NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55: There’s No Way Out
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“The moment the door drops, all guards will move out,” Vivian read as pointed at the last line of the runes. “This sentence is also written in runes. That’s weird.”
It was the first time Hao Ren was involved in such an ancient and puzzling scenario. He was stunned, feeling like he was in a Hollywood blockbuster. “Is it anything unusual? Perhaps the person who wrote this had obsessive-compulsive disorder. He felt uncomfortable forcing himself to insert a line in English under the runes. Besides, you wouldn’t understand the English sentence even if it was written there,” said Hao Ren.
Vivian rolled her eyes and said, “Do you think the utility bill notice stuck on people’s doors would be written in ancient Latin? Who the heck would be able to read them? The Letta Runes are complicated and ever-changing. The runes can even have a certain impact on the learner’s mind in the process of learning. Average people are unable to handle it. Only demon hunters and ascetic monks with rock-hard minds are able to endure the impact. It is said that the Letta Runes are texts written for the spirits of heaven and earth as well as deities of a different dimension. Therefore, under normal circumstances, it won’t be used for humans let alone used to write a common message.”
“Could it be the guards weren’t common people?” Lily chipped in suddenly.
Vivian looked at the werewolf girl in surprise and praised her. “You’re quite smart, big dog!”
What Lily said sent a chill down his spine and he quickly looked around nervously. He swallowed hard and asked, “They used demon hunters as guards? Is it possible that this place was actually the demon hunters’ headquarters back then?”
“Demon hunters don’t have headquarters. They spread out freely across the world. Information on internal contact between branches of demon hunters is still a myth. However, the Lord of Yorkford must have gathered a large number of demon hunters here,” said Vivian as she floated lightly in the air, examining the runes and drawings on the stone wall more closely. “Look at these lines. They were carved in an extremely precise and complicated way which allowed three groups of runes to take effect at the same time. This was done through the writing order and arrangement of runes. It’s a brilliant technique. The Lord of Yorkford was definitely not an ordinary nobleman. He was most probably a demon hunter who had already blended with the human species. I’ve seen things like this.”
Although Lily was also an ‘alien’, she was as confused as Hao Ren. Her mind was full of question marks at this point. She stepped forward and scratched the hard, stone wall. ” Hey old lady, can you stop showing off old stuff? Just tell us directly what the heck it’s for,” said Lily impatiently.
Vivian raised her voice instantaneously as she closed in to attack. It became chilly and the atmosphere was filled with a metallic smell of blood. “Who’s an old lady?!”
Hao Ren hurriedly dragged aside the wolf girl, who never thought things through before speaking. Then, he said, “Just ignore her. You’re the forever-17, beautiful girl from the Blood Clan, okay? Let’s focus on our business.”
“You keep protecting her.” Vivian exclaimed scornfully and gently landed beside Hao Ren. “The sentence patterns found in the runes are solely for the purpose of repression. It’s nothing aggressive, just a simple defense layer. And the third line of runes state that this is a crypt, which is repressing the ‘root of all evil’. It has been sealed forever. The stone wall can’t be opened without the power of the blood of Yorkford. Otherwise, one will be cursed by the demon in the crypt and—”
Before Vivian could finish speaking, a deep rumbling suddenly came out of nowhere and echoed through the crypt. Soon after, the ground started shaking violently; it got stronger and stronger. The walls around them created a horrible grinding noise. Dust and crushed stones kept falling from the top. The quake was only getting worse. Hao Ren lost his balance and immediately thought it was an earthquake! They were going to die in the ramshackle crypt.
The unknown, rumbling noise was becoming louder. It quickly reached an unbearable degree in a matter of a few seconds. It was like thunder. The moment Hao Ren closed his eyes and prepared to have his life flash by, it stopped abruptly.
The ‘earthquake’ had stopped and so did the weird sound. Only dust and gravel which occasionally fell from the top indicated that it was all not an illusion. Vivian floated up into the air the moment the quake started. She remained poised and unhurt. Lily protected herself in her own canine way immediately after the quake started. She laid down on the ground and protected her head with her hands. She was trembling fiercely from her head to her tail. When the quake stopped, Lily stood up sheepishly and giggled. “Was that an earthquake just now?”
Hao Ren was still in shock. With an odd expression on her face, Vivian said, “No… it wasn’t an earthquake! It was the thing under the castle!”
“And Angus said this route was clear before!” Hao Ren was not a fool and reacted at once. “The stone wall just appeared!”
“Most probably the seal in the crypt became loose and triggered the stone wall to fall!” Vivian took Hao Ren’s hand and ran towards the exit and said, “Run! This… huh?”
The passageway behind them was no longer there. It was blocked off by another massive stone wall, which looked even more solid than the stone wall with runes!
“When did this happen?” Hao Ren was astounded. He ran to the stone wall and knocked it to make sure it was not an illusion. He then said, “How were we not aware of this?”
“It’s a demon hunter’s trick. They’re the best at setting this kind of freaking trap!” Vivian’s eyes were covered in red light and her tone was full of anger. She swung her hands forward and two red shock waves in the shape of crosses hit the massive, dark stone wall hard. However, the red shock waves which could have crushed any metal and stone just left a scratch on the dark, stone wall. It was totally not powerful enough to destroy the entire stone wall. “Bastard! Even this wall’s protected by a spell… We’re trapped!”
This time, Lily took the initiative to step forward and tried to break the stone wall. However, after trying everything she could, the stone wall still stood there firmly. The werewolf girl immediately dropped to the ground and sobbed. “I don’t want to die yet… I’ve never even been in love yet… I’m still a cub…”
Hao Ren was already drenched in cold sweat. However, looking at Lily’s reaction, he could not care about himself. He could not bear to watch the wolf girl cry. Hao Ren helped her up and encouraged her. At the same time, he looked around and said, “Calm down, don’t panic. Let’s find another exit.”
At this point, there came another strange noise. The eerie noise, which sounded like armor colliding came from behind both sides of the walls. There seemed to be some space around the tunnel. Vivian tried to break the walls on both sides of the tunnel. However, she quickly drew her hands back and asked, “Both of those walls aren’t protected by spells. Do you dare to get out from there?”
The noise of the colliding armor was getting closer. Hao Ren could clearly hear the sound of hard objects scraping the rock wall closest to him. ‘Something’ had sensed the three intruders in the tunnel and was trying to get in there!
They were blocked at the back by the indestructible rock and both walls to their side signaled a gruesome checkmate, just from listening to the noise. Hao Ren finally turned his attention to the stone wall with runes and asked, “Can we open it?”
Vivian rushed to that stone wall. She knocked it, then stuck her ear on it and listened. “This one isn’t very thick and seems to have nothing behind it. But are you sure you want to break open this wall? It may be the last layer of seal in the crypt.”
Upon hearing what Vivian just said, Hao Ren hesitated. He really did not want to die. However, he had yet to lose his head during this critical moment. Also, most stories taught him that it was silly to destroy the seal in an ancient site used to repress the devil. How many movie sequels and dramas start shooting the moment an idiotic person destroys the seal…
“I suggest that you break that wall.” The voice of the MDT suddenly appeared in his head as he hesitated. “According to radar scanning, there is another exit behind this wall. The entire crypt isn’t completely closed. Don’t worry about how breaking the seal will lead to a catastrophe. The castle has never been rebuilt for several hundreds of years. Other sealed doors are long gone. This is the only passageway successfully closed off. You are so unlucky, I’m deeply sorry—”