My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 253: Buried Wealth

The strange creature continued its chattering screeches as it pointed one of its overly long fingers in the direction of the oasis at the centre of the city. 'I can't tell if it's trying to warn us that that is where the danger will come from, or if that's where we need to go to avoid it.' The creature took a few tentative steps towards them, causing Shadow to become even more guarded.

The creature stopped its actions as soon as it saw the goblins reaction. The screeches that followed almost sounded distressed to Kace. Even though they did not speak the same language, a lot could be conveyed in someone's tone alone. It was giving Kace the feeling that they were short on time. He had no intention of potentially being put in a worse spot, and there was a good chance this creature could reunite them with their comrades.

"Shadow, just let it do what it needs to do."

"Why the fuck would we do that!"

"It might be our only chance to find the others. Besides, I honestly feel like it's trying to help us."

Shadow eyed the creature warily, he was conflicted between following his own instincts or his Lord's orders. Eventually, he conceded. He owed it to his Lord to put his faith in him. 'I doubt it can surprise him anymore now that he is aware of how it operates. With the two of us on guard, it should not even think of being able to take us out.'

Kace turned his cautious gaze back to the creature. 'I hope I'm right about this.' He reached out towards it with his free hand in a friendly gesture. The creature's body shivered in what seemed to be excitement. Probably because its intentions had been realised. It walked slowly over to the two, this was most likely to show that it held no hostile intentions, as it reached a hand out to each of them. 

As they took one of its hands each, the sands beneath their feet began to swirl like a mini-tornado. An earthquake seemed to shake the city while this was happening. Although they did not know the reason for it, they felt a fearful aura emanate from the creature they were holding on to. Kace looked towards the centre of the city, where the oasis was situated. 

The rumbling beneath their feet became more severe, and then, water erupted into the air from the direction of the oasis. A humongous silhouette could be seen inside the watery pillar as a change occurred in their footing. Before Kace could get a glimpse of the monster, they sunk into the sand. Kace closed his eyes and relied on his phantom head to understand what was going on.

Somehow, the creature was managing to swim through the sand with ease while dragging the pair along. They seemed to be heading in a direct line to further beneath the city. 'Could this guy be an inhabitant of the city?' Kace thought that this was plausible. If the creature in the oasis was akin to a natural disaster, then they would, of course, evacuate the city.

If they were all capable of moving through the sand, then it would explain the sudden disappearance of an entire city. 'Do they have some kind of shelter built underground?' Kace was pleasantly surprised to find that he had no difficulty in breathing despite being submerged in sand. 'This should be the effect of whatever he was doing before we dove underground. Still, I'm not opening my eyes. I don't want to risk going blind!'

The journey lasted another half hour by Kace's estimates before they burst through the ceiling of a chamber. They fell towards the ground head first, but all three of them managed to twist their bodies mid-air and land on their feet. Kace shot a look up towards where they had emerged from, expecting the loose sand to follow them.

However, the ceiling was made of smooth, unmarked sandstone slabs. 'So, they can even move through more solid objects without disturbing them.' At least, for now, he did not have to worry about becoming drowned in a sea of sand. Now that his anxiety was out of the way, Kace took the opportunity to look around.

The chamber they were in must have been set aside for people arriving like they had. Kace concluded this since it was completely barren. The only thing of note was that the entire chamber was created from the same sandstone slabs they had passed through. There were no guards which alleviated the concerns that Shadow had previously held.

Speaking of which, the goblin cursed and complained about having been submerged in the sand for so long. Clearly, he was not ecstatic with his latest experience. The creature seemed to no longer care about them, as if it had completed some set objective. It did not even bother to check if they followed behind it as it set off down the corridor.

Perhaps it just did not care since there was no real point in attempting to communicate since they could not understand each other. After sharing a glance with Shadow, Kace shrugged his shoulders and decided to follow the creature. Hopefully, they could find someone that they communicate with. 'Maybe Sophia is here, and she can shed more light on the situation.' 

Kace thought that this would be likely since the whole city had been evacuated. As long as the army had not set off for a battle, then they should have still been stationed here. 'It all depends on whether Sophia decided to wait for me before making her move. Hopefully, we can find Grugda and Lilly soon as well. Then there's the ruler of the city, shouldn't they have been waiting to welcome us when we were guided here?'

There were plenty of questions running through Kace's mind right now. The foremost right now was the question of the nature of the beast that emerged from the oasis. 'If it's not as difficult as I imagine then maybe I can put its DNA to use.' Of course, he was not contemplating putting himself through the procedure to purify his DNA again so soon.

Instead, it was a matter of planning for the future. He had to continuously find more powerful creatures to absorb into his own being if he wanted to push his limits. 'A creature that can make a whole city evacuate must hide enormous strength. The question is, how does it rank compared to the Hydra?'

The passageway that they were travelling through began to show signs of colour. The same blue and gold patterns painted on the buildings of the city started to appear on all surfaces. Kace noticed that they were far better maintained than their surface counterparts. He even began to wonder if this shelter was more important than the city itself.

It was only as he considered this matter that Kace noticed something. 'Night Eye hasn't activated!' Kace was bewildered for a moment. He never thought about it as it was something that he used automatically to see in pitch-black areas. However, right now, he could see as clear as day without it.

Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the sandstone itself was giving off light that illuminated the area. 'You wouldn't even notice unless you paid close attention.' It was entirely novel to Kace's mind. 'If the sandstone in the city is the same, then it should be quite a sight at night. They must use something different for the interior of the buildings though. Otherwise, how would anyone get any sleep?'

Before long, the corridor opened up into a city-sized room. Buildings were built inside the room at various levels with sandstone bridges connecting different areas. Kace's eyes went wide as he beheld the sight. There were thousands of the same strange creature that guided them going about their lives. 'It's even larger than the surface city!'

Kace quickly estimated that there were more citizens here than the city with the oasis could hold. 'Is the surface city something like a dummy? No, that shouldn't be the case. Don't tell me!' Kace glanced around at the elaborate decorated, well-maintained buildings. 'Fuck! The entire surface city is this one's slums!'

It was quite a culture shock to Kace's mind. The more he looked at it, the more confident he became. While slums might not be the best term, it certainly gave him that impression compared to this underground city. 'So this should be where the rich or more powerful members of their race lives. At the same time, the city above would distract any invaders from looking for where their true wealth is kept.'

It was undoubtedly devious, as by using these two tiers of society in this manner, they could give the impression that they had nothing really worth taking. At the same time, they could sacrifice the more impoverished members to protect the more influential citizens. Just then, a familiar voice entered his ears.

"Kace! You're here!"