Chapter 151 - 150: The Path Under the Fort

Lucard entered the cave first, and Elowen followed close behind him.

The old stone steps were broken and wet. Some parts had sunk into the earth, while other parts had cracked so deeply that one wrong step could twist an ankle. Elowen held the wrapped map against her chest with one hand and used her other hand to touch the wall. Her breathing was still uneven from fear, but she tried hard not to make noise.

Lucard did not slow down for her.

After a short distance, the moonlight from the entrance disappeared behind them. Darkness covered the tunnel, and Elowen stopped walking.

"I cannot see," she whispered.

Lucard lifted one finger.

A small blood mark opened on his fingertip. It formed a thin red circle in the air, no bigger than a coin. The circle turned once, then released a faint red light. It was not bright enough to reach far, but it was enough to show the ground near their feet.

Elowen stared at it. "Are you a mage?"

"Walk."

"That is not an answer."

"It is the answer you need right now."

She pressed her lips together and followed.

Lucard looked at the small red circle with quiet interest. It was not a normal fire spell. It was not only blood control either. After reaching the Blood Mage Vessel, his blood could hold small spell patterns more easily. The circle was weak, but it was stable. Before this, he could make blood threads, blood marks, and bloodfire through control. Now he could shape blood into simple magic structures.

Blood Spell Formation was still new, but the use was clear.

A mage used ink, chants, and mana.

Lucard used blood.

The tunnel turned left, then lowered again. The air became colder. Water dripped somewhere ahead. The smell of old blood became stronger with every step. Lucard could feel faint movement through the stone under his feet. Small insects. Running water. Something larger moving far below.

Elowen kept glancing behind her.

Lucard said, "If you keep looking back, you will fall."

She quickly looked forward. "I was checking if they followed us."

"If Red Hook followed already, you would hear screaming."

Her face paled. "Because of the beasts?"

"Because of me or the beasts. Either way, you would hear something."

"That is not comforting."

"I did not offer comfort."

Elowen became quiet for a while.

They reached a place where the tunnel split into three paths. The left path was narrow and smelled of rot. The middle path went down sharply. The right path had old scratch marks along the wall, each one long and deep.

Lucard stopped. "Map."

Elowen hesitated.

Lucard looked at her.

She slowly unwrapped the old parchment. The map was larger than it looked when folded. The ink was faded, but the lines were detailed. Someone had drawn the old border fort from above and below. Secret paths ran under the walls. Water channels crossed the lower tunnels. One route was marked with small moon symbols, leading toward a place labeled Moonwater Hollow.

Lucard looked at the split in front of them and compared it with the map.

"The right path."

Elowen shook her head. "No. The map says the middle path."

"The middle path is older. It may have been safe when this was drawn. Now it smells wrong."

She frowned. "How can a path smell wrong?"

Lucard pointed toward the right wall. "The scratch marks are old at the start and newer farther in. The beasts use that path, but not constantly. The middle path has no fresh marks because things do not come back from it often."

Elowen stared into the middle path, then stepped closer to him. "Right path."

Lucard folded nothing. "Keep the map open."

"It will tear."

"Then hold it properly."

She looked offended but obeyed.

They took the right path. It was low in some places, and Elowen had to bend her head. Lucard’s red light moved ahead of them like a small eye. The deeper they went, the more bodies they found.

At first, it was only bones.

Then it became pieces of leather armor, broken arrows, a rusted sword, and a cracked wooden shield. Farther ahead, they found a fresh boot with part of a leg still inside it. Elowen covered her mouth and turned away.

Lucard crouched beside the remains and touched the blood.

"Recent," he said.

Elowen’s voice shook. "From hunters?"

"Probably."

"Can you tell?"

"Yes."

"How?"

Lucard looked at the blood on his finger. "They died afraid and angry. Hunters usually do."

She did not ask more.

That was wise.

A sound came from the dark ahead.

It was soft at first, like wet cloth moving over stone. Then came a low hiss.

Elowen froze.

Lucard moved his hand slightly, and the red light rose higher.

Two eyeless cave stalkers crawled from a crack in the wall.

They were smaller than the first one, but faster. Their pale bodies hugged the stone, and their long arms moved with ugly smoothness. One climbed along the side wall. The other stayed low on the ground. Both opened their mouths without making a loud sound.

Elowen took one step back.

Lucard said, "Do not run."

"I was not going to."

"You were."

She swallowed. "I was thinking about it."

"Stop thinking."

The first stalker sprang from the wall.

Lucard lifted his hand.

A blood spell circle formed in front of his palm. It was thin, red, and made from three linked rings. When the beast entered the circle’s range, three blood threads shot out and wrapped around its arms, neck, and waist. The creature twisted in the air, but the threads tightened and slammed it into the ground.

The second beast rushed under the first.

Lucard stepped to the side and let it pass close enough to touch his cloak. Then he placed two fingers against its back.

