Rise of the Eromancer

Chapter 286 Almost Immediately

"Hero…"

The previous deafening thunders were now just whispers, with Rhys probably already drilling more than halfway through to the Surface; it was no longer loud enough to drown away the whispers that were escaping Malenia's lips as she stared at the dark hole.

It wasn't only her, her shivellans were also surrounding the Hole; some of them even playing around with the gravity shift as they went in and out of the Dig like children, almost a complete opposite of Malenia's mood.

"Is your heart still wavering with what you have witnessed, High Priestess?"

"Oh…"

Malenia, however, quickly tried her best to look calm and unperturbed as soon as she saw her most trustworthy Shrine Maiden, Ranni, approaching to her side. Ranni actually also happens to be the one that was driving the carriage; choosing to come with Malenia instead of staying in the shrine,

"...Wavering yes," Malenia glanced at Ranni and answered her question, "But never doubtful."

"You can doubt but still believe," Ranni also leaned forward to look at the dark abyss in front of them, "That is the difference between a believer and a fanatic. I would garner that you would prefer to be the former, High Priestess?"

"My… my belief in the hero is not in question and will never be," Malenia shook her head and sighed, "It is his actions that haunt me so, Ranni. Those humans, although I understand no words that uttered from their mouths — I know they were surrendering, they were helpless."

"He also killed another High Priestess, and tortured her when she begged for mercy," Ranni slithered closer to Malenia, coiling her limb over hers before resting her head on Malenia's shoulder, "You only uttered your dissatisfaction at the start and no longer offered words of reluctance after the fact."

"She deserved it for desecrating and sullying the shrine she was meant to uphold and protect, and she even had the audacity and gall to sell one of the Sacred Nymphs — it is an act well deserved of death," Malenia closed her eyes, "But the humans from earlier, some of them were barely even out of their shells, their skin barely shed — do not mistake me, Ranni, I truly love the hero; his actions just surprised me, 'tis all there is to it."

"Well, I am telling you it should not surprise you at all," Ranni's arms started to wrap around Malenia's waist as she whispered into her ear, "Many a hero have lived and died by their deeds, most of them shouldering the deaths of a generation. Heroes are not kind, High Priestess — they are mighty."

"I know that," Malenia let out a small sigh as she held Ranni's arm.

"Heroes, according to the stories…" Ranni turned her head back to look at the carnage Rhys committed; her eyes, reflecting the gruesome deaths of all the members of the Herculean Rose. Their bodies were all sliced into several pieces, some of them even had their entire body split in half,

"...More often than not, are more villain than hero. One belief against many."

"...You should have been the High Priestess, not me," Malenia sighed while shaking her head, "I wish I had your wisdom, Ranni."

"We all can't have everything, High Priestess," Ranni let out a small giggle as she looked at Malenia's face, "Dismissing the fact that you have the godly power to turn being into stone, very much like the Mother Medusa, you and your sister have a face that anyone who has scales would envy."

"Hm…"

"And my sister, dumb as she is, was able to become a shivellan because of her strength and certain affinity toward violence," Ranni looked at the shivellans who were playing with the gravity shift, "Speaking of, Lanni told me something curious — you ordered them to… offer the Hero some relief throughout our journey?"

"Yes," Malenia nodded.

"And why, pray tell, did you not include me there?" Ranni tilted her head to the side while squinting her eyes at Malenia, "Did you think I would not fancy catering myself to the Hero? Saving my dignity, High Priestess?"

"...You are a Shrine Maiden, Ranni," Malenia blinked a couple of times as she looked Ranni in the eyes, "You swore an oath of chastity."

"If I recall, you did too," a wide smirk instantly crawled on Ranni's face as she returned Malenia's glare, "And your oath is stronger than ours, and yet…

…now I bear the curse of hearing you moan endlessly, and I could not cover my ears as my hands hold our way."

"T…that…" Malenia's face quickly reddened, "Speak no more of that, Ranni!"

"Oh, my lips are sealed, High Priestess… unlike yours."

