Chapter 144 Disturbing Basement

As the humans and elves made their way through the dense forest towards the abandoned dark elf kingdom, the air grew colder and more foreboding. It was said that the kingdom had been cursed by magic and the place that belonged to those vile dark elves, who killed hundreds of their comrades during the war, and many believed that it was now haunted by the spirits of those who had perished there since It resembled a haunted house.

*Tsk

"There's nothing here, even though we were being so cautious," Emily muttered with dissatisfaction, but at the same time, she was happy since they won't have to suffer any more casualties.

"Wait!" Suddenly Lydia looked at Tisha with a questioning look.

"What happened to the normal citizens? kids? elders?" Seeing none of them, Lydia asked with a bad taste in her mouth since she had an idea, but she wanted to confirm it.

"I'm not sure, but I think Eldora used them in the war, she didn't leave any of them," Treiya answered her question with a hard face knowing that it was something absurd and disgusting.

The group pressed on, determined to explore the ruins and uncover anything useful that might be hidden within. As they approached the dark, looming gates of the castle, they could feel the weight of the curse magic that still lingered in the air giving an eerie feeling.

As they entered the main courtyard, they were greeted by a scene of utter desolation. The once grand buildings and statues lay in ruins, covered in thick layers of dust showing for a long time, no one visited this place.

The silence was broken only by the sound of their footsteps echoing through the empty halls and the sound of monsters that echoed through the forest.

But as they ventured further into the kingdom, they began to hear strange noises. The voice seemed to move and shift around them, and strange whispers could be heard in the wind. It was clear that the kingdom was not as abandoned as they had thought.historical

"It's coming from the basement! Voice of a woman," Zenda shouted while everyone else took their weapons and got ready to fight, whoever it was.

Keeping a few girls to guard the entrance of the basement, the group entered the basement, which was darker than a moonless night.

The group of female warriors including Zenda, Emily, Lydia and Alva descended the dark, musty stairs leading to the basement of the abandoned castle. Their boots echoed through the narrow staircase, sending shivers down their spines. Even after entering strange noises could be heard from the depths of the basement, and the group couldn't help but feel uneasy no matter how talented and powerful they were in an environment like this.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs, the darkness enveloped them like a thick fog. They drew their weapons and prepared for the worst, their hearts pounding with both fear and excitement in visible sounds.

The sound was getting louder, a low, guttural growling that seemed to be coming from deep within the shadows. The group tightened their formation and began to move forward, their eyes darting around in search of the source of the noise and trying to find some clue on the real dark elven queen, who is supposed to be imprisoned here.

"Everyone, stay alert! It looks like this place is not a good place for us," Lydia said as she kept looking around making sure, no one is there to attack them.

As they navigated through the dark and dank basement, they encountered many obstacles along the way. Fallen debris and rusty equipment cluttered the path, making it difficult to move quickly and quietly with how much effort they had to put to advance through them.

But they persisted, driven by their fierce determination and unbreakable spirit. Their training as warriors and the war had taught them to be fearless in the face of danger, and they pushed forward despite the growing unease in their hearts and they didn't once forget about their goal.

'We will rescue Nikol'

Every time they felt fear and pain, they try to remember what they were fighting for.

Suddenly, the sound grew louder, and they saw a flicker of movement ahead. They quickened their pace, their weapons at the ready hoping it is something they can deal with until they saw a metal door in front of them which looked rusty and the smell it gave wasn't something pleasant.

The group of female warriors including their leaders entered the room with fear and their hands trembling, their weapons held tightly in their hands. The smell of death was overwhelming causing some of them to cover their noses quickly forgetting about a potential attack by an enemy, and they felt their stomachs churn at the sight before them.

Thousands of dead bodies lay scattered throughout the room, their limbs twisted in unnatural positions, their eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, some missed limbs, heads or some of them were completely butchered. The floor was slick with blood, and the air was thick with the stench of decay.

"Shit!" Zenda and Lydia both cursed upon seeing this sick scenery in front of them, but unlike them, most of the girls couldn't take it as they started vomiting on the spot including Alva and Emily.

Unlike, the last time Zenda used her willpower and managed to prevent herself from vomiting but, she felt absolutely sick in the stomach unable to even open her eyes for a minute.

There was one word that could explain the scenery in front of them, it is the literal hell.

"Our girls! All of these are the girls they kidnapped!" Lydia said with her fist tightening in anger, even though they killed the who was responsible for this massacre.

"Those who can't look at this, leave this room! I won't force any of you to stay here," Zenda shouted and as soon as they said those words, more than half of them ran outside, Treiya was also one of them, but before she could leave the room, Treiya saw something that sent shiver down her spine.

There was a figure that caught their attention. Especially, Treiya, who felt like her whole body went numb as soon as she saw it.

It was none other than the dark-elven queen, once a proud and powerful ruler, now reduced to a shell of her former self with her body looking like, she looked like she aged several years to Treiya, she couldn't see that beautiful, gracious woman anymore.

"Ressha!" Shouting hysterically, Treiya started running in the direction, where the dark elf queen was chained and she quickly tried to break the chains, but with her strength, she couldn't do that and looked at other girls with her eyes full of tears asking for help.

Her eyes were wide with terror, her skin pale and clammy. She trembled uncontrollably as the warriors approached as if she had been trapped in this room for an eternity. Some of them revolted to see this but they pushed through their revulsion, determined to uncover the truth behind this terrible tragedy. As they approached the queen, they saw that she was clutching something tightly in her hand.

"Your Highness, we are here to help you," Treiya said gently, reaching out to take the object from her hand hoping it was something like a key.

But as soon as she touched the queen, she recoiled in horror. The queen's skin was cold and clammy, and she seemed to be radiating a dark and depressed look, she looked at Treiya in horror and tried to curl back like an insect but, Treiya managed to take the thing that queen was tightly holding and it looked like a paper and it really was one.

"What is that?" Zenda questioned seeing, and Treiya answered her quickly since one didn't have to be a genius to say, it was a letter.

"What does it say?" Lydia quickly took a peek, but she couldn't read the letters in it.

"It is a part from the book, she had," Treiya read it and her mind was in confusion as to why, she was holding onto this piece of paper, but only Ressha knew what it really meant.

"It says 'The ethereal entities existing beyond our mortal realm, often presumed to embody benevolent traits, are in fact not imbued with the virtuous nature ascribed to them by our limited understanding'

"What does that mean?" Zenda questioned as she didn't understand the fancy words, but neither Treiya understood even though she was supposed to be the person closest to Ressha.

"I don't know, we will have to ask that from her but-" Looking at Ressha's state, everyone who looked at her knew nothing good will come even if they try to question her now.

Giving up on gathering information from her now, Zenda and Lydia steeled their hearts and tried to find something useful in this hell hole, but finding nothing they decided to leave that place with Ressha.

They untied her and quickly held her without letting her go crazy, but before leaving the room, they didn't forget to burn all the bodies.

"They won't rest in peace until we finish this threat of cursed magic and uproot it," Zenda renewed her motivation to eradicate this stuff and met with the other girls, who had saddened look on their faces since they didn't get any valuable clues or information.