Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 230 The Underworld

"You're not really bringing these half-breeds home, are you? You…

…You're trying to get more of them."

There was a silence between the two as Talia whispered those words to Rhys. Of course, the silence was as short as the distance between Talia's lips and his ears, as Rhys responded with a somewhat silent chuckle and pulled Talia even closer to him.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Talia," Rhys whispered back.

"There should be no secrets between us, Rhys Wilder," Talia, however, just tiptoed even higher and stuck her cheek on Rhys's, "And it truly is quite obvious that you're doing that — and I commend you for it. For someone who claims to hate all the politics, you're the biggest of us all."

"..." Rhys stayed quiet for a few seconds before just letting out a sigh; his warm breath, causing a slight tingle on Talia's ear, "I've grown tired of the world talking about me, Talia — it's time to give them something else to talk about."

"Don't fool yourself, boy," Talia chuckled as she pulled away from Rhys, "You will always be at the center of this. Now go, your half-breeds are waiting."

"Don't… call them that."

"It's not like they understand," Talia's chuckle then turned into a full-on blast of laughter as she walked away; her laugh, not fading away even after she disappeared as it echoed across the empty hallways of the prison.

"That old human…" And as soon as she was gone, Edissa approached Rhys, "...I can truly see why you have chosen her as one of your mates — her personality is quite strong, a true leader. And… she's incredibly strong too."

"Hm…" Rhys just nodded before looking up at Edissa, "...Are you and the others ready?"

"We've actually just been waiting for you, Rhys," Edissa nodded back before the two of them walked to Maha and the other cenleons.

"You truly did not need to come with us, human," Maha stepped forward as soon as he saw Rhys approaching them.

"I do," Rhys shrugged, "None of you are used to diving through Holes. If there is a chance that something else is down there that can kill you, it will kill you since all of you will be vulnerable."

"We are not that weak," one of the cenleons slightly hissed. He was going to step forward, but the other cenleons stopped him.

"Forgive him, human," Maha sighed while shaking his head, "He is Meelo, Muran's brother."

"Muran? Who's that?" Rhys squinted his eyes.

"You dare not remember the warrior you've humiliated!?" Meelo once again hissed; this time even more feral as he glared at Rhys, "I swear, I will not rest until I avenge my brother!"

"Meelo, that is enough!" Maha raised his voice as he also bared his fangs at Meelo, "We have already talked about this! We—"

"Let us clear something here."

And before Maha could finish his words, he and the rest of the cenleons felt a familiar feeling coming from Rhys that caused all of their hair and fur to just stand up on their ends. It was the very same feeling they felt when the Ice Warden just trampled on their village.

"None of you are my friends," Rhys whispered out, "We have spent time together, yes — but do not forget that you are refugees here, and I helped you."

It wasn't fear.

It wasn't even anger. All of them were just feeling… hopeless.

Maha could not really say anything anymore and just looked at Rhys as he suddenly glared at him; the tone of his voice, now devoid of any of the friendliness he was sharing with Edissa.

"And I am helping you still," Rhys placed his hand on his back as he stared at the rest of the cenleons in their eyes, "I could just very well send you off and push you down that Hole back where you came from. Most of you would probably faint, and then be eaten by whatever's on the other side — and trust me, I can still do that even if I dove with all of you…

…I can even make it easier for all the predators down there to do so. Break all of your limbs, and then watch as you try to just crawl while some monsters devour your brethren. But I won't do that — but not for any of you, but for Edissa."

"Rhys…" Edissa could not help but just whisper out as she heard Rhys's words. And unlike the rest of her people, none of Rhys's killing intent was pointed at her.

"Edissa wants to come with all of you to this other tribe," Rhys continued his words, "And as she is my Bond, that means I need her to come back safely — she can't do that if she's alone. So…

…let's get to it, then."

