Apocalypse with my SSS Harem Beauties-Chapter 157: Cave

Myles followed the direction of Lilian’s outstretched arm and saw a jagged opening carved into a rising wall of fused mineral and bone-like material half swallowed by the glowing brown earth as if the land had tried and failed to consume it.

The entrance pulsed and there were amber veins tracing along its edges like roots.

Another Aberrant Burrower erupted between them and the cave, its human face stretching wide as it lunged, but Myles stepped forward without slowing and cut it down in a clean diagonal slash.

"We go to the cave. Keep formation. Don’t break!" he said.

They adjusted instantly. The Aberrant Burrowers shrieked and burst from the ground in something that looks like a desperate effort to take them down but the group carved through them relentlessly like before.

Every meter gained came with another corpse collapsing into the glowing earth. They crushed over writhing remains and pushed straight toward the entrance Lilian had marked.

When they finally crossed the invisible threshold and stepped into the shadow of the cave, something happened.

Another worm lunged from behind them, but then abruptly stopped. Its elongated body stiffened. The human face twisted in something closer to instinctive fear. Without warning, it plunged downward, burrowing back into the soil with frantic speed.

One by one, the others did the same.

The ground rippled violently as dozens of pale segmented bodies dove beneath the surface.

Within seconds, the area behind the group turned still.

Through the faint glow of the brown soil, they could see the shapes moving underground, retreating away from the cave.

Silence settled because there were no more shrieks or eruptions.

"What happened now?" Clara tightened her grip on her spear.

They all turned slowly toward the interior.

The cave did not resemble natural rock. Its walls curved inward in smooth organic arcs. Layers of dark mineral fused with fibrous, vein-like tissue that pulsed a little bit beneath a translucent surface.

Brown light traveled through those veins in slow rhythmic waves like blood flowing through arteries.

The ceiling arched high above them and filled with bone-like protrusions that formed a symmetrical pattern. The air inside felt warmer and denser, thick with Ether.

Ethan swallowed. "Lilian... this cave is okay, right?"

Kade stepped forward and pressed his gauntleted hand against the wall. The metal plating scraped softly over the surface. He paused.

"It’s warm," Kade muttered. "And it’s... pulsing."

They felt it too now. A subtle vibration beneath their boots. But it did not come from distant movement underground. It came from the walls themselves.

Lilian descended slowly from the air and landed lightly near Myles. Her wings folded behind her.

"This cave could be a living thing," she said calmly.

Several of them flinched instinctively.

"You’re joking," George said with wide eyes.

"No," Lilian replied. "But don’t worry. It won’t swallow you."

The reassurance did not help.

Myles narrowed his eyes as he scanned the interior. The Aberrant Burrowers had retreated from this place without hesitation. Predators that had attacked relentlessly had chosen to flee instead. That meant one thing.

Something here stood above them in the hierarchy of strength.

"We should go deeper," Lilian continued. "The reason I guided you here is because I felt something from inside."

George frowned. "What kind of something?"

"I’m not certain," she admitted. "But it feels valuable. It could be something that raises your strength."

That single word shifted the atmosphere instantly.

Strength.

The tension in their bodies changed into focused anticipation. Even the lingering unease about the living walls dulled under the weight of possibility of strength.

Myles looked deeper into the cavern where the amber veins converged farther inside, forming a faint glow that seemed to beckon them forward.

He adjusted his grip on his blade.

"Okay. We must move deeper. But carefully," he said.

After that, together they stepped deeper into the pulsing heart of the cave.

They moved in a tight formation as they advanced deeper into the cavern. The further they went, the more the interior changed.

The artery-like veins embedded within the walls glowed brighter, their amber light thickening into a deeper molten brown.

The rhythmic pulse that had felt subtle near the entrance now grew pronounced, vibrating through the soles of their boots and climbing up their legs.

The air saturated with Ether to the point that each breath felt warmer than the last. The ground beneath them began to hum more intensely.

The veins converged ahead, narrowing toward a darker section of the passage where the glow gathered into a faint, shimmering distortion in the air.

"Stop," Lilian said quietly.

The group stopped immediately.

She stepped forward alone, moving about five meters ahead of them.

She tilted her head, eyes narrowing at something that appeared to be nothing more than empty space. Yet her gaze remained focused as if studying invisible lines intersecting in front of her.

Myles stepped half a pace forward. "What is it?"

"There’s a barrier here," Lilian replied calmly.

They saw nothing, not even a shimmer. Only air.

Lilian lifted one hand and extended her fingers slowly toward the unseen surface.

The moment her palm hovered inches away, faint ripples spread like the surface of water disturbed by a pebble.

Thin geometric patterns of intricate lines of Ether woven together into a lattice briefly flashed across the empty space.

Then she pressed at it. A low vibration resonated, but she contained it. The Ether gathered tightly around her hand instead of dispersing. The glowing veins along the walls flared sharply as if reacting to intrusion.

With deliberate control, she twisted her wrist. A thin crack formed in midair.

The barrier did not explode. The fracture spread silently, splitting the invisible barrier like glass breaking without sound. A narrow opening appeared.

Behind it, the passage continued. But the Ether density beyond the barrier surged dramatically, almost suffocating in comparison.

Myles and the others did not realize what she had just prevented. Without her precise control the barrier would have released its stored energy violently.

A shockwave would have torn through the cave, accompanied by a thunderous blast that could have collapsed sections of the living structure or alerted whatever presence lay deeper within.

Instead, there was only a quiet rupture.

Lilian stepped through without hesitation.

Myles met her back for a brief second, then gestured for the others to follow.

They passed through the fractured boundary one by one.

The moment they crossed, the vibration intensified again.

The pulse beneath their feet felt very close.

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