Chapter 58: Reunion
Following the advice of her savior, Cassie looked forward.
Just as Winston had described, there was an opening in the end of the maze’s tunnel with a giant stone tablet above it.
"Could this be the exit?! The end is finally in sight!" The awakeners exclaimed, ready for one final push.
The first one to cross over to the other side was Elizabeth.
Instantly, the tablet above shuddered and began descending.
In a few seconds, the hole was going to be sealed shut!
The second to cross the threshold was Russell. He hadn’t spared a second thought for the others and had dashed forward with everything he had.
Leonard and Harley found themselves on the other side soon after, their lungs burning as they panted in exhaustion.
But Leonard didn’t allow himself to relax. He glanced toward those still struggling behind them, where Winston and Cassie were a heartbeat away from being caught by the angel statues.
"Come on, buddy!" Leonard yelled, stopping the closest angels by glaring at them.
Unfortunately, due to their sheer numbers, it was impossible to halt all of them simultaneously.
The entrance continued to lower, only moments away from closing completely.
"Jump!"
Winston glanced at Cassie before the two leaped as far as they could.
To their horror, they had misjudged the distance. Their remaining strength proved lacking, and they failed to cross over, falling face-first onto the ground instead!
However, just as their fate seemed sealed, Leonard reached out and dragged Winston across, while Harley did the same with Cassie.
Boom!
The stone tablet missed their feet by a hair’s breadth before crashing down and sealing the entrance.
It shook violently a second later, as if the angel statues that had followed after them had collided with it, before everything finally fell silent.
"I think we are in the clear..." Harley’s legs gave out beneath her, and she toppled to the ground as the adrenaline slowly faded.
"T—Thank you so much! I thought I was going to die!" Cassie couldn’t hold it in any longer and began to weep, her head bowed toward Harley and Winston.
"Bro, this was the scariest experience of my life!" Winston was paler than a ghost. "Let’s never repeat that again!"
"Agreed." Leonard nodded. They had come far too close to death for comfort.
While the awakeners were rejoicing, Russell observed them with a frown.
"Tch! We lost two." He muttered in disdain, noting how much their numbers had dwindled.
"And we would have lost more if I hadn’t found the way." Elizabeth’s icy voice echoed behind him.
Russell was startled for a moment before turning around.
"You are correct, Lady Elizabeth Starlight. Things would have gone much worse had it not been for your assistance."
Her expression remained unreadable as she met his gaze.
"Or maybe it wouldn’t have ever gotten to this point if you hadn’t stolen the tiger from the altar without consulting the party." She suggested, her tone even yet a trace of sarcasm evident.
His eyebrow twitched, clearly surprised.
Thanks to his background, Russell knew how to handle such accusations, whether they were true or false...
But unfortunately, he couldn’t go scot-free by relying on his status this time, since Elizabeth held a higher position than him.
"Are you perhaps... trying to blame me for the deaths of some no-names? Look around us. We are in a do-or-die situation, and nobody can hold it against me if some perish under my rule!"
Elizabeth observed him as he slowly lost his composure under her gaze.
"No one has blamed you. You are the one jumping to those conclusions yourself. But if you don’t care about the people who follow you in the slightest, perhaps you should consider whether you are truly fit to lead."
It was rare for Russell to be unable to come up with a response. He could only grit his teeth and avert his gaze.
At the very least, he had to be grateful that the party was too busy celebrating their escape with their lives to notice his conversation with Elizabeth.
Leonard was among the first to recover thanks to his Hardened Physique trait. He was able to properly survey his surroundings.
Now that they had escaped the maze, there were torches lined up against the walls, providing a constant source of light.
At least sneaking up on them had become much harder than before, when they had to rely on Cassie’s Light skill.
"How is everyone’s corruption looking? I’m starting to feel lightheaded at 70%." Harley asked.
"Mine is at 62%, and it’s making my breathing harder." Cassie replied.
[Corruption: 80%]
Judging by his corruption buildup, Leonard could tell that quite a long time had passed since they entered the temple.
However, after looking at his party members more closely, he realized that despite having accumulated more corruption than most of them, he felt relatively fine.
’Either I am naturally less affected by corruption, or my Primordial Bloodline is negating its effects. Case in point, Elizabeth and Russell have the highest-ranked Bloodlines, and they are the only ones who haven’t shown any symptoms beside me.’
The silver lining in all recent chaos was that no one had the time to notice his resistance to corruption.
Nevertheless, his life was still endangered. He was in dire need of a Shard of Salvation to reduce the buildup, and his only hope of obtaining one was to find the Orc Shaman somewhere within the temple.
Similarly, the party didn’t have the luxury of time.
Once they had recovered a sufficient amount of strength, they pressed onward.
Their eyes scanned the dimly lit halls as they came across empty rooms, all constructed from black stone.
Eventually, they encountered two Hollows that blocked their path.
[Level 13 Hollow.]
[Level 11 Hollow.]
Russell was the first to move. He promptly unsheathed his sword and severed their heads with precise strikes.
"Level 13 and Level 11. Two of the men who went after the Orc were the same levels. This must be them. We can’t be too far away." He concluded.
Leonard noted his speed. Although arrogant, Russell still possessed a Heavenly Bloodline and had likely had it for quite some time, allowing him to build a considerable amount of experience and combat skills under his belt.
’Frontal confrontation is too risky and to be avoided unless there is no other alternative.’ He assessed his chances just in case.
Just as Russell had claimed, it didn’t take long before they heard the echo of distant yells coming from up ahead.
"Is there anybody?! We are here! Please help!"
Exchanging glances, the party followed the source of the voices, hoping to find answers or at least some sort of clue waiting for them at the end.
They entered a room where four awakeners were hiding. One had a large gash across his shoulder and was losing blood at an alarming rate.
"We found you at last." Russell exclaimed, being the first to greet them.
While the party was delighted to find more of their own, Leonard didn’t share their excitement. His eyes remained locked onto one of the awakeners.
’You’ve got to be kidding me. Out of the hundreds of participants I could have met, what are the chances I would encounter him here of all places?’
He was looking at Martin, the man who had pushed him in a death zone.
***
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