Chapter 1006 The Depths of the Cave <TOC> Chapter 1008 Speed is of the Essence
Translator: SumTLMan
Despite the faintness of the sound, chirped with an unconscious undertone, Angel was electrified and brought to a standstill.
Without a shadow of doubt, the voice was unmistakably Toby’s!
Toby was close by!
Before the wave of exhilaration could fully emerge from the depths of Angel’s heart, it was replaced by puzzlement, instigated by the implications laced within that quiet trill.
The previous low “chirping” was ambiguous and incomprehensible to Angel. It almost felt as though Toby was talking in his sleep. However, this distinct sound had stirred an uncanny sensation within him.
It was suppressed and feeble, like Toby was sleep-talking… A cry for help!
With this thought, a hint of unease dawned upon Angel!
Immediately, he dashed towards the direction from which the sound had originated. The further he ran, the stronger the foul stench of blood in the air grew. This profound unease felt as though a predatory beast, venomous fangs bared, was observing him from the dark with icy, vertical pupils, ready to pounce at any moment.
“Chirp——”
Angel heard Toby’s voice again, it was still as vague as a whisper.
He was just ahead! As Angel sprinted, he was also on high alert, ready to confront the “monster” lurking in the surrounding darkness.
Suddenly, a hissing noise resonated from the front.
Angel instantly stopped in his tracks. As the luminescent stone was lifted, the scene that unveiled before him made his pupils contract.
He had been perplexed earlier, wondering why, despite clear signs of snake tracks on the ground, he hadn’t encountered a single snake. It was only now that he realized where all the snakes had disappeared to——
The path ahead was carpeted with snakes!
A myriad of serpents, either vibrantly hued or ominously dark, whether bulky or slight, coarse or fine, they slithered in an impenetrable mass before him, their tangled congregation creating a living blockade on the path ahead.
It was a veritable path of serpents, created by the intricate formation of countless intertwining snakes.
The arrival of Angel triggered a response within the multitude of serpents, causing them to wheel around. The formerly tranquil trail erupted with the chilling, unsettling hiss of innumerable serpents, reminiscent of fingernails screeching across a smooth chalkboard, which sent shivers down one’s spine.
The serpents reared their upper bodies into a striking pose, displaying even more vibrant patterns on their bodies. They were entwined with one another, shaping a resplendent gateway, as if issuing a stern warning to any outsiders: Trespassers shall not pass!
Despite their seemingly menacing demeanor, the energy contained within these serpents was akin to the flying fish-like creatures Angel had encountered previously. In other words, they were merely entry-level monsters, beings which even ordinary humans might stand a chance to slay.
Unfazed by these creatures, Angel decided to charge ahead.
His initial plan was to employ the “Mist” spell he had used against the flying fish-like creatures. However, this spell was ineffectual against these serpents, who did not rely on their eyes to hunt their prey.
Moreover, these serpents remained utterly unaffected within the mist illusion, demonstrating their own unique abilities: some employed their forked tongues to sense scents, some used their pit organs to detect the body temperature of live creatures, and some even felt vibrations through their lower jaws pressed against the ground!
They possessed no possibility of mistakenly killing their own kind, maintaining a pinpoint-accurate location of Angel even within the mist illusion.
Since the mist illusion proved ineffective against this snake battalion, Angel decided to unleash a wave of fire directly.
Flame Formation Phantom Attack!
A blazing inferno enveloped the serpent horde in an instant!
Simultaneously, a trace of white fog emerged from Angel’s fingertip—Nightmare Fear Spell!
The double whammy of tricks plunged the serpents into chaos immediately. The previously entangled serpents began to scatter, and to avoid getting scorched, they all darted into the underground river.
However, to extinguish the fire from the Flame Formation Phantom Attack, ordinary water would prove inadequate.
In an instant, the obstructions in the form of serpents had vanished as if by magic. Angel, indifferent to the pursuit of the slithering horde now scattered, had one priority: locate Toby, who was seemingly the source of the distress signal.
Disregarding the serpents that darted in all directions, Angel sped to the end of the path that lay before him.
Darkness and stench, constant companions on this journey. Flame and fear, setting the dissonant symphony of this passage.
Swiftly, Angel reached the end of the path, met by a natural wall of earth and stone, and nothing more. He was certain, the voice of Toby had resonated from this direction. But now at the path’s end, no further route visible, Angel began to scrutinize the surroundings with an eagle’s eye.
Finally, his gaze fell upon an underground river.
Even though the path had met its end on the banks, the river journey remained unfinished. Without uttering a word, Angel activated his purification field and plunged into the pitch-black water.
Continuing his upstream voyage, Angel maneuvered through the river. It wasn’t long, a mere ten or so meters, before Angel emerged from the water.
Another cavernous sinkhole. As Angel clambered onto the bank, his heart was suddenly struck with a sense of foreboding.
Something was not right here.
Back in the sinkhole where Angel first found traces of the serpents, he had felt an uncanny suppression, an inexplicable melancholy, as though a weight pressed heavy on his heart.
