Author: 冬瓜茶仙人 / Winter Melon Tea Immortal
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 183
“Don’t touch,” Charlie said softly, reaching out to steady the unsteady Prima.
Prima withdrew her hand that was about to touch the wall.
This was the second time she had come down this stone staircase leading underground. Just like she remembered, it was cold and damp. Perhaps because it was built underground, the junction of the steps and the walls was covered with fuzzy moss, which looked even greener under the light from the fluorite.
There were more small stones or some unknown debris on the floor now, and Prima almost tripped over them.
Given that someone had recently rushed out of this passage engulfed in flames, she decided not to investigate what exactly was on the ground.
Charlie sensed her tension and moved a little faster to position himself in front of her, making Prima follow behind him.
He moved slowly, not only to match the pace of the exhausted Prima but also to carefully observe the various doors they passed.
As he had previously speculated, most of the doors near the exit were early experimental models. The doors, too small for an adult to pass through, used animal power as their medium. Some had only a doorframe or lacked handles and couldn’t be opened, indicating they were likely failures. The corresponding clock hands were all stationary.
Charlie hadn’t yet figured out the meaning of these clocks. The simplest understanding might be that they represented the length of time that could be reversed—for instance, the simple timer next to the pinewood door seemed to be a product from about five hundred years ago. If Khalif opened the door and walked inside, perhaps time would rewind five hundred years on him.
If this hypothesis were true, it would be quite entertaining.
Charlie nudged the pinewood door beside the timer with his pipe. The handle was very tight, suggesting it hadn’t been used.
As they descended about halfway, the size and shape of the doors gradually became normal. Some were tightly shut but had light seeping through the gaps at the bottom. Some were ajar, but the interiors weren’t visible. Only vague murmurs could be heard, as if someone inside was whispering…
Both Charlie and Prima slowed their steps. It was as if the inhabitants of the rooms knew someone was passing by, and the whispers grew slightly louder, yet the content remained indistinct.
Prima: “?”
The staircase was eerily quiet. She instinctively wanted to get closer to hear better because the voice sounded hoarse, like a sick woman, parched, needing someone to fetch her water.
But she couldn’t hear clearly. Prima looked at the door gap, and the warm yellow light inside contrasted sharply with the cold fluorite in the passage.
Prima reached out, intending to push the door slightly more open, thinking she wouldn’t step inside…
Charlie, who had been standing in front of her and seemed to be listening as well, quickly turned around and covered Prima’s eyes.
Her vision suddenly darkened, startling Prima, but not because of Charlie’s sudden action. It was because when her eyes were covered, her ears seemed to awaken, and the gentle whispers vanished, replaced by men’s roaring, indistinguishable heavy breathing, and eerie low laughter, all equally disturbing.
Prima gasped in horror, but Charlie also covered her mouth, then removed his hand from her eyes.
The previously peaceful and serene atmosphere felt like an illusion. From some point, the sounds from the end of the underground passage had become clear. Standing on the stone steps, they heard a woman say, “This is no excuse for your madness—”
“You’re the mad one!” Just from the voice, one could imagine Khalif’s enraged expression.
“Feigning high morals doesn’t suit you, Khalif,” another man said, his voice pleasant but inappropriately contemplative for the situation.
The blood vessels in Khalif’s eyes burst, red like a carnivorous beast’s. “Vasilia! Do you think you can walk out of here alive?”
Vasilia’s arm hung unnaturally, bloody from the shoulder down, making it unclear whether the blood was hers or someone else’s. A girl lay at her feet, her short black hair disheveled and unmoving.
Sven stood against the wall, seemingly the only one unscathed. Xanye was pale, and the young man who had come in with her sat at Sven’s feet. His neck was bent at an unnatural angle, an impossible posture for the living.
Urch stood between Vasilia and Khalif, his face ashen but his back straight.
Vasilia, experienced in combat, had been fighting both Urch and Sven’s subordinates. Urch, already injured, might have had his heart ripped out by Vasilia in the recent fight if not for her simultaneous battle with the two.
But Vasilia’s goal wasn’t slaughter. Despite being besieged, she managed to break through strongly and disrupt Khalif’s magical ritual.
All magic rituals, except combat spells that require no chanting, demand specific environments and materials. At a minimum, they must not be interrupted. Khalif had planned to find Prima and, once fully prepared, conduct the final attempt. Unexpectedly, Louis’s interference severely injured him. Instead of regaining his youth, he now urgently needed someone to help him sustain his life.
However, misfortune never came in singles. Several disruptors appeared tonight. Khalif was furious, wondering what the guards he left in the corridor were doing—he hoped they had died fighting Sven’s men, or he would kill them himself for dereliction of duty.
