The elevator descended rapidly, plunging the surroundings into darkness. Only Gess's slightly heavy breathing remained.
"Gess, are you scared?"
Old Hank's teasing voice came from the darkness.
"Scared? Me? I'd be scared?"
As the awakened ones' Flathead Brother, Gess certainly wouldn't back down, even though he was panicking inside.
"You may not be scared, but... I am."
Old Hank raised his arm. His hand was trembling. After serving the Execution Authority for decades, Old Hank knew more or less what was in the basement.
"You can still back out."
Su Xiao spoke from the darkness.
"..."
The three of them fell silent. The choice before them concerned whether they would live or die afterward.
"After using those things, you'll probably die."
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, the elevator stopped. He pushed open the metal-bar door, and flickering firelight illuminated the side of his face.
Old Hank lowered his eyes and followed with a sinister laugh. Reinhardt lifted his foot, hesitated for a moment, then also stepped out of the elevator.
Gess rubbed his fingers together, spat heavily inside the elevator, and then stepped forward as well.
Su Xiao stood before an alloy door nearly five meters tall. The door opened from the middle. Three keyholes were positioned slightly below its center, while a line of text was engraved above them in the Empire's oldest script.
'We walk in darkness for those who yearn for peace—Xiu Losnanle.'
Three keys were inserted into the keyholes. Click, click, click...
The keys turned automatically. With a muffled boom, the metal door slowly opened, revealing pitch-black darkness beyond the gap.
Boom, boom, boom!
Muffled impacts came from deep within the darkness. Even Old Hank and the others could not help feeling their throats go dry as they stared fixedly into the blackness beyond