Chapter 607 Two Paths Two Groups
"Okay."
His voice echoed softly through the cavern.
"We’ll separate into two groups."
He pointed toward the left passage.
"One group goes this way."
His finger then shifted toward the second tunnel.
"The other takes the right."
Nobody objected.
In fact, several of them quietly nodded.
It was the most logical choice.
Whoever had taken Gregor could be anywhere beneath this cave system. Staying together meant they might spend hours searching one tunnel only to discover he had been hidden in the other all along.
Splitting up doubled their chances.
Mary stepped forward first.
She glanced toward Agatha before smiling faintly.
"It would probably be best if both groups had a witch."
Agatha nodded almost immediately.
"I was thinking the same thing."
"Witchcraft is still our best defense against whatever illusion magic we’ve been dealing with."
Liam agreed.
There was no point placing both witches in the same group.
If another illusion awaited them, they would need someone capable of recognizing and countering it regardless of which path proved to be the correct one.
The groups slowly began forming naturally.
Agatha walked toward the right tunnel.
Irina followed without hesitation.
That left only two people still standing between both groups.
Leonid.
Tatiana.
For a brief moment, everyone looked toward Liam, waiting to hear his decision.
He didn’t spend more than a second thinking about it.
"Tatiana comes with me."
He looked toward Leonid.
"You go with them."
Leonid simply nodded.
"Understood."
Without another question, he walked toward Agatha and Irina, falling into step beside them as though that had been his own decision from the beginning.
Tatiana quietly moved toward Liam’s side.
She didn’t say anything.
She didn’t even look at him.
Instead, she lowered her eyes and focused on the rocky ground beneath her feet.
Liam noticed.
Of course he noticed.
But he chose not to say anything.
Not yet.
Once everyone stood with their assigned groups, Liam looked toward Agatha one last time.
His expression became serious.
"Be careful."
His eyes shifted toward Leonid and Irina as well.
"Don’t fall into another illusion."
Agatha gave him a confident nod.
"We won’t."
"I’ll make sure of it."
Liam smiled faintly before turning away.
Without another word, he stepped into the tunnel leading left.
Mary immediately walked ahead of him.
Among the three of them, she was the one most likely to detect any magical disturbances before they reached them. She moved slowly but confidently, her eyes occasionally closing for a second as though listening to something the others couldn’t hear.
Liam remained several steps behind.
Tatiana quietly followed at the very back.
The tunnel gradually narrowed as they continued deeper underground.
The further they walked, the colder the air became.
It wasn’t the ordinary coolness of a cave.
This cold carried weight.
It clung to their skin.
Every breath produced faint white mist before disappearing into the darkness.
Water dripped steadily from the ceiling, striking the stone floor with soft echoes that traveled endlessly through the passage ahead.
Liam quietly rubbed one hand against his forearm.
"...This isn’t an illusion."
Mary glanced back.
"You felt it too?"
He nodded.
"You can deceive someone’s eyes."
He looked toward the damp walls surrounding them.
"You can even deceive their hearing if you’re skilled enough."
His fingers brushed against the cold stone beside him.
"But this..."
He pressed his palm against the wall.
"...my body can feel it."
The stone was freezing.
Not just cool.
Freezing.
The chill seeped through his skin almost instantly.
"This place is genuinely cold."
Mary quietly agreed before continuing forward.
The three of them walked in silence for another minute.
Liam’s attention slowly shifted toward the footsteps behind him.
Tatiana.
She had remained unusually quiet ever since they entered the cave.
Normally she would have been beside him by now.
Talking.
Teasing him.
Holding his hand whenever she found an excuse.
Instead...
She continued several steps behind.
Keeping her distance.
Liam gradually slowed his pace.
Not enough for Mary to notice.
Just enough.
Tatiana eventually had no choice but to catch up.
Within moments, she found herself walking beside him.
She still refused to meet his eyes.
Liam looked sideways at her.
Then, without saying anything, he gently nudged her shoulder with his own.
It wasn’t hard.
Barely enough to make her stumble.
Just enough to get her attention.
She looked at him for a brief second before immediately lowering her gaze again.
Liam smiled.
"Why are you sulking?"
His voice was quiet.
Gentle.
Tatiana sighed.
The sound carried far more emotion than she intended.
For several seconds she remained silent, as though debating whether she should answer at all.
Eventually...
