Red looked back at Rog. “Do you have a torch?”

The boy wasn’t intending on tunnel diving, so he didn’t bring any lights of the sort.

“Here.” the hunter handed over a torch to the boy, as well as a fire steel. “I also have a flarestone lamp, if you’d prefer it.”

Red shook his head. “The light from the lamp is too strong, and everyone would see it coming from far away in these pitch black tunnels.”

“Isn’t it the same for a torch?”

“It is, but it’s the safer option of the two. That is, unless you’d like to go in completely blind?”

Rog shrugged. “I’ll take your word for it.”

The hunter then helped set Red’s torch alight, and the boy waved it over the tunnel entrance.

“Well then, follow me.” the youth said, taking a step ahead.

“Wait!” Rimold called out. “You’re the one who’s going to lead us?”

“No one else volunteered.” Red shrugged. “Besides, I can sense people from afar, so there’s no one more suited for the task.”

“You…” the rogue didn’t know how to respond. He looked over at Rog. “Are you okay with letting a child lead the way?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Rog looked confused. “All my skills are useless down there, and he knows what he’s doing”

“That’s not what I-”

“Just stop complaining, Rimold!” Rog patted him on the shoulder. “You can trust the kid on those things.”

“How would you know that?!”

“Just a feeling.” the hunter shrugged and walked past the man. “Let’s go, Red! We’ve wasted too much time already.”

Red nodded and walked down the stairs with the rest of the group in tow, including Rimold, who was grumbling at the back of the line.

There was no illumination whatsoever coming from within the tunnels, so they had to be careful while making their way down. What Red thought at first would just be a short set of stairs ended up extending deep into the earth. By the time they reached the bottom, the boy calculated they must be at least a dozen meters below the ground.

While the stairs ended, though, the tunnel extended deeper down in an incline. Other than the unlit torches mounted on the wall, though, there was no sign of the bandit camp or other human activity.

“Are you sure you had a fight here?” Red asked the hunter.

“No one was guarding the entrance of the tunnel.” Rog shook his head. “We only found the bandits deeper in. Still, this place was much brighter back then.”

“How much deeper in?”

“A few dozen meters, more or less.”

Red nodded and continued to lead their way forward. Their torch didn’t allow them to see much further than a few meters ahead of them, but it soon became clear to the group the tunnel was widening. They were on the verge of reaching a chamber.

“Do you feel anything, Red?” Allen asked, gripping his sword close to his chest in anxiousness.

“No.” the boy shook his head. “There should be no one up ahead.”

This eased the young master’s worries, and they continued to walk until they reached the chamber. The tunnel opened up in front of them, revealing a large stone room which Red could only assume was the bandit’s camp. Since the boy did not detect any other presences in the area, he lit up the wall-mounted torches on the cave wall, allowing the entire group a clear view of the chamber.

There were boxes and sacks strewn about everywhere in the room, holding equipment, food, clothing, and other types of utensils. Still, most of it had been destroyed or thrown around, signs that a fierce fight had happened in the chamber. Red also spotted a lot of blood pools and marking on the ground, but there were no signs of the corpses these belonged to.

“Well, I guess the necromancer did a good job on cleaning up, huh?” Rog scratched his beard and examined the scene. “Let’s check out the other chambers.”

This time, the hunter led the way. They weaved past a small tunnel leading up to an interconnected chamber, this one full of bed sacks and, likewise, messy with blood. There were still no corpses, though.

The group searched all the other chambers that composed the enemy camp, but they found no signs of bodies. Red also looked through some of the bandit’s supplies, but other than coin and a handful of communication talismans, he found nothing of value.

Eventually, they returned to the main chamber.

“All gone.” Rog said. “The corpses, I mean.”

Rimold had a barely concealed expression of concern on his face. “H-How many people did you say you kill in here again?”

“Twenty or more.” the hunter shrugged. “Didn’t have time to count properly.”

“So, all those people are now… Zombies?”

Rog nodded. “Seems like the only explanation on how their corpses would all disappear.”

“We can’t stay here!” Rimold’s eyes widened in anxiety. “That necromancer now has a small army of zombies under their control! If we head deeper in, we’ll get overrun!”

“What are you suggesting?” the hunter frowned. “That we abandon Narcha and Eiwin?”

“Not abandon them!” the rogue shook his head. “We should go back to the Sect and ask for Hector’s help!”

“And what if something happens to them in the meantime?”

“I hope nothing happens to them, but… If we go in ourselves, we’re just as likely to join them in the same hopeless situation!” Rimold shook his head. “Not to mention, no one will know where we are in case we do need help!”

Rog closed his eyes and scratched his beard in thought. Then he looked back at Allen and Red. “What do you two think?”

