"Did I... move too fast?" Clitopho scratched his head, sensing that something was off.
"This is great! The barriers are all blown open—that's exactly the result we wanted!" Zhiqiong's eyes sparkled as she stared at the blasted mine passage. If Victor Wang and Clitopho weren't there, she would've dived straight into the newly revealed area.
"But… but I've already been abandoned by the Treasure Hoarders. If I try to go back through the path they came from, I'll definitely get caught again. The only way for me to get out of here now is to stick with you all…"
Seeing that Zhiqiong hadn't spared him even a glance, Clitopho turned his pleading gaze toward Victor Wang. If the mine passage hadn't been blown up, he might've had room to negotiate—but now… it had all happened far too fast.
"I don't have the authority to let you officially join the team," Victor Wang said evenly, "but I'll report your contribution to our team leader truthfully. For now, you can come with us."
"Alright, alright! That's enough for me!" Clitopho agreed immediately, then turned to look at the mine passage ahead. "So, are we continuing down this path?"
Zhiqiong perked up her ears, only to see Victor Wang glance back toward the path they had come from.
"Wait. Someone's coming."
"…?"
The three of them stood silently for over ten seconds before Zhiqiong and Clitopho noticed two figures approaching in the distance.
"Victor and Zhiqiong, you two ran off way too fast! If it weren't for that huge explosion, Lumine and I would still be wandering around… huh? Who's that next to you?"
"Hello, both of you. My name's Clitopho."
"How curious—there are other people down here besides us?"
Zhiqiong reminded them, "He's with the Treasure Hoarders."
"Don't say it like that! I've already been kicked out of the Treasure Hoarders, so I'm basically clean now!"
"Uh… I don't really get it," Paimon muttered. "Anyway, Zhiqiong, Sister Jinwu told us to call you back— er, to come back for dinner. The camp's all set up, Khedive and Taliesin are down here too. You should really take a break."
"Huh? Already?"
"Ahem!" Paimon raised her voice and imitated Jinwu's tone, "Check the time. It's already nighttime outside. Time to go to bed."
At that tone, Zhiqiong grimaced as if someone had cast a binding curse on her.
When Paimon finished her imitation, Zhiqiong clasped her hands nervously in front of her, shifting restlessly as her gaze drifted toward the freshly blasted tunnel. "That passage leads to the next area—we drove off the Treasure Hoarders, gathered the bomb specialists, collected explosives, unlocked the mining cannon… it took so much effort to open it. I really want to take a look! Just one area, please? Let me finish mapping it and then we'll go back, okay?"
Paimon planted her hands on her hips. "No way! We're heading back now!"
Victor Wang had never truly stopped her before, and Clitopho had no say in the matter, so Zhiqiong clung to Paimon's shoulders, shaking her back and forth. "Uuuu… please, just this one area!"
"Stop shaking me— I'm getting dizzy! Lumine, help me out here! How do I refuse this?!"
Lumine pursed her lips. "Sister Jinwu never told me what to say after the third line of that argument…"
"Senior," Zhiqiong said quickly, grabbing Lumine's arm and giving it a little shake, "Lumine-senpai, say something too?"
"Uh…"
"With Lumine-senpai here, we'll go and come right back! I'll draw as fast as I can!"
"Senpai~ you're the best~"
"Alright, alright… but it's dangerous here. That strange black sludge—it's harmful to ordinary people. Don't get close to it."
"Got it! Victor already told me. Then let's go!"
"Wait— don't run off like that!" Paimon and Lumine hurried to catch up.
Victor Wang sighed softly, told Clitopho to wait there, and rushed after Zhiqiong.
He could feel the thick Abyssal energy ahead. As he passed through the tunnel, his suspicions were confirmed…
At the center of this area—dubbed "Stony Halls"—floated a fragment of the Celestial Nail. It emitted an eerie blue glow, spherical in shape and inscribed with strange symbols. It was clearly more than an ordinary fragment—more like a core. The air around it was filled with dense, purple-black mists of Abyssal energy, swirling as if eager to drag intruders into the depths.
