Return of the Fallen Volume 11 Chapter 29
Now that Marty was aware of what Kazuki was doing, she had no problem with him testing the ki and blood. She as well gladly joined. Whether it was because she was highly into researching this place or because she had been bored for god knows how long, she seemed to enjoy this all a little too much.
In the end, Kazuki and Marty stomped and screamed their heads off for well over an hour. In that time, there were almost 30 sandworms in total that showed up. Using ki as a barrier, the worms could not pinpoint them by searching for their souls. Instead, they were located through their stomping and shouting.
In the same way as before, the worms would narrow in on the pair’s exact spot before opening their mouths, preparing to devour a soul. Of course, every time this happened, Kazuki and Marty would do the same thing. Since they were still covered in Kazuki’s blood, they would simply flick a drop directly into the nostrils inside of the worm’s mouth, causing it to freak out and flee. Curiously, Marty tried her own blood, but the results weren’t as great. Yes, the worms freaked out but their reactions were much weaker. They would basically just shake it off before trying to attack again.
Marty’s blood was annoying, while Kazuki’s blood was vomit-inducing and seemingly painful. When all was said and done, the two were surrounded by mucus but this time they had actively avoided it all.
“This is too intriguing. There really is something awful in your blood compared to mine. To think these worms could be avoided with a mere drop of blood. Not only that, I don’t know if they are doing it purposefully or not, but after the first 30 minutes or so, the worms that have responded to our screams and movement decreased significantly. Are they communicating with one another to avoid this place…to avoid us? I want to learn more.”
“I’m also interested, but Marty, don’t you think we ought to get going soon before the day is lost?”
Marty remembered their other purpose and thought of something.
“Right, the ruins. Shall we proceed?”
Hoping on the glider, the two landed near the center of the ruins, where the biggest building sat. Coming to the entrance of something that looked like a pyramid, Marty gave a warning.
“Before we head down, there’s something ya need to be aware of. these pyramids have a few traps within them.”
“Traps? I thought you’ve already been in these ruins before, didn’t you already activate them or did you just bypass them and left them for me, heh.”
Marty was not smiling.
“Jentson this part is serious. There are various traps within all of the ancient ruins I’ve come across so far. These ruins though are irregular. It doesn’t matter if you’ve set the traps off before, the traps, they reset. Not only do they reset but some of them also change. I don’t know why this is but some of these traps are good enough to even stop the sandworms and send them running the other way.”
(Traps that reset themselves and change. Is this also a mix of old tech and new? Is it magic?)
“Once we go in, we have to be cautious. If ya don’t agree to this, then I won’t go in with ya. What do ya say, old kid?”
“I may be old but I ain’t ready to kick the bucket quite yet. I’ll follow your lead.”
Marty smirked.
“Your earlier testing of the worms would have me doubt those words but Ya haven’t disappointed me yet.”
Entering the pyramid, it was pitch black. For a Demigod, this was absolutely nothing and it would still seem like day to their powerful eyes. Kazuki also had no trouble with absolute darkness. Inside and outside, for his eyes, it was exactly the same.
“Jentson, are ya ok, for ya it must be rather dark, right?”
Kazuki chuckled inwardly before replying.
“I’m fine, I’m using my ki to enhance my vision.”
Marty was interested and immediately tried sending ki into her eyes. Suddenly things became a little bit dull in her eyes. It was as if there was a thin veil in front of her eyes. She could still see perfectly fine, but it was a little annoying.
“Wow, you have to look at the world like this when you’re in the dark. It’s not too bad, but it’s definitely not something I’d want to deal with longer than two seconds. Ki really is an interesting lesser energy.”
Kazuki didn’t know whether or not to take that as an insult or a compliment.
“Since you see how my vision is, please continue leading the way.”
“Of course. I can’t have the old kid tripping over his own feet in the dark, heheha.”
Pillars left and right. All seemingly made from the same material as the ground outside. The pyramid, similar to the towers, had a change in space. The outside was no bigger than a hill, a broken hill at that but the inside was more like a small mountain. The inside was simple enough and had nothing extra. It was just walls and pillars. No decoration, no words, paintings, it was bare.
“Come, the top layer is always like this. There’s nothing to see here.”
Kazuki took a glance upward toward the top and saw a small inverted pyramid. He remembered the outside didn’t have a pyramid top, but there was an inverted one at the top of the ceiling.
(Weird.)
The pair found the stairs and headed down. Just before they touched the ground for the first layer, Marty stopped Kazuki.
“This is where it all begins. We must move carefully from here on out.”
Kazuki nodded.
Marty then proceeded to slowly tap the floor at the bottom of the steps. Kazuki thought this might be a bit of overkill right off the bat, but that would prove to be false. After one or two taps, nothing happened, but on the third, several spikes came flying out of the wall right toward her foot. Marty pulled back in time and nodded.
“Ok, this trap isn’t too difficult. It doesn’t respond to the first two moves but will attack on the third tap. This means we can take two steps, but on the third, we need to be prepared to dodge the spikes.”
“Wait, it responds on the third tap, how can a trap know the difference?”
Marty shrugged.
“Another mystery I don’t currently have the answer for. All I can say is whoever made it is both brilliant and stupid.”
“Why’s that?”
“These traps, at first appearance they may seem complicated but after you know how they work, they are easy to navigate. It’s like it wasn’t designed by an actual person that can think outside of the norm.”
Kazuki’s immediate thought was a computer or rather a program that was made for this.
(Considering the tech involved, it could in fact be a program but then where is the source of power that’s kept this place running for thousands of years?)
“Marty, is the power source the same as the tower?”
Marty once more shrugged.
“Can’t say for sure, seeing as I’ve never found it. It could be but that would only lead me to more questions, such as how has it not run out of power after all this time? Anyway, if we want to get deeper before it gets late, we need to not stop every two seconds for conversations.”
Marty then grabbed Kazuki around his hip and carried him forward. This was a little embarrassing, but he could not break the character of being a weaker old man. After two steps forward, Marty said.
“Ok, once I jump, the spikes will come chasing after us. I’ll dodge and then the spikes will retreat but that will be my next first step, so we’ll have one after that before the spikes are ready to attack again. I’m just saying this now so ya don’t freak out on me because even if we’re quick, we’re gonna get cut no matter what.”
“What?”
“Here goes!?”
Before Kazuki could protest. Marty leaped forward and managed to cover almost 15 feet before the heavy weight of this decaying world brought her back toward the ground. She was slightly surprised because she thought she could jump a little further with Kazuki, but he was heavier than she anticipated, so she stumbled slightly.
Hundreds of spikes came flying out of the walls, ground, and ceiling all at once. Marty instantly circulated her ki and she regained her balance. Her strength multiplied severalfold, and she grabbed Kazuki and jumped forward once more. This time she covered nearly 90 feet before she landed. The spikes retreated back into the walls, and the steps were reset. Marty looked at Kazuki with confusion.
“Jentson, why are ya so damn heavy? I thought we were actually about to die for half a second.”
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