Chapter 230: [230] Tomb Raiders (2)

After Eliron had stuffed every last bit of the broken contraption into his infinity pouch, he dusted his hand and continued the journey, increasing his pace.

He was not planning on staying in the cave forever, and considering the threat written so boldly on the wall, it was clear he was very unwelcomed.

“You know, when you told me you found a way to convince the nobles, I had a very different thing in mind….” Alex complained, placing his hands on his waist as he dragged himself along.

Eliron passed him a water skin and raised a brow. “Thirsty?”

Alex snorted, then snatched the water skin off his hands, drinking greedily.

“Not all plans look good at the start dear prince. It may be tough now…” Eliron said, motioning at the dark hall. “But I assure you, it will be glorious in the end.”

“By the way, don’t you want to explore your ancestor’s tomb?” Eliron smiled mischievously.

Alex snorted. “If I wanted to see a dead old man I would have visited the graveyard, not a place that could be my graveyard.”

“Tsk tak.” Eliron shook his head. “You need to be more adventurous, girls love those type of guys, you know?”

“Wait, really?” Alexander’s eyes suddenly shone with interest.

“Of course!” Eliron exclaimed. “I am an expert in this sort of thing. Why do you think adventurers always have girls at their parties?”

Alex stroked his chin, his full attention on Eliron. “I see… that makes a lot of sense. It seems there is still a lot I need to learn about human relations.”

Eliron nodded. “Yup, smear a little dirt on your face, maybe sport a little bruise and watch how the palace maidens will run after you.”

“Your wisdom is profound…” Alex had a thoughtful look on his face.

’He is really eating this up isn’t he?’ Eliron laughed internally. While the prince showed unparalleled skills when it came to analytical work and strategy, the basic human emotions seemed to elude him.

Alex immediately tapped Eliron’s shoulder. “Does it work on wicked women as well—”

“No, no…” Eliron waved his hands dismissively. “Wicked women are a whole other breed. To get one you have to—”

He suddenly paused and glanced at the space in front of him. “Can you hear that?”

It was a sloshing sound, like a flowing river…

“What?” Alex raised a brow. “The water?”

’So he did hear it…’

“We’ll keep the discussions for later, let’s focus on what is ahead of us for now.”

The black stone walls at the earlier parts of the cave were well structured, appearing as though they have been carved by a talented sculptor.

But the further they went, the rougher the walls got, until it was no different from a natural cave. And then they arrived at the source of the sound…

The cave had been split in two, their pathway to the other side blocked by a river. The water was murky and black, and the smell it gave off was putrid, like that of rotten flesh.

Alex stepped back away from the river and pinched his nose tightly. “God knows I am not stepping a foot into that tub of shit.”

“There is no other way to cross.” Eliron gave him a dead pan expression. “Stop being a weenie and hop in—”

As he was speaking, an air bubble rose to the surface of the river and popped, releasing a vile stench.

“Heh??!” Eliron’s eyes widened.

Something was definitely in there!

Eliron ran his hand through his face. ’Maybe this artifact isn’t really worth it?’ He thought, rethinking his life decisions.

“First of all, let me see how deep it is…” it was too early to start making conclusions.

Eliron found a discarded rock by the side of the cave, and tied it to a long rope he got from the infinity pouch, after which he tossed it into the river.

Plop!

Both he and Alex leaned forward, watching as the stone sank. Eliron was releasing the rope, part by part, waiting for it to stop.

Five seconds passed.

Ten seconds flew by…

One minute…

Alex glanced at Eliron, his face blank.

“What the actual hell?” Eliron cursed as the last of his rope slipped down his fingers and into the black water.

He turned to Alex and smiled. “So, how good of a swimmer are you?”

“Absolutely not—!”

Before he could even finish talking, Alex found himself streaking through the air, landing right into the murky water.

“Ahh, fuck! You bastard! I think some of it got into my mouth!”

Eliron chuckled as he watched him patter around in the water. Then he glanced at the river, all mirth vanishing from his face.

’Here goes…’

He hopped into it next, a shiver running down his spine the moment it made contact with his skin.

The stench was so close that he felt like he could taste it, and the water felt a lot like slime, just swimming through it was proving to be a problem.

Although he would have rather jumped into a literal sewer, Eliron had no choice in the matter.

They could not go back except they wanted to starve to death. With no spells, they would be signing their death certificates.

The only way was forward, so it was never a choice to begin with.

“I think I’m going to need a therapist after today.” Alex seethed the moment Eliron swam next to him.

