"How did you guys get ahead of us?" Paimon had every reason to ask that question—after all, someone had gone through the passage they worked so hard to open.
"There's a hidden mine tunnel along the waterway to the west. It bypasses the areas corrupted by the Abyss and avoids most of the monsters. Jinwu's already setting up a frontline camp there."
"That's… not fair…" Paimon hung her head, then quickly corrected herself, "I mean, that makes sense… So, up ahead—have you already explored it?"
"Don't worry. There are only a bunch of little mushrooms and one big glowing, talking mushroom. Oh, and a pretty sturdy gate."
"A glowing, talking mushroom?"
"It even has a name—'Xamaran.' Khedive said it's a species from Sumeru. Normally, it shouldn't glow at all, but it might've absorbed energy similar to the Lumenstone. Not only can it glow now, but it also repels the Abyssal energy in this area in place of the Lumenstone."
"Then why can it talk?"
"That, I don't know. You can go ask it yourself."
Xamaran could not only glow and talk—it could also sense 'evil aura', which meant traces of the Abyss. To avoid having his identity exposed in front of the others, Victor Wang had made sure to meet with it first, cleansing its 'evil aura' and restoring its energy with Lumenstone. They had already agreed on their story.
After accompanying Zhiqiong across the entire Chasm, Victor Wang was actually searching for potential Khaenri'ah relics. Unfortunately, the interference in this place was too strong—no matter which direction he tried, he could sense the Abyss everywhere...
"What about that gate?" Paimon asked again.
"Zhiqiong said she heard wind echoes behind it, meaning there's probably a large space inside. But the gate's sealed tight—without a key, no one's getting through… And the thing Lumine just picked up looks a lot like a key for it."
Hearing that, Lumine raised the cube she had obtained after defeating two Abyss Mages and examined it carefully. "If this really is the key, then that means the gate was built by the Abyss Order as well…"
The three of them continued talking as they walked—the exit of the mine tunnel was just ahead.
Still clinging to a bit of hope, Paimon darted out first. But when she saw the new camp already under construction, she had to accept reality. "Everyone really did beat us here! Except Zhiqiong."
"Zhiqiong's down below, tinkering with that big gate."
"Wah! Khedive, why'd you sneak up so close all of a sudden?"
"Ahem, I just heard your voices echoing in the tunnel. Did you… find the key to open that gate? May I take a look?"
Lumine once again summoned the cube into her hand. With just a glance, Khedive slowly nodded. "No mistake about it. This strange mechanical device was indeed made to unlock that gate's mechanism."
Lumine looked thoughtful. "We got it after defeating the Abyss Mages… So they must have been trying to…"
Khedive offered a rough explanation. "My research these past two days has shown some preliminary results. The Lumenstone and the Dark Mud clearly oppose each other—and their sources… are two forces not native to our world. They're in conflict as well. The Dark Mud stems from the Abyss, which currently seems to have the upper hand. That's what caused the Chasm's abnormalities. If this gate was sealed by the Abyssal forces, then whatever's behind it must benefit the Abyss. Destroying that thing might just be the goal of this whole investigation."
Lumine nodded in agreement but had an even deeper theory. "The other power must be the energy that created the Lumenstones. It seems the Abyss Order is trying to corrupt that crystal energy with their own. The crystal fragments we released earlier carved a path downward, and if they're merging like the ones in Dragonspine… then there should be a complete crystal behind that gate."
"Then let's go check it out!" Paimon urged. "At least our effort ringing those bells won't be for nothing!"
"After running all day and fighting so many battles, I'm exhausted," Lumine said, glancing toward Victor Wang—the only other real fighter in the group. "The enemies beyond the gate might be tougher. How about we rest first?"
"Yeah, we could use a break."
"Fine then. Before sleeping, I want to go see the glowing mushroom."
The night passed quietly.
The next morning, Victor Wang, Lumine, Paimon, and Zhiqiong set out together.
They managed to open the gate smoothly, passing through a long tunnel until they reached an unnamed cavern. Floating above the area was, as expected, a massive Nail, tangled in Abyssal energy. The air was thick with dark mist, just like before.
"I'll come back to draw the map after you're done," Zhiqiong said, sensibly stepping back.
"There's a stone tablet here! But the writing's… so messy!" Paimon scratched her head in frustration, squinting to read. "It says something about five mechanisms near the crystal. We have to activate them first—okay, that makes sense. Then… we're supposed to ram the big crystal? When we do that, the black spots on it disappear? Are we really supposed to attack it?"
Lumine crouched closer, pressing her face near the tablet, hesitating. "These crystals can reassemble themselves even after shattering into pieces… so hitting it a few times shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Uh, can't make sense of the rest… Why's there a big worm drawn here too?"
"That's the giant serpent," Victor Wang replied.
"Oh—now that you mention it, that makes sense! Let's go!"
At Paimon's command, Victor Wang and Lumine split up, heading toward the five mechanisms surrounding the corrupted Nail. Abyssal sludge and monsters tried to block their path, but none could stop them.
Before long, all five mechanisms—once sources of Abyssal energy—were purified by the Lumenstone. The dark purple currents entwining the Nail turned to a pale blue glow. Only the Nail itself still bore heavy stains of black mud.
"Hmm… next step—hit the crystal with external force!"
"Do we really have to attack it?" Lumine hesitated.
"Come on, seeing such a huge crystal—you don't wanna poke it at least once?"
Victor Wang also hesitated, though for a different reason. He was worried that purifying the Nail too quickly would leave them with nothing to draw out that colossal Ruin Serpent they needed to face.
But the serpent hadn't shown up yet, as if waiting for them to finish the purification first. So he and Paimon both egged Lumine on. "We're already here—might as well, right?"
"We're already here… yeah, might as well!"
Lumine gritted her teeth, stepping onto the high platform nearest the Nail. With a short run-up, she leapt high into the air—her sword struck the Nail with a thunderous clang, and the Nail responded with a burst of light.
Before she could even land, a steel serpent the size of a train burst out from below the ground.