"Bloodfire."

This time, the fire did not appear outside like a normal flame.

It entered through the beast’s blood.

The stalker screamed and rolled across the stone. Red fire glowed under its pale skin, traveling through veins like burning roots. The cold marrow inside the beast tried to resist, but Bloodfire Lv2 was stronger than before. It did not spread wildly. It burned exactly where Lucard sent it.

The first beast tore one arm free from the blood threads and lunged again.

Lucard pulled the spell circle downward.

The remaining threads dragged the beast’s head into the stone floor. Its skull cracked. Before it could recover, Lucard stepped on its neck and began Blood Absorption.

Elowen watched with wide eyes.

The second stalker tried to crawl back into the crack, but its legs failed. Lucard’s bloodfire had already damaged the blood flow inside its body. It dragged itself only a short distance before Lucard sent a blood thread through its open mouth and into its throat.

It died without another scream.

Lucard absorbed both beasts one after another.

Their blood entered him in cold, rough streams. It was not as useful as the first one, but together they still added strength. More importantly, they helped him understand the underground beast trait better. His feet could now feel small vibrations more clearly when he focused.

[Eyeless Cave Stalker blood absorbed.]

Blood Quality: Low-Medium.

Blind Blood-Sense Trace strengthened slightly.

Cold Marrow Trace strengthened slightly.

Progress toward Level 31: Increased.]

[Eyeless Cave Stalker blood absorbed.

Blood Quality: Low-Medium.

Bloodfire Lv2 compatibility improved against cold-blooded creatures.

Progress toward Level 31: Increased.]

Lucard read the messages calmly.

Elowen stared at the dried bodies.

"You drink blood," she whispered.

Lucard looked at her.

She quickly stepped back. "I mean... their bodies..."

"Speak carefully."

Her lips trembled, but she did not scream. That was better than expected.

Lucard turned away. "Keep walking."

Elowen looked like she wanted to ask a hundred questions, but fear kept most of them behind her teeth. She held the map tighter and followed.

The tunnel continued downward, then curved toward the east. Twice, the map showed paths that no longer existed. One had collapsed completely. Another was flooded with dark water that smelled of poison. Each time, Lucard chose another route by reading the air, blood traces, and movement through the stone. Elowen began looking at him differently after that. Not with trust, but with careful hope.

After nearly an hour, they reached an old stone door half-sunk into the ground.

There was no handle.

Only a carved symbol of a crescent moon and a horned beast.

Elowen rushed forward before Lucard stopped her. "This is it."

Lucard looked at the carving. "The map shows this?"

She opened the parchment and pointed. "Here. The Moon Gate. My family records say this path was used by old hunters who wanted to watch the unicorn without frightening it. They were not supposed to hunt it. Only watch and leave offerings."

"Offerings?"

"Clean water, white flowers, sometimes silver grass."

Lucard looked at her. "You brought offerings?"

Elowen’s face stiffened. "No."

"So you ran from marriage to see a unicorn and forgot the one thing your own records said to bring."

She looked embarrassed. "I was in a hurry."

"That is a poor habit."

"I know."

Lucard placed his palm against the stone door. There was no strong magic left inside it. Only an old mechanism and a weak trace of moon mana. It had not been opened for a long time, but it had not fully died either.

He cut his finger and let one drop of blood touch the crescent carving.

Blood Spell Formation moved.

A small red circle formed over the old symbol, reading the shape of the dead mechanism through blood and mana. Lucard did not understand the original spell completely, but he did not need to. Old locks and old bodies had one thing in common. They both opened if pressure entered the right place.

The red circle sank into the door.

Stone groaned.

Elowen stepped back, eyes wide.

The door slowly opened inward.

Fresh air touched them.

Not cave air.

Forest air.

Cool water.

Flowers.

Elowen forgot to breathe.

Beyond the stone door was a narrow passage that led upward. Pale light shone at the end, though it was night outside. Lucard felt clean mana drifting from ahead. It was thin, but purer than anything he had felt in Stoneford or Gravehold.

His blood moved with interest.

Elowen whispered, "Moonwater Hollow."

Lucard stepped through the door.

The passage opened into a hidden valley surrounded by broken white cliffs. Moonlight fell into the hollow like silver water. A clear spring rested at the center, and around it grew small white flowers that glowed faintly in the dark.

Elowen stood behind him, shaking for a different reason now.

She looked at the spring with tears in her eyes.

"I found it," she whispered. "It was real."

Lucard did not answer.

He was looking at the ground near the water.

There were hoofprints in the soft mud.

Fresh hoofprints.

Then a soft sound came from the far side of the hollow.

Not a growl.

Not a hiss.

A quiet breath, gentle and proud.

Elowen’s hand flew to her mouth.

Lucard’s eyes became still.

Something white moved between the glowing flowers.