Chapter 1018 The Uncanny Bone Spike Dawnchaser's voice was raised, and his eyes expressed his solemn gloominess.
There was a hole in the vine seal. And yet, it wasn't reported, nor was anything done about it. The Paragons guarding the seal have been way too lax in their duties.
But even though Dawnchaser questioned the guards, they couldn't provide a satisfying answer.
They were just as surprised and shocked by the discovery.
"My apologies, Lord Dawnchaser. We have been too careless. I don't think any of us knew when the hole appeared in the seal or why it did, not even who could have done," one of the Peak Paragon-level Golden Suannis said guiltily.
The sealed abyss entrance had been sealed for thousands of years without an issue. And yet, an issue finally appeared on their shift.
The guards felt both ashamed and embarrassed. It was a stain on their honorable names as leaders of the clan.
"Does no one know why this hole appeared or who could have done it?" Dawnchaser frowned.
The Peak Paragon-level Golden Suannis looked at each other and saw the evident confusion in each others' eyes.
No one truly knew what had happened.
"First, the incident with Lord Goldenstride. And now, this," Dawnchaser's frown deepened.
"Someone check on Lord Goldenstride and see if he is still in his cave. If he is, bring him over here. He might be under house arrest, but this is a serious matter, and we need answers."
"Understood, Lord Dawnchaser."
Shortly after, a few Peak Paragon-level Golden Suannis quickly left to summon Goldenstride to their location.
At the same time, the unusual mood around the sealed abyss entrance drew the attention of the other leaders in the clan.
They all started to congregate at the sealed abyss entrance location, whether they were Peak Paragons, Late Paragons, or even Mid Paragons.
News quickly spread around Gran Crevasse within a few dozen breaths, and hundreds of Paragon-level Golden Suannis were gathered.
Nevertheless, more Paragons continued to make their way over once they caught the news.
"What's going on here? Why is everyone gathered around the sealed abyss entrance?" a Mid Paragon-level Golden Suanni inquired while blindly following the crowd.
"You don't know?" a Late Paragon-level Golden Suanni paused to look at the Mid Paragon-level Golden Suanni.
"I heard Lord Dawnchaser and Lord Goldblazer found a hole in the seal when they inspected the site. Everyone is losing their composures because no one knows how long that hole had been there or who made it."
"Oh? Sounds exciting," the Mid Paragon-level Golden Suanni uttered with interest.
However, the Late Paragon-level Golden Suanni frowned at its attitude and said, "Such a serious matter, and you find it exciting… you say?"
"Ahem, sorry, Milord. It was a slip of the tongue," the Mid Paragon-level Golden Suanni fixed his attitude.
Nevertheless, the Mid Paragon-level Golden Suanni wasn't the only one like that.
The long years of idleness had left many Paragons bored. Thus, while some Paragons viewed the incident seriously, some also took it lightly.
Before long, Goldenstride was escorted to Dawnchaser while the gathered Paragons made way for him to pass through.
"Did you do this, Lord Goldenstride?" Dawnchaser cut straight to the chase.
Goldenstride glanced at the hole in the seal and slightly frowned before calmly looking back up at Dawnchaser.
"I was inside my cave the whole time. How could I have done this?" Goldenstride replied.
"No one knows when the hole was made, so it could have been made before you were placed under house arrest, Lord Goldenstride. In any case, you are still the most suspicious suspect."
"How interesting," Goldenstride smiled amusingly.
"Don't you think you said something pretty funny, Lord Dawnchaser? The seal has always been guarded, and yet, not a single guard knew when the hole appeared? Aren't our guards way too lax in their duties?"
"Nevertheless, trying to figure out the cause behind the hole isn't the most pressing issue right now, is it? Why is no one resealing the hole?" Goldenstride asked with a firm tone.
Even though Goldenstride was suspected of creating the hole in the seal, he did not feel any pressure or concern from the accusive gazes thrown at him.
An innocent golden suanni has no need to fear being guilty
Of course, it was a different story if someone was purposely trying to pin the blame on Goldenstride and screw him over.
Fortunately, Dawnchaser concluded that Goldenstride had nothing to do with the hole.
"Go fetch the strongest vines in the jungle. We will patch up the hole and further reinforce the seal," Dawnchaser instructed.
As that happened, a few high-ranking Peak Paragon dropped by the hole for a closer inspection to see if they could learn something from it.
"Hm? Lord Dawnchaser, you should come over here and take a look at this hole," a Peak Paragon-level Golden Suanni quickly discovered a problem.
The hole in the seal wasn't created due to someone sabotaging it—at least, not by anyone from the surface.
None of the vines were damaged.
"The hole was created due to the vines being pulled into the abyss…? That means… the culprit came from the abyss!" Dawnchaser and the other quickly realized.
The hearts of Dawnchaser and the nearby Peak Paragons tightened without a chance to relax as they felt a threatening sense of danger from the hole in that instance.
Danger!
Swoosh—!
Dawnchaser and the other Peak Paragons immediately retreated as a single bone spike suddenly shot out from the hole.
It was unlike any bone spike the entire Golden Suanni Clan had ever seen.
The tip of the bone spike suddenly split into four parts and curled with uncanny flexibility, transforming into a grappling hook-like shape.
"What the hell is this thing?" Goldblazer exclaimed with wide eyes.
However, no one had the chance to wonder.
The moment Dawnchaser and the Peak Paragon-level Golden Suannis saw the bone grappling hook attempt to split the vines and expand the hole, their expressions drastically changed.
"Stop it! It's trying to widen the hole!" Dawnchaser barked while jumping straight into the action.