Mythology Rebooted-Chapter 48 - 45 The advantage is mine within seven steps

48: Chapter 45: The advantage is mine within seven steps

48 -45: The advantage is mine within seven steps

Wayne retched twice but brought nothing up, wiping saliva from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, his disgust for the Earth Core Cult reaching its peak.

No matter the greater or lesser cause, from this day forward, he, Wayne, would be utterly opposed to the Void Lord!

Wayne was desperate to light up the tentacles, but he dared not make a move without rescuing Isabella.

He surmised that the tentacles belonged to the so-called Underground King.

Judging by the size of the tentacles and not knowing where they extended from, he deduced that the Underground King’s body must be immense, which coincided with the intel he had gathered.

The Underground King.

The entrance of the Chasm Tunnel.

Both being at the chicken farm was no coincidence.

The chicken farm, the Earth Core Cult headquarters, the administrative hall—all connected in a line, clearly premeditated…

“Isabella was right.

If the intelligence agencies in Windsor could see that there was something wrong with the Earth Core Cult, then there’s been a problem for a long time.”

Wayne gritted his teeth with hatred.

The egg-laying tentacles indicated that the Underground King was right below the chicken farm.

Should this massive monster make its move, the entire town would face total disaster.

The strength of the Earth Core Cult mages was unknown.

He had to rescue Isabella; only she could deal with the Earth Core Cult.

…

The entrance to the Chasm Tunnel was located behind the chicken farm.

Compared to the complex underground labyrinth, the surface entrance was inconspicuous.

A hastily constructed warehouse obscured the abyssal rift, guarded by four devout followers who would stop anyone from approaching.

Wayne spotted holsters at their hips.

Time was of the essence, and with no better plan, he steeled himself and approached.

“You, stop there.

It’s not nighttime yet; you can’t go in.”

“I know, but the situation has changed.

Our people have been attacked, and by order of the Bishop, I have come to interrogate the prisoner.

I must extract the whereabouts of his accomplices or I cannot explain myself to the Bishop.”

Wayne glared coldly at the other man, “You, open the gate and lead the way.”

“But, the Bishop’s order was that no one can enter, I really can’t let you in…”

The guard’s face showed embarrassment, and Wayne’s aggressive attitude made him somewhat nervous; this brazen confidence was a clear sign of the Bishop’s confidant.

Moreover, Wayne brought the Bishop’s order.

If the guard obstructed and caused detriment to the Earth Core Cult’s interests, would the Bishop punish him?

The guard’s resolve weakened slightly, and Wayne immediately intensified his assertiveness, grabbing the guard’s collar with a ferocious glint in his eye, “Idiot, if it weren’t for our unreserved faith in the Void Lord, I’d have you sacrificed to the Underground King this very evening by Bishop’s orders.

Open the gate now; you can’t bear this responsibility.”

Wayne’s forcefulness and contempt overwhelmed the guard’s hesitation, and he didn’t dare to obstruct further, waving to his comrades to open the warehouse gate and taking the initiative to lead the way, trying to calm Wayne’s anger.

Being a subordinate was like this, not seeking merit but avoiding mistakes.

Difficult, is the word.

The complexity of the underground tunnels exceeded Wayne’s expectations, with passages extending in all directions, at first glance mistakable for a mine.

Electrical wires were laid out along the way, with lighting illuminating each passage.

At every intersection, devout followers stood guard with firearms.

Within a few minutes’ walk, the guard knocked on a wooden door up ahead, revealing a secret passage that unleashed a wave of encompassing darkness toward Wayne.

He found himself on the edge of a cliff, overlooking an abyss so deep it seemed bottomless.

Something massive seemed to crawl within the darkness, and with each gust of wind, large swatches of blue lights twinkled on and off.

These lights were not just at the bottom of the abyss but also crawled up the cliff walls.

Wayne took a quick look and faintly made out traces of moving tentacles.

The size of the Underground King was even more colossal than he had imagined, with far more than just eight tentacles.

It was an ancestor-level behemoth compared to the starfish at the administrative hall.

A pathway had been constructed along the edge of the cliff, equipped with a handrail to prevent followers from accidentally falling into the abyss.

Wayne silently commended the construction crew and hurried to keep up with the guard ahead.

The pathway stretched for about five hundred meters, turning into a hollowed-out rock facade, opening into a vast underground plaza guarded more stringently than the Earth Core Cult headquarters.

Without a known face leading the way, Wayne would have found it impossible to intrude.

In the center of the underground plaza, a circular pool was constructed, with fist-sized rocks piled into a pyramid, and a golden statue placed at its top.

The statue wasn’t big, barely ten centimeters high, reflecting light and emanating a breath-accelerating glow.

Very dazzling, unmistakably made of real gold.

Wayne focused his gaze, the light too bright to make out the true form of the statue, seeing only a twisted humanoid wrapped in tentacles.

“Lord of the Void, please allow me, your humble and insignificant devotee, to offer my most sincere praise…” The guard bowed deeply from afar, reverently saluting the statue’s location.

