Chapter 177: Outside

Jane saw Aric's actions and she could not help but call out or him to try and stop him.

"Aric, no!"

However, it was far too late. She could see that Aric's chest was dripping with blood while it had a huge gaping hole where his heart used to be.

Aric coughed up blood as he looked at Maverick. He could see that even the monster was surprised to see Aric's sacrifice. It was not part of the monster's plan.

"How did you know?" the monster said as he looked at Aric.

Aric just smiled as blood dripped from his mouth. His face was white as paper as he tried to muster up the strength to speak.

"It was only when you transformed to be my father. It is exactly what is in my nightmares," Aric said as he looked at the monster's face.

Soon enough, the monster lost its structural integrity. It started to change and melt until Maverick's face was lost. It was back to being the faceless clay man once again.

Jane felt the grip on her waist being let go, and she fell forward. She was finally free from the grasp of the monster.

She did not know what triggered this change, but she now had the opportunity to help Aric.

"Don't move, Aric," Jane said as she kneeled next to Aric.

Her face was full of composure, but she was panicking on the inside. She did not know if she could even try to save Aric at this point.

The injury was far too severe. Even if she tried to stop the blood loss, she would not be able to fix Aric's heart.

"You idiot! Why did you do that?!" Jane said as she ripped a part of Aric's clothes and fashioned it into a bandage.

Jane pressed on Aric's chest as hard as she could to try and stop the bleeding. However, the blood would not stop flowing; it was like a broken faucet.

"Hang in there, I will find a way out of here and we can save you," Jane said with a trembling voice.

Jane's eyes were moist. She felt like Aric's death would be on her hands. She thought that if she were not captured by the monster, Aric would not have done that.

As Jane continued to bandage Aric, she suddenly felt a cold hand stop her. When she looked at the hand, she realized that it was Aric.

"No, stop. It's okay. Let me be…," Aric said with a weak smile on his face.

Jane frowned. She had tried her hardest to save Aric, but it turned out that he had already given up.

"What are you saying? This injury is nothing compared to the top hospitals in the country!" Jane argued. However, she left out the fact that they were not in the real world, but the dungeon without any help.

"No. It's the only way…," Aric said as he continued to stop Jane from helping him.

Jane could not help but feel sorry and empathetic of Aric's words. Dying with dignity is better than dying in the hands of your opponent.

As Jane felt Aric's hand get colder and colder, she saw his complexion get whiter and whiter. Then, as soon as Aric stopped moving, Jane shed a tear.

At the very same time that Aric died, Jane felt a sense of weightlessness all over her body. When she looked down, she saw that her hands were becoming invisible.

This was the same phenomenon she had witnessed when they were transported into this world. This could only mean that she was being transported back.

"Damn…," Jane said. If Aric had lived for a few more seconds, he could have seen that his sacrifice was no in vain.

When she opened her eyes, Jane saw the dim hue of the place they were before. They were back at the room full of drawings and hieroglyphs.

She did not know what this room was supposed to be, but it should not be underestimated. It had cost the life of a person she had considered a friend.

Rubbing her eyes of tears, Jane turned around. Then, she saw Aric standing still looking at her.

Feeling that she had seen wrong, Jane continued to rub her eyes. However, Aric was still there, standing and looking at her with a tilted head.

"We're you…crying?" Aric asked with a bit of a smile on his face.

Jane immediately got embarrassed. She turned her head away from him and used her clothes to dry her tears away.

"No, I wasn't! There was just dust in my eyes." Jane said with urgency to try and correct the situation.

Then, Aric nodded to himself as if he did not believe what Jane said.

After composing herself, Jane immediately glared at Aric. It was clear that she was now beyond mad.

Then, she started to walk over to him as she stomped on the ground. Aric could see that she was preparing to beat the crap out of him.

Flustered, Aric tried to calm her down.

"Wait! Wait! I couldn't tell you because I didn't know if it would work! I tried to tell you, but I lost consciousness at that point! Believe me!"

Aric quickly backed away from Jane until his back faced the wall. However, he could not call the anger Jane.

Aric closed his eyes as he was afraid of the beatings that he had to endure. She would surely be angry for deceiving her.

However, Aric suddenly felt a warm feeling all over his body. When he opened his eye, he saw Jane hugging him tightly.

Aric got flustered as he did not expect this. He did not know where to put his hands.

"Ah…a….,"

However, Jane kept her hug.

"I'm glad you are alive," Jane said with a soft voice.

Aric stopped moving. This was the first time that he had ever heard those words. When he died, he was not sure that anyone ever cared that he had come back to life.

Now, someone was glad that he had survived. It was a genuine first feeling for Aric.

Aric moved his hands to hug Jane back, but Jane got out of the hug. He had lost his chance.

Then, Jane smiled at him and spoke to him.

"I'm just glad that a friend of mine did not die in front of me," Jane said.

Aric scratched his head and just nodded to Jane. Unbeknownst to him, there was a slight blush on his cheeks.

"Yeah, yeah…,"

Then as the two shared a moment, they suddenly felt a slight earthquake from the room.

The sudden phenomenon alerted the two, and they quickly went into their defensive stances. They had just survived a tough battle, but they were already ready for another one.

Then, they suddenly saw one of the walls start to move upwards. It was revealed a passageway that led to the outside of the room.

They did not know where it led, but it was the only way to get out of this room.

Jane and Aric looked at each other, and they both agreed to follow the passageway no matter where it went.

Jane first stepped forwards in the tunnel and stopped after one step. She was making sure that there were not any traps in this passageway.

Seeing that it was safe, Jane nodded towards Aric. Then, they both walked step by step towards the passageway.

The tunnel was dark, but there was a slight light at the end of the passageway. I'm this gave them a bit of hope as they started to walk towards it.

They continued to walk for hours and hours towards the end of the passageway. Even though they were tired, they continued to walk towards the end.

As they got closer and closer, they saw that the light became bigger and bigger.

Finally, they reached the end of the tunnel. Due to the light outside, they cannot see what was out there.

"Ready?" Jane asked Aric.

Aric only nodded and took a step outside. Jane soon followed him.

What they first felt was the cold breeze of the wind. Then, they saw the bright sun on the horizon and the blue sky beside it.

When they came to their senses, they realized that they were outside.

After all these hours of being stuck there, they had finally gotten out.

"AAAAAHHHH!" Jane shouted as she felt free at last from the stuffy interior of the castle.

Aric also smiled as he saw the outside. They were lucky that the passageway had opened by itself or else they would be stuck in there for a longer time.

"Oh! Right, Serena and Hugh are still there!" Jane said as she just remembered.

She turned around to look at the passageway, but it had strangely disappeared.

When she looked around, there were not any buildings near them. It was like they were transported here.

Aric also noticed this, and he tried to step back towards the last time he had seen the tunnel. However, nothing happened.

They were finally outside, but this meant that they could not go inside.