SWNOVELXO Chapter 1328: The Pit
As the curators were busy determining why they were missing information from their records, the Mysticlassic Kaijin were making their move.
More specifically, Razorstella and Springerdermain were entering the space where Dante's Kaijin seemed to congregate after abusing and fighting all day, while Screamira was keeping watch outside of the cave to alert them if any enemies were approaching their position.
As the duo got closer and closer, though, they realized something was off.
[Okay, I know from a distance we didn't sense any changes in the concentration of Chaos, but we should've felt something by now, right?] Razorstella asked Springerdermain.
[We should've...]
[So why does it feel like we're getting closer and closer to some kind of endless abyss?]
Razorstella's statement wasn't exactly hyperbole.
As the two of them got deeper and deeper into the cave, they could feel that whatever was in its center was actively absorbing energy from its surroundings.
They could feel the flow of aether get distorted and go deeper and deeper into the cave.
No...not just aether.
It took a few seconds for Razorstella and Springerdermain to notice, but they both felt that the [Chaos] that radiated from their bodies was being swept away by this weird flow and being dragged...somewhere.
Fortunately, they noticed before it could worsen, so the Kaijin proceeded to circulate their [Chaos] to form a thin membrane around their bodies as opposed to constantly flowing out.
Immediately after doing so, Razorstella and Springerdermain let out massive sighs of relief.
[Oh what the fuck?]
[How come it's only now I notice that we were being sucked like cows from a horde of mosquitos?]
Now that their [Chaos] was no longer leaking, the kaijin duo proceeded to march forward.
[Alright, what do you think is sucking up Chaos like a sponge in water?] Razorstella asked in an attempt to lighten the darkening mood that was manifesting over their heads. [I got a list of choices and preference for one.]
[Alright, color me curious, what does your list consist of?]
[Cursed treasure of some kind that absorbs all energies to feed itself, cursed aether beast that somehow evolved to use Chaos, a some kind of ancient super weapon that Dante is abusing for his own purposes or environmental hell pit. Think a natural treasure but worse,] Razorstella answered. [Or it's some kind of fucked-up super expert. I am biased towards the evil beast answer since we had to deal with that before and our lord has a habit of attracting them.]
[The ringmaster does seem to have a bad habit of attracting monstrous entities,] Springerdermain commented as he thought about Grub, Leech, the fucking dragon-ape and technically Smoking Mirror. [But if I had to hazard a guess for this particular instance...I'm going with a cursed treasure.]
[Really? Why?]
[Honestly, seems kind of due for us to deal with a cursed object as opposed to more enemies,] Springerdermain replied. [But we did also recruit Corpse Doll recently...]
[So, neither of us think it's going be some kind of ancient warrior in a seal or an environmental hazard?]
[The ringmaster can't be that unlucky.]
Evidently, Springerdermain was still unfamiliar with the concept of, "counting chickens before they hatched".
With the tension now lightened, the Kaijin duo kept marching until they finally reached the end of the tunnel and arrived...to another pit.
[Huh. Kind of reminds me of that corpse pit we saw the slaves being dumped in,] Springerdermain commented.
[And yet, somehow it's more nightmare-inducing,] Razorstella followed up.
The end of the tunnel led to a circular cavern that had ceiling high enough that three grown men would need to stand on each other's shoulders to reach it from the floor, and was wide enough to fit an entire football field.
That stated, that wasn't enough room for the cavern occupants.
From one end of the room to another, there were dozens upon dozens of statues that appeared to be made entirely of clay with the only bit that wasn't being a golden orb embedded in their chests.
It didn't take the kaijin duo too much to put together that these statues were actually the kaijin that were running around the mines and that they were all in hibernation mode or something close to that.
[It's like a terracotta army of hell,] Razorstella observed as she took a closer look at what she could only describe as an asura made of frogs. [Fuck, do we look like this when we do the statue thing?]
