MTLNOVEL Chapter 278: Lucky Number Three
"Shit." Thorn swore.
They all looked at each other, none of them having anything to say.
If the Deep could counter Lilith, who was the strongest among them, by creating a beast with no soul structure, and also negating what Freedom could do in the same move, what chance did the rest of them have?
The silence that followed stretched long. They stood in the center of the water courtyard, water still sloshing at their knees.
Then, the sound of stone grinding against stone filled the air as the seven sealed openings groaned open, the same way a beast opens its mouth again after swallowing.
"We can all admit that the Deep learning and countering us is scary, but what makes you think it's just Lilith? What if it was countering us too? My fire didn't work against it." Elias finally said.
"No." Ren spoke. "The squid was a counter for just Lilith. Her Soul Dominion is useless, and can only be used as a blunt weapon."
"It hasn't seen the rest of our skills in combat as much as it has seen Lilith's. Your fire didn't work because it was made out of liquid flesh. And that's also why Zuzu's water worked incredibly well against it. It was just a coincidence."
Lilith nodded in agreement. "A creature that could resist soul attacks and has no soul structure is just too specific to be by chance."
"I know I said to not assume and to expect everything, but the Deep is a water Calamity, not a soul Calamity. It's too much of a coincidence."
"The Red Plague was the disease Calamity. This is the water Calamity. The Endless Night is the light and growth Calamity. The Iron Legion, the Blightwood, and even the Skybreaker are Calamities to destroy different things."
He could see the faces of Elias, Thorn and Zuzu getting paler at the names of the coming Calamities.
"We even have the Great Calamities. Kronos, the Devouring Star, and… the Soul Calamity." His mind went to the final battle against Lilith that had allowed him to win the game. He couldn't allow that to come to pass. "A soul attacking entity inside the Deep? It's by design."
"Fuck." Thorn sighed. "So what, the Deep's evolving now?"
"It always was." Ren said. "But it's accelerating. Eventually, it'll adapt to all of us.
He turned in place, scanning the water courtyard with an intense gaze. "The longer we stay here, the more the Deep learns. The more targeted its monsters become."
"Which means," Elias said grimly, "that the longer we take, the harder everything becomes."
Ren nodded. He stepped closer to the center and gestured toward the seven open paths. "And it may have already started."
"What do you mean?" Thorn asked.
Ren pointed to the water gently flowing into the courtyard from all seven passages.
"Look. The water is flowing into this space from every corridor. Apart from Lilith, the only person that showed most of their ability is Zuzu. Instead of combat, she showed she can read the correct route in the water."
Zuzu's eyes widened. "And it's masking the trail to its heart."
"Exactly. The Deep has learned from you too." Ren said. "It knows how you track the heart. If every corridor has an equal flow, then none of them can be trusted."
"If I try to read the water now," Zuzu said softly, "it might lead me in a circle. Or worse, the moment I reach inside a corridor to read it directly... the passage could close behind me."
Thorn looked around warily. "So what do we do? Just pick one and pray?"
Ren frowned, considering. "We stop being predictable. Use our powers less. Don't give the Deep more to learn."
"So we walk blind?" Elias asked.
Ren shook his head. "Not blind. Just less loud."
"I can still try to read the water." Zuzu said before dropping to her knees. She dipped her fingers into the water and closed her eyes.
Minutes passed.
The others waited in silence.
When she rose again, her face was serious. "The water here is sea water. From above. It's flowing directly into the Deep. None of it carries trails to the heart. There's no thread for me to follow."
"Then we choose." Ren said. "And hopefully, we'll pick up its trail again."
He walked slowly around the water courtyard, staring down each of the seven paths. His eyes narrowed.
Internally, he began weighing options, not based on instinct or emotion, but memory.
Eternal Souls. The game.
Then, he remembered something. In the game, three was a lucky number. The developers added several situations where you needed three of the same things to complete some quests.
But the question was, the third passage from the right, or the third from the left?
He knew this was real life and not a game, but some things were similar enough for him to take a chance.
He paused at the third corridor from the left. The stonework was slightly older here, like something had been chipping away at it.
"This one." He pointed to it.
"You're sure?" Elias asked.
"It's the most suspicious with those marks around the entry. Which makes it the least suspicious. Which makes it right."
Thorn blinked. "You lost me."
Ren just smiled. "Trust me."
They began moving down the corridor. As the last of them stepped past the threshold, the wall behind them groaned shut, sealing the courtyard away.
They continued in silence, water still sloshing around their knees.
The walls glowed brighter here. The moss on the wall lit the path, painting everything in beautiful shades of turquoise and green.
After a few minutes, the corridor opened into a new section. They came to another junction.
Ren took the lead again, choosing the rightmost path. It was narrower, but curved upward slightly.
As they walked, Zuzu tilted her head, staring at the walls. "Look."
The moss had begun to grow in intricate patterns, curling and swirling like brushstrokes. It wasn't random.
"They look like... waves." She frowned. "Sea waves. Look at the ridges. They're crashing."
Elias stepped closer. "You're right. That curve there even looks like a whirlpool."
"Is it a map?" Thorn asked.
"Maybe. Seems more like a threat than a map." Lilith said.
Ren stared at the patterns, then looked at the rising slope. His eyes widened.
Then they heard it.
A roar.
Not a creature.
Water.
"RUN!" Ren shouted. "It's opened its mouth to the sea above! It's flooding the maze!"
The sound grew louder, a massive torrent crashing through stone.
The maze trembled.
The others turned and ran.
Ren led the way, sprinting forward, his boots slapping against wet stone.
Behind them, the roar became deafening.
A wall of water was coming.
And the Deep intended to swallow them whole.