30 Down the Rabbit Hole

Elena was leading a group of soldiers and God's Punishment Witches to explore Snow Mountain. She had been charged with an important task by His Majesty. Roland had information that there was an underground cavern under the mountain and that there were worm like creatures within as well as demons. Her task was to find the cavern, eliminate the threats within, and to retrieve the worm like creatures. Roland planned to have a breeding program set up to make use of the fluid inside the worms. The fluid was supposedly able to turn into something called rubber. Elena didn't know what this rubber substance was or why the king wanted it but she would do the job asked of her.

They had searched the mountain for a long time, using Sylvie's power to look for openings and Fran to dig through the rock. The search was proving fruitless so far, but Elena was determined to see it through.

Suddenly, a soldier ran up and delivered a report. "We have managed to find a large underground cavern. A hole has been opened but we are currently unable to determine the depth of the cave."

Elena was elated. After so much searching, they finally came upon a promising find. She hoped that this would be the end of the search.

A large steam engine was prepared and a special contraption was made to allow people and material to be lowered down into the cave. There were also backups just in case. An initial survey group of God's Punishment Witches were sent in to scout. At the bottom of the hole was a Blackstone Pagoda. The scout team returned to the surface and reported their discovery.

After the initial find, preparations were made to conduct a full exploration. A large group of soldiers from the First Army were sent to guard the area. They were equipped with multiple machine guns. A cannon had also been brought to support the soldiers. The area was thoroughly fortified against attack. A few days later, they were ready to begin.

The God's Punishment Witches were the vanguard and they soon established a perimeter in the cave. After they secured the area, soldiers were sent down to establish a guard post. Machine guns were set up and one of Mystery Moon's electrical generators were sent down to power a bunch of lights. Some soldiers found it strange to have such excessive lighting measures, but it had been ordered by the king so they didn't question it. A large light was aimed into the tunnel where the underground river flowed through. Several layers of nets were set over the mouth of the tunnel. The group had been told to prepare for combat against invisible enemies.

A large force of dozens of God's Punishment Witches accompanied by soldiers set off along the underground river to explore. Another group of soldiers and a few God's Punishment Witches were left behind to defend.

The group had also been given new weapons which had just been developed. Roland called them RPGs. The RPGs made were still rather primitive; it essentially amounted to a bunch of explosives being launched. Its accuracy was rather poor so it was only usable at close ranges. On an ordinary battlefield, cannons would be much more powerful but the main advantage of RPGs is that they can be carried by people. In a small cave, they would not be able to bring cannons.

Roland hoped that the RPGs would allow them to kill the monster. After all, he wouldn't allow Nightingale to take such great risks to throw explosives at the monster like she did originally. It was far too dangerous and Roland was very afraid that she would end up dying. So, Nightingale was not on this expedition. Roland was confident that the group he sent would be able to deal with the monster.

The group proceeded cautiously, always vigilant of any threats in the shadows. Soon, they came upon what looked to be a large egg in the wall. This was identified as the back of the worm like creature that they were looking for. The group continued to walk forward. They saw more worms and several large patches of mushrooms. They didn't kill the worms as they needed them later. They would collect them and take them somewhere else but first they needed to clear out the threats that remained in the cave.

They inched their way through the tunnel, making sure to stay as silent as possible. Around them were more worms and mushrooms. Then, they saw the tunnel begin to widen slightly. The group went on alert and went forward to enter the cavern in front of them.

Suddenly, Sylvie shouted a warning. An invisible demonic beast had approached them. Fortunately, the God's Punishment Witches were able to quickly dispatch it. As they approached, they saw two worms laying in front of them, as though they were asleep. It looked like they could use them by putting a witch in them like they did with Fran. Then they would be able to triple their excavation capabilities.

The soldiers set up their machine guns and everyone moved into formation. The RPGs were loaded and prepared for usage. There was no movement yet. The cave was dark and silent. Elena held the stone of lighting and began looking around. There were strange markings on the walls. It looked like someone had etched carvings into the stone.

After seeing the surroundings, Elena remarked, "It seems we found the snow mountain ruin."

At that moment, Zooey had been looking around the cave. Her head tilted up and she looked at the ceiling. She nothing but darkness above. As she was about to look down, a scarlet eye suddenly appeared above her. Zooey let out a gasp.

Soon, everyone saw Zooey and also looked up. Eye after eye opened up and soon the ceiling was filled with thousands of red eyes, seemingly forming a large red surface. It looked like a Bloody Moon.