Chapter 92: Gurgling sounds

The Brown-maned Lion… it was already semi-corrupted by The Strange. Its entire body looked like it was composed of twisted, black mucus.

“Don’t mind him. This thing just doesn’t know how to behave.”

As the Brown-maned Lion opened its massive maw, preparing to bite off the head of the dwarf girl in front of it, a giant hammer slammed heavily onto its head.

The lion was sent reeling, its head spinning. Just as it tried to look up, several more heavy hammer blows rained down ruthlessly.

Accompanied by a continuous, wet *splat* sound, the Brown-maned Lion was hammered into a puddle of writhing black liquid in less than two minutes.

“Heh, you just have to beat them into submission like this.”

Watching the dwarf girl’s innocent smile while black liquid dripped from her giant hammer, Lutherchi’s mouth couldn’t help but twitch.

The strength of this Brown-maned Lion had reached the peak of the Deep Sea level. For this dwarf girl to handle it so easily, she must have reached the Moho level.

However, why would a dwarf appear here?

Moreover, Lutherchi did not lower his guard. He narrowed his eyes.

There were still three people lying unconscious beside him…

If this girl and the Brown-maned Lion had come from the prison, why hadn’t His Holiness run into them?

***

“Gelifende, didn’t you run into Qiansitelin when you entered?”

Logically, Qiansitelin was on the first basement level and Gelifende was on the second basement level. The two of them shouldn’t have missed each other.

As long as they met, Qiansitelin, as a member of the Church, would have at least given a warning even if she didn’t help.

“No…”

Gelifende thought for a moment before shaking his head.

The interior of the prison cells was narrow, and there was nothing to hide behind. Even if someone were hiding above, they would be seen at a glance.

“His Holiness, why do you ask so suddenly? Didn’t the Saintess come here with you?”

Gelifende was also a bit dazed by Muxuan’s sudden question.

“She was on the first basement level. How did you get to the second basement level first?”

“We were only on the ground floor… how could we be on the second basement level!”

The knight beside Gelifende spoke up in alarm.

He was the same knight who had requested instructions from Mosen. Before all this happened, he had just finished speaking with Mosen. He could guarantee that they were on the surface!

Muxuan turned his head toward Qiansitelin, a theory suddenly forming in his mind.

Noticing Muxuan’s gaze, Qiansitelin took a deep breath and walked toward him.

“His Holiness, there is a high probability that this space is shifting.”

There was nothing to hide, so Qiansitelin directly stated her suspicion.

She had entered earlier and understood the situation here better than Gelifende and Muxuan. The injuries on her body… had all been sustained while she was on the fourth basement level.

“Wait, we need to leave immediately!”

Suddenly thinking of something, Qiansitelin’s tone became anxious.

Muxuan’s eyes narrowed. He nodded and said in a heavy voice, “Move. Now!”

Muxuan didn’t ask why, and Gelifende didn’t ask either.

Since Qiansitelin was here, there was a high possibility that her injuries were caused by this place…

Furthermore, Muxuan had faintly guessed the problem with this prison.

“The fourth basement level…”

“Yes.”

Then there was no issue.

Thinking this, Lightforce surged from Muxuan’s body, coating the group in a layer of golden light. Everyone’s speed suddenly increased at that moment.

Feeling his body become light, Gelifende remained relatively calm; he had already witnessed much of His Holiness’s power.

However, the other two knights were filled with shock, their eyes looking toward His Holiness with even more respect.

Muxuan looked at Qiansitelin, who was near the back of the group with her body slightly tilted, and became lost in thought.

The ground floor and the third basement level would constantly swap positions, while the fourth basement level remained fixed.

But once one reached the third basement level, they would inevitably be attacked by an existence from the fourth basement level. Qiansitelin had most likely been injured because of this.

“We should have reached the surface by now.”

Seeing that there were still stairs ahead rather than an exit, Gelifende’s voice drifted from behind Muxuan.

If they were on the second basement level, they had already climbed the stairs twice. It was impossible that they hadn’t reached the exit yet.

At this point, Gelifende also understood the problem with this prison.

“Speed up.”

After Muxuan spoke in a low voice, the speed of Gelifende and the two knights increased again.

Muxuan had also intended to speed up, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Qiansitelin’s condition was wrong.

‘The wound is very serious…’

Qiansitelin was clutching her arm in pain, not noticing Muxuan suddenly appearing by her side.

“His Holiness…”

Her body stiffened for a moment, and Qiansitelin subconsciously moved a bit further away from Muxuan.

Perhaps because the wound was too severe, Qiansitelin’s entire aura seemed listless.

“Why didn’t you say something about your injury earlier?”

Qiansitelin’s entire back had a large area of trauma. Her previously flawless back was now covered in black patterns, and her entire arm had turned a purplish-black color.

She had gone from appearing mentally stable enough to talk back to the Goddess to this half-dead state in less than half an hour.

The injury was worsening too quickly.

“His Holiness!”

“Go on ahead!”

Seeing Gelifende trying to turn back, Muxuan waved his hand, signaling for him to keep going. He then looked at the extremely weak Qiansitelin.

“Patients should be obedient, you know~”

Knowing that Qiansitelin might resist his current appearance, Muxuan simply changed his voice back to its original tone.

When that soft, sweet voice came out, Qiansitelin’s body visibly relaxed.

“I didn’t expect… Your Highness to say such things…”

Qiansitelin’s voice was weak, and her expression held an unerasable sense of fatigue, but because of Muxuan’s words, she still felt a sense of happiness.

‘Our little Saintess finally knows how to comfort people~’

Though in a sense, it wasn’t exactly comfort.

Qiansitelin no longer resisted Muxuan, and Muxuan had no intention of being overly delicate.

Lightforce quickly overflowed from Muxuan’s fingertips and pierced into Qiansitelin’s skin, stopping the black patterns from spreading further.

After finishing this, Muxuan slowly picked Qiansitelin up onto his back and ran toward the upper floors at an even faster speed.

Gelifende was at the stairwell. Seeing Muxuan catch up, he continued upward.

However, the moment Muxuan stepped onto the stairs, a sudden change occurred.

The entire stairwell seemed to be violently stretched and twisted by an invisible, giant hand!

The distance between Muxuan and Gelifende was pulled apart at a heart-stopping speed… the space itself began to warp and deform weirdly!

“His Holiness!” Gelifende’s startled cry came through, but it was stretched and distorted as it traveled, becoming blurred and filled with an extremely uncomfortable sense of dissonance.

Muxuan gritted his teeth, attempting to leap upward to break through by force. But a thick, malicious aura saturated with ill intent suddenly descended! Accompanied by a scalp-numbing, hair-raising sound of chewing, his movements were forcibly interrupted.

‘Tsk… this is going to be a big problem…’ Muxuan’s heart sank. He watched the constantly contracting and twisting stairwell with an incredibly solemn gaze.

A massive black shadow was slowly walking down the stairs. Muxuan’s grip on his crosier tightened.

The Brown-maned Lion!

The moment the full form of the black shadow was revealed, Muxuan recognized what it was.

Seeing the Brown-maned Lion slightly bend its front limbs, Muxuan prepared to retreat and counterattack at any moment.

However, after waiting for a long time, the Brown-maned Lion only tilted its head.

“Gugu gaga!?”

(#°Д°)?