“A therapist? I need a bath in a hot spring. What do you even need a therapist for?”

“To recover from all the shit you have put me through!”

“Hehehe.” Eliron chuckled. “Nice one considering that we are likely swimming through shit.”

Alex blinked. “HUH?! I thought you didn’t know what this was?”

“Think about it.” Eliron sighed. “What is one of the basic requirements for survival?”

“Oxygen and air!” He raised a finger as he explained. “Now think about it, if you were a creature that somehow managed to find itself in such a place, were you build your home? Hmm?”

Alex loathed the answer. “Next to a source of water.”

“Bingo!” Eliron smiled. He could see the end of the river now, so his mood had drastically improved.

“Please do not touch my leg lord Eliron.” Alex frowned.

Eliron gave him a weird look. “Huh?”

“Thank you. No offence but your leg feels disgusting right now, so keep it off me.”

“I really hope you aren’t running mad from

the stress—-”

Eliron paused talking half way and stopped swimming. “Is this why you made up that accusation earlier?”

Alex’s forehead creased. “What are you even talking about?”

“Get your freaking leg off mine, it’s weird dude.” Eliron formed.

“Get my— really?!” Alex huffed. “Why are you trying to pin this on me, you leg toucher.”

“Leg toucher? Hey, mind how you use your words! You’re making me look like some sort of closet foot lover.”

Slowly the two of them were getting separated, up until they were about six feet apart.

That was when both their faces fell. It was not humanly possible that either of them would be touching the other, not at this distance!

That meant—

A look of terror suddenly flashed on their faces.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

There was another toucher—

Alex was the first to die. It was not that he died physically, but the moment he was pulled in, his head going under—his soul fled his body.

“Don’t you even—ugek!!”

In the next second, all Eliron could see was a fathomless black, he was getting pulled deeper and deeper, his leg held tightly by a tentacle.

He was definitely being pulled by a sea, or rather river monster, but Eliron could not even make out its form.

[Ah fuck! Look what you have done to my blade!!]

An enraged voice rang in Eliron’s mind.

[If you are going to roll around in filth, please keep my sword somewhere else!]

’Satoru?!’ Eliron called out in his mind. ’I never thought I would say this one day, but I am sure as hell happy to hear your voice!’

Even in the darkness, Eliron could make out every detail of Satoru’s features.

He frowned, his hands folded across his chest and his lips downturned. “Did that monster hit you over the head or something?”

“Listen Satoru!” Eliron could last far longer than regular people underwater, but the prince was a different case. “Can you see the monster?!”

He nodded. “Yeah, it looks like a prehistoric octopus or something. Oh, it looks very keen on eating you.”

’Good…’ Eliron smirked. ’That was all he needed to know.

As the tentacle pulled him deeper and deeper, Eliron unsheathed his sword and glanced at Satoru.

I’m going to need your directions!’

“Sure, as long as you agree to pulsing the blade later.”

Yeah, yeah!’

Satoru smirked. “Then in that case you should probably duck…”

Elirom Immediately did as he was told, feeling a wave of water rush just above his head.

He raised his sword and brought it on the tentacle on his foot, slicing it off.

’What direction?’

Satoru pointed forward. “There, but it has noticed you.”

’That is fine….’ He kicked his feet, swinging his arms so fast that he cut through the water like he was born in it.

The monster’s tentacle shot towards him like a torpedo.

“It is coming, raised your guard.”

Eliron lifted his sword and slashed down. The tentacle met the blade, splitting it like a banana, as Eliron pushed the blade right through its limb.

SCREEEEE!!!

The monster’s howl pounded into Eliron, ear as he got close to it.

“It’s giving you everything now. Do you still have anything in the tank?” Satoru teased.

Eliron nodded, his ears scanning for the faintest sounds, all while Satoru directed him.

Swish!

Every tentacle that came was sliced apart, washing the river with warm blood and gore.

Eliron could not see a thing, and the water sounded chaotic so he was essentially deaf. But with Satoru’s words alone, he cleaved through the storm of tentacles with expert grace, carving a path to its head.

Seeing that its attempts to get Eliron were failing, the monster tried to flee…

’You think I’ll just let you run after you dragged me into this pool of shit?!’

Eliron hugged its tentacle, sticking to it like glue, then he used it to launch itself at it, lifting his blade for one final strike!

’Die you bastard!!!’

If he could see the gargantuan monster before him, maybe he would have thought twice about his reckless move.

But in the unwavering darkness, ignorance was bliss, confidence born out of sheer blindness.

’Twenty five slashes per second—’

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