"Dig?" Ellen asked.
I looked at her. "Of course we’ll dig... or break it more accurately. Unless you have another idea, Your Highness?" After I said that, something clicked in my head.
I narrowed my eyes slightly at Ellen. "Now that I think about it, you’re a princess. Don’t you have a Relic that can teleport us out of here, or at least contact someone and inform them about our situation?"
Suddenly, all eyes turned to Ellen, who quickly spoke. "I don’t have anything to get us out of here, unfortunately." For a moment, I felt disappointed, but her next words restored some hope.
"But I have this." She took something out of her ring.
It looked like a small glass crystal. She showed it to us as she explained, "This is an Artifact for communication."
"Then why aren’t you contacting anyone already?" Kyle asked while Ellen remained silent.
But her silence explained everything.
I sighed tiredly. "It’s not working, right?" She nodded before continuing.
"But if we get out of here, I think it will work... After all, its range reaches enormous distances."
I redirected my attention to Elliot. "Then start digging or demolishing, it doesn’t matter. Just break that door."
He looked at me, eyes wide. "And why am I the one doing this alone?"
I looked at him the way one looks at a small child. "Stop complaining and start. We’ll switch turns periodically... And it’s better you begin before the oxygen runs out in here."
Elliot sighed. "And how thick is this anyway?"
"Eighty centimeters, more or less." I was able to tell using my sense.
"Eighty centimeters... that’s a lot," Elliot muttered.
Well, these walls weren’t just ordinary stone. After all, we had given it our all earlier, and all we managed were some superficial cracks and disabling the magic.
Without further prompting, a thin layer of essence formed over his hand, and he began striking the ceiling.
Thud... Thud... Thud...
The loud noise from Elliot’s blows echoed throughout the enclosed room.
But the problem was the ice beneath his feet kept cracking constantly, and he needed focus to maintain it.
I looked at the others and spoke. "Prepare yourselves. You’ll switch with him one after another until we create an opening to get out of here." No one objected, so I walked away toward the place where the sphere that brought us here had disappeared.
I thought retrieving it might help us, but in the end, I couldn’t sense it anywhere. Even the path it had entered through had already closed.
"Where the hell is this place?"
No matter how much I thought about it, there was no event like this in the story—especially since this place seemed connected to the Devourer.
Perhaps one of those ancient temples scattered across the continent... Yes, there are a few of those. Otherwise, how would the humans who came to this world have known about the Devourer?
Some were discovered centuries ago, and from there this cult began, and the Void system was formed by those who considered the Devourer their god.
Well... he wasn’t a god. Just a being whose power had surpassed the ranks.
In any case, when the four empires in their early days saw the Void system formed by extremist believers, they began exterminating them... yes, exterminating them. They did not want this cult to spread further within the empires.
But in the end, they failed... and some believers survived, fleeing and hiding for centuries.
And during those centuries, they were not asleep... Instead, they began anew, but this time not openly.
They started recruiting outcasts and criminals, and slowly infiltrated the empires’ systems. Over time, they grew stronger and stronger.
Until we reached this day, where the Void system has become a colossal force equal to one of the empires—if not greater.
It’s true that its existence is still secret from the citizens and most people, but that won’t last forever... and everyone knows it.
Nothing lasts forever.
In any case, those ancient ruins were always built in somewhat hidden places, so who knows where exactly we were thrown?
The sound of Elliot’s strikes against the ceiling echoed in the space, disturbing my thoughts.
I pulled another essence stone from my ring and began absorbing it. I needed to be at my best—and more than that.
So while the others took turns breaking the wall to create a path out, I continuously absorbed essence stones.
But of course, after a few hours, my turn came.
I climbed onto the compressed ice platform Elliot had made and stood beneath the spot that had been receiving blows for hours.
After delivering thousands of essence-enhanced punches, all we had achieved was a hole forty centimeters in diameter and thirty centimeters deep.
We hadn’t even made it halfway.
Perhaps if Garon were here, it would have been easier. But unfortunately, it seemed this event was missing some main characters.
I wanted to trigger an essence explosion inside the hole, but I quickly dismissed the idea.
In this enclosed space, explosions would be dangerous to us as well. More than that, the oxygen here would burn, which could lead to our suffocation.
I sighed as I coated my fist with essence, then with all my strength, I struck into the hole...
Even the angle of the punch was bad.
If Talia weren’t weak, I would have made her work here digging this like a slave... but unfortunately, we didn’t have time to die here from lack of oxygen.
I threw another punch as a deafening sound echoed in the space.
Punch after punch... and with every passing hour, the gap grew wider.
We even had to switch several times.
And while the others handled opening the exit, I absorbed essence stones, getting closer to Rank 3.
After more than a day had passed since we fell into this place, the exit finally opened.
Everyone stood, myself included, staring at the hole that had formed in the ceiling.
Enough for one person to pass through.
And beyond that hole—
Darkness.
A darkness that promised the unknown.