I am a female swordsman.

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen!

Chapter Fourteen [The World's Inner Side]

Exploring the unknown is human nature.

It is precisely because we understand the world that we can change it; what we can observe, we can influence; what we can influence, we can change. Humanity changes the external world while simultaneously changing itself. However, as the ancient saying goes, the existence of all unknown and ancient things deserves the awe of the ignorant!

The "inner world" is an unknown realm that very few people know or understand.

Even among those with extraordinary abilities, there are very few records about the "inner world," and descriptions of it are often filled with descriptive words that are not very appealing, such as chaos, madness, meaningless ramblings, and mystery.

Both the King of Cards and the Shadow Demon accidentally entered the [World's Inside Side].

And in the end, he escaped unharmed.

"...Although the inner side of the world maintains a similar structure to the real world, its nature is actually quite different. It's like a series of deep pits left after the tide has receded. These pits may have owners or they may be unclaimed land. Fortunately, so far, no traces of a shaping domain have been found."

The eloquent Card King recounted news about the "Underworld" to Alice and the others.

His vivid narration and infectious body language easily captivated the audience. Although he was vague about his less-than-pleasant memories, the King of Cards still presented the rules he knew for operating in the "Inside the World".

First, do not trust any beings from the "inside world".

Secondly, if battle is unavoidable, try to defeat the enemy with minimal disruption.

Finally, do not attempt to venture into the Dark Chaos Zone of the [Inner Side of the World].

"In its mysterious and prosperous past, the [Inner World] was actually a series of sanctuaries, secret realms, and divine kingdoms. However, as time passed, all prosperity turned into decay. Those unknowable twisted things occupied most of the [Inner World] area, while the rare parts became sanctuaries."

"Then how can we get out?"

Alice's expression remained anxious, but she managed to stay calm. Their team carried an important mission; they had to return to the real world as soon as possible, no matter what.

"Don't be nervous. The eyes that the [Inner Side of the World] has given me can observe its patterns. Once the weak link appears, we will be able to travel back to the original world. It's an incredibly simple matter."

The King of Cards clapped his hands to indicate that he had finished speaking.

"This is insane... By the way, Mr. Card King, do you think they'll bring back any useful information?"

To avoid unauthorized attacks on the airships high in the sky, the four airships landed in a very open and safe area on the dark plains. Alice assigned the task of scouting the surrounding area to the Fairy Tale Girls and the other two from the West.

It was clearly a wise choice to send a Shadow Demon who had lived in the [Inner World] for a period of time to conduct reconnaissance.

“I don’t know.” The King of Cards shrugged and turned to look out the window at the dark plain.

"But I know that anything is possible here."

………………

The dark wasteland was filled with a biting wind that carried ashes everywhere. The visibility was terrible, and the environment was extremely harsh.

The howling wind never ceased, and the hazy scene unfolded like the most terrifying nightmare in reality. Huang Quan reached out and caught the sandstorm rushing towards her. She opened her palm, and in her pristine white hand, a patch of ash was slowly disappearing. It wasn't sand, but ash resembling volcanic ash. Huang Quan frowned involuntarily.

"Ashes without fire..."

call! !

Huang Quan slightly closed her eyelids, and as her small, brush-like eyelashes fluttered, streaks of crimson light spilled out. At the same time, a blurry, majestic phantom appeared behind her; the Demon King, reigning supreme, cast his extremely intimidating gaze toward the horizon of the dark wasteland!

'how?'

'A mortal's delusion. Contractor, I told you your world is very unstable…'

"Time is precious, so let's skip the complaints." Huang Quan, her head bowed, her withered white hair swaying in the wind, left Tamos speechless with her extremely cold attitude. Ever since that incident, his contractor's personality had changed drastically, and a chilling coldness seemed to fill her heart.

Turning a human into a monster is an incredibly simple thing.

But the difficulty of transforming from a monster back into a human is beyond imagination. Monsters living in darkness may yearn for and long for the light, but without exception, they are all swallowed up by the darkness.

