Chapter 150
Kane's POV
Steven's suicide squad moved swiftly. The Blood River guards, having lost Draven, were picked off one by one in the dark mine tunnels.
Draven's dying mockery stuck in my heart like a poisoned barb.
"Kill one, and a thousand more will take my place..."
I closed my eyes, forcing myself to calm down.
The sounds of battle in the mine gradually subsided. I turned and walked toward the other end of the bridge.
Seeing me unharmed, long-suppressed cheers erupted from the crowd.
Dorothy looked at me with tears in her eyes. Frank clenched his fists hard. Those once-desperate eyes now rekindled with light.
"Let's go," I said quietly. "Back to the surface. Back to our home."
---
The collapse triggered by the explosion was far worse than expected. The main route connecting to Frank's old residence secret passage was completely blocked by massive fallen rocks.
Grim stood before the rubble pile, covered in dust, futilely hammering at the rock wall with his shovel, cursing under his breath.
"Damn it! Damn it!" He turned to look at me, eyes full of anxiety. "The main passage is completely ruined! It'll take at least three days to clear a gap wide enough for people!"
Three days. We didn't have three days.
Steven emerged from the darkness, carrying an injured comrade on his shoulder.
"Most of the survivors have already evacuated through Frank's old residence secret passage," he reported. "But our small team—you, me, Frank, Faye, Dorothy, and Grim—we're cut off here."
I looked around. Besides our group of six, there were a dozen or so warriors who had stayed behind to cover the retreat, along with some injured who couldn't move easily.
All eyes fell on me, waiting for my decision.
"What about the goblin excavation tunnels?" I asked Grim.
"Still there!" Grim's eyes lit up. "I kept a backup passage, deep in the mine pit! The route is longer, but it should lead to the surface!"
I nodded. "Lead the way."
---
On the way to the goblin tunnel, Frank insisted on walking by himself, even though his leg had been twisted during the retreat. I didn't force him to accept help. I knew that for a former warrior, maintaining dignity was sometimes more important than preserving life.
Dorothy walked beside me.
Her hands were still trembling slightly—a normal reaction after killing for the first time. But she wasn't crying or breaking down. She just gripped the bloodstained dagger tightly, her eyes more determined than ever before.
"Does it hurt?" she suddenly asked, her gaze falling on the three still-bleeding wounds on my shoulder.
"It's fine," I replied casually.
She said nothing, just pulled out a torn piece of cloth from her clothes and stood on tiptoe, trying to rebandage my wounds. I wanted to refuse, but seeing that almost stubborn concern in her eyes, I finally lowered my head and let her clumsily tend to my injuries.
When her fingers touched my skin, they carried a trace of warmth.
The feeling was strange—not desire, not possession, but something pure, selfless care.
"What are you thinking about?" Dorothy asked softly.
"Nothing." I turned my face away, not wanting her to see the flash of vulnerability in my eyes.
Frank suddenly coughed up ahead.
I looked up to find him watching Dorothy and me with a meaningful expression.
"The way your mother used to look at your father," he said slowly, "is exactly the same as how that girl looks at you."
I froze.
Dorothy's face instantly flushed red. She hurriedly stepped back a few paces, pretending to check her dagger.
Frank said nothing more, just turned and continued walking forward.
But his words planted a seed in my heart.
I wasn't sure what it was—perhaps long-lost warmth, perhaps a hint of hope for the future, or maybe just an illusion born of exhaustion.
But regardless, in this underground world full of death and despair, at that moment, I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time... the feeling of being alive.
---
We finally reached the reserved goblin excavation tunnel entrance.
The opening was covered by a massive rock. If Grim hadn't led the way, it would have been impossible to find.
But when Grim pushed the rock aside, we heard dense footsteps coming from above.
"Stop! Don't move!" I commanded in a low voice. Everyone instantly froze, holding their breath.
The footsteps grew closer, accompanied by the heavy clang of iron and rough commands. Through the gaps in the rocks, I could see torchlight flickering on the ground above, along with a fully armed squad of Blood River soldiers.
