Chapter 616: Down in the Lake
How to save him?
Angor did not know the answer to this most urgent problem. The golden strings were controlled by unstable power of great level, which was as potent as the power wielded by truth-finder wizards. This was not something he could meddle with.
He looked at the spotted puppy next.
It seemed Froggy really hated this creature. When Froggy assumed that Angor was going to find Yorkshire’s prisoners, he strongly recommended that Angor take the puppy along.
Angor recalled his conversation with Froggy and found Froggy’s attitude to be strange. Froggy indirectly told him that the puppy might help with his quest, but he didn’t explain why.
At first, Angor thought the puppy could help him find people like any ordinary dog.
Until now, this was mostly correct.
But why was Froggy so cautious when suggesting such a simple matter?
“Here, try it.” Angor took the dog and floated into the air until they were close enough to Gank.
And this was when Angor realized that the strings were not exactly made of gold. They appeared so because there were countless golden runes drawn on them.
Even so, he wouldn’t carelessly touch these runes as they might not obey the rules of this world.
“It’s only a dog. It... can help us?” asked Shan.
“No idea, but it’s worth a try.”
Angor considered and released some gravity power, which fixed the dog in front of Gank.
“Hey, little guy. Can you get this man out without hurting him?”
He wasn’t sure whether the creature could understand him at all. At least the puppy seemed happy that it was able to move freely since it was floating to Gank while wagging its tail.
Angor was a little terrified to see the puppy opening its mouth bigger than it should be.
Snap!
A string popped under the dog’s bite.
“It really worked!” Angor grew excited and told the puppy to continue.
The puppy did quick work as it broke each string with one bite. And each time he did, Gank would scream louder when the disrupted energy on the strings invaded his body.
“Just a little longer!” Shan had covered her mouth and was trying to hold back her tears.
Telling the puppy to proceed slower might ease Gank’s pain, but they could not afford to waste any time right now. Both Angor and Shan knew that every second counted if they wanted to rescue Nausica, so neither of them said anything.
Most of the strings were removed within a minute. Gank was expressing his agony by howling as loud as he could in the meantime, and while listening to him, the others could almost feel his pain as if they were the ones suffering.
Finally, there was only the last string left.
Gank’s twisting expression suddenly turned serene as if he felt relieved.
Angor and Shan both felt their hearts skipping a beat. This was exactly what happened to the woman who completely gave up her sanity to the strings in the end.
“Gank, don’t. You must hold on!” Shan’s voice was shaking now. “Only one to go, you can make it! You must make it!”
It was too late for Gank to hear her words now. His eyes had given way to pure white color. His tensed muscles slowly eased up. A strange energy aura was emerging from his body.
“No good. He’s a prototype puppet now,” Angor whispered.
The strange aura repelled everyone until they were forced to retreat to a safe distance. Just like the green-haired woman, Gank was pulled inside the black portal by the last remaining string.
Again, Angor sensed the central interlayer just gained new territory. No doubt, it was built upon the sacrifice of Gank.
Angor took a deep breath and spoke to Shan who had broken down in tears, “We need to get out of here.”
Shan slowly nodded. She cast a last glimpse at the portal of void before jerking her head away.
...
Toby continued flying. Shan had stopped weeping, so all they could hear was the puppy’s barks.
“Is Nausica going to be alright? I mean, even someone as strong as Gank...” Shan was still sobbing occasionally.
Angor considered and let out a sigh.
“Let’s hope so.”
According to Shan, Gank was a typical otherworldly brute who had his emotions and mental sensitiveness weakened. If someone like this had succumbed to the torture, it was unlikely for a human lady to do better.
Angor felt several new interlayer sections being built. Apparently, there were more victims who had fallen under Yorkshire’s plot as they moved.
The spotted puppy also changed its “barking direction” when their original target was lost.
The same thing happened four times. They had spent five minutes on Toby’s back, and they already felt their mental equilibrium about to break.
Shan found it impossible to mourn Gank and worry about Nausica at the same time, so she only prayed that Nausica wasn’t among whoever gave in just now.
After changing its directions several times, the puppy finally took them near the edge of a lake.
The lake was inside a city garden. This was usually a spot for young couples or strolling seniors. But there was only deathly silence right now.
As soon as they touched the ground, the puppy ran off to the lake and barked at the water.
“I think our target is underwater. Let’s dive.” Angor moved ahead.
Shiliew stopped him and swiftly cast something, which divided the lake water and created a small path, while Shan used Light again to help them see better.
They floated to the bottom of the path and noticed that it did not look as tidy and peaceful as the outside. There were lots of randomly discarded junk and... rotten bodies.
They had walked on the lakebed for about a hundred meters and saw at least ten corpses of different conditions. Some had turned to skeletons, while some were still bloating.
Just like the wizarding world. When looking from the outside, the peaceful lake was a lovely tourist spot for lovers. Yet there was indescribable filth hidden beneath.
They saw another dragonfly nest at the center of the lake, which was built inside a waterproof ward this time.
Without waiting for Angor’s order, Shan moved her Light to the top of the nest.
Angor already sensed the familiar energy signature of golden strings before reaching the nest. He somewhat understood how Yorkshire placed each prisoner like this both to break their sanity and to guard them using the dragonflies.
“Nausica is here!” Shan suddenly called out.
Angor quickly looked up and was glad to see the lady he meant to find being bound by golden strings.
However, her condition looked more terrible compared to the first two victims they saw. She was not completely placed inside the water-free area. Instead, her face was drenched in the water above her. In order to breathe, she must lower her head, which would cause severe pain on her body as the simple movement would disturb all the strings inside her flesh.
Shiliew immediately helped by lifting the boundary of the water to somewhere higher, while Angor and Shan approached her.
Nausica had clenched her teeth so hard that it appeared as if she would break them at any moment. It seemed she was in no condition to sense what was going on around her as she did not respond when someone arrived.
“She’s-she’s still trying...” Shan wept again when seeing her friend safe, albeit only for the moment.
It was Angor who had his voice shaking this time. “Be gentle. Get her out, please...” He spoke to the puppy while stroking its head.
The animal understood him without a problem. After leaving several joyful barks, it used Angor’s gravity platform to move to Nausica and began chomping on the strings.
With each string broken, Nausica would moan weakly as she bit deeper into her lips until they were torn and started bleeding.
Angor’s group waited anxiously. Each time a broken string injected unbearable misery into her body, they feared that Nausica would lose like the others and gave up her fate.
It did not happen. Nausica had almost bitten off any fine flesh on her mouth, and her expression had twisted so hard that her skin looked like crumpled paper.
But she did not surrender.