'That's not enough, this is far from enough.'

'I see.'

Looking back down from the foot of the Yellow Springs, the road, shrouded in ashes and dust, was littered with the gruesome corpses of many half-beast, half-insect monsters. These monsters had long, thin mouthparts and six unusually long, slender legs, and when they lay still beneath the ashes, they looked as if they were dead.

They attempted a sneak attack but failed, and were executed one by one by being pinned to the ashes.

After the insect-like beast died, a very noticeable surge of energy flowed rapidly towards the edge of the dark horizon. To be precise, it returned to this amorphous nightmare wasteland, where something was being awakened little by little.

Tamos's phantom image lasted only a moment before dissipating.

His appearances are extremely limited, with the vast majority of his energy focused on the silent struggle within the bodies and souls of his contractors. If this dynamic balance is broken, Huang Quan will be the first to suffer; with good luck, he might be completely possessed by a demon, and with bad luck, he might be utterly obliterated!

After Tamos dissipated, Huang Quan looked up and gazed deeply at the horizon.

I don't know when, but the horizon of the dark plain began to brighten slightly. Perhaps this godforsaken place does have a concept of dawn...

………………

"What kind of monster is this?!"

With a swift and clean horizontal slash, the black and red patterned scythe transformed into a red afterimage, grazing past the ghostly monsters and instantly splattering purple-red blood everywhere.

Little Red Riding Hood watched as endless hordes of insect-like beasts crawled out from beneath the ashes, their sheer numbers sending chills down her spine. One would die, and another would immediately take its place, their menacing mandibles whistling through the air with each contraction and extension!

It's not hard to imagine how miserable the fate would be if one were caught by the predatory mouthparts of this monster.

Black, the Dark Witch, who is inseparable from Little Red Riding Hood, wields her broadsword. They have explored far enough and discovered a strange place that resembles an ancient altar. Perhaps the Prometheus party has been deliberately led into the inner world by someone with ulterior motives!

"Rose, stop fighting! Finish them off in one blow! Back to the airship!"

Chapter Fifteen: Emergency Situations

In the dimly lit world, the four airships that landed on the Ash Plain looked like giant gray beasts lying prone on the plain when viewed from a distance.

The people moving beneath the airship were as small as ants.

As Huang Quan sped along, he left very clear tracks in his path. The billowing gray smoke seemed to have completely broken free from gravity, drifting and scattering freely into the sky. If even someone as agile as Huang Quan left such obvious traces, one can only imagine how clearly other people moving across the plains would leave their trails.

Huang Quan noticed that the soldiers patrolling around the airship all seemed a little nervous.

His hand gripped the gun so tightly that his arm trembled slightly. He kept glancing around with a mixture of surprise and uncertainty, only showing a hint of relief when he saw Huang Quan rushing back.

Were they attacked?

Following the agreed-upon slogan before setting off to scout the situation on the [inner side of the world], Huang Quan entered Airship Number One without hindrance. Although she had some doubts, Huang Quan didn't show them on her face. When she arrived at the main control room of Airship Number One, the scene before her made her involuntarily narrow her eyes slightly!

[Rune Knight] Alice slumped weakly in a chair.

Her abdomen had been ripped open, and the bleeding had been stopped somehow. Her internal organs could be seen throbbing between the rolled-up flesh!

"Miss Raven, you're back!"

Lin, who was taking care of Alice, was overjoyed to see Huang Quan. The handsome boy looked like he was about to cry.

"Miss Alice, what's going on?"

Huang Quan directly voiced his doubts, ignoring Lin and casting his narrowed, dangerous gaze directly at Alice. It was somewhat unexpected that a second-tier transcendent being, who was stationed there, could be ambushed and suffer such severe injuries. Fortunately, for transcendents, such injuries are usually not life-threatening once they heal.

“It was a Mind Flayer, I’ve already dealt with it…” Alice raised her hand slightly, her voice was very soft and her breath was very weak.