Wayne hastily followed suit, imitating the gesture, sending a humble paean of his own.

As he finished speaking, Wayne felt as if the statue responded to him, a murmur in his ear, a bizarre, evil, holy, and pure confluence of voices, luring each listener into a trance.

Bad news: SAN value plummeted.

Good news: Wayne had a strong foundation.

It fell, but it might as well not have.

It’s still the same old saying, having been ravaged by the Gate of Truth, ordinary mental contamination has difficulty shaking his thoughts and will.

The Guard clearly was contaminated, and it could be seen from his expression that his faith in the Void Lord was devout and insane.

Wayne followed, scrunching his eyebrows and grinning, with half his face twitching and his eyelids jumping wildly.

That skill, at least a decade of cerebral thrombosis.

Wayne didn’t look like he was acting; his performance was too real and didn’t attract the slightest suspicion.

He followed the Guard to the east side of the square and then entered another hidden door.

This time, there were no twists and turns, the end of the passage was the jail’s dark cell.

Two believers guarded the prison.

When they learned that Wayne was ordered by the Bishop to interrogate the prisoners, they immediately let him through.

The defense was very lax.

It’s human nature, a subjective consciousness working mischief.

At this place, there was no reason to suspect intruders; surely, it was one of their own.

Wayne, holding a candle, walked into the prison.

There weren’t many prisoners, about a dozen or so.

Each was given a stake and hemp rope, lined up neatly.

Wayne directly ignored unfamiliar faces, but two of them greatly surprised him:

Hood!

Wesley!

The two were tilting their heads, muttering under their breath just like the other prisoners, their minds somewhat unclear from the mental contamination.

You two are still alive?

Wayne was surprised at their good fortune, reflecting that good men receive good outcomes.

Considering successful cases, he was sure he would also enjoy continuous blessings in the future.

Only…

He didn’t see Isabella.

The prisoners were all male, and not one was outstanding in stature.

“Cough, cough!”

Wayne coughed into his fist and said to the Guard beside him, “What’s going on here?

Where are the female prisoners kept?”

The Guard chuckled knowingly, “You’re too late.

The female prisoners have all been dealt with, used afterwards for sacrifices to the Underground King.

We haven’t caught any new ones yet.”

What was agreed upon, you lad already have a path toward death!

“Nonsense, who asked you that?

Do I look like that kind of person?”

Wayne narrowed his eyes and added the Guard to his death list, saying coldly, “I was asking about the infiltrator from two days ago, a very fat woman.

You guys wouldn’t be so desperate as to have dealt with her too, right?”

“You must be mistaken.

There was no fat woman among the infiltrators two days ago.

The only one we caught was him.”

The Guard pointed at Hood.

“We only caught him.

He’s Hood, a detective from Enrold Town, a crafty old man.

He almost got away.”

Wayne was stunned.

If the catch from two days ago was Hood… fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm

then where had Isabella gone?

He found it hard to believe.

Suppose, just suppose, if Isabella hadn’t been caught, what was all his effort for, scouting and infiltrating, in the end?

He recalled Hefei’s words.

Isabella was an experienced Mage.

Her continuous absence must have meant she discovered something and was lying in wait to deal a fatal blow to the enemy at the right moment.

“You really didn’t catch a fat woman?” Wayne slapped his forehead, trying to salvage the situation.

Please tell him that you did catch her, not only that but that you guys had dealt with her.

“Indeed not.”

The Guard shook his head with certainty, then added, “Perhaps there was, but that would be the high-profile prisoners only the Bishops would know about.

I’m not privy to that information, and they certainly aren’t locked up here.

These are all tonight’s sacrifice.”

Wayne nodded, contemplating how to safely get the prisoners out when the wooden door opened, and a voice came through:

“Regarding that fat woman, I might be able to give you an answer!”

This was a middle-aged man in a burlap robe with a robust physique, speaking vigorously.

He wore a hood, so his face was unclear, but the flickering candlelight eerily gleamed on two rows of chillingly white teeth.

His mouth corners, seemingly smiling but not smiling, turned slightly upwards as if lauding Wayne for finding this place.

Of course, more likely, he was mocking him for walking into the trap.

Wayne’s heart skipped a beat, sensing danger.

“Bishop Sean.” The Guard bowed respectfully, bending very low.

Wayne also bowed, trying to bluff his way through.

The Earth Core Cult had four Bishops and one Archbishop, a pentarchy representing the cult’s highest power.

In Wayne’s plan, they were all powerful Mages.

Suddenly being blocked by one in the Cult’s underground lair…

Wayne’s heart sank as he assessed the possibility of embedding the other in the earthen wall.

It didn’t look promising.

Transform into the same being as The Book of Greed…

Wayne’s hand moved towards the pistol on his lower back, a magic tool borrowed from a maid for self-defence, with the Science Faith Artifact by his side, he felt somewhat reassured.

Within seven steps, I have the advantage!