Chapter Twenty-One: The Chain Trap

The deep, winding tunnel seemed endless, stretching into infinity. The party had been walking for nearly an hour, yet they had encountered nothing—neither the enemies they had anticipated nor anything else. There was simply nothing here, only a profound silence.

“How much farther must we walk?”

The serpent captain twisted his body, four arms gripping his longsword tightly, glaring ahead. Sensing the captain’s gaze, the tiefling in front turned, his cold eyes flashing as he stared back—naturally, the tiefling, born to be a spy and thief, had taken on the task of scouting and searching.

“How should I know? These tracks show that the damned creatures drove the caravan’s subterranean lizards here. You know those fat worms can go days without food or water, and these traces are already several days old. Who knows where they’ve gone? Maybe they’ve dug themselves into the bottomless abyss by now!”

Elise walked in the middle of the group, her brow furrowed in concern. This patrol, after all, was the most elite unit of Black Onyx Stone City. But precisely because of that, tensions ran high within the party. The serpent men were eager to clash with imaginary foes, while the tieflings had no interest in dying for nothing and sought to avoid all unnecessary combat. From the look on the tiefling’s face, if the serpent captain shouted one more time and risked exposing their location, he might well strangle him on the spot. The half-vampires merely circled Elise, their sole aim to secure their own safety. If anything went wrong, they would surely flee immediately, taking Elise with them.

In Elise’s view, the best method would be for each race to send its own patrol rather than this mixed group. She could keenly sense the powder keg within the ranks and quickly discovered the hidden dangers she wished she had not seen.

“Let’s hope so. You hoofed beasts had best not slack off! And if you do, don’t let me catch you at it!”

“What did you say, you cold-blooded reptile covered in scales...?”

“I said...!”

The argument was about to escalate into full-blown conflict when Elise stepped forward, but before her words could be spoken, disaster struck.

With a sudden whoosh, the floor beneath one of the serpent men sprang up like a bellows. The unfortunate soul was launched, cannonball-like, into the air. The shocking scene happened so abruptly that the others hadn’t even registered what was happening; their comrade flew past them amidst the shriek of wind.

No one was more bewildered than the victim himself. As he was hurled through the air, he instinctively screamed, raising his hands in a futile attempt to grab something. But it was all in vain. In the next instant, he crashed hard against the stone wall, and before he could recover, a shadow enveloped his vision.

Boom!

The heavy stone slab rose slowly, dripping blood and scattered flesh. Everyone stared blankly at the spot—just seconds before, the serpent man had been flung against the wall, then crushed to pulp by the descending stone. All that remained of him was a heap of crimson meat and splintered white bone.

...

For a moment, the entire tunnel fell into a deathly silence, until the serpent captain stormed up to the tiefling and slapped him hard across the face.

“Scouting?”

He roared in fury, his long tongue flicking out in agitation, hissing.

“This is your damned scouting? You hoofed monstrosities—can you not pay a bit of attention and stop making a mess of things?!”

“Hey! What’s this got to do with us, you snakish fool!”

The tiefling jumped up, his hands flashing to his waist, and in a heartbeat two daggers appeared in his grip.

“We saw nothing here, found nothing, and you walked through as well—nothing happened! How can you blame us for this?”

“Then can you explain why my comrade is now a pile of Nold roasted meat?!”

The serpent captain raised his sword high, eyes wide with fury, longing to cut the tiefling into pieces. The tiefling, facing this threat, merely shrugged with disdain.

“How should I know? Maybe he just had bad luck.”

The serpent captain said nothing, for in the next instant his sword swept down in a flashing arc. Yet the cold gleam failed to tear through the tiefling—his body dissolved into black mist, twisting aside to dodge the blow, then spun like a whirlwind to re-form into solid shape.

“Hey, I advise you not to push me, snake-head, or I’ll skin you and make a purse out of it!”

“With you useless lot?!”

“Enough!”

Seeing things spiral out of control, Elise was forced to shout, cutting them off. Once she had their attention, she sighed softly, then spoke.

“This trap was triggered by magic.”

“Magic?”

At her words, both serpent men and tieflings stared in shock, unable to believe what they heard. No wonder—they all believed traps were mechanical, hence the tieflings’ careful scouting. Though magical traps existed on the surface, they required runes to compress magical power, essentially condensing a spell to be triggered by a step.

That was why tieflings made excellent thieves—they were half-demon, highly sensitive to magic, and agile. Whether mechanical or magical, they could usually sense traps.

But this time was different. Everyone saw the serpent man launched and smashed—clearly a trap mechanism. Yet the tieflings had detected neither mechanical triggers nor magical energy.

Why, then, did Elise insist it was magic?

For Elise, it was mere coincidence. Vampires were inherently superior to other races; she was a perfect specimen, her physical abilities beyond compare. The unlucky serpent man had been walking just ahead of her, so Elise witnessed everything as he was flung away. Though others saw only seconds, to Elise it played out in slow motion. Because of this, she saw clearly: as the stone slab launched the serpent guard, faint red patterns on its surface glowed briefly. When the slab returned to its place, the light faded.

“But we didn’t sense any magical energy at all!”

Now the tieflings realized the gravity of the situation, their faces pale. No wonder—they had never seen nor heard of such a trap and had no idea what it was. Truth be told, even Elise herself had sensed no magical fluctuation. Had she not caught the detail with her sharp eyes, she might have missed it entirely.

“I believe something is wrong with this place,” Elise said, the strange feeling from earlier rising again. Since entering, she had felt as though someone was watching her, an unease she could not shake. Now, seeing this, she resolved to be extra cautious.

“I think we should withdraw and reassess.”

“This...”

“Whatever happens, the Lady’s safety comes first.”

Seeing the others’ troubled faces, one of the half-vampires grew impatient. He quickly backed away, gesturing for Elise to follow.

“My lady, for safety’s sake, perhaps we should—”

Before he could finish, there was a thunderous crash. The stone wall behind the half-vampire surged forward, slamming into him. Though vampires possessed superior physique, the trap was utterly without warning. The unfortunate soul was struck as if by a speeding carriage, sent flying to the opposite side. Still, his reflexes served him well, and he twisted mid-air to dodge.

But just as he was about to evade, a metallic scraping echoed from the darkness. In the next instant, several chains shot out, like serpents’ gaping jaws, clamping onto the half-vampire’s limbs. With a series of rattling clicks, he was pinned to the wall, helpless. Before he could react, the stone wall crashed against him.

Boom!

The muffled crash resounded through the dark tunnel, like a heavy hammer striking their hearts. Everyone stared, faces pale, at the stone wall blocking their retreat. As for the poor victim—even a vampire’s regenerative powers could not save one crushed to pulp.

Seeing this, dread crept into their souls. Their way back was blocked. What now?

Was their only option to continue onward, deeper into the unknown?