To Hell With Being a Hero!

Chapter 351. Choice (3)

After digging for a while, the expedition members were finally able to see results. A tunnel was discovered when they dug down tens of meters. Obviously, it was dug by not the expedition members but someone else, and now, they had to use this tunnel as the entrance. They had to climb down the rock wall before going up, but it wasn’t a problem since they had been making holes while they dug. As the expedition members went down one by one, they all nodded in realization. Compared to the cold outside, the inside was as hot as if someone had turned on a boiler.

To be exact, the temperature was just lukewarm, but the warm air flow was proof that a tohari was close by. In addition, the tunnel was wider than they expected. Over two meters in diameter. And it was hard to judge the length of the tunnel. All things considered, the tunnel was unlikely to have formed naturally, and Hawa was right. The castle was not somewhere above; the entire flying land was Sernitas’ Sky Castle. There was no time to look around and explore. The expedition team immediately drew up an operation plan and carried it into action.

Since they didn’t know the exact location of the tohari, the plan wasn’t terribly fleshed out, but it did give them a sense of direction. “Let’s first go to a place where the temperature feels higher.” The marching began with Hawa taking the lead.

Everyone walked as quietly as possible, but a few made disgruntled expressions and looked clearly uncomfortable. It was understandable. Not only was the air wet, humid, and hot, but the tunnel was also dark.

“Ugh, Ms. Magician, can’t you turn on some light?”

“My focus is on ice.”

“I mean, can’t you do something like light magic?”

“Are you asking me to betray ice? For a pathetic thing like light?”

“…What? What’s up with you?”

However, when Hawa sharply looked at them, the two immediately stopped whispering and shut their mouths. Soon after, Hawa stopped. She extended one hand behind her back and put her other hand on her eyebrows as if she was covering her face from dazzling sunlight. This was her signal to stop and indicate that she found something. When Chi-Woo moved forward and looked at where Hawa was pointing at, he saw a half-open stone door. The stone door gave off an unknown sense of incongruity. Rather than a sense of foreboding, the stone door and its nearest surroundings didn’t seem to fit with the rest of their environment. The tunnel they had been walking along so far seemed like it'd been dug randomly by animals, while the area around the stone door seemed manmade.

‘The fact that there is a door in the first place is strange by itself though.’ Chi-Woo peeked inside the half-open door before turning to Hawa.

Hawa softly shook her head and quietly said, “I can’t feel any presence. There’s no one.”

“…But just in case.” Hawa immediately withdrew, and Yunael took the lead.

Yunael carefully opened the dark stone door and immediately raised her spear. Fortunately, as Hawa said, there was no one inside, and the rest of the expedition team entered. It was a room about 250 to 285 square feet in size. No, rather than a room, it looked more like a warehouse. Long, rectangular shelves lined each wall. When Hawa closed the stone door and lit the torch, they could see the surroundings in more detail. Most of the shelves were empty. It seemed as if someone had already swept clean most of the items, but there were still things left. Some items were still in place, and several were scattered on the floor. The expedition team went around to investigate.

“Umph!” Thud. When Yunael put down a large box that looked heavy from a glance, they finally finished gathering all the items in one place. There was nothing much to see. Only a few pieces of ornaments that could be displayed in a museum and a large, old box.

Yunael asked, “Is this magic equipment?”

When Yunael picked up a ring, Eshnunna shook her head and replied, “I can’t feel any mana. It’s just a pretty ring.”

Yunael looked disappointed, but when she opened the box, her expression changed. Bright and colorful lights flowed out, and a pile of reddish gold coins were mixed with uncut, fist-sized gemstones. Moreover, there were pearls, rubies, diamonds, and gems of all colors and shapes. There were also a copious amount of colorful jewels that shone brightly.

“We’re rich now.” Yunael sounded mostly composed, but slightly flushed.

“Well…to some extent. It’ll be hard to sell them at their original price, but they’ll sell.” Hawa said as she looked between the ornaments and gold and silver treasures. Although they were items that would have originally been national treasures worth millions, they were not worth much in the current situation. However, they would still earn some money. Since Eval Sevaru had been able to sell antiques to junk shops, there was some demand for jewels and gems like this.

