New Gods of North America

A small oil lamp, capable of focusing light in one direction, illuminated the darkness.

Beyond the double doors lay a downward-sloping passage.

This layout didn't surprise Wayne much.

Logically, the 'secret room,' accessed from the main hall, typically served one of two purposes during its design:

Either an 'escape route' for the owner's emergency use,

or a more public 'storage room,' perhaps for treasures belonging to the 'family' rather than the owner 'personally,' or for items with less specific users—at the low end, things like cigars, wine, or expensive ham.

The former required connection to the outside world, while the latter needed relatively stable storage conditions, like 'constant temperature and humidity.'

But either way, it would certainly require digging 'deep'; it wouldn't be full of stuff right at the entrance.

Inessa seemed to share Wayne's view, but was more direct:

"Be careful. With this kind of layout, there usually aren't any 'observation points,' but there are likely 'traps.'"

Linna didn't speak after entering, holding her small lamp and looking around.

She was clearly trying to figure out the best way to proceed.

Wayne, however, noticed something else:

After entering the enclosed space, neither Inessa nor Linna seemed to have any 'scent.'

Inessa didn't mind Wayne sniffing her, and even explained, "For hunters, extra scents can lead to hunting failure. It's something to avoid."

Linna, who usually carried a fragrant breeze, pushed Wayne slightly. "That's the scent Peter emits. The fragrance is deliberately used to create an illusion, to confuse trackers. Of course, you can't just spray perfume."

Wayne gave a small "Oh," feeling that the devil was indeed in the details, and then saw the giant spider Peter doing something in the darkness below.

A 'electric net' suddenly crackled.

The three carefully descended the stairs, Inessa obediently staying at the rear, explaining some potentially useful knowledge to Wayne.

"For hunters, it's usually necessary to master ways to safely trigger traps. I've been a little too reliant on using extraordinary abilities to 'touch' things, so now I might be worse off than some old hunters who rely entirely on knowledge and experience. That's not a good thing."

That being said, when they reached the 'electric net,' Inessa was still familiar with the process, cooperating with Linna to check the situation, and then working together to 'disarm the trap.'

They passed through the disabled 'electric net,' dodged a magic circle of unknown purpose, and dismantled a holy symbol.

As they descended deeper, Wayne soon felt the same 'suffocating feeling' he had experienced in the academy's chapel.

His breathing was normal, but he just felt a little breathless.

Finally, Linna opened another hidden door in a storage-like space. In Wayne's minimalist vision, he saw a 'fog gate' that seemed to lead to another world.

With the tension of possibly encountering a 'BOSS,' he stepped inside, only to find a seemingly ordinary small room.

Even Wayne knew at this point that he had entered a space similar to a 'magic circle.' The suffocating feeling instantly became 'heavier.'

The room's center and surroundings held long-burning lamps. The floor was covered in lines and mysterious symbols, either drawn or laid out with powder.

In the center of the small room stood a statue. It might have originally been a glorious image of someone holding a sword aloft, with multiple wings of light on their back, and demons under their feet.

But now it was covered in black cracks, its eye sockets filled with black bloody tears, and its sword and clothing seemed to be decaying and rusting.

In front of the statue were two stone platforms, which appeared to be antiques, or contemporary imitations that had been 'aged.'

They were covered in strange carvings and showed signs of weathering. Placed in the room, they had a strange sense of 'connection.'

"This is...?"

Wayne wanted to get closer to examine the statue's details.

But when he turned his head, he saw that Inessa and Linna had already tacitly begun to retreat, waving him over.

The so-called 'fog gate' didn't actually exist to the naked eye.

After Wayne turned around, he thought for a moment, and a question escaped his lips. "This should be the Light Church's 'Dawn of...'"

Then Linna pressed her palm over his mouth.

"Shhh! Let's go back and talk."

Although he wasn't sure what was going on, sometimes it was best to listen to the professionals when you were uncertain.

Wayne followed Linna, preparing to pass through the 'fog gate.'

Then he found himself 'hitting a wall.'

Huh?!

The previously non-existent 'fog gate' suddenly seemed to turn into a soft 'solid.'

Wayne found himself instantly in an almost completely dark space, with only the statue behind him as the only 'light source.'

The 'cocoon' within him, containing those 'undigested' extraordinary powers, suddenly broke open.

The extraordinary power within was instantly consumed, filling his entire 'mana bar,' like a soda bottle that had been vigorously shaken, with pressure constantly trying to burst out from the inside.

A majestic voice thundered in his heart, not in 'human language,' but Wayne found that he could vaguely understand the meaning and the angry emotion contained within—

"How dare you?!"

No,

I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense.

Buzz—

Spiritual intuition suddenly gave a warning, and tinnitus rang in his ears.

Before Wayne could react, his body suddenly fell, his face slamming directly into the ground.

All the bones in his body seemed to 'soften' or be pulled out, and his skin and muscles seemed to melt.

His self-healing ability kicked in reactively, running at 'maximum power,' frantically consuming the spiritual power in his body to maintain his state.

That was the physical state he could directly feel. Mentally, it was like suffering a huge impact.

He felt like his soul and spirit had been scattered, vibrating like a tuning fork that wouldn't stop.

Crap, am I going to die like this?

In a daze, Wayne continued to crawl towards the 'fog gate,' relying on his memory.

He must look terrible like this... not handsome at all.

Reaching the edge of the dark space, he struggled to move his arm, which felt like it was broken, relying on nerve and muscle twitches.

His 'mana bar' had been depleted, the pressure gone, becoming a simple '100%.' The spiritual power within was still decreasing, like a container with a hole in the bottom, and he felt that it would soon be exhausted.

Wayne tried to pour spiritual power into the 'walls' of the dark space, trying to blast an opening.

This was a simple problem of 'a pool being drained by two pipes at the same time, asking when it will be emptied,'

But Wayne no longer had the mind to think about it carefully.

Anyway, in the end, Wayne didn't even have the strength to retract his finger before the 'explosion,' and only seemed to hear the sound of glass shattering.

After the 'darkness' was blasted open, it suddenly burst, and he returned to the 'surface' like a drowning man, gasping for breath before his spiritual power was exhausted.

Inessa, who had been hugging herself, saw this scene, the scarlet in her eyes gradually fading, and together with Linna, who had given up praying, bit their lips and dragged Wayne out to the outer storage room.

Even the giant spider Peter came over to help pull him a few times, his long legs poking Wayne's flesh painfully.