The pressure within the dense darkness grew stronger and stronger, as though it would crush everyone flat.
It came from inside their bodies, from their minds, and there seemed to be no way to ease it.
The goblins' screams and agonized wails rang in their ears.
The Chinese word for goblin contained the character for monster, but they were nothing like China's physically powerful monsters. They were close relatives of house-elves, and compared with wizards, they could even be called frail.
The pressure overhead kept mounting, as though the ceiling were steadily descending day by day, pressing down evenly on everyone.
All sorts of Alchemy Devices flashed incessantly, but they failed to save the goblins' lives. With a scream from Goblin A, a muffled sound suddenly came from the darkness, like a tin can being crushed until it burst.
The thick smell of blood filled everyone's nostrils, and the fear of approaching death began to spread.
Kreleg whimpered, trying to cry for help, to appeal to the figure radiating a faint golden light. But the crushing pressure turned his cries into strange, incoherent mumbling.
Bill was suffering too, but his sturdy physique and a wizard's instinctive distortion field allowed him to hold on. Kneeling on one knee, he forced a few words through clenched teeth:
"Damn it... Zhang... what's happening?"
Golden light also shone in Zhang Xiao's eyes, but all he could see was darkness. The pressure was still easy for him to bear. Though it was slowly increasing, it remained a long way from his limit.
The Eastern and Western Dream Teams in his earpiece and Far-Seeing Mirror were thinking furiously. No one spoke lightly, because any useless conclusion would waste time or potentially create further difficulties.
Countless thoughts churned through his mind. From death to rebirth, a road