Chapter 168: Entering the Right Tunnel
Mashur held the rearguard, suppressing the spiders that managed to bypass
Muherr's explosive fire, while the Golem continued to spearhead the advance.
One of the most irritating aspects of fighting in a narrow subterranean corridor
was the accumulation of corpses. A dead, house-sized spider was a physical
roadblock.
Fortunately, Ronin had Owl in his pouch.
Whenever the pile of chitin and legs became a hindrance, Ronin used the Fun Fun
Cloth to shrink and bundle the carcasses. He then tossed the small bundles
behind them, effectively clearing the path for the team while creating an
improvised barricade of "trash" to stall any spiders pursuing them from the
rear.
This display of power left the mercenaries in awe. From their perspective, Ronin
had just revealed a high-level Conjuration ability.
In the Nen chart, Transmutation (his fire/lightning) and Conjuration are
neighbors, but mastering both to a professional degree is notoriously difficult.
To be elite in one usually means being mediocre in the other—unless the user is
a Specialist.
Ronin saw the wheels turning in their heads and offered a brief explanation.
"This isn't my innate ability. I've acquired the usage rights to it through a
contract."
He didn't elaborate further. He wasn't about to release Owl from the pouch just
to satisfy their curiosity.
Relieved, the mercenaries nodded. "Contracted usage" or "Item-based Nen" was a
common enough phenomenon among high-level Hunters. Still, they offered Ronin a
look of professional apology for their momentary intrusion into his secrets.
With the logistical bottleneck solved by Owl's cloth, their travel speed
tripled. As they cleared the tunnel and re-entered the three-way "Arrival Hall,"
the sound of heavy machine-gun fire and muffled explosions reached their ears
from the surface.
The spiders had breached the exit. The breakout had officially reached the
forest above.
Ronin looked toward the entrance of the right-hand tunnel.
"The danger level there is low—at least within the sectors we've already
mapped," Muherr said, sensing Ronin's concern. "If you're anxious to see the
site, take Vanessa and go ahead. The unit needs to assist the Royal Army with
the containment effort up top anyway."
"Works for me," Ronin agreed.
Vanessa emerged from the shadows and gave Ronin a sharp, silent wave. She
dissolved back into the floor, a dark smudge racing toward the right-hand
tunnel.
Ronin blurred into motion. He stopped holding back his physical strength,
clearing the few stray spiders in the hall with casual, bone-shattering kicks.
Most spiders died instantly from the internal shock. Those that were resilient
enough to survive the physical trauma were finished off by a hail of Nen-bullets
from the support gunners.
The mercenaries were thorough. They knew that if a beast survived a Nen attack
and its aura nodes were forcibly opened, it could develop a primitive Hatsu. A
Nen-using giant spider was a headache they intended to prevent at all costs.
Ronin entered the right tunnel, closing the distance to Vanessa's shadow.
The spider count dropped significantly in this sector. After a few minutes of
jogging, the arachnids disappeared entirely. Instead, they ran into groups of
independent explorers who had entered the ruins earlier.
These freelancers looked haggard. Not everyone possessed the raw power of the
Rock Mercenaries.
The explorers tried to flag Ronin down for a situation report, desperate for
news from the surface. Ronin provided a brief summary as he passed but didn't
stop. He wasn't interested in their small-talk.
Throughout the trek, Vanessa remained hidden.
Ronin's Sharingan tracked her effortlessly as she hopped from shadow to shadow,
but to the other hunters in the hall, she was a ghost.
Her ability is practically designed for assassination, Ronin thought.
The two blurred through the tunnel, leaving the other groups in the dust. The
freelancers stood confused, staring at the empty space where the white-haired
boy had been a second ago, unsure if they should follow or hide.
The right tunnel eventually opened up. Unlike the high-tech, vertical
"Skyscraper City" of the left path, this area resembled a massive necropolis.
There were hundreds of rooms carved into the stone, accompanied by the
undeniable signs of ancient habitation.
Vanessa rose from Ronin's shadow. "This was the first sector we cleared. The
monster count was low, but the archaeology is dense. We haven't figured out the
connection between the people who lived here and the refinery-city on the left."
"The Kurta artifacts were found in a chamber a few hundred meters ahead. Muherr
has the physical items secured at the base camp, but he told me to show you the
site."
Vanessa took the lead, walking openly now.
Ronin followed, scanning the rooms as they passed. He saw signs of frantic
searching—broken jars, overturned furniture, and graffiti.
"The damage isn't just from our team," Vanessa explained.
"Grave robbers?" Ronin guessed.
"Exactly. A pirate crew found this place a year ago. Their greed is what
triggered the seal in the middle tunnel, releasing the first wave of beasts.
Their 'amateur' excavation is what turned this place into a war zone."
As they pushed deeper, the signs of recent looting decreased. Professional
guards began to appear outside certain doorways. They stiffened as Ronin and
Vanessa approached, their hands moving to their weapons.
But upon seeing the Rock Mercenary insignia on Vanessa and recognizing Ronin's
face, they relaxed—slightly. They watched the pair until they were out of sight,
their gazes heavy with suspicion.
Some of these men were freelancers from the first wave; others were hired guns
for the Kingdom's "Specialist" division.
Finally, Vanessa stopped.
The room ahead was different from the others. It was being guarded by two men
wearing the familiar tactical gear of the Rock Mercenaries.
"We're here," Vanessa said. "This is where the history of your people was
found."
☆☆☆
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