It had been quite a while since Unas parted from Erigor. He led his team forward cautiously as the tunnel began to level out instead of continuing steadily downward.
The air had grown much damper and colder. Unas touched the tunnel wall; the sticky black earth seemed wet enough to release water with a squeeze. They were most likely beneath the lake by now.
After traveling a long way farther, they came to a domed stone chamber much like the previous one. Hans and his jinxed mouth had been right: there was another fork, this time with three openings leading in different directions.
"Uncle Stonebrow, sorry for the trouble." Unas was very polite. Inside a cave, it was best not to offend these master tunnelers.
The three dwarven "Experts" went around the three openings several times, then pulled out the map they had drawn earlier and began discussing it. But before long, they were all shouting at one another. Unas gave a wry smile. These dwarves really were unreliable.
There was no way he could divide his small force into three groups. They had to find the right path, but judging by the dwarves, they were unlikely to reach an answer. What a headache.
Just then, a red dot suddenly appeared at the edge of the minimap in his mind and raced toward the center, where he was. The dot's position corresponded to the tunnel on the left.
"Enemy attack! On the left!" Unas swiftly raised his hammer and shouted. The soldiers behind him tightened their formation at once, and the three dwarves scrambled back to them.
The red dot on the minimap had already emerged from the opening, but there was nothing to be seen. Was the enemy invisible?
Without a second thought, Unas pointed his silver hammer straight at the red dot. "Fire in the direction I'm pointing!"
The well-trained Argent Dawn soldiers didn't care whether their commander was pointing at empty air. They immediately drew their bows to shoot.
"Stop!" A piercing scream erupted from the red dot, followed by a wave of sound that seemed to shake their souls. Everyone felt a numbness in their chest, and their bodies stiffened. They couldn't even move their fingers, so naturally, they couldn't release their drawn bowstrings.
Unas was stunned too, but he recovered in half a second. Just as he was about to act, a white figure appeared in midair, and a raspy, grating voice rang out. "Have you forgotten me so soon, boy with the black hair and black eyes?"
Since Unas had come to this world, he had only heard a voice that unpleasant once. Of course he hadn't forgotten it. "You're that Dark Ranger, Enya Xingyu?"
"Correct! This is another one of my forms." The white figure traced a circle in the air, seemingly showing herself off. "Well? Do I look pretty?"
Unas was speechless for a moment. Had her personality changed along with her form? She had been an impossibly cool Dark Ranger before, yet after turning into a Banshee, she was acting coquettishly—and in that broken-gong voice of hers, raising goosebumps all over him.
By now, the soldiers were gradually recovering from the shock. Several of the first to come around were about to draw their bows again, but Unas hurriedly called them off. He had seen the Banshees appear and help Tyrosus defeat the Dreadlord, so they needed to determine whether she was friend or foe first.
Although Banshees were nearly immune to most physical attacks, the Argent Dawn's arrows had been consecrated and dealt extra damage to the Undead. He didn't want to start an unnecessary conflict.
"Come on, tell me if I'm pretty!" The Banshee circled above his head, her raspy voice turning coquettish again.
"Pretty, pretty. You're practically a fairy descended from heaven," Unas answered repeatedly. The white figure in the air had only a vague female outline; he couldn't make out her figure or face at all. Still, it never hurt to compliment a woman.
"Hee hee hee, hehe." The white figure bounced erratically through the air, seemingly expressing the Banshee's delight. "You really know what to say."
"Miss Xingyu, are you here to hunt down Bessarius too?" Unas endured the piercing laughter and asked tentatively.
He guessed that while they were fighting the Felguards, the Banshees had taken the opportunity to enter the crevice in pursuit of the Dreadlord. If so, the Banshees should know more about the situation in the caves.
"Oh! I almost forgot what I came here for. I have to meet up with my sisters." The white figure spun in circles in the air. "Goodbye, black-haired Paladin."
"Wait," Unas hurriedly called after her. "Where's Bessarius?"
"I don't know either. I searched all three paths and found no trace of it. But at the end of the middle tunnel, there are many of your people."
"My people?" Unas was about to ask more, but the Banshee had already faded from sight in midair. Only a red dot remained visible on his Sense Undead minimap, darting toward the tunnel they had come from.
The Banshee had come and gone quickly, but her brief visit had left them reeling. Everyone silently tried to digest the impact of her visit, and the stone chamber fell quiet for a time.
But the dwarves soon broke the silence. "How did she look like a fairy? She was just a white blur. You couldn't see her clearly at all."
Stonebrow was actually still hung up on that. He might as well change his name to Stonebrain.
"What the hell do you know? That's called the beauty of mystery!" Hans chimed in. It was hard to tell whether he was defending Unas or mocking him.
Unas didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He briefly explained how he had met the Banshee, then turned his thoughts to another question. The "people" she had mentioned before leaving were naturally humans, so why were there so many humans deep in the Dreadlord's lair? He had a vague, ominous suspicion.
Sure enough, when he asked the dwarf leader, Stonebrow answered evasively, "I've seen many human women and children taken into the caves. They can neither fight nor do hard labor. For the demons, there's probably only one use left for them."
At that, Unas understood. The souls and flesh of intelligent beings were the demon race's favorite food. These women and children were probably provisions Bessarius had stockpiled for itself.
Unas felt his stomach churn. Though he was new to this world and didn't yet feel a deep sense of belonging, he still felt it keenly when it came to the ****** act of eating people.
The Banshee had left without a care, but she had left Unas with a dilemma. Should he go rescue the women and children, or return and rejoin Erigor?
On the surface, once Bessarius was dealt with, these people would be rescued sooner or later. But they had already come a long way, and there was no telling how long it would take to go back and catch up with Erigor. The Dreadlord might already be dead by the time they arrived.
They might as well rescue those poor people. At least they wouldn't return empty-handed.
Unas employed a little trick and asked everyone to vote by a show of hands, leaving the decision to democracy. Sure enough, most of them preferred the easier, more honorable mission.
He did feel a little sorry for Erigor, but with the Banshees helping him, dealing with Bessarius in its weakened state should be no trouble. That was how Unas consoled himself.
The group continued forward, with Unas leading them into the middle opening. Now that they had a goal, everyone seemed excited, and they moved considerably faster.
After only a short walk, light appeared ahead. Had they arrived already?
Unas quickened his pace and eagerly stepped into the stone chamber ahead, only to freeze at the sight before him.
This chamber was not much different from the two they had visited earlier, except that several crystals glowing blue were embedded in the walls. They could see inside without torches.
The chamber was empty. There were only five openings, five paths leading in different directions.
The pitch-black openings seemed to mock Unas for his naivety and ignorance. He had actually dared to believe a Banshee. The Banshee Queen's terrible reputation hadn't come from nowhere.
But why would Enya Xingyu lie to him? Thinking back, her exact words had been "at the end of the middle tunnel," which could also mean the end of that entire middle branch. What had made him so sure a single tunnel would take them straight to the end?
Whether she had meant it that way or not, he had been careless. He had jumped to a conclusion without getting the facts straight, and now he had made a fool of himself.
Should they turn back now? As the saying went, it wasn't too late to mend the fold after losing a sheep?
Unas didn't want to admit defeat so soon. In theory, there was still a one-in-five chance of guessing the right path. It wasn't time to give up yet.