[No, we are significantly more appealing to the eyes and we don't mentally and spiritually shut down when we do,] Springerdermain answered while doing his best to avoid touching a particular Kaijin that resembled a fucked-up starfish made of limbs.
[By the way, looks like we won't know who's gonna be right unless we go up to that pit in the center.]
[No shit.]
At the dead center of the room, Razorstella and Springerdermain could see a strange, pitch black pit that seemed to be bottomless, and not just visually.
The duo didn't even need to go up to the pit to sense that [Chaos] and aether was flowing into it and being swallowed by...something.
They just weren't entirely sure what that something was.
[Alright, coast is clear. I think we can just—]
[Wait a minute...hide!]
Before the duo could get closer to the pit, they were interrupted by the sound of approaching footsteps from the entrance directly behind them.
Razorstella and Springerdermain proceeded to shrink down and hide themselves behind one of the hibernating enemy Kaijin, being extra careful not to accidentally touch them
They weren't entirely sure, but their instincts told them that touching these stone bastards was probably a very bad idea.
[Bleh, finally! Thought I was gonna geek out.]
From the only entrance, a rotund kaijin that looked like the cross between a lemur, a pangolin and an emu entered into the cavern shortly after Razorstella and Springerdermain had hid themselves away.
Heavy steps echoed throughout the cavern as the chiemric Kaijin walked deeper and deeper into the cavern, even passing Razorstella and Springerdermain as they did.
[Wait a minute...that scent...]
As the chimeric Kaijin walked past Razorstella's and Springerdermain's hiding place, they could immediately smell something that reminded them of a certain pair of old foes that they had faced.
[That guy...is he about to turn into an abomination?] Springerdermain asked.
[I'm not entirely sure,] Razorstella admitted. [But how? Isn't that core of his supposed to—]
Sound of flesh ripping as a golden orb moves to the forefront of the kaijin's torso.
[Oh, ew.]
From their hiding spot, they saw that as soon as the chimeric Kaijin reached a certain spot in the cavern, they had immediately perform some strange maneuver that exposed his [Core] to the outside air.
The moment he did, a surge of [Chaos] and aether suddenly poured out from them and flowed straight into the black pit in the center of the room.
As the energy flowed out of the chimeric Kaijin, he started to become very still until they had become fully petrified like the other kaijin in the room.
Not only that, though, but the telltale scent unique to abominations disappeared with it.
[What the fuck?]*2
Then things got weirder from there.
From the pit, Razorstella and Springerdermain could feel the churning of aether and [Chaos], as if something or someone was actively absorbing and merging the energies.
Then, without warning or reason, a surge of [Chaos] and aether suddenly shot out of the pit.
Balls of condense aether and [Chaos] flew about the room before suddenly impacting with several of the petrified kaijin in the room.
As soon as the condensed balls finishing merging with the petrified kaijin, their [Cores] immediately sank into their bodies and they all came back to life like they had just woken from a long nap.
[Looks like I'm back in the land of the living.]
[Hold up, are more of us active than the last time we went into hibernation?]
[I guess the boss managed to improve the quality of energy we've been receiving. Doesn't mean I'm not going to probably swallow one of you bastards out there.]
[Back at ya, bitch!]
As soon as these Kaijin suddenly came back to life, they immediately began to make their way out of the cavern.
[O...Kay...that was weird,] Razorstella observed.
[Yup,] Springerdermain concurred.
[Ya think the curators have any idea what the fuck we just witnessed?]
[I sure as shit hope so.]
...Speaking of the Curators...
=Welp, I'm stumped.=
<I'M SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT!>
...Now back to the cave...
[Alright, big question: do we still want to figure out what the fuck is in that pit?] Springerdermain asked.[Because I don't know about you, but being seen how that pit just sucked in and spat out those Kaijin, has got me worried about my own existence.]
[How so?]
[What if we get sucked in?]
[That's...]