Salvos

Chapter 549: Endless Expanse

549. Endless Expanse

It was a city. An underground city. Well to describe it more accurately, it was the ruins of an underground city. And it expanded all around me, encapsulating everything I could see of the second layer.

I blinked. I cast my gaze over the sweeping landscape with round eyes. I saw buildings of all shapes and sizes rising up from the ground. They were round, they were square, they were shaped like stars and like pears. It was nothing like the architecture I saw back in the Mortal Realm. The only uniformity to this city was that there was no uniformity.

It was all so completely haphazard. There was a spire that stabbed out of the ground like a stalactite, but it was actually just another building. I dove past a boulder-tower, before circling around a floating rock.

It wasnt floating by itself it was held in stasis by the corruption. Just like with the hallway, there were entire sections of the city that were completely gone. Vanished away into nothingness. I carefully avoided these blank spots as I raised my head.

It just keeps going

I whispered. The city spanned the entirety of the second layer and it was all just a vast cavern. But it wasnt dark. There was a luminescent moss that was scattered across the city. Just like the moss I could find in the [Basilisk]s Lair. And no matter where I turned, I saw buildings rising in the distance.

But the city didnt just come to a halt over the horizon. Instead, it crawled up the walls of the cavern before hanging off the ceiling. I blinked at the towers that spiked down from above.

Seriously?

I had never seen such a thing before. Sure, I could walk on the ceiling of the hallway. But I assumed that was a result of the corruption. Was it just the nature of the second layer? It had to be. How else could there have been buildings built there before the corruption even existed? Unless these structures were created after the corruption was formed.

I wasnt entirely sure. I just flew onwards, occasionally glancing back and keeping an eye out for the Corrupted Hydras head. Fortunately enough, it didnt follow. It must have returned to its original body. Or maybe it didnt, and now it was wandering the second layer aimlessly in search for me.

I didnt know for sure. I just shook my head and turned my gaze forward. The world sped past me, and I heard a susurration in the distance. A soft whispering that didnt seem to resonate from a single direction. Almost like it was a kind of static a buzzing that invaded my mind itself.

I managed to brush off this sensation and focused on what was ahead. I watched as the cavern expanded ahead of me like a giant tunnel. And it wasnt stretching out in a straight line either. It was curving, turning, burrowing down slowly.

It was like I was atop a mountain, sloping down a steep hill. And the city continued to carpet the ground below. But the further I flew, the fewer buildings I saw. It was an endless expanse. I didnt even know where it led. I just followed this path, hoping I could find something along the way.

But the city began to grow scattered corrupted into nothingness. There were more and more bits of rocks floating in the air just like when I was in my dads home. The moss was mostly gone, replaced by a grass of corruption. Not only that, there were entire sections of the cavern that were entirely blotted out into non-existence. I had to avoid them, because sometimes I wouldnt even notice them until I got close.

The second layer is kinda empty, huh?

The first Corrupted Netherstone had been badly damaged by my [Divine Demons Mark]. It had been the epicenter of the explosion, after all. A large chunk of its body had been completely disintegrated. But still, it was just a floating rock. It could fight on even if it was split in half.

Meanwhile, the second Corrupted Netherstone was still mostly intact. It had two tendrils of corruption aimed my way like spears as I pursed my lips. I glanced past it, looking back at the [Gargoyle] for help.

Hey, why arent you

I started. But the [Gargoyle] let out a chittering cry as it grabbed a large boulder and tossed it my way. I blinked and swerved away from the attack.

The boulder landed in the bubble of non-existence, before freezing. And then it slowly began to fall off as its form began to deform. I watched with wide eyes as pieces of the rock broke off, only for a little bit of corruption to wisp off its figure. It hovered there in stasis like the floating houses and towers, and I turned back to the [Gargoyle].

That took me by complete surprise. The Primeval Demon had attacked me. It hadnt been trying to attack the Corrupted Netherstones at all instead, it attack me. I didnt get it at first. I scowled, turning to face the [Gargoyle] with an annoyed look.

What are you doing? Youre supposed to be

And then I paused. I stared at the [Gargoyle] with narrowed eyes. I started to realize that it wasnt exactly the same as the [Gargoyles] I had seen accompanying Belphegor. It was different. There was only a slight difference there. That was why I hadnt noticed it at first.

The [Gargoyle]s face was slightly distorted. Its eyes glimmered with an iridescent light. And when it brought a hand out, the corruption began to seep from its claws.

I stared, blinking a few times.

Huh. So thats why it isnt attacking them.

[---- Gargoyle - Lvl. ---- ]

[---- Netherstone - Lvl. ---- ]

[---- Netherstone - Lvl. ---- ]

I glanced between the three corrupted creatures. All three of them were significantly powerful nearly as strong as me. And their attention was fixed on me. They charged.

Uh-oh.