The Record of Unusual Creatures Chapter 355: Underground Encounter

Chapter 355: Underground Encounter
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The smell of blood still pervaded the creepy underground tunnel under the lakeside outpost as Vivian and Lily was moved forward cautiously.
They had yet to meet Big Beardy and his company, so they did not know that the four ascetics had already informed Gelton and Ophra about the tunnel. But, they did expect that news of the tunnel must have reached the person in charge of the diocese. So, the two of them carefully scanned their surroundings when they arrived at the outpost earlier for fear that investigators from the church may have set up camp there. However, luck was on their side as Gelton had postponed the investigation to another day. Vivian and Lily did not see anyone there and there were no traces that showed strangers had been in the tunnel too.
The first time they arrived, they were clueless about the happenings in Beinz during the past two months. Plus, they were desperate to return the Orb of the Holy Synod and check out the situation in Leyton, so they did not really check out the tunnel. Coming down from the shaft which Lily had previously dug, there were two ways they could proceed: it was either leaving the outpost by moving upwards towards the exit, which Hao Ren had done the last time, or going downwards into the depths, where Vivian and Lily were currently heading.
"It looks like it's getting deeper and deeper... The air here is stuffy." Lily was a melee fighter, so she was walking in front and sniffing out the smells in the air. But, the air sickened her. "I feel my hair standing on end..."
Vivian followed closely behind. From time to time, she sent out a few bats to scout the area ahead. "You're a hairy creature, don't you remember?"
"Right..." Lily carefully thought about it for a while and said, "You're not entirely right. It's my tail and ears that are hairy."
Vivian rolled her eyes and said, "Gosh, I'm not going to discuss this with you."
The length of the straight tunnel was unknown. They had been moving in it for more than an hour. The two monsters were not scared, but they had to keep talking with each other to keep the boredom away. There was no end in sight and it was almost as if the downward tunnel was leading them to hell. The air was stuffy enough, and the oxygen level was way below the limit in which a human could survive. Nevertheless, all these factors were not much of a problem for Vivian and Lily. Vivian could not help touching and feeling the walls with her hand. She knew that they were special walls formed by the work of magic, but she still marvelled at their solid, silky smooth surface. The inheritance of magical ability on Earth was fragmented and she was already unable to remember who among her "old friends" on Earth possessed such a unique skill.
Looking at the tunnel, which was almost perfectly round, Lily could not help but imagine things. "I feel like we're walking into the intestine of a monster..."
Vivian smacked Lily on the tail and said, "Stop being so disgusting."
Lily did not seemd to mind. "What is this tunnel used for?" She just raised her Flamejoy and illuminated the way. "It's all the way down. I'm not sure if this place is man-made at all, because it's got no lights and ventilation."
"I'm thinking the same thing too. If it's man-made, then it should at least have a ventilation shaft." Vivian frowned. She thought that she would find traces of human activity, but the atmosphere got less and less human as the tunnel got deeper. She looked up at Lily's paw, which moonlighted as a torch, asking curiously, "How does Flamejoy work? The fire just keeps burning even though there's almost no oxygen in here. And I remember it working just as well underwater..."
Lily summoned her Frostmourne and pointed it at Vivian. "I said don't call it that or I'll freeze you with Frostmourne!"
Vivian twisted her mouth and retorted, "You may want to rename it to Frostjoy for copyright's sake..."
Lily felt offended. But before she could react accordingly, she saw Vivian's eyes affixed on something. Under the illumination of Flamejoy, Vivian scraped a black, browny substance off the wall. "What's this?"
"Isn't it a stone chip?" Lily's anger only lasted three seconds before her attention was completed diverted. She moved closer with her torch. "Hmm, that doesn't look like stone. It smells like rotten root."
Vivian pinched some of it in her hand and it broke off easily. "It's soft, kind of fibery. Certainly not stone. It feels like rubber to the touch."
Lily's ears twitched when she heard something in the tunnel. "Battie, did you hear that?"
Vivian furrowed her brows. She heard something too—the sound of rubbing coming from afar. But just as soon as it came, it disappeared. She then sent out a bat to scout it out. The bat, which had lightning shining in its body quickly disappeared into the dark end of the tunnel. A weird feeling began to engulf Lily and she could not help raising her claws to guard herself. Through the eyes of the tiny bat, Vivian carefully scanned the situation ahead of them.
Half a minute later, she was wide-eyed. She grabbed Lily by her collar and said, "Run!"
Before Lily could react, she was already lifted off. "What-what's happening?"
Vivian wheeled and flung Lily around, hustling her to run back to where they came from. Then she shapeshifted into a swarm of bats and flew closely behind Lily. "Don't ask! Just run!"
A creepy sound was heard coming from behind, mixed with the sound crushing rocks. The sound got closer and closer, almost like a thousand beasts in a stampede. Lily finally came to her senses. Her tail instantly puffed up like cotton candy as she barked and ran on all fours. "What's going on?"
Lily had tucked away her Flamejoy as she was running on all fours. Some of the bats looked back but it was pitch dark. Vivian could barely see their surroundings with the illumination provided by the bats' lightning. Suddenly, a shadow lunged out from the darkness and was on their tails!
It was a monster tentacle. Vivian could vaguely identify its features: its end had wrinkles as well as a bifurcated structure and the tentacle completely filled the tunnel. As it moved, it rubbed and scraped the rocks off the wall. The images of the browny, black fibrous tissue and the round tunnel flashed across her mind. She suddenly realised how the tunnel was formed!
She did not know if she was a match for the tentacle. Maybe, the tentacle was not as formidable as it looked. But, the wisdom of 10,000 years taught her that engaging an unknown enemy in an unknown, inhospitable place was a bad idea. She had to resist the urge to test the enemy out in the tunnel. She should escape outside where she could perform at her best. At worst, she would be fight in a place where she could move around freely.
Lily looked back and saw the creepy tentacle chasing them in the dark. Her tail puffed up even more. "Battie, why did you bring that thing out?"
"I didn't! It knew that we were coming and it just crawled out slowly!"
"Please find a way to stop that damn thing!" Lily looked back again. "It's even closer now!"
Vivian summoned a small group of bats and thrusted a Ligthning Strike before she could charge it up.
An earth-shattering blast was heard and the tunnel became as bright as day once her Lightning Strike struck the tunnel. Lily did not see it coming. She was almost blinded by the light, but she had no time to take it out on Vivian because she was still running for dear life. "Is that thing dead?"
Vivian's voice could be heard coming from all the bats. "Just keep running!"
It was a long chase. Minutes felt like hours to Lily as she had yet to see the exit. But just as the thought was about to sink in, there was light ahead.
The shaft—the one that she had dug!
The ruin of the lakeside outpost was engulfed in silence under the night sky. But, the thunderous rumble underground had shattered the serene atmosphere. Animals resting nearby scattered in a panic.
A silvery white shadow and a swarm of bats burst out from the shaft.