Chapter 8: Ambush.

Fierce, black wind blades swept past. Infested by loads of miasma, the nefarious intent within cut almost too deep into the skin of those who ventured into the dungeon.

Led by Eddison in the front, Mask in the middle, and Aza'zel keeping the rear while holding onto the sharp alloy wire, the group of three advanced in this suppressive, somber silence.

"You're making a huge mistake," said Mask.

Her bindings were no longer as strict; she could breathe and talk normally, but she didn't dare make any excessive movements.

"I'm not worried," replied Aza'zel. "You should be more concerned about yourself and whether or not Eddison could protect both himself and you from Abominations."

"That's fine," Eddison spoke for Mask as he walked forward. As he moved, his eyes scanned the surroundings for marks left behind by the other leaders who joined the expedition. "This path was already cleared by the group who went on ahead."

Teams like theirs have a shared method of communication put together after countless dungeon dives. With these means, it was easy for lost team members who lagged behind to catch up.

Aza'zel frowned, not replying. He just considered the situation where he was to be led into a trap with the other team members camping in the surroundings.

Perhaps, if he didn't hold this woman's life at the tips of his fingers, they would've already ambushed him.

If Tu was with him, she might have been ambushed and held as a hostage before he could react, since he knew that this white hostage situation was a bluff. If it came down to it, he wouldn't really kill this woman.

Eddison also felt helpless because just as Aza'zel speculated, a few elites of their team were hiding in the crevices of the hollowed tunnels, waiting for an opportunity to strike. However, as things stood, this sour stalemate might already be the best-case scenario.

"I say," Eddison spoke, as he couldn't endure the silence. "Must we become enemies over trifles like this? I'm not looking down on you, but connections in a place like this are really important."

Boom!

An explosion shockwave rumbled from the distance, and the entire passageway trembled while rocks and debris fell from the ceiling.

Eddison, Mask, and Aza'zel were shocked, their bodies swayed back a couple of steps. Mask was frightened, as for a brief moment, she felt the wire bind tighter on her throat.

"It's a battle," Aza'zel commented, the sound waves allowed him to imprint vague shadows of the surroundings and the situation ahead.

Aza'zel also noticed the few figures hidden in the darkness of the crevices, but he didn't mention them or look in their direction.

"Something must have happened!" Eddison exclaimed anxiously as his head snapped back from Mask and Aza'zel to the end of the tunnel.

He gritted his teeth, hesitated for a moment, and decided to dart ahead. However, he barely took two steps forward when gunshots echoed from behind him.

Shocked, Eddison turned his head to witness the smoking muzzle of Aza'zel's gun weaving through the air as four more gunshots sounded.

Five painful grunts followed the bangs, together with a swirling black miasma that burrowed into the inflicted wounds.

Alarmed cries of shock exposed five men who tumbled from the dark, some had their thighs and some had their knees punctured with bullet holes as dense miasma filtered into their systems.

"Bastard!"

Eddison's eyes were a sweeping red as he watched his subordinates crawl and writhe on the ground, dense black lines spreading from their wounds. Their fitness levels were nowhere close to Mask's, and so, their immunity systems were a complete joke under the waves of miasma.

Moreover, they were much deeper into the dungeon, unlike the shallow miasma near the entrance of the Nameless Valley.

Nonetheless, Eddison didn't have the time to bother with these people now as he worried that the commotion deeper inside would excite this long dormant volcano, and worse yet, draw the attention of powerful Abominations.

He didn't know which group of idiots would use explosives under such circumstances.

"Let's go," Aza'zel tugged the wire with his hand as he pulled Mask into one of the forks by the side.

The shockwave provided Aza'zel the chance to scout his current position, and from that opportunity, he found out about a fork in the road that he could take to avoid meeting up with the team who ventured in first.

"Fuck!" Eddison stomped his feet in anger. "Listen well, Watcher! Everything is up for discussion as long as you don't kill her, you hear me?!"

Boom!

Another explosion's shockwave set the tunnel abuzz with motion. Restless, Eddison could only ignore the wounded subordinates and rush deeper into the dungeon while cursing, worry gripping at his heart.

Looking ahead, the explosions blasted long cracks into the hollow tunnels, and intense miasma flowed in—one could barely see silhouettes frolicking about in the darkness yet one remains incapable of distinguishing friend from foe.

"Thorns!" Eddison heard a familiar, rough voice screaming in anger and a trace of terror. "You've gone absolutely mad, Thorns!"

…

As Aza'zel rushed ahead, fearing for her little life hanging by a thread; literally so, Mask could only increase her pace and keep up with the young boy.

"How did you locate those five?" Mask asked curiously despite her fears, as she didn't notice the young boy looking around or searching his surroundings per se.

Yet, he was able to locate the five hidden vultures and incapacitate them with one bullet each, pinpoint accuracy no less. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she wouldn't believe such a young chap capable of such feats.

Suddenly, she felt the tight wire around her neck loosen up. Shocked, she looked up to find that Aza'zel had relinquished his grasp on the wire and started speeding up all alone.

"Hey!" Mask exclaimed, feeling insulted. Was she no longer of any use to him, and he didn't take her seriously as a threat, so he decided to let her go just like that?!

Her sudden shout stunned Aza'zel who almost stumbled to the ground with a ringing in his head.

He shook his head, rubbed his ears, and snapped with an impatient tone, "You can go back to your team now, Eddison is right… There isn't much of a grudge between us so there's no need to escalate things."

Of course, Aza'zel desired to act alone due to the influence of his totemic seals. He wanted to use them to grow his strength, and he wanted to convert the bloodline energy and soul energy in this dungeon into his inner world; it was about time for him to test the time dilation feature.

Mask was stubborn, almost forgetting that she was talking to the same person who almost ended her silly little life as she said, "If I go back on my own now, I'll most likely die anyway. If I'm not wrong, the main team has suffered an ambush by now."

"What has that got to do with me?" Aza'zel asked rhetorically, continuing his march forward even before the woman had a chance to reply.

Mask's temper flared as she screamed, "Fine! Don't come begging for help when you're in trouble all by yourself!"

Then, she turned around with the plans of meeting up with the team. No matter what or who ambushed them, her identity as Kane's sister would guarantee her safety.

However, when she thought about the rumbling explosions and the potential, subsequent ramifications; her heart chilled. After a second thought, she decided to stealthily follow after Aza'zel, convincing herself that she'd take a detour to meet up with the team from a different route.

That's right, she wasn't following him or anything like that.