Putting aside why these treasures were in this place, Chi-Woo ordered everyone to pack them. It was better to take them since they found them, and these would be of considerable help to the Seven Stars’ finances. While the team members scooped the treasures into Steam Bun’s open mouth, Evelyn tilted her head.

“Maybe this is the thief’s secret vault.”

When Chi-Woo asked her what her reasoning was, Evelyn said, “The Sernitas and we have different views. Maybe they found this place first and took only what they thought was worth something.” True to her words, humans would have taken away everything without leaving even a single gem behind. On the other hand, the precious jewels and coins were nothing but scrap metals and stones for the Sernitas. Chi-Woo nodded at her speculation. If this was true, Evelyn’s hypothesis would gain more strength.

‘Then as expected, the tohari has been…’ If the Sernitas hadn’t found this place, the expedition members could have gotten the tohari here and quickly escaped. However, nothing he did was ever so easy. Chi-Woo sighed as the memories of how he overcame every trial and expedition with great difficulty passed through his mind like nightmares coming back to life. At that moment, the light went out. Hawa had suddenly extinguished the torch.

“What? Why did you suddenly put out the—” Yunael couldn’t continue because Hawa quickly shushed her by putting her thumb on Yunael’s mouth. The atmosphere grew heavy as everyone unconsciously became tense. A quiet and strange atmosphere flowed between them. Chi-Woo stared down at Hawa, who was kneeling. Although he couldn’t sense any presence, that didn’t seem to be the case for Hawa. She put her ear to the ground and concentrated on her hearing with her eyes closed.

“!” Then her eyes fluttered open. She hurriedly got up and said, “We have to get out. Now.”

Chi-Woo’s eyes narrowed.

“Someone is coming here. About 600 meters away on the right.”

“The right?”

“It’s in the direction we came from.”

Everyone’s expression changed. It was possible the hole they had dug was found. However, they hadn’t seen anyone when they traversed the surface all over… No, this wasn’t the time to think about such things. Just in time, they heard Steam Bun let out a burp.

Chi-Woo said, “Let’s get out. Quickly.”

At Chi-Woo’s command, everyone quickly moved out. What should they do now? Should they fight or not? Chi-Woo didn’t ponder for long.

“Let’s widen our distance for now. So we don’t get caught.”

Hawa immediately began moving as soon as she heard his order. Chi-Woo also glanced back and moved as quietly as possible. It was still too early to fight when they hadn’t found the tohari. If they were to fight, it had to be after they secured the tohari and were fighting their way to escape. If they fought before that, it would become difficult to complete the mission.

The path became increasingly more complicated as they moved on. There were paths that did not only go in a straight line but separated into several branches. However, even then, Hawa remained calm. Or to be precise, she was working hard to be calm. Since she knew that securing the tohari was their top priority, she took the route where the heat was the strongest.

“Wait,” Hawa called out to Chi-Woo and said, “The distance has shortened. Now they’re about 500 meters away from us.” Hawa quickly added, “By now, they must have already passed the secret vault, but our distance is still decreasing. They’re coming towards us.”

Chi-Woo asked, “Did we get caught?”

“There’s a half and half chance. I can’t be sure yet whether they’re reading our traces and tracking us, or they know we’re here.”

“Let’s pick up the pace.”

Hawa nodded and moved even faster, but before long, her expression gradually darkened. “It’s 400 meters now. At the rate they’re going, they’re basically running. I’m afraid…” Hawa trailed off, but there was no need for her to finish. The being chasing after them was certain of their location. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be coming after them at a speed faster than running.

‘How did they know? No…’ Chi-Woo’s thought process went off the rail when they came to an intersection. Hawa scanned the perimeter and quickly moved straight to one side—no, she tried to. Hawa stopped suddenly with visible signs of frustration.

Chi-Woo asked, “What’s wrong?”