Fortunately, the steady stream of elemental energy flowing into the Lumenstone produced a purifying light that enveloped Zhiqiong.
"That's the crystal the miners dug up! After that, Lumenstones started spreading all over The Chasm. There must be some connection between them! And it looks just like the fragment Sister Iris mentioned from Dragonspine—"
"You still have the time to worry about that?" Paimon cried. "That fog is from the Abyss—it's toxic!"
"Cough, cough… really? No wonder I'm starting to feel a little dizzy."
Seeing Zhiqiong cough, Victor Wang's expression tightened. He increased the power flowing into the Lumenstone, expanding the light's range—but its purifying strength remained the same. Within the light, there was no mist to cleanse.
Lumine brought her own Lumenstone's light over and overlapped it, but the effect didn't improve—no mist meant no purification.
"Uh… thank you both for worrying, but I'm fine, really! It's just like getting dizzy from riding a bumpy elevator, nothing serious."
Paimon spread her hands. "But neither Lumine, Victor, nor I feel anything like that! Even a little symptom could be a big deal."
"But I don't think it's the fog or the Abyssal energy. It feels more like that crystal fragment—it's the one making me feel sick…"
"The crystal…?" Victor Wang murmured.
Within the range of the Lumenstone, he did feel slightly uneasy. But outside, surrounded by the Abyssal mist, he felt fine. The environment itself was confusing his senses—he couldn't tell if the discomfort came from the crystal or not.
Yet, after hearing Zhiqiong's observation, something clicked.
The fragment here—and the complete Nail ahead—were both surrounded by Abyssal energy emitted from certain devices. But… the complete Nail was visibly bound by active Abyssal flows, while this fragment merely coexisted with the mist—and even caused Zhiqiong discomfort…
Strange… the Nail on Dragonspine never made ordinary people feel anything like this. Could it be that the fragment and the complete structure were fundamentally different? Maybe the core carried contamination while the shell blocked it?
"Keeping the Lumenstone active forever isn't a real solution," Lumine said, scanning the surroundings. "To clear the mist, we have to cut off its source. From what I see, those three mechanisms around the crystal must be the culprits. I'll handle them."
Her keen adventurer's instincts had already spotted the problem. She flew down, Lumenstone in hand, to destroy the Abyssal mechanisms.
Now wasn't the time for analysis. Victor Wang looked at Zhiqiong. "You should step back with me first. We'll return once Lumine finishes."
"It's fine! This kind of discomfort isn't even as bad as seasickness. Besides, this is a great vantage point. Let me finish sketching the map first."
"There's no need to push yourself in this kind of environment."
"Eh? What are you doing—?!"
Victor Wang knew that reasoning wouldn't work on someone like Zhiqiong—words were useless here. But with the situation urgent, there was no time to argue. He summoned a gust of wind, lifting Zhiqiong like cargo and carrying her away.
Unlike when Lumine was alone, having two people made things much easier.
A few minutes later, though they were already far from the Nail fragment, Zhiqiong coughed twice more. She frowned slightly. "Hey, let me go! I just felt the crystal's energy surge, then vanish. That means Lumine-senpai's done!"
So it really was the Nail that caused her discomfort… The connection between the Nail and the Abyss—fighting fire with fire, huh?
Victor Wang sensed the Abyssal reaction fading and exhaled deeply, thoughts swirling. He carried Zhiqiong back.
Sure enough, the Abyssal mist within the Stony Halls had vanished. The core-like fragment was gone too, leaving behind a deep pit where it once floated.
"Phew… that's much better. It really was that crystal. The moment it disappeared, all the uneasiness went away."
Finally freed, Zhiqiong quickly finished sketching the map of Stony Halls, likely haunted by the thought of Jinwu's nagging.
Paimon crossed her arms and mimicked Jinwu's stern voice again. "Satisfied now? Then it's time to head back to camp and rest."
"Mm-hmm!"