Bloodline Evolution: I Can Choose Opposing Paths-Chapter 122: A Maze of Networks

"Ugh..." Luna muttered as she opened her eyes slowly.

She had a gigantic headache, almost like someone took a spike and stabbed it directly into her brain.

Her senses came back one by one. First, it was hearing, as soft pitters of water came from somewhere nearby, along with the groans of her club members.

Thank god, we’re all alive...somehow.

Next came her sense of touch, as she was on something uneven and damp, most likely some kind of wet sand or grain.

Then came her sense of smell...and all she could think of was the smell of mold or moss, growing from a place that probably hadn’t seen sunlight in years.

Luna pushed herself up to her legs slowly, her hand pressing against the ground as her vision began to clear.

"...Luna?"

Emily’s voice.

"I’m here..." Luna murmured, her voice coming out hoarse as she turned toward the source.

A small cluster of dragonflies hovered beside Emily, their bodies glowing just enough for them to see in the dark space.

"You alright?" Emily asked, scanning her arms for any wounds.

Luna nodded, but her attention was focused on something else—mostly at the place they were at right now.

The opening above was barely visible now, half-collapsed, with sand covering it up like it had never existed in the first place. Only the smallest light shone through, just to remind her that they actually did just fall down...whatever this place was.

"...We fell pretty far," Iris muttered nearby.

Luna’s attention immediately turned to the source.

Iris was already on her feet, brushing dust and sand off her clothes, though her expression had lost some of its usual gusto. Marcus stood a few steps by her side, slowly bandaging a cut that he got on his arm.

"Are we...in the Sunken Caves?" Emily asked, her voice bouncing and echoing all across the cavern. No one answered immediately...because there wasn’t an obvious answer.

"Beats me," Iris said at last. "This looks like it, but we’d have to explore more to find out."

Her gaze shifted to the surroundings, and Luna followed.

They were standing in some sort of cavern, but beyond that, multiple paths stretched outward. Tunnels were carved everywhere into stone, branching in all different directions.

Some were narrow, others wide enough for several people to walk through side by side, all of them disappearing into darkness.

"Eeek!" Emily yelled, immediately pulling onto Luna’s shirt and hiding behind it. "Don’t—don’t tell me those are insect tunnels?!"

"I hate bugs!"

Luna blinked, slightly thrown off by the sudden panic.

But your Bloodline is a bug...

"...They’re too large for insects," Marcus said calmly, stepping closer to one of the openings. He crouched slightly, trying to squint at any possible threats from inside.

"And the sizes are uneven," he continued. "There’s no way a colony of insects would make something like this."

"Well, that’s not creepy at all," Iris muttered. "Some mystery thing carving an underground maze in the middle of nowhere? Totally normal."

Emily peeked out slightly from behind Luna.

"...That’s lowkey worse," she said weakly.

Marcus exhaled slowly, his gaze sweeping across the branching tunnels one more time before settling on one to the left. It was wider than the others, the curve gentler, and the ground more even.

"This one seems alright," he said calmly. "No visible traps or ether fluctuations."

Iris shrugged and pushed herself off the wall. "Works for me, boss."

Emily tightened her grip on Luna’s sleeve. "...If we die, I’m blaming you first."

Marcus didn’t even look back.

"Noted."

***

They’d been walking for a while, passing even more tunnels and spaces that led to one another, but they decided to stick to straight.

Luna followed right behind the seniors. Her steps were slower, though she tried not to show it. The faint chill of the tunnel only made the cold in her body worse.

Using her Arts earlier hadn’t helped.

It was like the sensation in her limbs dulled, and even her finger tips felt numb...like she was in hypothermia.

...It’s already this worse.

Emily glanced at her once, briefly, but didn’t comment this time.

The tunnel stretched ahead of them, illuminated only by the soft glow of the dragonflies hovering nearby. But that was when the footsteps ahead stopped.

"Something wrong?" Iris asked.

"Yeah," Marcus replied almost immediately. "We’re at a dead end."

"...Seriously?"

Luna managed to catch up, only to see that the senior was completely right. A smooth wall of stone blocked their path entirely, almost like the passage had simply been cut off.

Marcus stepped forward, placing his palm against the wall before knocking at it slightly. He sighed. "Completely solid."

"Let’s just backtrack then?"

"Yeah."

***

The second tunnel looked no different, and the third...and the fourth. They’d spent almost an hour down there, running around in some kind of maze before arriving right back at the cavern where they started.

"...You’ve got to be kidding me," Iris said flatly. "What the hell is this place?"

"...It’s not natural," Marcus said softly.

"No kidding," Iris replied dryly. "We just walked in a circle for an hour."

Emily groaned, dragging her hands down her face. "I hate mazes. I hate caves. I hate everything about this."

But Luna couldn’t hear any of what they were saying. The cold had settled deep into her head, almost numbing the noise.

Focus...don’t lose...focus...

Yet, even with the cold in her body, her mind was surprisingly clear...almost like time had slowed down and allowed her to think.

Luna lifted her head, looking at the cavern once more.

I’ve seen this before... Father used to mention it...

A historic war occurred where the underdog used the same strategy. They’d hide underground, digging fake tunnels to confuse their enemies which bought enough time for them to escape.

Every path was designed to look the same...to feel the same, to lead to nowhere in particular.

"They were not used to stop the enemy, but to waste time."

"All of these paths..." Luna started. "They’re red herrings."

"We’ve been led in complete circles..."