Previously on the narrow path, in his fervor to track Toby’s voice and deal with the lurking predators, he had ignored this sensation.
However, here in this place, that oppressive feeling resurfaced, and it was more intense than before.
This wasn’t a physical discomfort, rather an emotional unease, a mental anxiety.
Moving cautiously, sticking close to the cavern walls, Angel ventured further into the sinkhole. As he navigated a bend, he found a handful of vividly patterned serpents entangled together.
The atmosphere around them was curiously heavy. Angel did not rashly engage in combat as he had done before. Instead, he reined in his aura, even completely blocking his body heat, and circled around from another side.
After circumventing several snake heaps, Angel discovered an upward spiraling path.
The higher up the path he went, the more uneasy Angel felt. However, he had a faint sense that Toby was nearby…
When Angel had made his way to the top of the path, his eyes lit up.
He had found him!
Toby was right there, in the middle of the cave wall opposite him!
However, his current condition was not so good… A few luminescent stones were scattered around Toby, illuminating the surroundings. Several brightly colored snakes were circling him, flicking their forked tongues, clearly posing a threat to Toby.
But Toby, his eyes half-closed, appeared to be on the verge of sleep.
The reason he was able to withstand the prowling snakes around him was due to the thin layer of gray aura surrounding him. Every time a snake approached, the aura would turn it into a bloody pulp, so no snake dared to come close.
It was the Gravity Lines, but it seemed like a lot of it had already been consumed, showing an increasingly faint trend.
Once the Gravity Lines were completely depleted, Toby would inevitably be subjected to the onslaught of the snake swarm.
Angel couldn’t afford to hesitate any longer and immediately prepared to fly across the dark chasm to the other side of the mountain wall to retrieve Toby. However, just as he was about to take off, he saw a shadow flicker beneath the cliff, accompanied by a rustling sound.
If Angel hadn’t glanced at the base of the cliff earlier, he wouldn’t have noticed that there was something else down there.
He hesitated for a moment, tucking himself away in a shadowy corner, secretly observing the situation.
After a while, the shadow finally revealed its true form. When Angel saw it clearly, a flash of shock crossed his eyes.
It was a giant snake, its size in no way inferior to Akeso!
Perched on a rock wall, Toby seemed to have landed himself in what appeared to be a gargantuan serpent’s lair. Its monstrous form coiled around the peak across, meandering gradually… Its colossal triangular skull alone matched the stature of a grown human, suggesting an alarmingly prodigious body lurking within the shadows.
Angel was unable to ascertain the precise might of this serpent, yet its intimidating size and the inexplicable fluctuations it emitted all pointed towards a formidable adversary.
It was this giant snake that had been exuding the peculiar oppressive sensation that had previously been bothering Angel, akin to an “aura field.”
In a fleeting moment, Angel was even tempted by the thought of retreat.
“Perhaps, I should return and alert my Mentor so he can come rescue Toby…” This notion sprang forth like a torrential flood, inundating Angel’s innermost psyche.
However, this flood of thoughts was not born out of Angel’s volition; but was an overflow of fear.
Yet, as Angel observed the progressively faint Gravity Lines around Toby, he understood that if he were to return to the fortress for help, it would essentially equate to abandoning any hope of Toby’s survival.
Earlier, a pair of apprentice lovers had heard Toby’s cries without venturing this deep, which indicated that Toby was in a reasonably stable condition then.
But in the short span of half an hour, by the time Angel had arrived here, Toby’s voice had dwindled to a near-whisper, his pleas for help barely audible through his faint chirps.
“There’s no time to go back,” Angel suppressed his fear of the “unknown,” silently analyzing the situation at hand.
This didn’t mean that a rescue was impossible.
Although the serpent didn’t exude any domineering pressure, if Angel were to save Toby, he must plan for the worst-case scenario.
Suppose, the power of the serpent stands loftier than that of a wizard.
The moment it detects him, the creature would undoubtedly unleash a wave of mental intimidation.
However, if he can prove swift enough to outpace the serpent’s reactions, swift enough to elude its oppressive aura, then he can lead Toby out of the danger.
In other words, he has a singular opportunity… He must push his capabilities to the extreme, activating his Gravity Lines, whisking Toby away from the mountain, while simultaneously using the serpent’s momentary disorientation to make a swift turnaround, escaping into the open skies.
On the surface, the plan appears simple, but variables persist.
Could he rescue Toby before the enormous serpent catches on? Furthermore, could the “Domain” surrounding the serpent influence him in some way?
A sense of unease nags at Angel; he believes the “Domain” could be the crux of their predicament. Otherwise, Toby, with his abilities and the power of Gravity Lines, should be able to extricate himself from danger instead of falling into this precarious situation.
Of course, there’s a chance the serpent is exerting some kind of mental pressure, forcing Toby to remain trapped here.
Even if the “Domain” does affect him, he has no choice but to risk everything on one daring move.
However, Angel is not a reckless fool, a gamble takes form in his mind…
Chapter 1006 The Depths of the Cave <TOC> Chapter 1008 Speed is of the Essence