Silas looked around.
He seemed to be in an underground structure.
The lightless environment was extremely dim, with only the eerie blue flames of his lava longsword burning, barely illuminating the nearby area.
On the ritual array beneath his feet, the blood had not yet dried. The waiter's body, split in two, also lay upon it, his face frozen in a crazed smile.
"What is this place?"
Sophia stood up from the ground, moved close to Silas, and asked softly.
She looked terrified.
Indeed, considering the waiter's madness before death, the place they'd been teleported to must be filled with danger.
In the darkness where the firelight didn't reach, countless terrifying enemies might be lurking.
"Don't move."
Silas said.
"Whoosh!"
Crimson flames ignited in his palm, the firelight dazzling, instantly illuminating everything around them.
This appeared to be a spacious hall with thick pillars supporting the dome.
Two enormous black thrones stood in the center of the hall, with inverted candelabras hanging from the ceiling.
The black pillars were carved with etched patterns that looked like knife cuts.
The overall hall had a strangely asymmetrical style. The number of candelabras on the left and right didn't match, and the pattern shapes were also different.
Silas maintained his demonic form, vigilantly scanning the surroundings with crimson eyes, sensing any potential malice.
His gaze passed over the two thrones in the center that seemed designed for giants to sit upon.
He saw several asymmetrical doors on the wall at the far end of the hall, with sacred emblems embedded in the doors.
In the very center of the wall was a long corridor.
The corridor extended inward, deep and dark, nothing visible...
Nothing visible?
He saw it.
He saw it.
It was red.
It was the most vivid red imaginable.
Red, red, red.
Like the color of steaming blood pumped from the myocardium when a heart is cut open; like the color when a burning house's high-temperature flames bloom like flowers; like the color of the ultimate survival instinct remaining in the brain when people lose reason on a fierce battlefield and slaughter each other like beasts.
In a daze, Silas vaguely saw a handsome man with crimson-red long hair.
He straddled a headless skeleton warhorse of flames, galloping across the battlefield. Where his steed's hooves trod, crimson flames suddenly rose...
A magnificent voice emanated from somewhere unknown, resounding throughout the world.
It was a hymn from primordial times. In that age of ignorance, people knelt on the ground, using fearful yet devout voices to loudly praise:
"He was born from blood and fire."
"And thus, war arose upon the earth."
"From then on, apart from Him, there was nothing else red in the world..."
Silas's consciousness was collapsing.
He opened his mouth, singing the prayer along with others, as if he too had become an ancient ancestor, involuntarily approaching that crimson figure, until...
"Whoosh..."
The illusory sound of ocean tides rose, shattering the hallucination.
Silas suddenly snapped awake. He saw himself still standing in the center of the hall.
However, the originally peaceful underground structure had suddenly become filled with dangerous implications.
Deep within that corridor, vivid blood seemed to slowly flow outward, emanating an extremely terrifying aura yet also carrying an irresistible attraction.
"Ah, ah..."
He heard desperate yet joyful murmuring.
Turning his head, he saw Sophia Einhorn with eyes wide open, tears of blood streaming down, involuntarily staring at that corridor.
Her beautiful face had become somewhat distorted, yet the corners of her mouth twitched, forcing out a joyful smile.
Struggling, shuffling, she stepped forward toward the corridor.
The thing inside was attracting her, destroying her.
Behind them, the corpse of the waiter that had been split in two had somehow dissolved, transforming into pure blood flowing on the ground, also seeming to extend toward the corridor...
Danger!
Escape!
"Danger Premonition" seemed to be screaming, frantically stimulating Silas's brain, telling him that something extremely dangerous existed deep within that corridor and he must flee at the fastest speed possible!
"Smack!"
Silas delivered a chop to the back of Sophia's neck. She immediately fell unconscious, then was grabbed by her clothes and carried as Silas sprinted outward with all his might.
"Danger Premonition" was warning him that he couldn't leave Sophia for the existence deep in the corridor, or something even more terrible would happen!
"Whoosh!"
He tucked Sophia under his arm, pushed off with both feet, and leaped into the air.
Then the bat wings on his back beat the air, supporting his body.
His massive form rapidly crossed the hall, rushing straight toward the path leading to the upper level.
Behind him, blood seemed to slowly flow, unhurriedly following.
Damn it!
Silas's hair stood on end. He could only accelerate his flight speed with all his might.
The front of the hall had layers of stairs extending upward. He ascended along the stairs when suddenly, signs of massive collapse came into view.
The corridor was blocked!
Broken bricks, dirt, and stone pillars were packed tight, cutting off their escape route.
On the chaotic ground, remnants of explosive casings remained. The walls bore traces of smoke and fire, and the faint smell of gunpowder still lingered in the air.
All of this proved that someone had deliberately blown up the passage and blocked this place.
And it was done not long ago!
Damn!
Which bastard did this!
Don't let me catch you!
Silas was on the verge of tears, cursing through gritted teeth at whoever had done this.
Looking back, at the limit of the firelight's reach, crimson blood was creeping up the stairs.
From the pitch-black depths, something seemed to be stepping through the blood, walking steadily this way.
Silas didn't have much time left. He only hesitated for a moment before continuing to act.
He reached into his coat and pulled out a dark cyan stone. The stone bore mottled marks, uneven and bumpy, as if scorched by invisible forces.
"Door!"
He shouted in ancient Hermes.
The stone immediately burst with illusory light-blue radiance.
The light enveloped Silas's body and Sophia Einhorn, who was tucked under his arm.
The teleportation stone Fors had left him came in great use at this moment!
Their figures gradually blurred until they became invisible. Before the blood could spread over, they escaped from this place.
"Hmm?"
In the darkness, that existence stopped its steps. After a moment, it laughed softly.
"What a coincidence."
"Whoosh!"
After experiencing several seconds in a strange world, Silas, carrying Sophia, descended from the air and landed on solid ground.
Crimson moonlight poured down like water. The street was quiet and peaceful, with no one in sight.
"This should still be Backlund... Thank goodness."
Silas looked left and right. After confirming he'd left that dangerous underground location, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Then he felt a bit of lingering fear.
That place was way too terrifying.
I didn't even actually see the true existence inside, yet I almost died! Even when facing evil gods before, I never had this kind of experience!
No wait, that's because what I encountered weren't the evil gods' true forms, but only wisps of their will.
As for that guy, it might very well have been the true form... From the hallucination, his true form seemed to be a man with red hair?
Thinking of this, Silas couldn't help but direct his gaze toward the unconscious Sophia.
Her fiery red hair was shimmering with a magnificent luster under the moonlight.
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~ Push the story forward with your Power Stones