"Yes, that's right. Don't worry, we'll be very careful."
Alice hung up the phone with Butler Arnold, an expression of utter despair on her face.
"I didn't expect it to cause such a misunderstanding..."
The fake engagement between Geno and Alice was known only to the parties involved and the old patriarch. Even Arnold, who had been the butler for many years, had no idea. Therefore, in the eyes of the servants, Alice's behavior looked exactly like she was eloping with Geno, willing to forsake her family fortune for the sake of love.
But heaven knows, she really didn't think that much when she drove off. As a result, they actually thought the two of them were eloping!
"I feel like I've lost more face today than I have in the past dozen years combined."
Alice curled up in the passenger seat, her face flush with embarrassment. Suddenly, she felt a burst of inertia and slammed her head against the dashboard.
"Ouch!"
"We're here. Get out of the car!"
Geno opened the car door. A colorful, twisted space appeared before the two of them—this was the entrance to the Lemnian Hollow.
"This is the place. The spot where Lucia's Ether finally disappeared is right here."
Geno had calculated the shortest path from Shiguizhai to the Hollow entrance, ultimately deducing that Lucia had entered the Lemnian Hollow from here.
Upon arriving, Geno immediately activated his Ether vision. Sure enough, he discovered traces of Lucia's Ether.
"She hasn't gone too far yet. We should still make it in time."
He then beckoned Alice, and the two walked into the Hollow Fissure.
After a familiar wave of dizziness, Geno's figure materialized inside the Lemnian Hollow.
"So this is the Lemnian Hollow? It's vastly different from the Crete Hollow."
Feeling the Ether concentration in the air—which was starkly different from that of the Crete Hollow—Geno's instincts as an Ethereal leaped for joy. It felt like a large fish that had been stuck in a fishbowl for too long finally returning to the river.
"Compared to the Crete Hollow, the Lemnian Hollow is much larger in scale and erupted much earlier, so the Ether concentration here is correspondingly higher. Besides that, there is also a more unique type of Ether Matter here, known as Filth."
"Filth?"
Listening to Alice's explanation beside him, Geno was drawn to the term 'Filth', a word he was not unfamiliar with.
Wasn't this stuff created by those guys from the Eulogy Society?
It hadn't been long since that grand battle. In fact, ever since then, Geno's body had also contained Filth energy.
According to those lunatics, this energy seemed to be a blessing from the being they worshipped, the guy called the Progenitor?
Although he really wanted to continue this topic, the most important thing right now was to find that lost little sheep and bring her back.
Geno then led Alice, continuously tracking Lucia's Ether trail, and ventured deeper into the Hollow.
Inside the Lemnian Hollow, most of the area swallowed by the Hollow belonged to the Former Zenith Aerospace City, a massive complex of scientific research buildings established during the Old Capital era.
However, due to some special circumstances, the Aerospace City was abandoned. At the same time, the Fall of the Old Capital incident erupted, swallowing the entire Aerospace City whole.
"Is all this Filth?"
Looking at the viscous Filth by the roadside that resembled sewage, Geno revealed a look of disgust.
Even though he possessed this kind of power himself, it really just looked like a stinking gutter.
Moreover, these things would interfere with his perception, making it even more difficult to find Lucia.
"Why don't we go around it?"
Although Alice's suggestion wasn't bad, Geno had another idea.
"Give me a second, I have something I want to try."
Just as Alice was wondering what Geno wanted to do, she saw him extend his palm toward the thick Filth.
Gloop, gloop, gloop~
Like mud, the thick Filth was drawn in by Geno. It immediately condensed into a ball, flew toward him, and was then absorbed by his palm.
This miraculous method left Alice utterly dumbfounded; it was her first time seeing someone deal with Filth in such a manner.
"Alright, let's head over."
"Are you okay? Where did all that Filth go?"
Seeing Geno holding his head, looking as if he had a headache after absorbing the Filth, Alice hurriedly stepped forward in concern.
Fortunately, Geno wasn't seriously hurt; he just had a slight headache due to the memory fragments contained within the Filth.
"I'm fine. Let's hurry up and get moving. Time is of the essence."
After saying that, he shook his head and continued onward.
Along the way, Geno used this method to deal with quite a bit of Filth and Filth Galls—a plant root-like structure formed by the Filth.
However, as the amount of absorbed Filth increased, Geno's condition grew worse and worse. It felt as if countless voices were screaming chaotically inside his head, causing him immense agony.
Despite this, he forced himself to endure, pretending that nothing had happened as he continued to lead the way.
Luckily, there was no more Filth blocking their path later on. This gave Geno a moment to catch his breath and digest the noise in his head.
"It's just up ahead. Lucia's Ether is right here."
Alice looked at the spot Geno pointed to; it was a mine shaft that had already been completely excavated by miners.
"Here? Would there really be anyone here?"
Although Alice hadn't doubted Geno's guidance the entire way—even if she didn't know what he was relying on to find the direction—she couldn't help but feel skeptical at this moment. Would there really be someone here?
After all, one look at the traces left in this mine shaft was enough to tell that it had been abandoned for a long time. It hadn't been maintained for years and could collapse at any moment.
Why would any normal person come running out here in the dead of night?
It absolutely wasn't because she was scared! Absolutely not!
However, what Alice didn't know was that Lucia, who was in a state of sleepwalking, wouldn't consider real-world dangers at all. She would only continuously follow the Night Demon's guidance to move forward.
In the end, under Geno's strong insistence, the two of them turned on their flashlights and walked into the mine shaft.
The environment inside the mine shaft was extremely dark; the flashlights were their only light source.
The faint howling of the wind drifting from the ventilation shafts added an extra touch of terror to the place.
Alice gripped her flashlight, timidly clinging to Geno's arm, as if doing so could provide her with a little bit of a sense of security.
As they ventured deeper, the two were no longer able to distinguish directions. They could only rely on Geno's Ether vision to continue pressing forward.
Whoosh~
"Hah! Thanatos Storm!"
"Awooo!"
Sounds of combat rang out from up ahead; it seemed someone was fighting.
Hearing the noise, the two hurriedly quickened their pace. Soon, they saw the source of the commotion: a Sheep Thirren waving a staff, and a group of Ethereals corrupted by Filth.
The Sheep Thirren was naturally Lucia. Facing the onslaught of the Ethereals, she showed no signs of panic. She continuously waved her staff, summoning Ethereal phantoms condensed from Ether to slaughter the surrounding Ethereals.
Following beside her was a Hati that hadn't been corrupted by the Filth. What surprised Geno and Alice was that the Hati seemed to actually be helping Lucia fight!
____
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