Rhys then finally smiled as he gestured to Edissa to walk with him to the Hole — only a couple of them could really fit, so Edissa and Rhys went ahead and just dove down without waiting for anyone else. But of course, as everyone heard Edissa just scream out from the top of her lungs, the other cenleons realized that they truly did need Rhys.

"Meelo…" Maha grunted before walking toward the cell, "...Let it go."

And with those words, Maha just let himself fall down. His voice which was filled with bravado, however, was quickly replaced by a shriek.

"The Chief's right, Meelo— there is something obviously wrong with that human, or all of the humans we have seen so far. They are… incredibly strong, not like with the stories we have heard as—"

"I don't fucking care!" Meelothen hissed at his brethren, causing them to just shake their heads and just dive down the Hole. As for Meelo, he stayed on the Surface for a few more seconds, baring his fangs to no one before finally diving into the Hole. And just like the rest of his brethren, he screamed like a little girl.

As soon as all of them were gone, however, Talia suddenly stepped out of the shadows; her eyes glaring at the cell.

"...Sad, I wanted to kill one of these half-breeds," Talia then let out a sigh, disappointed that no one created trouble for Rhys, "Well…

…I'll have more chances."

***

"R… Rhys, your… your advice worked! I didn't even feel dizz—"

"You shouldn't move… immediately."

Rhys could really only let out a short but very deep sigh as Edissa wheezed and puked in front of him. An improvement on her side, perhaps, as other than her, no one else puked… because they were completely knocked out.

"Oh…?" And while the rest were still unconscious, Rhys took this chance to scout the surrounding area, only to find he did not need to at all as he could see everything from a mile away, "This… was a Meadow region?"

The knee-thick snow that covered the surrounding area was all completely gone, replaced by a verdant field that spanned probably for miles before he could see a Region Shift in the distance.

It would be an understatement for Rhys to say that this was the best view of the Underworld he had ever seen — as aside from the Regions that were covered in thick fog to hide them from the rest of the globe-like world, Rhys could see everything clearly; finally getting a sense of how truly large the Underworld is.

"No," Edissa, however, had none of Rhys's glimmer. And it wasn't because she was still nauseated, "This was a vast forest… the Ice Warden destroyed everything. But like me and my tribe, it will rise again — that is how it has always been."

"...I don't think your tribe is rising anytime soon," Rhys let out a disappointed sigh as he glanced at all the sprawled cenleons behind him. Rhys had never seen a centaur before, but he was sure they weren't as flexible as the cenleons who could curl their entire body into a ball.

"How far is it again?"

"I believe it's there."

Rhys turned to look to where Edissa pointed to, only to see a region from the distance completely covered in fog.

"That's about 2… 300 kilometers?" Rhys squinted, "We should have brought a jeep with us. Well, not like it would fit in the Hole."

"Rhys, I have been meaning to ask…" Edissa wiped the sweat from her forehead as the color on her face finally returned, "...That flying thing which held humans inside it, was it some sort of… creature? Like this Jeep you keep mentioning in the past few days."

"Humans… are not as dumb as you think we are — well, we are, but not in the way you think," Rhys let out a small and deep sigh as he tried to find the right words, "We are… more technologically advanced than you. Objectively… more knowledgeable in terms of creating things of convenience."

"...Our ideas of the Forbidden Land truly are different," Edissa lowered her head, "We have always thought of it as a playground for the gods."

"You've said," Rhys let out another small sigh as he decided to wake up the rest of the cenleons.

"It's just weird," Edissa followed Rhys, "You have been calling this, our world as the Underworld — but that is also what we call your world."

"What do you mean?" Rhys glanced at Edissa.

"Your world," Edissa shrugged, "It's… Hell? That's why the gods send the monsters there, it's punishment. To punish… your kind?"

"Punish our kind…?"

"It's an old story, actually… it might have been just a fable," Edissa shrugged, "I don't really know much about it — but if you want to know more, then…

…I'm sure the city we are going to would have more information."