Not a single part of her body was normal. Every inch of her skin was broken. Every bone, every muscle.
'How did I survive?' She could feel her body but couldn't move it.
'Are… they alive?' She couldn't open her eyes. Her hearing was also non existent.
It was like she was thrown into a darkness. A hell where she could only be tormented for eternity.
Even surviving right now was a miracle and her own initiative.
Right when the Abyss duke asked Crimson to sense something underground, she used her water powers.
Jumping into the air, she formed water hands to push her teammates.
Right then, the explosion occurred.
She didn't know if she pushed them far enough.
Explosions intensity decreased exponentially with distance. That meant a few meters could decide life and death.
'Did I save them…?'
They were only level 5. Unlike her, they couldn't use dual defenses.
'I'm sorry.' Sarah apologized.
Maybe she should've just listened to them. Just quit the mission.
But this level of risk was unexpected. She knew the danger from explosives and was alert.
But neither she nor Crimson found them.
She never entertained the thought of explosives hidden under the floor.
Because the alloy made for the floor itself was very hard, for the explosion to actually hurt them would require a huge reserve of explosives.
This was the main hideout in the dungeon, not a warehouse of explosives.
Or so she thought.
"Arhg",
At last, she was able to open her eyes. The building, walls, everything was gone.
Beside her laid the grey faced Abyssal.
He was in a better position than her. He must have kept the defensive treasure ready.
However, there was a gaping hole in his chest. His heart was punctured.
He too had little time.
"Cough, cough." Blood trickled down his lips with each cough.
His throat seemed to be barely working, and he spoke in a hoarse voice.
Sarah's hearing slowly returned…
"—yone will die." He smirked, his face covered with his blood couldn't hide his pride.
Sarah wanted to move and strangle him to death.
Her luck was bad enough. She leapt into the air to escape, but after explosion fell right beside this abomination.
She did the only thing she could do at the moment. She glared at him with all her hatred.
'Not everyone… at least Varian is alive. He is like her.' She thought back to the eccentric junior and her face relaxed.
'What if he entered here? I can't rule out.' She frowned. She didn't understand Varian much, but he was different from normal people.
The Abyssal duke looked at her changing expression and sneered. "You're still hoping? Keke."
"I don't like taking chances. If I do something, I do it thoroughly." He stated.
Perhaps because he was going to die, and he knew it, he spoke his heart out.
"I wanted to assassinate your teammates one by one. But doing it outside meant there is a chance for escape." He looked into her eyes and declared.
"You all must die. So I revealed the location. You could've backed off. That'd be good for me." He grinned. "Then next time, you won't be able to find the location."
"But if you came in," his face showed a cruel and almost savage smile, "I'll kill you all, even if I die."
"Those other bugs should've died, but because of you, they are also barely alive." He twisted his neck and glanced in the other direction.
Sarah tried to move, but she couldn't.
However, despite knowing they would all die, she was relieved and her throat finally moved. She uttered "th-ey..w-l-ive"
'They will live' was what she wanted to say.
Perhaps Lucas could survive? He was a body awakener and had great physical defense and resilience.
If only he could move slightly and give the healing potion to others, their chances of survival would increase.
Sarah hoped. And prayed.
The Abyss duke watched her intently and chortled. His voice was drying out. "I said I will kill you all with certainty."
"Cough. " He coughed and continued, "Look to your right. This is what you came for. And this will kill you and everyone."
Sarah's breath stagnated, and she used all her strength to turn.
As she turned her neck, she spasmed in pain. It was like all the nerves in her body were cut at once.
Then she saw it.
A large circular formation. There was a barrier surrounding it, which slowly faded out.
The glyphs, the runes, and the arrays.
Cross Tunneling Formation!
Only then did Sarah realize there was another floor below.
After the blast, all walls and floors basically vanished.
They collapsed and crashed onto the final floor. The floor which held the Cross Tunneling Formation.
At that moment, there was only one thought going through Sarah's mind.
'If I were to die anyway, then at least if my death meant CTF falls into the hands of the army, I'd be happy.'
This was the last thing she could do, and she hoped someone from her team would heal and take the CTF.
She held no hopes of survival. Even if one of them miraculously survived, it'd take hours. By then, she'd be long done.
"One bug is twitching. He might wake up." The Abyss Duke spoke.
Hope glimmered in Sarah's eyes.
The Abyss duke's words mercilessly crushed them. "I said you'll die for sure. That thing will explode in a minute."
Sarah gave up.
Everything was over now.
Then she heard…his voice.
***
Varian peered through the smoke and dragged his injured body.
When the blast happened, he was half a kilometer away. Despite that, he was inflicted some serious wounds.
Without even thinking, he ran to the site. There was a huge cavity in the location where the building previously existed.
It was like a large cone was carved out of the land.