Chapter 160: Breakdown

"This is the entrance?"

I muttered as I looked at the cave entrance in front of me. It was massive. The height alone could easily reach 8 to 10 meters and was more than 20 meters wide.

According to my radar, it would get smaller until it only left 5 meters wide at some paths and even some big rooms inside a few parts.

Just looking at the map, I became certain this was a dungeon—a similar dungeon to the one in Horizon Online with a special environment inside.

It invited a question. What did it do here? There should be no dungeon where monsters gathered in this world as they often hung out in the wilderness or the world's edge.

Then, what was this cave? This question appeared in my mind even more strongly now that I stood in front of it. The atmosphere and the air around it reminded me of a dungeon. No, it was too similar.

"I will find the answer once I am inside. Meeting up with Isabelle is my priority."

No one was inside besides her. This could also be my chance to ask her questions I couldn't ask in front of other people about Horizon Online and who exactly she was.

Of course, I wouldn't expect an answer if she still didn't trust me enough. But these questions bugged me so much that I couldn't concentrate.

"What happens will happen, I guess."

Muttering so, I stepped inside the cave and took out a magic item [Everlasting Lantern]. This item looked similar to a lantern with a black frame and white gem encased inside glasses instead of fire.

How this item worked was similar to a magic lamp, but it shone brighter and wouldn't go out as long as I kept supplying 1 MP once an hour.

The light was also brighter, and I could strap it on my waist due to its small size, only 10 cm big, so I could still use both hands to fight.

I had also equipped armor before I proceeded. I chose a Level 50 armor called [Black Tiger's Leather Armor]. Just like its name, it was a black leather armor that only covered my chest and a pair of arm guards.

It was nothing much regarding bonus stats and special effects, but it didn't hinder my movements and even increased my AGI by 25 in a closed space. So this was the perfect armor to explore a cave like this.

"Isabelle also has [Night's Armor] that can create a shadow shield. That set will show its power in a closed space filled with shadows like this cave, so she should be able to protect herself even if she meets Level 80 monsters."

Yes. There were also monsters underground.

Thankfully, Isabelle had yet to reach that area and only circled around the maze area near the entrance.

After walking for a while, I found a forked path. Two paths led to dead ends, one short and one really long to the point it extended to the sea.

Only the middle path led inside the cave, extending down with a slope one couldn't notice due to the low incline.

I chose the middle path without hesitation. This was the path that led to Isabelle, after all. However... the path was complicated, and even going to the wrong one would result in getting lost, just like what happened to Isabelle right now.

"I need to hurry, or she will get anxious and panicked. Getting lost is taxing on the mind, making them think about something dangerous, or so I was told."

Thinking so, I increased my pace. The path narrowed quickly. Swinging a great sword in this place was now impossible as the path was only 3 meters wide. It was smaller than I originally thought.

Because there were no monsters or traps, the biggest obstacle when traversing a dungeon, I progressed smoothly. This was like a picnic, though the surroundings were bleak, and a putrid smell combined with some mineral smell filled the space.

The air was also moist, and the ground was slightly wet from the water dripping from the ceiling.

After some intersections and narrowed paths, which required me to destroy some walls, I arrived in front of the maze area.

Though I said it was a maze area, it wasn't like any normal maze in your imagination. This maze was only a bunch of intersections connected to each other, creating a natural maze with a 500 meters long path. A natural maze, or so to speak.

Naturally, something like this maze wouldn't stop me as I had a map from <Presence Detection>. What made it a problem was... it seemed like Isabelle managed to get out of the maze after so long, and the direction she took was deeper inside the cave.

In a little while, she would meet a monster den with a dozen monsters waiting for her. And it wasn't just any monster. It was a Level 50 [Stealth Bat].

"I need to hurry."

I immediately kicked the ground and ran through the shortest path while looking at my radar. Just 50 meters more, Isabelle would reach that monster den. I wouldn't arrive in time.

Why did she also increase her pace? Did she see the path leading upward and thought it was the way out?

Unfortunately, the maze's shortest path had many intersections, causing me to turn a few times and take my time. If it was a straight path, I could definitely reach Isabelle before she entered the monster den.

But...

"It didn't seem like I made it in time."

I narrowed my eyes as I saw Isabelle's dot enter the monster den and was immediately surrounded. I was a fool.

In a normal situation, she would be okay. But... The (Severe Trauma) beside her name concerned me. That was also the reason why I rushed here.

What if her trauma was related to monsters? What if her body froze when she met with monsters? I had seen many people die in that way.

Heck, the majority of people in Horizon Online died because they were scared of monsters or got betrayed.

The problem here was... I wasn't sure if Isabelle could revive or not. If she was like me, then death was an eternity because we defied the rules of this world.

"There."

I finally saw the way out of the maze after a few seconds. It was then...

"Noo!!"

A loud scream came from the short hallway with a rather steep slope. I didn't need to ask anything before increasing my speed once more.

"<Body Enhancement>"

Just a simple skill was enough to boost my speed. A loud boom resounded behind me as I immediately traveled the straight path in less than a second, arriving at the large room.

In the middle, I saw a shadow dome surrounded by a dozen of large bats with sharp fangs and claws. I tightly held [Caliburn] and infused MP into it. In response, the blade hummed and glowed a bright light.

Using a skill like <Sonic Sword> or <Whirlwind> might be able to kill those monsters at once, but that would also risk getting Isabelle, who hid in the shadow cocoon, involved.

So my option was limited, and I chose a pure swordsmanship technique to kill them all.

"<Blink>"

Swoosh-

My sword danced in the air, leaving a golden trail as I appeared beside the shadow cocoon. One slash was enough to kill five bats at once. Then the second slash followed up almost immediately, defeating 6 bats at once.

The last [Stealth Bat] was trying to use <Stealth> and ran away, but I threw [Caliburn] at it and killed it.

Pang-!

My sword got embedded in the wall, but that wasn't important.

"Isabelle!" I shouted loudly as I looked at the cocoon. "Are you okay? Answer me, Isabelle!"

"Haa... Help..."

"It's okay! I have already killed them all."

Just as I had expected, she was scared of monsters. Her trauma was related to it.

"It's fine. I am here to protect you. So take the cocoon down, Isabelle."

"Help..."

"Tsk! It doesn't work."

She was too scared to even listen to me. It left me with no choice then.

Raising my hand, I brought it down toward the cocoon at a fast speed, and then...

Crash-!

The cocoon got destroyed, and Isabelle's weak figure appeared. She held her knees together, curling up into a ball, and cried.

"Aaa... Arthur... Help me..."

She was like a little baby. And what made it worse was she called my name. Not anyone else but me. Why? We just met. There was no way she would trust me enough to make her call my name in this situation.

Unless... I had known her, but she had changed. Both in appearance, personality, and even name, making me unable to recognize her.

Was she Tristan?

That was a possibility. No, I was certain that she was her. But it wasn't important right now.

"I am here, Isabelle." I hugged her softly from the side, ignoring the tears that came out of her eyes. "You're safe. I am here to save you."

Her body felt weak, frail even. Just a slight touch could probably break her. Hence, I hugged her softly, not exerting any strength.

And she slowly turned toward me. Her eyes were filled with hope and fear.

"...Ar... thur?" She called out softly.

Hearing that, I became sure of my guess. It wasn't just my imagination. She wasn't just splitting images. I just didn't want to admit that she was really her before this.

"Yes." I nodded, backing away softly so she could see my face. Tears of joy also fell to my face without me realizing it. And then, I called her back. "I am here, Tristan."