"Damn it, they've found this place," Steven said through gritted teeth.
We watched helplessly as those soldiers sealed the tunnel entrance with boulders. The dull thuds came one after another, each one like a hammer blow to our hearts. When the last boulder fell, the entire passage plunged into complete darkness.
Trapped like rats in a jar.
Draven's prophecy had come true.
I turned to Grim. "You're the best digger in these lands. Can you open another route?"
Grim's face looked especially pale in the torchlight. He walked to the rock wall, tapping the stone with trembling hands, listening to the echoes. Then he slowly slumped to the ground, hands clutching his head.
"It's impossible," his voice was full of despair. "The explosion changed the geological structure. The rock stress is extremely unstable now. I can't even tell which direction is which—one wrong strike and we could all be buried alive. We... we can't get out."
Silence flooded over everyone like a tide. Steven leaned against the wall, closing his eyes.
Dorothy held Faye tightly. Even the usually strong Frank just lowered his head without a word.
I looked at these people who had placed their hope in me, these people who had come this far because they believed in me.
Then I heard a sound.
Not a human voice, but something low and deep, as if emanating from the depths of the earth itself.
Everyone looked up in astonishment toward the deepest part of the mine—the black rock wall known as the "Wall of Sighs."
On the wall's surface, ancient earth elemental runes began to glow, pulsing like breathing.
---
We stared at those runes in a daze.
They formed a line of glowing text, written in an ancient and solemn language:
"Thunder has passed, Stone Ridge takes no lost souls. But if you can prove your worth, meet at Echo Valley."
Grim suddenly jumped to his feet, his eyes flashing with disbelief.
"This is... this is the language of the Stone Ridge Pack!"
The mysterious tribe that controlled earth elements and dwelled deep underground.
Frank had mentioned them before—they had an ancient covenant with the goblin tribes to jointly protect the balance of these lands.
But when the Blood River Pack enslaved Grim, they had done nothing.
Grim's body began to tremble. He rushed to the wall, pounding those runes with his fists, his voice twisted with rage. "This is what you call an alliance?! Goblins and Stone Ridge wolves swore to protect the earth together, but when the Blood River Pack enslaved us like pigs and dogs, you just watched from behind this wall! Are your hearts made of stone too?!"
His roar echoed through the mine tunnel, but received no response.
Dorothy stepped forward, gently embracing the hysterical little goblin.
She said nothing, just used that pure kindness to try to comfort his broken heart.
Just then, the ground transmitted a strange vibration.
Not an explosion, not a collapse, but a rhythmic pulsing, like a heartbeat.
The Wall of Sighs didn't open, but the rock at its corner—previously impregnable—began to move like a living thing, parting to either side and revealing a narrow, winding passage leading upward.
Everyone was stunned.
"This is..." Steven murmured.
"I'm not sure either..." I said quietly.
The Stone Ridge Pack was watching us.
They had always been watching. They had watched Draven's atrocities, watched my father's death, watched all the suffering on this land—and then they had chosen silence.
But now, they gave us a path.
Why? Was it Dorothy's kindness that moved them? Or Grim's accusation that touched them? Or perhaps they simply didn't want innocent people dying at their doorstep?
I didn't know the answer.
But I knew this was our only chance.
"Let's go." I lifted Faye onto my back. "This is the only way."
---
The passage was narrow and steep, the rock walls emanating a faint glow. We followed this miraculous "living path."
After climbing for what felt like forever, a hint of light finally appeared ahead.
It was the light of dawn—cold and clear, carrying the scent of freedom.
I was the first to emerge from the opening, then reached back to pull up those behind me.
When everyone stood on the surface, we looked back at the slowly closing rock passage, an indescribable emotion rising in our hearts.
"Was that elemental power?" I asked Frank.
Frank gazed at the distant mountain ranges, a hint of contemplation flashing in his eyes.
"It should be," he said slowly. "The times are changing. It seems even the earth itself... can no longer remain still..."