Chapter 168: Dome

Serena was mad at Hugh and Joy for the fact that they did not immediately follow her into the unknown. If enemies were waiting for her on the other side, she coke have been forced to fight it alone.

Serena crossed her arms and moved her head away from the two of them. She did not want to look at the two.

"Sorry about that," Jane realized her mistake. Throughout their journey, she had gotten close with Serena.

"Yeah. Sorry, we're late," Hugh said while following Jane's actions.

although Serena would like to get angrier at them, she did not have the time to do so. They were currently at an unknown location that may be dangerous, so it was not the place to be angry.

Serena cursed her feelings and faced Hugh and Jane with a smile.

"Whatever, forget it," Serena waved her hand around it like it was nothing.

*cough*

Then, everyone stopped as they realized that someone coughed. When they saw that it was just Aric, they stopped being wary.

"Let's go. Don't waste your time standing around like this," Aric said as he got a little bit angry waiting for them.

Aric's eyes were almost filled with glee at the prospect of investigating the fallen palace. It gave him much pleasure to rediscover this little piece of history.

"Let's wait for Miser and Darren," Serena said as she looked back at where they came from.

"They can't. For some reason, they can't see us," Hugh said.

"What do you mean?"

"Before we entered this pace, we were trapped and we couldn't communicate with them. We could see them, but we couldn't see us," Jane explained.

With that explanation, Serena now understood why both of them stayed behind.

"Have you guys found an exit yet?" Hugh asked as he looked around the place.

Serena shook her head. She was just as clueless as everyone about their current whereabouts. It did not seem like they were underground, more like they were teleported.

"We must find a way out, fast. This did not seem like where they kidnapped Mia too," Hugh said.

With the stakes high, the group focused their efforts on exploring the place. They continued down the hallway until they got to the dome.

Once there, they were surprised to see a big dome that was almost empty. However, when they stepped inside, their footsteps echoed throughout the room.

*step…step…step*

They entered the doom and looked around. There did not seem to be any decorations in this dome except for the paintings on the ceilings.

The paintings in the ceiling were in exquisite condition compared to the ones they saw outside. It still had good pigment and only a few parts had cracked.

They all observed the wonders of this painting. It depicted a harmonious living in a civilization where there did not seem to be any conflict.

There were depictions of women and children singing to their heart's content, men discussing the philosophies of life, and many more eating a piece of fruit.

It truly did seem like they were living in a utopia. However, it did not last as this was the only remnant left in this place.

Hugh wondered what had happened to such a civilization to be like this. He wondered if it had something to do with the angels they had seen earlier in the paintings.

As they walked and observed the paintings above, Serena was surprised to see pillars right in the middle of the dome.

"Where did these come from?" Serena blurted out as she observed the pillars.

She was sure that these pillars were not there when they had entered the room. It must have appeared by itself when they were all looking at the painting in the ceiling.

Hearing Serena's remarks, Hugh was also surprised to see the pillars.

From what they could see, the pillars served as something like a holder for five objects.

These five objects stood displayed on top of the pillars. One of them was an apple, a flute, a perfume bottle, a blue rose, and a strange gooey substance.

The pillars were positioned in a pentagram in the middle of the dome-like it was the main attraction. Of course, the group's curiosity was intrigued.

The first to approach the pillars were Serena and Aric. They almost seemed fearless in the face of the unknown. Serena looked at the perfume bottle, and Aric looked at the blue rose.

Once they were close enough, they could see that the objects were encased in a glass container. Gathering her courage, Serena poked the container.

Seeing that nothing had happened, Serena got bolder and bolder as she tried to pull the container away. However, she could not make it budge.

Feeling frustrated, Serena used her pink smoke Desire to enhance her physical strength.

With her strength, she once again challenged the integrity of the glass box containing the perfume.

Expecting it to be heavy, Serena used all of her strength. However, as soon as his hands touched the glass, it felt like it was weightless.

She was caught off guard by its weightlessness that she almost lost balance. She now had the glass box in her hand, revealing the perfume to the air.

However, once the perfume was chosen, the other pillars immediately sink to the ground. It was way too fast for anyone to react.

The only pillar left standing was the perfume that Serena chose.

If she had known that this would happen, she would not have done it. She may have done something irreversible at this rate.

"Sorry, didn't mean to do that."

Hugh and Jane were okay with it, but Aric was a little bit salty about it. He was particularly interested in the blue rose, but now, it was gone from his sights.

"My rose!" Aric exclaimed.

"What's that?" Jane said as she changed the subject. She pointed at the perfume bottle as if she was truly enamored by it.

Since it was already done and over with, they had no choice but to deal with the consequences.

Serena picked up the perfume without any warning and inspected it. The two cautious people in the group, namely Hugh and Jane, were caught off guard and backed away from Serena.

If something bad happened, they did not want to be in the infected radius.

Serena continued to inspect the perfume bottle as if it was a normal object that she bought from the department store.

The perfume was old-fashioned as the trigger for the perfume was a ball that had to be squeezed. It was a piece of product not seen in a long time.

Feeling more and more curious about the perfume, Serena put her nose closer to the perfume to try and smell it.

Jane wanted to stop Serena from being careless, but she already did it anyway. Thankfully enough, nothing seemed to have happened.

"So? How is it?" Hugh asked.

Serena had a confused look as she turned the perfume upside down to expect it. She could not figure out what the perfume was supposed to be.

Seeing that the perfume came from a mysterious pillar, it was safe to assume that it was not a normal object.

Seeing how careless Serena was handling the perfume, Hugh could not help but comment on it.

"Be careful with that!"

Serena heard Hugh's comment, and she could not help but scoff at him.

"Oh, be more relaxed would you?" Serena said as she pointed the perfume directly at him and sprayed him with it.

With one squeeze, the perfume bottle squeezed out its particles and sprayed it directly on Hugh. Unfortunately for Hugh, it was hit point-blank and he could not dodge it.

Smelling the fragrance of the perfume, he knew then and there that he was doomed.

They did not know anything about the perfume, and Serena had just tested it on him. If it was poison, then he would die without even knowing what it was.

"Serena! Why did you do that! You should have been more…," Hugh shouted out. However, as his words continued, he got less and less annoyed.

"You should have…you should have…whatever," Hugh said as he completely turned away from being angry to being indifferent.

With that, Hugh suddenly plopped to the ground and breathed in the air. He seemed to be at peace with what happened.

"Hugh, are you okay?" Serena said, being a little guilty of doing something to Hugh.

Hugh just nodded nonchalantly and waved Serena off. He seemed to be enjoying his time Just sit on the ground and wait for time to pass by.

"Hugh! This is not the time to laze around," Serena said as she tried to pull Hugh off the ground.

Serena still did not fill the puzzles of what happened to Hugh, but Jane got an idea.

"Hugh, does it feel good to relax?" Jane asked.

"Yeah! It feels great!" Hugh answered with glee on his face.

Jane nodded her head as if she understood something.

"It's the perfume!" Jane shouted.