D.E.M.O.N.S: Getting Summoned Weekly isn't so Bad - Chapter 2110 A Rotten Cave

Chapter 2110: Chapter 2110 A Rotten Cave

— Kat —

Neither Kat nor Lily knew what was valuable about the plants here, even if it could be easily assumed that some of them were worth quite a lot. Perhaps simply focusing on the stuff they robbers had already locked away would work… but Kat and Lily didn’t know what if any of the jewellery they had on were storage devices so they just left everything where it was and made a note to get a crew of people down here as soon as possible. Now that the fountain had been opened the greenhouse wouldn’t remain quite so pristine. Especially with the poison.

They moved back into the long hallway and continued. As they did, it started to shrink. Not just from debris this time but the ceiling as well. It started to get lower and lower, with Kat being forced to walk hunched over or simply convert to water for a bit.

Things changed again when they got to the cavern. Kat couldn’t see too far below them, her flames simply not extending that far. It was bridged with a decently sturdy looking wooden rope bridge that seemed well constructed. It had almost certainly been prepared ahead of time for something like this. The problem? The bridge was well constructed but the posts on either end that were meant to keep the bridge in place weren’t installed particularly well. They were all bent to differing degrees and one of them looked like it was a slight bump away from falling out of the dirt.

Still, Kat and Lily could both fly so it wasn’t a major worry. “What do you think is down there though?” Kat gestured at the dark hole as they flew over. “Do you think there IS anything?”

[I mean, we can fly so we could just look. Also remember we’re trying not to be overheard.]

*Good point. It just felt nature to remark aloud when I was pointing at the ravine… but yeah you’re right. Also, probably best not to go flying off, we don’t want to spend too long and let the robbers get away with whatever they’re doing.*

[Alright… but why are we calling them robbers? This stuff all looks pretty old so it might technically be archaeology at this point.]

*Yeah but are we really going to give the benefit of the doubt to a group of people connected to the ones that poisoned a large section of the city?*

[I mean they’re still shitty people but probably not robbers… unless they’re experienced robbers that were hired for this archaeology job?]

I hate the fact that that seems the most correct we’re going to be…

[Yeah it’s a bit annoying to think about but who else woul-]

Lily’s mental voice cut out and stopped in place to look over at her girlfriend. Lily had frozen in place and was sniffing around with what seemed to be a frown. Kat could feel the concern coming from across the link.

*What’s wrong?*

[I think they’re dead…]

*WHAT!*

[Well maybe not dead dead, I still trust Thyme enough for that but… there’s definitely more than one thing down here that’s died in the area recently. We’re still a bit off the location but the stench is making its way down to us. I’m not sure if they’re all dead, and it’s hard to pick up exactly what died… but it was a lot more than one thing. Probably more than the group had with them. Then again… this might not be the first group.]

*Ok that changes things. Do we rush in to try and see if we can save any of them? Stay careful to avoid whatever took them out? Get ready to fight it? What’s the plan here, you have the best idea of what’s going on.*

[I… I can’t smell anything else. Or at least, I can’t smell anything that feels like it belongs to a monster. I don’t know if it just hasn’t been down this way because of the fact there was no bridge before or if it has some sort of special scent masking. Heck, it might just not sweat much. It’s a monster.]

*Alright. I’m confident in fighting it, or running if there’s a problem… but the important question remains unanswered. Do we abandon stealth completely and run in? Hoping to ensure we can help any that might still be alive… or do we take it slower. Make sure we’re not caught out.*

[I just don’t know Kat. I can’t tell if anyone of them are still alive…]

*Would it make you feel better if we try?*

[I think so.]

*Alright then.*

Kat stretched a bit, readying herself to dash into combat, a small popping sound was heard as she moved her arms around. [Wait did you just dislocate your shoulder because you can’t crack your fingers anymore!?] Kat shook her arms out afterwards and flexed her toes before sprinting forward. Lily grumbled from behind her, but Kat had the light source and it was best she didn’t stray too far behind her girlfriend.

As they ran down the corridor, the fancy walls gave way to cavern walls that opened the immediate area up a bit more. It also wasn’t too long before Kat could also smell a hint of decay on the air. As they continued further in it only got stronger but she hadn’t seen any signs of bodies just yet. Still, the smell was getting to them a bit.

Finally, after rounding a few tightly packed together boulders they found the place, or rather, the start of it. The next room hadn’t had a few cave ins, the room itself was the cave in. The entire thing had dropped into the ground and the door was nothing more than a small opening you’d be forced to squeeze yourself through. There were plenty of marks around it to indicate that people had come here before them… and Kat wasn’t entirely sure she’d be able to squeeze through with her horns either…

*I’m looking at this and I almost get the feeling we’re going to be attacked as soon as we try to squeeze through that gap… I can transform into water and I’ll be fine… but will you be?*

[It doesn’t smell like they were attacked here. Even if it’s pretty bad the scent of fresh blood is missing. So… well… I guess someone might’ve been killed here but not the recent group.]

*Oh because that makes it so much better.* Despite Kat’s complaints though she still slipped into her water form and ducked through the gap in the stone. Reforming on the other side Kat could see it was a mess. The ground was uneven as the large room hadn’t fallen evenly. Worse, there was a massive crack running through the middle and spreading out in all sort of directions leaving the room in pieces. The ceiling seemed remarkably fine despite the damage being done to it. Still holding up even though it had been separated in chunks like the floor.

It seemed like this had been a major room once upon a time. A chandelier was over to the side, crashed into the ground. Some equipment that was now just metal scraps indicated the room was used for something… but Kat had no idea what. Was it a dining table and chairs? Exercise equipment? An armoury? Probably not that last one because there was an exit on the other side… but that half of the room was even further sunken down so Kat was unsure how they’d continue on.

The smell was bad worse, the entire place was filled with it… but there still wasn’t any sign of the bodies and Kat felt like that worried her even more. Lily glided over onto her shoulder and sniffed at the air, trying to work out where the smells were coming from and having a bit of an issue.

[This whole place seems to be just… saturated with the smell of something rotting. It SHOULD be visible. Like, you don’t get this level of smell without some carcasses or something but somehow it looks remarkably clean. What are we missing?]

Kat scanned the room, looking around to see if there were any corpse flowers or something else that could be outputting the scent. Yet, there was a distinct lack of greenery and there wasn’t anything else she could guess would be the cause. Kat snapped her head upwards suddenly… and there was nothing. She’d sort of hoped to catch some sort of monster that was obviously responsible for the smell.

*Maybe we should keep going? Where is the smell coming from?*

[That’s the problem. I don’t know. This place is filled with the scent of rot far more intensely then it should be and its messing my nose. I can’t really tell. It’s all just… everywhere. Even the scent of the people we were following has been buried.]

*Well, we already decided to move forward… guess we just keep doing that until we hit a dead end. Though… do we try to go forward forward, or down. I think I saw some cracks between the tiles around here…*