Still shaken, the Alpha Team captain fled at full speed for nearly half an hour before slowing slightly and glancing back at the pitch-black tunnel with lingering dread.
Strange. Why isn't anyone chasing me?
Even if they're slower than me, there should at least be some sign of them, right? Have they set an ambush at the exit, waiting for me to walk into their trap?
Rumble!
Just as he puzzled over this, the entire passage suddenly shook violently, sending loose fragments of stone raining down.
He nearly wet himself in fright!
Holy shit! Do you have to be this ruthless?
You want me dead, but do you really need to collapse the entire tunnel and bury me alive? Just how angry are you?!
If I get buried this deep, I'll probably have to wait a thousand years for someone to dig me up as a fossil!
Scared out of his wits, he could only muster every last ounce of strength and keep sprinting toward the exit...
At the underground lava lake, the entire Underground Space shook violently. Huge chunks of rock fell intermittently, splashing into the crimson magma and sending showers of molten rock into the air.
Countless black roots, each like a giant python, began thrashing all at once.
Under the Long-Lived One's control, they pulled free of the ground where they had been rooted for so long and surged out of the Magma Lake amid torrents of magma. Then they crossed and intertwined, gradually enclosing the Long-Lived One's entire body.
As though woven by an invisible hand, an entirely black, spindle-shaped object slowly took shape within the Underground Space.
Below the lava lake, the Long-Lived One's withdrawal of their roots was like pulling out a stopper. Vast quantities of scorching magma from the asthenosphere began pouring