"It’s my fault."
Liam blinked.
"What is?"
She kept walking.
"Gregor."
Her voice had become noticeably softer.
"It’s my fault Gregor is gone."
Liam didn’t interrupt.
She continued speaking while staring at the uneven stone beneath her feet.
"If I had listened to you..."
"We would’ve kept riding."
"We never would’ve gone near that fake body."
Her fingers slowly tightened around themselves.
"We wouldn’t have chased that illusion."
"Our horses wouldn’t have been stolen."
"Gregor wouldn’t have disappeared."
The words came out one after another, each carrying more guilt than the last.
She laughed quietly.
It wasn’t a happy laugh.
"I caused all of this."
Liam remained silent.
Tatiana mistook that silence for agreement.
Her shoulders lowered even further.
"And..."
She hesitated.
"...you’re mad at me."
Liam immediately raised his head.
His entire expression became one of complete disbelief.
"Woah..."
He actually looked around the tunnel before pointing at himself.
"Mad at you?"
Tatiana never looked up.
She simply nodded while continuing to walk.
"Yes."
"You are."
Her voice barely rose above a whisper.
"You wouldn’t even look me in the eyes."
Tatiana kept her eyes fixed on the rocky ground as they continued walking through the freezing tunnel. The silence between them stretched for several more seconds before Liam finally let out a quiet sigh. He couldn’t help but smile a little as he watched her shoulders droop lower with every step. She looked exactly like a child waiting to be scolded, convinced she had done something unforgivable.
He slowly shook his head.
"No."
Tatiana blinked but didn’t look up.
Liam chuckled softly.
"You’re wrong."
She finally raised her eyes slightly, still unwilling to meet his gaze completely.
"I’m not avoiding looking at you."
His smile widened.
"You’re the one who’s been avoiding looking at me."
Tatiana froze.
"I’ve been looking at you this whole time."
She instinctively lifted her head.
For the first time since entering the cave, their eyes finally met.
The tunnel suddenly felt much quieter.
Even the constant dripping of water seemed to fade into the background as they stood there looking at one another beneath the pale blue glow of the crystals lining the walls. Mary, who had continued walking ahead, didn’t interrupt. She knew when two people needed a moment.
Liam came to a stop.
Tatiana mirrored him almost immediately.
Neither of them spoke.
Liam simply stepped a little closer.
Tatiana’s heartbeat unconsciously quickened.
She knew that look.
Before she could even think of saying anything, Liam leaned forward and gently pressed his lips against hers.
It wasn’t a long kiss.
Nor was it passionate.
It was warm.
Comforting.
Reassuring.
When he pulled away, he looked at her with the same relaxed smile he always wore.
"I’m not mad at you."
His voice was calm enough that every ounce of doubt inside her began to crumble.
"You did what your heart believed was right."
He reached up and gently tucked a loose strand of her red hair behind her ear.
"If we really had found a dead child out there..."
He shrugged.
"...then burying him would’ve been the right thing to do."
Tatiana quietly listened.
"There was nothing wrong with wanting to help."
"The only thing wrong..."
"...was that somebody used your kindness against you."
His expression became slightly more serious.
"So stop blaming yourself."
His fingers lightly tapped the center of her forehead.
"We’re going to find whoever orchestrated all of this."
"And when we do..."
A small grin appeared.
"...they’re going to regret ever crossing us."
Tatiana couldn’t stop herself from smiling.
The heavy weight pressing against her chest since Gregor disappeared suddenly became much lighter.
She slowly nodded.
"Okay."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"But..."
She looked at him again.
"...thank you."
Liam simply smiled.
"There she is."
"Hm?"
"The Tatiana that smiles."
"I was wondering where she disappeared to."
She couldn’t help laughing.
"You really know how to make someone feel embarrassed."
"I try."
Before either of them could continue teasing each other...
Mary’s voice echoed through the tunnel.
"Guys!"
She had stopped several meters ahead.
She was staring toward the wall with a strange expression.
"You’re going to want to see this."
Liam and Tatiana immediately caught up with her.
"What is..."
Liam’s words stopped halfway.
The three of them stood completely still.
The walls surrounding this section of the cave looked different from everything they had seen since entering.
Until now, the passage had been lined with countless glowing blue crystals growing naturally from the stone.
Here...
The crystals were still present.
But they weren’t alone.