"You—"

"Eek!"

Fortunately for Malenia, before she could even force herself to even dabble with the conversation, the both of them quickly turned their heads toward the shivellans…

…only to see some of them falling straight to the hole instead of walking across the walls; their loud screams slowly fading away.

"Wha…" Malenia and Ranni could really only stare at the silhouettes of their fellow gorgons as they disappeared into the darkness. They then looked at the remaining shivellans, only to see them completely terrified from fear — after all, they were just playing peacefully earlier.

"Did my sister just fall into this seemingly endless pit?" Lanni blinked.

"I… believe she did," Malenia was also quite perplexed and confused with what just happened. But after a few seconds, her eyes widened and her limb began to perk, "Ah! The Hero finished digging the Hole!"

"Should we—"

"Eeeep!"

And before Ranni could even ask what they should do, Malenia just leaped toward the hole.

"...Maybe at least a little disbelief?" Ranni could really only close her eyes as she heard Malenia scream's slowly wither away. Unfortunately, the only thing she could really do was follow her lead and jump; her snake limb acting like a spring — and soon, the terrified shivellans followed too.

Suffice it to say, their screams were loud until they fainted due to the gravity shift upon reaching the Surface.

"Uh… ugh…" And as Malenia found herself waking up, she could not even lift herself up; her limb, almost unable to move or slither as she was extremely groggy. The only thing the could do was look at the ground beneath her palm while letting out a small wheeze.

"It's alright, you're fine."

Malenia was about to lose the strength in her arms, but Rhys was able to gently catch her before she could actually even start falling back to the ground.

"R…Rhys," Malenia whispered as she looked Rhys in the eyes, trying her best not to puke in front of him.

"You can let it out, it happens to everyone," Rhys nodded and assured Malenia, "You're actually the last one to wake up."

"I… I am?" As soon as she heard that, she quickly forced her back to straighten itself while taking in a very long and deep breath, "Where—!!!"

But as soon as she started looking around, however, she instantly leaped into Rhys's arms as her eyes reflected the blue sky. She couldn't even say anything anymore as she quickly coiled her limb around Rhys.

"Welcome to the Surface, Malenia," Rhys, of course, just gently embraced her, "Take all the time you need to get used to the scenery."

And Malenia did just that; her eyes, scanning the forest she was surrounded by. But aside from the so-called blue sky, there really was not that much difference between the Underworld and the Surface. There were more plants, yes — but there are areas in the Underworld that had more.

"I… I am okay now." And so, after a few minutes of heavy breathing, Malenia finally had the strength to lift herself up on her own, "Where… are the others?"

"I managed to get us a large van. It's a little cramped, but everyone fits."

"A… van?"

And suffice it to say, Malenia, who just recovered from her shock, could not help but widen her eyes as she saw the long paved road in front of her; it almost looked like it went on forever, coiling across the mountain they were actually on. Her eyes, however, went even bigger as soon as she got into the van and it started moving on its own.

"M… magic," Malenia blinked a couple of times as she leaned her head to the front seat and looked at Rhys, "This is magic, Rhys."

"...I'll explain everything at another time," Rhys just let out a small chuckle before he looked at the person driving the van.

And suffice it to say, he was extremely terrified.

Rhys actually hailed and hitched a ride, and fortunately, someone stopped. Unfortunately for the driver, though.

"...What is the in your hands?"

"Oh, this?" Rhys showed the thing on his hand, "It's a smartphone I borrowed, I logged in to my account and left a message to my friends — I'm just waiting for them to call back."

"Logged… in?" Malenia blinked a couple of times.

"You'll under—"

"!!!"

"It's singing!" Malenia leaned away and pointed at the phone.

Rhys really only smiled before answering it.

[Recruit… is this really you?] And almost immediately, he could hear Ayesha's voice and many others on the side.

"Yes, I'm in Nihon… and I brought some people with me, as well as a nymph."

[A… nymph? How did you—wait, no. That's not important. You need to come to us…

…The Doc's not in a good condition.]