810 Hiding in the Underground Ruins
“I’m back. Sorry to keep you waiting.” Elysia emerged behind Elena, already wearing her shadow robe.
“You’re ten minutes late.” Elena checked the clock on the wall.
“My apologies. I’ve done my best.” Elysia looked at everyone in the room, then lowered her head as if she was guilty. She had no reason to justify being late, especially when she was in front of some new people.
“Mm, that’s fine. We just gave the members of the Divine Association a few tasks. They’ve been slacking off and useless, but they must get to work soon.” Elena patted Elysia’s back.
“Hey, isn’t that unfair!? We were five minutes late from your ridiculous time limit and received punishment. Why could she, who is ten minutes late, get away with it!? I demand justice!” Darkness threw a protest.
She and her association members received Ishidaki’s punishment for five minutes because of it, but not for the girl who had just arrived.
“Shh, shh… That’s not good to envy the others, Darkness. You cooperate with us, but she is a part of us. Broadly speaking, you work for us. There’s the difference. The same rules can’t be applied.” Elena wiggled her finger right and left.
“Is this the so-called insider privilege and outsider indictment?” Darkness muttered under her breath.
“We want you to start working now as planned. All your associate members will participate in this mission. Don’t be lazy. We have three days, and you must provide us with an updated written report via this communication paper every night in Japan’s time.” Rhea distributed blank yellow talisman papers to all Divine Association’s members.
“Oh! I will work hard at your command, milady!!!” The fat blue djinn gave a loud salute.
“Tone down your voice, Boo. You shall work ultra hard for this mission as your punishment.” Elena reflexively covered her right ear. She didn’t like this fat djinn’s loud voice.
“I will work hard to the bone!” Boo saluted once more but adjusted the height of his voice.
He wouldn’t run away or hide from the mission he received as punishment. It didn’t take a genius to realize that he would be hunted one day again. Therefore, getting protection from this group and this association was the best choice. A punishment but also a win-win solution.
“But you’re a djinn and have no bones. Everyone, you’d better leave now because we’re also going into action soon. Make sure you move in groups of four or more to minimize casualties. We’ve already eliminated more than half of them. It’s almost done. Boo, You will move with Darkness’s team. Your magic abilities will be very useful to them.” Rhea gave her instructions.
“Aye, ma’am! We won’t let you down.” Bo nodded in understanding.
“Good. Then, we shall go. We await good news from you.” Rhea turned around and took her group away by teleportation. They returned to the quest they had left earlier in the desert in the middle east.
“They’ve left this place?” Nana muttered while glancing at her comrades.
“Well, that’s, of course, my friends. Aren’t they really great and strong? Hey, they’re human, but they can disappear like djinn.” Boo leaned against a nearby table and mingled with his new friends.
“You are a strange djinn. Are you from the underworld? What did you just do to receive punishment from those otherworld angels?” Darkness frowned.
“Underworld? I don’t even know that place. As far as I can remember, I was born in this world.” Boo stroked his chin, remembering the past. He then shook the grumpy lady’s hand enthusiastically. “Anyway, my nickname is Boo. I am a magic djinn from Ancient Egypt. Nice to meet you all. I am in your care!”
“Hey, don’t suddenly shake my hand. I am the Empress, the ruler of the Darkness Realm. Please pay attention to your manners and courtesy.” Darkness retracted her hand right away.
“Is it okay to let this djinn join our mission?”
“Then what are you going to do? Against those terrifying otherworld angels? Hck, they are even more intimidating than the Gods of Heaven!”
“Well, let’s leave it at that. Boo, our opponents are powerful evil deities. In this mission, you can get injured or die at any time. So pay close attention to every action and decision you make, even if you’re working with us.”
The Divine Association’s members muttered briefly and finally accepted Boo on this joint cooperative mission.
“I understand, seniors!” Boo saluted.
“You haven’t answered my previous question. Why did you receive punishment from them? What did you just do?” Darkness pursed her lips.
“Ahem, that’s a bit embarrassing… I accidentally kidnapped a friend of one of their members. Ugh, the interrogation and torture still give me goosebumps. Please don’t bring it up again, okay?” Boo hugged himself as if he was shivering from the cold.
