Multiple footsteps echoed in the empty streets until stopping before the house Jun was sleeping within. They communicated with each other and agreed to whatever it was they were contemplating. The hole Jun was curled up in sunk deeper, no, it was closer to being warped than sinking. The two men along with Jun were swallowed into the earth and disappeared without a trace, leaving behind an empty pit and a broken house.
"Why are you so mad?" (Jun)
"I'm not mad! You're mad!" (Juno)
"You're acting like a child. Is it because of the date I went on?" (Jun)
"No... Who cares about your stupid date. I don't!" (Juno)
"Sigh... here, I bought you something." (Jun)
Juno who was throwing a tantrum held back the pillow she was about to throw. Ears twitching and a little sparkling in her eyes, she was a little expectant of what gift Jun bought for her.
"Really brother? Didn't you just call me childish? The hell is with this gift!" (Juno)
Even though she showed disdain towards her brother, she couldn't hide the blush on her face. Burying her face within the pillow to hide the shyness on her face, she fidgeted around with the locket while glancing at her brother who walked off into his room. Jun's memory of that time started to blur and change until a sour memory that he wished to forget emerged.
----------------------------------------
"Someone, save me! Monster! So- aaAHH!" (Delver)
Crush
The Delvers screaming was cut off and he lay limp within Juno's arms. Blood poured out from the fist-sized hole on his forehead. With a thud, his lifeless body hit the grassy floor next to the 2 other dead bodies. They were Delvers who were searching for artifacts within the wide network of tunnels that spread throughout the 3rd Layer's vertical shaft.
『These damn tunnels go on forever!』 (Juno)
Pitiful Juno had been crawling and searching the tunnels for days and got lost deep within them. Luckily, she came upon these Delvers who had a guide book for the 3rd layer and its tunnels. Backtracking where she came from and taking different turns, she managed to find a hole that went on past what her senses could reach.
『Found it.』 (Juno)
In a slight rush, she ran down the walls for several minutes, which was surprising considering she could run at roughly 120 km/h. A thought hit her head like a xenomorph's inner jaw which almost caused her to slip off from the walls.
『Why didn't I just run down the walls on the outside?』 (Juno)
Ozen's creepy face surfaced in her mind mocking her about how she never uses her brain. Things would've been a lot faster, even taking several minutes, to reach the 4th layer. But sadly, Juno seemed to be a natural airhead. Little did she know, during her complaining she had taken a different turn in the tunnels and entered a place she shouldn't have. She left the shaft and swiftly landed on the ground below, but a soft squishy substance supported her fall.
This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.
Rumble!
The squishy object Juno had fallen upon were Crimson Splitjaw eggs. She fell directly within the middle of them too, crushing an entire batch. The Crimson Splitjaws that surrounded her was enraged which was the source of the low howls that shook the cavern. A Crimson Splutjaw that was nearest to her crawled furiously. A mouth filled with rows of sharp teeth and two 2-meter long fangs were about to fall on her. Juno dashed directly towards the danger and ducked beneath its closing maw. She was then showered in its blood after slashing open a wound in its belly. The poor Crimson Splitjaw that lost its children would meet them very soon.
Crashing and thunderous roars filled the caverns. The cause of their anger and the culprit behind the eggs was leisurely biting through the dead Crimson Splitjaws skull. She only took a few bites as the meat wasn't at all tasty. Evading a Crimson Splitjaw that attacked her, it instead bit down on the dead Crimson Splitjaw. Juno jumped on top of the Splitjaw and attacked its head ferociously. The Splitjaws head was a lot stronger than expected, and her claws only left slightly deep marks. The Splitjaw threw its head around and crashed into supporting pillars that held the cavern together causing the eggs below to be crushed by the falling rocks.
Tens of Splitjaws were already surrounding Juno and there was little to no chance of her escape, so she could only fight for now and find that chance later. Two Splitjaws came from both sides and rammed into the head of the Splitjaw she was attacking. She jumped away from the Slpitjaw and the three crashed into each other.
Running past the dizzy Splitjaws she jumped into another batch of eggs that were ready to hatch, ruthlessly destroying them and killing the hatchlings. No matter how the Splitjaws tried, they couldn't catch her and were instead destroying the cavern which was reaching its limit. Taking advantage of the Splitjaws that were crushed under fallen rocks, and some who were injured badly, she swiftly dashed from Splitjaw to Splitjaw, avoiding the falling rocks and killing them one by one.
An unknown amount of time passed until there was only Juno and the last Crimson Splitjaw. This last one however was several times bigger than the others roughly 5 meters tall and several meters long. The Splitjaw returned only to find its nest destroyed, its fellow Splitjaws dead, and the culprit responsible for this destruction sitting atop a pile of dead Splitjaws and boulders.
Even though Juno had carefully attacked the struggling Splitjaws, she wasn't entirely unaffected which was seen by the several cracks on her body and the limp left arm. Her vitality was nowhere close to Jun's, so any major injury would be fatal for her. Her injured armor severely impacted her ability to move around and evade coming attacks.
Juno escaped the majority of the Splitjaws attacks, but not all of them. Being whipped by the Splitjaws tail, she flew into a crumbling pillar that broke down from the impact of her body. The cavern immediately started to cave in on the two. The Splitjaw was the most to suffer due to its large size and was buried under a pile of rocks.
Desperately trying to find a way to escape, she saw an opening in the walls on the other side of the cavern. Picking up her heavy body and rushing towards it, she was about to escape through the cracks. Just when she was several feet away from it, the Splitjaw emerged from the pile of rocks, biting off her uninjured arm and slamming into the wall, pushing Juno through the cracks as from its momentum.
4th Layer: The Goblets of Giants
Splash!
An injured creature fell from above and landed atop a circular concaved disc filled with hot water. The disc she crashed into was called Flat-creepers, the origin of the name for the 4th Layer: The Goblets of Giants.