looked towards the broken double doors, but now it looked in the direction the pair came from.

“L-Logan!” Zahir called out.

In doing so, he stepped off the middle section, and the light faded, but this time the light of the outer circle shone with Logan examining the mural; he never noticed the sudden appearance of more statues on the outer ring.

Snake-like creatures with a human upper body and serpentine legs.

In each arm, a trident and a shield.

“LOGAN!”

Zahir’s heart pounded. Once again, the monster’s head changed, but this time, its body also moved… along with the guardian statues that appeared on the outer circle, they ALL watched Logan as if alive.

“Oh, what’re ya shoutin’ for lad?”

The dwarf turned around, taking a step forward, which touched the second circle.

CRACK!

Immediately after that, the stone which covered the monster cracked. The guardians started to crumble, and the serpents turned towards Zahir, who was now closest to them. But the biggest issue was now, in the second ring, more statues appeared… two huge crocodile-shaped statues.

“Oh my…” Logan held his mace and looked up at the massive monster. “Somehow isn’t it closer than before?” The base of the statue was originally in the centre of the third circle, but now it stood on the edge with one foot crossing into the second circle.

“Battle, we should get ready to fight!” Zahir shouted.

He drew both blades with a delicate movement and crossed them in front of him. The enemy remained still, and neither of the two knew what would trigger them to break free.

“Is it movement?” Logan mumbled, then stepped to the side.

But nothing happened.

“Not movement, then, is it the circles themselves?” He didn’t want to unleash the huge monster, but stood in the second circle; neither he nor Zahir could move now.

“Lad, let’s try moving to the first circle again on the count of three.”

“Three? Ok.”

Logan gripped his mace and rubbed the ground with his toes. He took a deep breath, then bellowed the countdown.

3

2

1

BANG!

Both Zahir and Logan jumped towards the first circle and landed back-to-back.

CRUMBLE!

“IS IT THE BOSS!?” Logan shouted as he snapped to the centre.

However, the boss only stood on the second circle, still completely frozen, meanwhile the guardian serpents on the first ring…

Broke free and were alive!

“Zahir lad!” We have to stick together, are ye ready?”

“Yes.”

With a mace and twin blades, they faced the strange puzzle surrounded by over ten guardian serpents.