The Mind Flayer is a species that lives in the inner world, possessing an unimaginable and fanatical obsession with energy. Normally, these spirits enter a state of suspended animation to prolong their lives, only awakening when stimulated by energy or soul. Their methods of feeding are incredibly cruel!

"Oh."

Huang Quan's reaction was somewhat indifferent, but she always presented herself as cold and cruel, so this did not cause any dissatisfaction among the others.

'Just a simple [spirit flayer]...'

There were no signs of a fierce battle in the control room. When the two discussed the "Spirit Flayers," they both subconsciously avoided looking into Yomi's inorganic, scarlet eyes. Having received some training as an investigator in the ghoul world regarding whether someone was lying, Yomi easily discovered that Alice and Lin were hiding something from her.

Before he knew whether this concealment was well-intentioned or malicious, Huang Quan chose to wait and see.

Not long after, the other search teams also returned safely.

The Prometheus team, gathered in the control room, shared their discoveries: Huang Quan discovered changes in the rendering light on the horizon, Mo Ying discovered patterns in the inner side of the scene, and the Fairy Tale Girls discovered an unnamed altar.

In summary, we will analyze and verify these findings.

Everyone realized that the changes in the horizon light most likely corresponded to the patterns of change in this [inner world]. At night, the connection between the inner world and the real world was extremely weak, making it very difficult to open a passage back, especially through a large passage like the four airships.

After hearing all the news, Alice, whose face was still pale, subconsciously glanced at the King of Cards.

This flamboyant man had just run back to Airship Number Three and only reappeared after the exploration team returned. He didn't seem particularly surprised to discover Alice's earlier attack. While the Card King was still in shock, his concealed gaze crossed with that of Huang Quan and the Shadow Demon in the air.

"Mr. Card King, what do you think is the best course of action next?"

Both the Card Master and the Shadow Demon had experience with the [World's End] adventures, so asking the more astute and wise Card Master was a wise choice. Alice's question made the debonair Card Master stroke his mustache, his eyes gleaming with thoughtful wisdom.

"This is a gamble." He couldn't help but stand up and rub his hands together, revealing his gambler's nature.

“Miss Alice, we now have two choices: one is to wait here until dawn, and the other is to go directly to the altar.”

"Could you explain it a little?" Alice didn't quite understand the meaning behind the card king's words. From a normal perspective, the two choices seemed no different. Of course, all of this was based on the premise that the [Prometheus] team had indeed stumbled upon this place by mistake.

Upon hearing this, the King of Cards revealed his signature charming and suave smile.

“It’s very simple. If Lady Luck smiles on us, the first option is that we can wait until dawn unharmed and successfully open the passage to continue our mission. I believe that during the time we were missing from reality, Allied Headquarters must have been as anxious as a horse being kicked in the belly by spurs.”

His fingers moved rhythmically, flipping a bright yellow playing card between them, which spun like a butterfly. The charismatic confidence he exuded made everyone else believe him. A good-natured joke effectively eased the tense atmosphere, and the card master continued his story.

"The second option, based on my personal experience, is to explore the inner part of the world moderately, which will allow you to escape more quickly. Because that's the goal, you understand what I mean, right?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

These are the rules of the [Inner Side of the World]. You can use these rules to achieve any goal you desire. But if you break the rules, remember, in this irrational and unscientific place called the [Inner Side of the World], anything is possible!

While everyone was thinking, Huang Quan's head, which he was propping up, suddenly trembled slightly.

She immediately turned and walked towards the window!

The cabin lights that illuminated her beautiful face quickly dimmed, and a hint of danger, sensing a threat, suddenly appeared in Huang Quan's serene expression. As she became slightly more serious, Huang Quan exuded a unique charm, like a blooming blood-red flower, beautiful yet deadly.

"I think we don't need to make a choice."

After attracting everyone's attention, Huang Quan stepped aside to open the window, showing them the rapidly changing horizon in the distance.

Except for Huang Quan, who could maintain his poker face, everyone else's expression changed drastically!

"Airship take off! Immediately!!"

Chapter Sixteen: The Real Plan