Chapter 194 : Chapter 194

Lillian froze where she stood, her mouth still slightly open.

What had she been about to say just now?

She had wanted to say hello. She had wanted to say I admire you so much. She had wanted to say what you just said sounded incredibly cool—

But now she could not say a single word.

That person was gone.

All she had managed to catch was the sight of her turning away, and that flame-red hair swaying once in the dim gray light.

Lillian closed her mouth.

She lowered her head and looked at her hands. They were still resting on the hilt of her sword, her knuckles faintly pale.

Ryan watched Eleanor’s retreating back and paused for a moment.

She came all the way over here just to throw out a few bold words?

He shook his head and was about to close his eyes again—

A cry of alarm rang out.

Ryan snapped his head up.

Lillian looked up too.

Every eye in the hall turned toward the great door.

The two gemstones.

A moment ago, both had still been flickering on and off. Now one of them was flashing violently. Its light pulsed frantically, like the heartbeat of someone on the verge of death, like something struggling desperately to hold on.

Once.

Then again.

And again.

Then—

Crack.

That gemstone went dark.

The dark yellow light vanished, and the stone returned to a dull gray, as though it had never lit up at all.

Ryan’s heart lurched into his throat.

Of those two gemstones, the one on the left belonged to Allen, and the one on the right belonged to the other man.

The one that had just gone out was—

The right one.

The other man was dead.

The breath caught in Ryan’s throat, then slowly eased out.

Thank God.

Thank God it was the other one.

He had barely let out that breath when he saw the left gemstone begin flashing violently as well.

Its light flickered even more frantically than the other one had, quicker, sharper, like a heart trying to burst from someone’s chest, like a man running for his life, desperately trying to escape something.

Ryan’s heart clenched again.

Everyone was staring at that gemstone.

Parker rose to his feet.

Vincent stood up.

Vera opened her eyes.

Eleanor got to her feet with her sword in hand.

The ordinary explorers all stood as well. Dozens of eyes were fixed on that gemstone as it flickered wildly.

One second.

Two.

Three.

The gemstone kept flashing for a full five minutes.

Then—

Crack.

It went dark.

The moment the light vanished, Ryan felt as if his own heartbeat had stopped for an instant.

Allen Harris.

Dead.

That guy who had sat with him at the Rock Bay night banquet, gnawing on roast suckling pig and chatting away.

That chatterbox with the stupid grin, the one who had laughed and joked about marrying into a noble family.

That man whose body had shaken like a sieve when Parker forced him to scout ahead.

That man who had winked at him before leaving, smiled at him, and told him with his eyes not to interfere.

Dead.

Ryan stared at that dull gray stone without moving.

Then he raised his head.

Above him was still that gray, hazy light, with no telling where it came from or how high above it was. It fell over his face, into his eyes. His eyes stung a little. Maybe he had been staring too long.

He blinked.

Then he kept looking at that gray, hazy light.

He said nothing.

Lillian looked at him from beside him, her lips parting slightly, as though she wanted to say something.

Rex looked at him too, scratching his head, unsure whether he should speak.

Ryan did not look at either of them.

He simply sat there with his head tilted back, silent.

A long time passed.

So long that Lillian had begun to think he would not say a single word.

Then at last he lowered his head and let out a quiet breath.

It was a very soft breath, so soft it was almost inaudible.

The hall had gone deathly silent.

After a long while, someone finally spoke.

“Another two dead,” one voice rasped, full of fear. “Everyone who went in died again.”

“This place... there’s no way out...”

“Should we even have come here?”

“Maybe... maybe we should go back? At least if we go back, we won’t die in here...”

“Go back?” someone else sneered. “Do you think you can make it back through those tunnels? Do you know whether the monsters are still there? Whether the traps are still there?”

“Then what do we do? Stay here and wait to die?”

“Maybe... maybe this path is wrong. Maybe we were never supposed to go through that door.”

“Right. Maybe there’s another way up above. At worst, we just force our way through those tunnels again...”

The murmuring grew louder, more frantic, more chaotic.

Fear spread through the crowd like a plague. Some people began edging backward. Some turned to look toward the doors they had come through.

And then—

Boom.

A deafening crash.

The sound was so sudden and so loud that everyone’s ears rang. Ryan whipped his head around and looked at the great door.

It was opening.

Not because someone had pushed it open.

It was opening on its own.

The two heavy stone doors slowly drew apart, rumbling low and deep, as though something inside had struck them open from within. The gap widened, and widened, until the doors stood fully open.

Inside was utter darkness.

A blackness so deep it seemed bottomless, darker than any night, as though it could swallow every trace of light.

Everyone froze.

Parker was the first to react. In two strides he crossed to the entrance and stood at the edge of that darkness, peering inside.

But he saw nothing.

That darkness was too thick, too solid, packed against the doorway like some tangible thing.

Vincent walked up beside him.

The two men stared into that blackness in silence for a few seconds.

“What is this...” Hayden said from behind them.

“The door opened by itself,” Vincent said. “Could it be... because enough people have already gone inside? Some kind of limit was triggered?”

He paused.

“So now... everyone can go in?”

Parker’s gaze flickered.

Then he turned and looked at the people behind him.

The explorers.

The injured, the frightened, the ones who had no idea what to do.

He cleared his throat. The sound was not loud, but in the silent hall it rang clearly.

“Everyone.”

All eyes turned to him.

Parker stood there, his chipped sword hanging at his side. His gaze swept over every face, and there was something in that hard, battle-worn expression that only men who had truly seen war ever carried.

“There is only one road left before us,” he said. “Go in.”

“We are the finest young talents of the Empire. Chosen from every corner of the land. We are the Empire’s future. Many have already fallen ahead of us—for exploration, for the greater cause, for the Empire.”

His voice was steady. Every word landed like a hammer blow.

“They gave their lives to pave the road for us. We have no right to shrink back now.”

“The path to clearing this place lies right before us. If all of us enter together and combine each of our strengths—those who can fight will fight, those who can solve the puzzle will solve it, those who can survive will survive. Someone will find the way out.”

He lifted a hand and pointed toward the open door.

“If you are willing to go in with me, step forward.”

Silence.

Then someone moved.

Marcus pushed himself off his pillar and took one step forward.

Olaf followed behind him and stepped out as well.

Shiloya and Kallen exchanged a look.

Shiloya gave a small nod, and both stepped forward together.

Vincent smiled faintly and stepped out too.

Gray followed behind him.

Hayden took one step forward.

Parker looked at them and nodded.