The only one who entered the underground with him, Urch, could barely hold off Sven and his grotesque monsters, but adding Vasilia to the mix was too much. The ongoing ritual was disrupted, and the girl, whose hair and fingers had already begun to decompose, was forcibly pulled out from the wall adorned with a magic circle by Vasilia. Although the “door” had already taken shape, the girl, who served as the foundation of the “door,” was removed. There had never been a similar situation in previous experiments, and although Khalif was anxious, he knew better than anyone how dangerous an unstable “door” could be.
“Dad?”
Just as he was staring daggers at Vasilia, thinking of ways to dismember her and hang her remains on the doorframe as decoration, a trembling voice startled him.
“Prima!” Khalif was stunned to see his daughter, who had been missing, now standing on the stairs leading to the exit. The surge of joy he felt momentarily made him overlook the strange rabbit-headed man standing beside Prima. That man, dressed in a dark suit, was half-shrouded in shadow and silent.
Sven and Vasilia turned to look at her almost simultaneously, but their expressions were vastly different. Vasilia wore a mocking smile, while Sven looked as if he had stumbled upon a rare gem in a mine.
Prima’s appearance subtly eased the tense standoff between the three parties. Khalif, cooling down from his heated state, frantically pondered how to bypass Vasilia and Sven to get Prima to his side, dismissing the unknown dark-haired girl completely.
The others were calmer than Khalif. No one, except Khalif, ignored the rabbit-headed man standing beside Prima. Sven asked, “Who are you?”
As soon as he spoke, Prima recognized it as the same voice she and Mr. Charlie had heard on the stairs. Sven’s voice was shockingly smooth, which was incongruent with his old and wrinkled appearance, making Prima shiver.
Charlie, seemingly reminded by Sven, pulled Prima forward a few steps to ensure they were both fully visible in the light. His right hand wrapped around the back of Prima’s neck, pressing a delicate and sharp blade against her chin.
“Just a nobody,” Charlie said theatrically, glancing around exaggeratedly. “Ah, what’s everyone up to?”
Khalif glared at him coldly, “What do you want?”
Prima’s identity was no secret in the inner city. While there had been attempts to extort the Wolf Family by kidnapping their daughters, most of these were from outsiders. Khalif couldn’t deny that the Monkey might have some designs on Prima, but seeing Sven’s reaction now, Khalif temporarily assumed this rogue was just another self-styled adventurer and opportunist.
However, Prima was indeed crucial to him at this moment. Additionally, what irritated Khalif was why even such a lowlife could infiltrate his territory. Even though the mansion was attacked earlier, those immature girls were defeated by McMullen and his men. It shouldn’t have been difficult to quickly regroup and fortify the defenses unless McMullen’s men dared to abandon their posts.
“That’s not the right question, sir,” Charlie said. “I just saw this young lady wandering alone at night and kindly decided to bring her home. You’re her father, and with such an impressive mansion, surely you wouldn’t ignore a poor soul who helped your daughter, right?”
“Dad,” Prima called again, her eyes pleading.
“I can give you endless wealth,” Khalif said. “As long as you’re smart enough to know when to stop. Come here, Prima.”
“Of course, of course.” Charlie didn’t relax his grip on Prima but spoke lightly. As he moved Prima closer to Khalif (taking a wide arc away from Vasilia), his large, round rabbit eyes darted around. When he saw the small, arched door behind Khalif and the still-glowing magic circle on it, he stopped.
Glowing was a characteristic of all magic circles. Regardless of the material used to inscribe the array and formula, once magic power was infused to make it functional, every trace would glow during operation. It’s said that in the early days of ancient magic, most rituals were conducted in secret and dark spaces to avoid detection. This feature allowed mages to avoid writing the wrong symbols, even in the dark.
To Khalif, the faint glow of this magic circle might have been weak enough to mistake it for mere reflective paint. But to Charlie and Sven, the complex magic circle shone as brightly as an out-of-control miner’s lamp.
Charlie’s furry rabbit face displayed a difficult-to-read expression. He then glanced at the motionless girl at Vasilia’s feet.
“Ah, a mage,” Vasilia said. “No wonder you’re like an old mole, only daring to dig holes underground, Khalif. It’s because someone skilled in magic can see through your dirty dealings at a glance.”
She spoke arrogantly, lifting her chin to Prima. “You’re Khalif’s daughter, but his lover is hiding in the corner. I assume your mother isn’t around. Let me teach you something, little girl. Men aren’t to be trusted, especially not men like your father.”
“The magic behind you devours people. The girl beside me is proof. In this situation tonight, instead of helping you escape, he summoned you to his side. Do you really think he just wants to give you a hug?”
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