“T-This way…” She said in a trembling voice and tightly clenched her teeth. Then she cleared her throat and spoke as matter-of-factly as possible. “Another one is coming this way as well. They’re about 500 meters away.” There were pursuers from not only behind them, but ahead of them as well. The one silver lining was that there was more than one path.

“What about other sides?”

“Wait.” Hawa turned around. ‘This way, this way too…!’ She quickly moved past several paths and stopped at the last remaining one before looking back at the expedition members and making a signal. “Let’s run.” Everyone rushed in in a stampede.

Chi-Woo let them all go first just in case and took the rear guard. If he wasn’t mistaken, there seemed to be a thumping sound coming from behind his back. How long has it been? Chi-Woo, who had been running for a while, had to stop again soon because those at the front had come to a sudden halt. Why did Hawa stop again? Perhaps there were pursuers on that side as well?

“What’s going on…!” Chi-Woo rushed to the front and turned the corner, but soon stopped just like the others. The path was completely blocked. They couldn’t see any tunnel to move further.

“…Fuck. A dead end?” Yunael smacked her lips as she looked at Hawa, who was standing still like a stone statue. “We’re fucked.” Yunael didn’t sound like she was blaming Hawa; she was aware that they were in a very difficult situation in the first place. But above all, she was not a fool who didn’t know how stupid it was to start a blaming game while they were in a critical situation with their lives on the line.

Yunael asked, “What are we going to do now? Considering that we’re in enemy camp, fighting here has its own strengths and weaknesses.” Although there were some advantages, the disadvantages were much greater. In fact, fighting without a plan when they were getting pushed into a corner was tantamount to suicide. Still, Yunael stared at Chi-Woo as if she already thought they had no choice but to fight.

“…”

Chi-Woo stared silently at Hawa. An expedition was a small community. Once accepted as a team member, they needed to trust each other until the very end unless there was a serious reason for doubt. Chi-Woo had learned that was how an expedition should be. The driver of this expedition was Hawa, someone that Chi-Woo chose himself. As long as she didn’t give up, Chi-Woo was going to trust and wait for her decision. And Hawa, who was tasked with guiding her passengers to a path of survival, hadn’t given up yet. She touched the blocked wall a couple of times and then suddenly lifted her feet and stomped the ground as hard as she could. Thud, thud, thud!—not once or twice, but three times in a row.

Hawa flinched. Her sensitive senses as a guide detected something from the impact and from the sound waves her stomps sent out. After a moment of silence, Hawa turned around. “…The ground.” She stepped on a specific spot a few times and said, “Please dig this spot like before. Here.”

Chi-Woo, who had been waiting, immediately stepped forward. There was no time to use a sharp shovel and dig like when they were above. Light came from the glove and wrapped around his hand. Chi-Woo pulled his arms back as far as he could before shooting them forward.

Shake. The ground shook with a groan. Combined with his strong exorcism mana and the power of his glove, Chi-Woo let out a tremendous amount of force. His fists left a hole on the ground, and from there, a crack widened and opened up in all directions.

“200 meters…!” He heard Hawa’s anxious cry.

Chi-Woo pulled out his fists and slammed into the ground again. At that moment….

Bam! The crack split like a spider’s web, and the whole floor collapsed. Soon after, Chi-Woo felt his body suddenly pull down and at the same time, he felt a heat so strong that his whole body felt like it would be cooked from all sides. While falling, he heard someone’s loud voice and shrill scream. Then his feet hit the ground and the shock shot up his legs. Chi-Woo rolled forward to break the fall and waved his hand wildly as debris and dust came pouring down on him. Even in the midst of the chaos, he forced himself to stand up, and hot steam hit his face.

It felt like he was in a sauna set at the highest temperature, and the heat was strong enough to almost burn him alive. Moreover, there were fluttering fire lights shining everywhere in a space that should be dark.

‘No way.’ They said a blind squirrel could find a nut once in a while. The tohari was here? By the time all the debris was spilled and the dust had settled down, Chi-Woo looked back to where the intense light came from. Then he suddenly paused, and his expression soon became stiff.

It was the same for Yunael. “What…” She fell on her butt and looked around with a dumbfounded expression. “What the…”