Chapter 201 - You’re Not Dead?

"Rosa!"

Before the flies could reach Rosa, a burst of flames erupted in front of her, melting the insects to dust while the mutated monster leaped from the sudden heat.

"Wow, it really is you!"

Rosa blinked and looked over at her savior. Due to fright, her mind was playing tricks on her, and she thought that it was Ryu who was offering his hand at her, only to be dismayed at a familiar face which she had already forgotten.

"You." Rosa's face crumpled in disgust, and she slapped Kai's hand. "You're still alive?"

Kai's face instantly went sour. "Is that how you speak to the one who just saved your life?"

"It's good that you know each other, but this isn't the time to be having a reunion celebration here."

Rosa flung her attention to the one who just spoke, and her mood plummeted more. "Aren't you the girl from before?"

The one who was with Ryu.

"Nice to meet you. I believe we still haven't been introduced. My name is Seraphina."

"And my name's Kai," he winked at the others before he shot to his feet and fired another beam of fire from his gun when the mutated monsters reappeared once more.

"Let's get acquainted at a later time! For now, let's escape from here!" Kai said, keeping the fire on to keep the mutated monster at bay.

"This way!" Seraphina gestured with her hand and ran towards an alleyway while the rest followed behind her.

"There's nothing there," Fjord interrupted.

Seraphina ignored him and opened a metal trash bin at the end of the narrow alleyway. Before anyone could ask what she was doing, she jumped inside the bin.

"Wha–?"

Fjord and Kelly ran after her and looked over the bin. They spotted a hole inside with a ladder enough to fit a single person. It led down into the sewers based on the stench emanating from it.

Fjord and Myla looked at each other while Rosa didn't wait for the other's reaction and jumped in herself.

"What are you doing? Hurry up!" Kai shouted, running from the mutated monster who was hot on his back.

Fjord and Myla didn't think twice anymore and leaped into the hole, followed by Kelly.

Kai shot another burst of fire before jumping into the hole, closing the bin from the inside. 

The mutated monsters pummeled the bin until it was nothing but a piece of broken metal sheet but what remained was a close manhole, locked from the inside that the monster couldn't open.

Whew!

Kai breathed as he eyed the maintenance hole. He just hoped that the monster would lose its patience and leave.

He then faced the others. "Let's go. It's still not safe in these parts of the sewer."

"Where are we going?" Rosa asked Kai. "And how long were you here?"

Kai shrugged. "Not long ago. Maybe before the recent portal."

"By the way, where's Ryu?" asked Kai, voice excited.

Rosa's mood dived down at the halfbreed's name. "Don't worry about him. He's in a much safer place than us."

Seraphina sighed in relief. At least Ryu was okay. But he should be, he was strong physically, and he wasn't dependent on mana. From the rest of them, he was the most likely to survive.

Fjord sighed a big breath, raffling his fringe. "Now what? We've lost Saxa, and without her, we also lost our only source of communication to HQ."

His gloomy face then brightened within seconds. "My name's Fjord, by the way, and this is Myla and Kelly. Thanks for saving us."

"Kai."

"Seraphina."

"What is this place? And where are we going?" Rosa asked again, tone impatient.

"Glad to know that you haven't changed," Kai muttered under his breath.

Rosa cut him a pointed glare.

Kai looked to the other side and whistled, pretending that Rosa didn't exist.

"We're going to a secret underground," Seraphina said and added in a dead voice, "though we might not be welcomed anymore.

"A secret underground?" Fjord and Myla looked at each other.

"There's a thing like that?" Ford scratched his head. "The last time I remembered, the last remaining sanctuary is our base."

Kai placed his hands behind his neck. "That's because this person didn't go out since the apocalypse. They've been locked here for who knows how long."

Fjord's eyes bulged. "R-really?" 

"But what about their food?" Kelly asked.

"You'll see when we get there. Though I doubt they'll take us back since we left." Kai released a breath of resignation. "Those bunch would take you in as long as you obey their rules. But . . ."

"We needed to find the exit and couldn't remain here forever," Seraphina chimed in.

Kai nodded. "That's right. We need to go back to our real world."

"But still . . ." Fjord placed a finger over his chin. "How can they survive this long without food and water? At some point, they had to come out on the ground, and we could have spotted them. Or that some of us back in the sanctuary should have known the existence of this secret underground."

"Don't underestimate this bunch," Kai said," their dedication to obey the rules is no joke."

"And maybe because you didn't know where to look." Seraphina stopped on a wall, reached its tight gap, and pulled a lever.

RuUmBLeE!

The wall of stones budged and creaked, revealing another hallway that was lit with torches.

"Wow. How come this place hadn't been discovered yet back in the sanctuary?" Kelly asked, eyes wide.

Everyone looked at Fjord, and the latter raised his hands in a defensive stance. 

"Don't look at me. I'm also transported here as much as you are."

Kai led the way inside. "Let's go."

After a series of winding maze paths and secret doors, climbing down stairs and jumping off rocks and cliffs, the group finally arrived at their destination after hours of going down.

"W-wha . . . what is this." Fjord gasped.

Rosa crossed her hands and roamed her eyes. "So that's why they can stay here for so long."

What they saw was a massive crater with a huge reservoir of water. Not only that, there were plants scattered on the ground that gave way to vegetables and hybrid fruits, which only needed oxygen and water to grow.

They had those back in the sanctuary, too, but the only difference was, their water sources couldn't cope with the high demand, and this affected their harvest while this place had unlimited reserved as long as it rained and nature ran its course.

"It's like a new civilization here," Fjord mumbled.

"What are you doing here?!"