Chapter 277: Underground Facility [3]
When Aina and Eve sensed the presence behind them, the two immediately became alert. A dark energy coalesced in Eve's palm, and the sword in Aina's hands glowed brightly.
With blinding speed that Nox could barely follow with his eyes, they spun. Aina's sword flashed towards the intruder, and the dark energy in Eve's palm shot out!
BOOOM!
"Shit!" Nox cursed. Activating Divine Velocity, his body seemed to flicker as he moved out of the trajectory of both attacks simultaneously.
Though he had escaped the attack, he felt the brush of death. One moment later, and he would've found himself back in the Pantheon of Mythical Beasts without fulfilling the reason for coming to Eos in the first place.
It was only after the attack that the two women realized who the supposed intruder was.
"Nox!"
"Disciple."
The two exclaimed at the same time.
"Hi, Mom, Master." Nox displayed an awkward smile on his face. "I didn't expect to find you two here."
Of all the people he expected to see here, he never imagined it would be these two. But a question loomed in their minds... what were they doing here of all places?
Before he could ask, Aina beat him to it.
"What are you doing here?" Aina shot an inquisitive look at her son.
Nox responded calmly, "I was curious about where the beasts were coming from, so I decided to follow their trail and..." He paused, his gaze sweeping across the cavern.
"I didn't expect it to come from the same place I awakened my class," he concluded, a slightly dazed expression on his face. Five years ago, he had come here and could have sworn there was nothing strange or suspicious.
Maybe it was because I was so focused on awakening my class, he pondered seriously. That had to be it. If only he had explored the rest of the cavern, perhaps he could have warned others about this years ago.
But there was also a bitter truth to consider. Even if he had discovered something wrong with this place, who would have believed him?
"Nox, I know you and your father possess similar classes, but he never told me about his pantheon god," Aina said, breaking the silence. "If you don't mind, can you tell me about this statue? Is she really the beast-taming patron goddess?"
Eve also nodded. She was just as curious, wondering why she felt such an unusual peace in this woman's presence. Unlike the others who were clueless, she had little knowledge about the beast-taming class and the relationship between the Beast Taming Goddess and the Goddess of Death and Life.
Her knowledge, however, was only a tidbit of information she had learned from the Supreme Queen. Even then, she didn't know the exact appearance of the Beast Taming Goddess, nor did she think the Queen did either.
After all, this class was very rare, and only a handful of people knew about it. Though now, because of the peace she felt, she was beginning to suspect that this goddess could actually be the sister of Nyx.
"You're right. She's indeed the beast-taming patron goddess," Nox said, seeing no point in hiding it anymore. He trusted these two with his life.
So that's why I felt at peace, Eve thought as she stepped closer to the statue and ran her hand over it, her eyes shining with reverence and admiration.
This... this was indeed the sister of Nyx—the one she loved most.
She's the only god who didn't despise the necromancy class. Eve was usually stoic, but she felt a bit conflicted in her heart right now.
Then Aina asked in a serious tone, "Do you think she has something to do with this beast tide?"
"No," Nox shook his head. "She's not the one... I mean, she has no reason to do something like this."
Besides, if she were planning such a thing, she could have informed me in the Pantheon... Nox thought but didn't speak aloud. If the two found out that he could somehow go to the divine realm and speak with the gods, it would arouse a chain of questions Nox wasn't prepared for at the moment.
"I think we should check out the rest of the cave. Maybe we'll find the cause of this rampage," Nox suggested. Earlier, he had seen several tunnels branching into separate parts of the cavern.
"Yes, we'll split up and search each tunnel," Aina readily agreed. She opened her mouth to say something else, but the cavern suddenly trembled.
Rumble! Rumble!
The stalactites on the roof of the cavern trembled, threatening to dislocate and rain down due to the intense shaking.
Nox, Eve, and Aina quickly hid behind a huge boulder. Just a few seconds later, a horde of beasts poured out from one of the tunnels in a uniform line, rushing towards the giant opening, which was also the entrance leading outside the cavern.
The third wave, Nox thought with a dark expression as he detected the presence of over twenty King-tier beasts and thousands of intermediate-tier ones.
Without a doubt, this wave contained the strongest beasts yet, and it took a lot of willpower for Nox not to jump in there.
After what felt like a minute, the wave of beasts left the cavern. .net
Outside, Bridget, who was still trying to breach the invisible barrier, froze as she recognized the hooves of the beasts. Without wasting a single second, she moved out of the way, standing on the same branch Eve and Aina had stood on moments ago.
"So many King-tier beasts." Aina's eyes flashed sharply as she saw the horde of beasts. Then an idea struck her.
"Maybe if I help get rid of the beasts, I can get that boy to owe me a favor," she thought, a mischievous smile on her face. With a burst of speed, she lunged into the beast horde.
Meanwhile, inside the cavern, Eve, Aina, and Nox had split into the different tunnels.
Just a couple of steps inside, Nox encountered a robed figure.
***
Confused about The sister of the necromancy Goddess? Refer back to chapter 36: Beast Tamer and Necromancer.