As they ventured deeper into the cave, encounters with wild beasts grew more frequent. Several times, Joey would have been injured if he had not dodged fast enough.
Gradually, Joey realized things were beginning to spiral out of control. The beasts they encountered grew stronger and stronger, and members of the party began getting hurt.
"Keen, how about we head back?"
Someone was starting to lose their nerve.
"No. We're almost there. Just hold on a little longer, everyone. I'll increase the payment I promised you by thirty percent."
Liquor gave cowards courage, and money swayed hearts. At the mention of extra pay, their urge to retreat faded considerably.
The Silver Laurel blossom hidden against his chest squirmed lightly. Caught off guard, Joey let out a yelp.
"Nothing, nothing!"
He acted as though nothing had happened, but his heart was pounding.
Beyonder characteristics followed the Law of Convergence. The Silver Laurel's reaction indicated that two Sequence potions were attracting each other.
And Keen's destination seemed to lie in the very direction the Silver Laurel was pulling him. Joey could not help frowning.
Wasn't Keen looking for his missing nephew? Why would he end up at an Agate Worm nest? Everyone knew Agate Worms lived in underground crevices and fed on minerals. They looked like caterpillars and were completely harmless.
Sequence pathways were controlled by those in power. Ordinary people had no access to potion formulas. Keen could not possibly be after Agate Worm saliva like him, which left his true objective in question.
Judging by the faces of their companions, they did not know the main purpose of this expedition either. Keen was directing everything.
That overturned Joey's earlier assumption. He had thought these people were a team that had worked together for a long time, and that he had been specifically recruited as cannon fodder.
Looking back now, wasn't this their first time venturing so deep into Carson Mine, too?
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
The Silver Laurel against his chest grew increasingly restless.
Joey casually edged closer to Katrin and asked quietly, "Ma'am, your captain seems pretty stubborn."
The cold had left a thin layer of white frost on Katrin's lips, and even her fiery red hair had been frosted white.
The dangers they had encountered along the way were already difficult for their seven-person team to handle. If someone really was trapped farther in, they were probably long past saving.
To put it bluntly, even their bones would have been nearly gnawed clean by now. There was no need to keep going. Keen's stubborn insistence made Joey suspect he had an ulterior motive.
Without the lure of money, no one would have been willing to take the risk.
Katrin said nothing, but another woman beside her abruptly cut in.
"Scared, are you? Katrin, hurry up and give your little brother a hug. The poor thing's frightened!"
Her voice was loud enough to draw everyone's attention at once.
Joey's expression soured. This woman seemed to have been at odds with Katrin from the start, taking digs at her every so often. Caught between them, he had been subjected to plenty of teasing.
As everyone laughed and joked, Joey happened to look up and met Keen's hawklike eyes. Keen was watching him with a dark sneer.
For no apparent reason, Joey shuddered. Every hair on his body stood on end, and dread seized his heart.
Without a moment's hesitation, he turned and ran, remembering to shout, "Run! Keen's going to kill us all!"
Joey could not be bothered to care whether Keen truly meant them harm. Running was the right choice regardless.
He had never been a gambler, nor could he afford to be. Whenever something felt wrong, he got out first.
As it turned out, Joey's shout did have some effect. Several people turned and fled after him.
Bang!
Joey sprinted without looking back. Suddenly, an invisible wall appeared in front of him. With no time to react, he crashed headfirst into it, leaving him dizzy and dazed.
Bang, bang, bang!
Several others crashed into it right after him. Only then did everyone realize they were trapped inside a transparent barrier of light.
"A Magician?"
"It's a trap!"
The sudden turn of events threw everyone into panic.
Katrin remained fairly calm and quietly moved closer to Joey.
"Clive, you're very clever, and very vigilant," Keen said, watching Joey mockingly.
Then his tone shifted. "But without the strength to back it up, your little tricks will only get you killed faster."
Joey's brow furrowed tightly. His attention had remained on the wall of light, where he could see countless runes and sense the presence of a Foundation Stone.
This was a sacrificial array. Keen intended to use all of them as offerings.
"Captain, what's going on? Has a Transcendent set us up?"
Joey shot the idiot an exasperated eye roll.
"You moron. Keen is the Transcendent."
Joey laid it out plainly. In their current situation, every extra person on their side gave them a little more security.
For all his calculations, he had never expected Keen to be a Transcendent. Now he could only hope Keen's Sequence was not too high, or they would probably have no way out of this today.
"You are the sovereign of the dark world. You are the source of all light. You..."
Keen paid no attention to the others' wariness. Even with a gun pointed at his head, he remained unmoved and continued reciting the sacrificial prayer.
Once the ritual began, it could not be stopped. Doing so would be the greatest disrespect to the deity.
An invisible magnetic field seemed to have appeared within the barrier of light, pinning everyone in place.
What ability was this?
Old Tony often told him about Transcendents' abilities, but he had never heard of anything like Keen's. There were only two possibilities: either Keen was High Sequence, or he belonged to a different Pathway.
Wasn't he done for? He couldn't even move. How was he supposed to escape?
Katrin kept signaling to him with her eyes. Joey looked baffled, taking quite a while to understand that she wanted him to open the pack on her back.
Katrin stood ahead of him and to his left. With their movements suppressed, turning around was extremely difficult for her, but her backpack was close enough for Joey to just barely reach.
His arm felt as though a large stone were hanging from it, and moving it even a fraction was difficult. Gritting his teeth, he struggled for half a minute before finally opening Katrin's backpack. A revolver gleaming with silver light fell out.
Bang!
Without any warning, and with no one needing to operate it, the gun attacked on its own. A bullet burst from its barrel and flew straight at Keen's forehead.
Clang!
His head did not burst apart. The bullet struck Keen's head as though it had hit refined iron, producing a metallic clang.
Although it had inflicted no damage, Joey found that he could move again. The suppressive magnetic field had weakened considerably.
"Katrin, I knew there was something wrong with you! Who exactly are you?" Furious that his carefully laid plan had gone awry, Keen flew into a rage.
Everyone exchanged bewildered looks and backed away. Three groups immediately formed: Keen, Joey and Katrin, and the remaining people huddled together.
Two Transcendents had suddenly emerged from their seven-person team. Anyone would have been stunned.
Katrin lightly swept back her fiery red hair and gathered it into a bun. Smiling charmingly, she calmly picked up the silver revolver from the ground and toyed with it.
"Allow me to introduce myself again. Katrin Winter, Mechanic of the Survey Corps. Keen, you're under arrest."