Chapter 217: The Ancient Terror of the Past

Everyone froze.

Even Vain’s expression changed slightly.

Jake felt the roar vibrate through his entire body.

Cold sweat formed on his back as he clenched his chest, feeling his heart pounding violently against his ribs.

’What... the hell...’

His heart tightened as that same primal sense of danger washed over him once again.

Samu’dra’s face turned pale.

She knew that sound.

The thing that had been sleeping deep beneath the ruins...

It had awakened.

The ground continued to tremble beneath their feet, and the terrifying presence spreading through the cave grew stronger with every passing second.

Samu’dra’s grip tightened around her sword.

It was coming.

And judging by the violent tremors racing through the cave, whatever had awakened beneath them was approaching at terrifying speed.

It was coming here.

And it was coming... fast.

Just then, Vain gritted his teeth.

For the first time, the calm expression on his face was completely gone.

He immediately canceled his skill and turned toward the cloaked figures.

"Forget everything else. We’re leaving! Now!"

His voice carried an urgency that none of them had heard from him before.

The cloaked figures quickly nodded and rushed toward the formation.

Vain followed, but after taking a few steps, he suddenly glanced back at Jake as a faint sneer appeared on his face.

"You’re lucky boy."

His eyes lingered on Jake for a moment before he turned away.

"We’ll settle this another time."

Without waiting for a response, Vain immediately sprinted toward the formation.

Behind him, the trembling of the cave grew more violent.

BOOM!

Another deep impact shook the ground.

The formation’s glow suddenly intensified.

The cloaked figures were already gathering around it, desperately preparing to activate it.

Then, a blinding flash of light suddenly erupted from the formation.

When the light faded, Vain and the cloaked figures were nowhere to be seen.

Jake stood there for a moment, still dazed from everything that had just happened.

Then he suddenly slapped his own cheek.

"Snap out of it!"

He quickly turned toward Samu’dra.

"We’re leaving too!"

But just as he was about to move, his eyes caught sight of Aria.

Her face had gone completely pale, and her body was trembling slightly.

The overwhelming ancient aura seemed to have left her barely able to move.

Jake’s expression tightened.

Without wasting another second, he immediately rushed over and grabbed her.

"Aria, get on."

He crouched down and pulled her onto his back before she could even respond.

Aria weakly wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

"Th-Thank you..."

Her voice was faint, almost drowned out by another distant rumble from beneath the cave.

Jake glanced back at her.

"Don’t worry about it. Just hold on."

He then looked toward Samu’dra.

"Let’s go!"

Samu’dra nodded and immediately followed.

Jake turned and began running, carrying Aria on his back as they desperately raced through the trembling cave.

Behind them, another deafening roar erupted from beneath the ruins.

[GRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOAAAAARRR!!!]

The entire cave shook violently.

They barely made it a few dozen meters before another section of the ceiling collapsed.

BOOM!

"Watch... out!"

Samu’dra shouted as a massive chunk of rock crashed down in front of them.

Jake immediately changed direction, narrowly avoiding the falling debris as smaller stones continued raining down around them.

The entire cave was beginning to collapse.

Cracks had spread across the walls and ceiling, growing wider with every passing second.

The stone beneath their feet trembled violently, while dust filled the air and made it difficult to see.

Aria looked around as she clung tightly to Jake’s shoulders.

The cave was cracking apart all around them.

It felt as though the entire ruin could collapse at any moment.

"We’re almost there!" Jake shouted.

With Jake’s speed and Samu’dra following close behind, they quickly reached the place where the formation was located.

Jake’s eyes immediately locked onto it.

The formation was still intact.

"How do I activate this thing?"

He hurried toward it, desperately trying to figure out what to do.

But before he could even touch it, the formation suddenly began to glow.

Jake froze.

The intricate markings lit up one after another, filling the entire formation with brilliant light.

"It activated on its own?"

He barely had time to wonder before the light grew brighter.

Jake let out a long sigh of relief when he recognized the familiar glow.

"Finally..."

They were getting out of here.

For a moment, Jake thought the relief had finally come.

Then, all of the trembling suddenly stopped.

The falling rocks, the rumbling beneath the ruins, even the distant cracking of the cave walls... everything went completely silent.

A strange stillness permeated the surroundings.

Jake’s expression slowly changed as he realized something was wrong.

He could feel Samu’dra and Aria behind him, yet neither of them moved.

Their bodies were completely stiff, and when Jake glanced back, he found both of them staring in the same direction with pale faces.

"What...?"

Neither of them answered.

Jake followed their gaze, and the moment he saw what they were looking at, his entire body stiffened as well.

The huge tunnel they had come through stretched into the darkness behind them.

But there, deep within that darkness...

An eye was looking at them.

...A gigantic eye, far larger than Jake could comprehend, slowly stared out from the darkness.

Its surface was covered in faint, ancient patterns, while the pupil was a long, vertical slit... the unmistakable eye of a serpentine creature.

[....]

Jake’s breath caught in his throat as he stared at it, unable to comprehend how something so enormous could even exist beneath the ruins.

Its size alone was terrifying, but what truly froze him was the feeling coming from that eye.

It was watching them.

No...

It was looking directly at him.

Aria’s arms tightened around Jake’s shoulders as her body began trembling again, while Samu’dra stood frozen with one hand still gripping her sword.

Even she seemed to have forgotten how to move.

Gulp

Jake swallowed hard, his instincts screaming at him to run, yet his body refused to respond.

The enormous eye slowly shifted within the darkness.

Then its gaze settled completely on Jake.

In that instant, he felt as though something had seen straight through him.