“You’re stupid, aren’t you?”
“Yes, obviously very stupid.”
“Fortunately, you could get out with only a light punishment. You had no idea those angels could be so strict and ruthless in their punishment. Over thirty powerful evil deities have already been captured, and they were badly beaten before being imprisoned!”
The response of the association’s seniors made Boo gulp his saliva. He felt lucky to be so cooperative in that interrogation. His magic would be useful in this mission of virtue, so it was also one of the factors that saved him from the painful punishment.
“Let’s move right away in teams of four to five. All the members will be dispatched. There are only a dozen of them, but they work thirty times more efficiently than us. It’s kind of annoying.” Darkness clicked on her tongue.
With that being said, everyone rushed to carry out their mission.
Meanwhile, Elysia’s group had just returned to the vast expanse of desert in the middle east. They resumed something they had just left an hour ago because of Erina’s matter.
‘Ely, let’s use our sacred vision to find their hiding place. The nature spirits are sure that the participants are hiding somewhere in this desert.’ Elena tried to check their surroundings, but she couldn’t find anything within a two-hundred-meter radius.
‘They are probably hiding in the deep underground ruins.’ Elysia looked at a certain spot with a bit of suspicion. She immediately used her sacred vision, and Elena could use their shared senses to thoroughly inspect the entire place.
Sure enough, there was an underground ruin hidden deep underground. There were only two entrance passages from the two great pyramids to the west and east. Still, both paths led to a complicated maze before reaching the hideout.
‘Breaking right into their hideout?’ Elena suggested a shortcut.
‘Please do not do that. Those ancient ruins are world heritage, and we should not destroy them if possible. Let’s go through the entrance passage in the pyramid. We can pass through complicated labyrinths and traps with ease.’ Elysia persuaded Elena to take a safe, peaceful path.
‘Okay. Ely, I think we should head straight to South America to join Nell and the others after this. They are on their way there while eliminating participants along their way. However, I feel the ones waiting for them there are not simple. I’m worried.’ Elena stated her request. She had been worried since Nell’s last news, and she felt restless, and she believed her hunch should not be ignored.
‘Mm, sure. We’ve already ordered the Ancient God Zhao Fu and Divine Association members to take immediate action. We can work things out gradually, without rushing it for the good of all of us.’ Since Elena reminded her, Elysia also felt things would not go smoothly at the operation in South America.
She immediately told Nell via their spirit connection not to rush to the target location as they would be joining forces.
‘I’ve told Nell about this. Everything will be fine.’ Elysia patted Elena’s back.
“We found an entrance to a hideout deep underground. We’re going in through there to ambush our targets.” Elysia spoke in a whisper-like voice to let everyone know.
“Ooh!” Sora and Stormy cheered in admiration. The ability of Elysia’s eyes to look deep into the hidden layers and indeed never disappoint.
“Let’s go. We’re going in without them noticing.” Rhea nodded in understanding.
After that, they flew towards a particular large pyramid in invisibility and then went into a secret underground passage.
‘Ely, I can see many ancient traps disguised. Some of them might be death traps. Dozens of people have died here.’ Evelyn muttered in their telepathic group.
‘Yes, I can feel some long dead human bones behind these walls. Perhaps they are archaeologists or treasure hunters.’ With her reliable magic feline eyes, Vanessa glanced left and right to inspect the place.
‘Yep, these ancient ruins are tens of thousands of years old. We have to be careful and make sure not to touch anything. Just follow my master, and we’ll reach our destination to ambush the hiding participants.’ Elysia reached out her hand and held Evelyn’s hand. Among everyone here, she was worried if this girl’s curiosity and silly air-head tendency kicked in.
‘Stay by my side. I’ll keep you out of harm.’ Elysia conveyed her intentions.
‘Ely…’ Evelyn blushed behind her shadow mask. She misinterpreted Elysia’s intention as something more meaningful.
Elena glanced back and heaved a subtle sigh as she realized Evelyn had misunderstood something. Still, Elysia just didn’t want to explain anything. She just continued to guide everyone to fly toward the hideout.
Their journey was like a gust of wind through the dark passage of the underground ruins. They didn’t trigger a single trap, and they didn’t even make any noise.