“Me?” the young master looked surprised.

“Yes, you!” Rog nodded. “You’re a member of our sect too.”

“Uh, well…” Allen frowned. “Rimold might be right about the risks, but I just can’t bring myself to leave Narcha and Eiwin behind! I think we should keep looking for them!”

Rimold’s eyes widened in shock. “Young master, you-”

“Shush!” Rog waved his arm at the man, silencing him. He then focused on Red. “What about you?”

“Is there a point in asking?” Red shook his head. “You’ve already decided what you’re going to do.”

The hunter smiled. “You seem to have a read on me, kid. Then it’s decided, we’ll head further in!”

“You’re all insane!” Rimold shook his fist towards the trio. “Are you aware of what we’re dealing with here? A necromancer’s army, a scaled demon, and who knows what else are all waiting down there for us! Not only do you want to risk your lives on it, but you also want to bring the young master into it?! Even if you survive, are you not afraid of what Hector will do to you?!”

Allen was the one to respond. “I made this decision myself, Rimold! I-I know the dangers, but I’m tired of staying still! Even if Hector screams at me… Even if he wants to punish me, I won’t go back on my choices anymore! I’m going to help my companions, just like Red!”

Rimold was taken aback by the boy’s outburst. He looked at Allen with a peculiar gaze, like he was staring at a stranger.

In the end, though, he sneered. “Fine, then! I’ll go with you. After all, if Hector found out I abandoned you in here, my fate would probably not be much better.”

Allen smiled in joy, but before he could say anything, Red felt something in his crimson sense.

“Something’s here!” the boy called out, putting the entire group on alert.

Rog pulled out his bow and looked over at the youth. “From which direction?”

“It’s…” Red frowned, trailing off.

“Quick brat, out with it!” Rimold screamed at him.

“It’s from below.”

“Below?” the rogue looked at the ground.

There were no apparent holes or hidden hatches in the underground camp, though, and they had checked all of it.

“Could it be a burrowing animal you’re detecting?” Rog asked, also confused.

“No.” Red shook his head. “It’s something stronger.”

He was aware that common animals didn’t give off such strong fluctuations in his senses. The boy didn’t specify how he knew this, of course.

“How far down?” the hunter followed up with another question.

“Around one hundred meters.” Red said, feeling the fluctuation at the edge of his detection range.

“That’s pretty far down.” Rog nodded.

“Maybe the tunnel path winds down below this chamber.”

Although Red suggested this theory, he knew this was a bit far-fetched. He had spent years in the underground, and he never saw such a layout in any of the tunnels he had been through.

“I didn’t go any farther than this chamber when I was here last.” Rog said. “So I guess there’s only one way we can find out.”

The four of them walked towards the other exit of the chamber - another tunnel passage, with a slight incline leading them deeper into the earth and unlit torches lined up on the walls. This path, though, seemed to extend far beyond what the group had been expecting.

They walked for five minutes, and Red had long since lost track of that fluctuation he felt earlier.

“Does this tunnel have no end?” Allen asked, the dark and damp environment getting to his psyche.

Indeed, other than a few slight curves, the tunnel remained mostly straight, leading ever so slightly downwards. In fact, Red started to feel some sense of unease.

The boy suddenly stopped walking, causing the people behind him to freeze too.

“What is it, kid?” Rog asked, noticing his strange actions.

“This isn’t right.” Red shook his head.

Rimold frowned. “Could you be a little more specific, please?”

“This tunnel, I mean.” the boy said. “It’s too straight… Too long. Not to mention, the walls seem too smooth. This is not how tunnels are supposed to look like.”

Indeed, at first glance, no one would notice anything wrong with the rock surface. But to Red, who had lived most of his life in tunnels, the appearance of these cave walls looked unnatural - too few jagged edges, too many smooth spots.

“What are you trying to suggest?” the hunter frowned at the boy’s words.

Red examined his surroundings. “This is not a natural tunnel. Someone dug this.”

“Someone dug this?!” Allen’s eyes widened in shock. “Is that even possible?”

“Of course it’s not possible!” Rimold said with a sneer. “This is a rock wall we’re talking about, not dirt! No normal person could ever dig such long tunnels!”

“You’re right, Rimold.” Rog nodded. “A normal person couldn’t, but a cultivator could.”

The rogue looked over at the hunter in shock. “Are you aware of how long these tunnels are, Rog? They go on for kilometers! Not even Hector could dig something that large!”

“A cultivator once dug out an entire river that crosses multiple countries by himself.” the hunter smiled. “Creating a tunnel network that only spans a small region should be easier in comparison.”

“This… Do you even know what you’re implying?”

Rog laughed, a strange and eerie look coming to his expression. “It seems we may have stumbled into an interesting place this time around.”