Legacy of Hatred-Chapter 91: Cliff

Liam went into survival mode, focusing on leaving that place as soon as possible. He had three pouches full of the bright mineral. He had seized a rank 1 magical weapon and a rank 2 Demonic Art. In his mind, his job was more than done.

Melissa shared that conclusion, but couldn’t possibly agree on how Liam was implementing the next step. He sprinted at full speed through the chamber, jumping into the tunnel he had marked with the red trio’s smell before pressing ahead, all while carrying Melissa like a sack of potatoes.

The sudden sprint served to leave the rats behind and clueless, other than to suppress Melissa’s instinctive complaints. Yet, the tunnel rose and twisted, featuring no flat surfaces or proper steps, making for quite a bumpy ride.

Luckily, the tunnel was also wide enough prevent actual bumps, but Melissa felt each jump and sudden acceleration, and that wasn’t the end. She could ignore discomfort and embarrassment for the sake of survival, but the process was about to cross a line she simply couldn’t accept.

Melissa was under Liam’s arm, which was wrapped tightly around her waist, right where her robe’s belt was. Each jump and sharp turn loosened it, gradually unfastening it, literally about to undress her.

"P-put me d-down!" Melissa cried as that critical point drew even closer. "Y-you brute!"

Naturally, Liam hadn’t noticed any of those embarrassing events. He was being as pragmatic as possible, prioritizing practicality, but Melissa’s shout matched the arrival at a crossroads that forced him to stop anyway.

The tunnel split into four paths, two rising, one straight, and one descending. Liam could rely on his nose even there, but he had a faster method at hand, and quite literally at that.

"Climb on my back," Liam suggested, removing his pouches, lowering Melissa to the ground before half-crouching himself.

Melissa adjusted her robe as soon as she was free, but some hesitation arrived afterward. Liam was offering her his back while tying the pouches to his belt, and she couldn’t help but linger in her realization of how broad it was.

Nevertheless, there was no time for youthful embarrassment or surprising appreciation of the male, especially Liam’s, physique.

Melissa suppressed superfluous thoughts and leaned down to wrap her arms around Liam’s neck, doing her best not to consider what she was pressing on that spacious, firm, and muscular back.

That resolve almost crumbled when Liam grabbed Melissa’s thighs and lifted her. His grip was rough as usual, but also firm enough to bring a sense of safety and, mainly, make it undeniable.

Still, Melissa fought the urge to yelp or bury her head in Liam’s hair to point at one of the four tunnels, which he didn’t hesitate to shoot into. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Melissa’s directions became key in navigating what followed. Liam met multiple crossroads that would have wasted a lot of time sniffing through, but Melissa’s knowledge prevented additional stops.

Still, that smooth trailing abruptly ended.

Traces of the previous collapse appeared when the tunnel expanded into a wide area. The rocky corridor transformed into a narrow passage that stood above a vast cliff, its spacious emptiness left behind by the widespread crumbling.

Gaps also interrupted the narrow path, but they weren’t a problem for foundation experts. Instead, the fearsome amount of Qi inside the vast hole was, and the same went for the slithering noises echoing from it.

Then, Liam spotted movement. Something long, green, and scaly was crawling over the rocks below the path. The frightening snake was inside that vast hole, obviously leading to hesitation.

However, that wasn’t all. Melissa grabbed harder on Liam’s collar, but also pointed at a spot above. There, the narrow path ended in a stone passage, probably the same corridor the red team had blocked.

The hall had to be behind the corner, and the magical beasts sounded unaware of Liam and Melissa’s presence. So, Liam stopped hesitating, his steadier grip on Melissa’s thighs conveying his newfound resolve, which he voiced with a whisper.

"Hold on tight," Liam warned, but Melissa had already complied, so he darted ahead, running and jumping over the gaps as fast as possible.

Tense seconds went by. Melissa’s cloaking technique silenced Liam’s steps and landings, but it couldn’t do anything for the falling soil and pebbles they caused by treading on that brittle surface.

A suffocating silence had also invaded the area as soon as the first sliver of dirt fell, but Liam never stopped. He kept running and jumping at full speed, only for an angry hiss to resound when the stone passage was finally in sight.

Liam could only keep running. The hiss echoed, sending his survival instincts into overdrive, but he focused solely on stepping on that escape path and crossing it as quickly as possible.

Ruckus unfolded behind Liam, but he didn’t care. He swiftly crossed the stone passage, sharply cutting through its following corners, until a welcome sight appeared ahead.

The spikes Jason had left behind had finally arrived, now featuring no Qi. Liam promptly summoned his energy while charging at them, unleashing a fully-powered Seismic Palm as soon as he reached them.

The spikes exploded outward into a cloud of dirt and stone shards, which Liam crossed without bothering to close his eyes. Then, the area expanded, showing the partially collapsed hall and its six cracked pillars.

The arrival at the location didn’t slow Liam down at all. He shot directly for the hall’s other side, knowing where the now-hidden tunnel was, but a dangerous silence had descended, and it soon showed its true colors.

By the time Liam was halfway through the hall, rumblings returned, culminating in an explosion of boulders from his right side. Something massive had broken through one of the holes in that wall, shooting at full speed toward him.

And Liam stopped. He had quickly calculated that sudden attack’s trajectory, so he knew that halting his advance was the only way to dodge it.

The quick thinking saved Liam from certain death. As soon as he managed to stop, a giant reptilian head crossed the space in front of him, slamming violently on the wall to his left.

An earthquake took over the hall, but Liam jumped anyway, wanting to cross the scaly barrier now in front of him, only for it to rise. It was unclear why it did that. The event probably had no connection with Liam’s action, but it still cut his leap short.

Liam kicked himself away before he could crash onto those green scales, turning as soon as he landed, only to see the snake’s tail moving erratically as it closed toward him.

Liam changed direction again, spotting a clear path along the wall, only for a shadow to loom over him as soon as he got there, forcing him to jump back.

Before Liam could turn again, something descended right in his face. The snake lowered its huge head in front of him, gradually advancing while its forked tongue flickered in the air.

Liam retreated, but the path behind featured no safety. The magical beast’s tail had blocked that route, coiling on itself to create a closing scaly wall.

And no more path existed after that. Liam had the triangular head on his left and the rest of that scaly body in front of him and to his right. He could try a reckless jump again, but the forked tongue suddenly invaded his vision, forcing him to retreat, only for the rocky wall to stop him after a single step.

The magical beast coiled itself more around that wall, trapping Liam while the reptilian head twisted toward him and hovered above his face, blowing foul breath that dispersed the cloaking vapor.