Annan and Benjamin carefully walked down the stairs.
There was dust all over the stairs and cobwebs all over the ceilings.
Fortunately, neither the “Evelyn” played by Annan nor the young Benjamin were tall. Otherwise, they would walk into all the webs, destroying the spiders’ homes.
But even so, they dared not to go too fast.
The dust on the ground was so thick that it was even a little slippery.
“It’s way too dirty here.” Benjamin couldn’t help but complain.
“This church…” Annan spoke softly, “Do you know its history, Benjamin? I’m curious.”
“Well, I have a rough understanding of it.”
Although Benjamin knew that no one was here, he still subconsciously lowered his voice as he spoke, “This church should have been built more than a hundred years ago. I think it should be around 120 years, probably 128 years? Or maybe 118 years…
“Forget it, that’s not important. In short, the Pale Princess established this church personally. She built it in the name of the ‘Deity of Song and Dance’ on the surface. Her goal is to build a frontline fortress for the Necropolis—do you know what that means?”
Speaking of this, Benjamin’s voice instinctively rose a little, “That is to say, guards were patrolling this place in the past! If I’m not mistaken, they should have at least 18 bone ballistas and a scout tower. The scholars roughly estimated this number through the harvesting and investigation results from the Royal Expedition Team. There could be other instruments lost in the passage of time of which we no longer have the opportunity to learn their existence….”
When the young Benjamin said this, his voice became softer.
Benjamin paused slightly, then turned around hesitantly and asked a little timidly, “You don’t like to listen to my babbling, right?”
“Nope, I’m still listening…” Annan subconsciously repeated these overused words.
But then, he quickly realized his mistake and corrected it. He said in a kinder manner that was more acceptable to Benjamin, “I’m a little scared, Benjamin.”
Since it was an unmanned corridor, Benjamin could still hear it.
Annan continued, “Please keep talking. Don’t stop…”
“…Oh, sure.” Benjamin was taken aback for a moment. He thought Evelyn must be afraid of the dark.
Hence, he cleared his throat and showed off his knowledge seriously.
“Can you imagine, Evelyn? Those 18 bone ballistas are the size of a queen bed each. They are erected on the walls. Enemies from all directions can’t penetrate the fortress! It only takes four or five seconds to load a bone arrow, but they will chase their target like a wild dog! They won’t miss! That’s so cool! I think it wasn’t just the Bone Burying Grandma’s believers who came to encircle Necropolis at that time. These ballistas should be prepared for ordinary mortals too…
“Oh right! There are evil spirits!”
Benjamin talked about it in excitement, and his voice became louder and cheerful, “Evelyn, the Pale Princess’s priests can leave their body like an evil spirit!
“Ordinary people can’t see them at all. They can only see the white glow…Yes, my teacher told me that the Pale Tide is made up of evil spirits. Isn’t that amazing?”
For some reason, Benjamin’s words rang in Annan’s ear loudly.
He was even in a trance.
After a sudden dizziness, Benjamin’s hand previously in Annan’s grasp had disappeared.
He staggered and slid down the steps several times.
Fortunately, he was already very close to the end. Thus, it wasn’t a long fall.
“…Um. Benja…” Annan gritted his teeth and slowly stood up from the ground.
He was dumbfounded on the spot.
The light of Green Fire above his head had gone out.
“Benjamin?” Annan called out softly, but there was no reply in the darkness.
He frowned slightly and subconsciously opened up the mission list.
Annan stopped moving immediately.
Mission Details:
[Main mission: Return home.]
[Keep your body intact.]
[Don’t talk to anyone.]
[Return to reality.]
“…What’s going on?” Annan blurted out, baffled.
Am I back to that place again?
These missions are endless!
This loop never stops.
Annan hesitated, whether to go back up or continue exploring below.
He thought about it for a while and decided to continue.
Evelyn had entered the dream world near the water before. Hence, Annan managed to dispel the dream as he approached the pond. However, Annan couldn’t guarantee that he could return to reality again the same way.
Without Benjamin’s light, it became more strenuous to walk down the steps.
So, Annan leaned against the wall and continued forward.
Annan roughly remembered that there was a straight path leading to his previous cell after entering the basement. After passing by the cell, there was a passage to the right at the end.
I wonder if the guard on the left passage is still there…
Annan was lucky this time.
As he stuck closely to the right wall and approached the corridor end, he didn’t hear any footsteps.
He couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Luckily, there isn’t a guard.
After all, it was too dark here. Evelyn had no night vision at all. Annan could barely see where the wall was and avoided hitting it under the faint light seeping in from the entrance.
After Annan walked around the long corridor, he finally saw some light.
Is it a candle?
Annan was a little curious but also a little wary.
If there are candles, it means there must be someone there!
When Annan was halfway through the corner in the silent basement, he suddenly heard two loud noises behind him!
“Boom! Boom!“
…What’s going on? Annan’s pupils shrank slightly.
Annan didn’t feel afraid but stopped at the first moment and squatted down to hide his presence.
He was a little regretful. I should have returned to the entrance first and taken the bladed iron chain.
Annan narrowed his eyes slightly and approached quietly.
If someone was going to pass by here, Annan was confident that he could strangle them to death when they passed the corner!
Before Annan tiptoed slowly to the corner, he suddenly froze on the spot.
A series of noises came again.
It struck six times…
After another bang, Annan heard the familiar sounds of the prison door being kicked open.
After that, there was the sound of iron chains dragging on the ground, clattering.
“…Eh?” Annan let out a soft cry.
He was panic-stricken on the spot.
At that moment, Annan seemed to understand something.
The girl’s panting around the corner…
The water stains on the ground…
The mission [Don’t talk to anyone.]…
What I previously saw when I entered the dungeon instance is my current self!
Annan ran towards the brighter place without any more hesitation.
Under this logic, the person who lit the candle at the end of the corner was probably also “Evelyn”!
—The Evelyn from the future!
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Credits to MindMatrix for editing this chapter and improving the readability.