Kelvin pleaded with Iker to safely deliver the soon-to-be-born Cheyenne before he and Captain Gordon went in to rescue the others.
“No, I… I want to go too. Grandpa and Omari are still there… Kelvin, let me come with you,” Cheyenne struggled out of his embrace, revealing her cute head.
Her hands tightly gripped Kelvin’s sleeve as she looked up at him expectantly. Normally he would have given in and agreed to take her along because he was confident that he could protect her well enough.
But the current situation was too risky for any chances, especially considering her fragile state.
“Cheyenne, be a good girl and go with Master Iker first. I swear on my life that I will bring your grandpa back. If not, then may I never rest in peace!”
Before Kelvin could finish his vow, Cheyenne softly sobbed while covering his lips with her hand as a choked voice resonated among them all.
“Don’t say it… you all need to come back safe.”
She didn’t let him continue because she began feeling sorry for him now? Underneath his mask was a sweet smile despite holding back tears of reluctance.
His deep-set eyes resembling an ocean gazed upon Iker.
“Master Iker, please take care of her for me.”
Iker remained expressionless but carefully held onto Cheyenne’s delicate body before responding.
“You don’t need to ask; it goes without saying.”
As they departed from each other’s sight into the dark night sky filled with stars above them all,
Their fleeting glances met briefly before disappearing just as quickly – understanding each other’s unspoken words. He would repay Cheyenne by giving up everything if necessary.
Kelvin nodded gratefully under his mask while flashing a smile that vanished instantly after their exchange ended.
Cheyenne clutched onto her pregnant belly as the pain grew stronger within herself while shouting towards Kelvin’s fading silhouette.
“Kelvin! Please stay alive!”
He paused mid-stride facing away from Cheyenne, mouthing. “I love you.”
A loud crash followed suit afterwards –
The entire cave began to shake and crumble, with rocks and sand falling from above and injuring several of Kelvin’s fellow explorers.
“Get out of the way!”
“My leg, my leg!”
Painful screams echoed in his ears. Kelvin was lucky to dodge all the unknown attacks as he moved quickly through the darkness.
Suddenly, a large hand rested on his shoulder. Just as he was about to retaliate, a familiar voice spoke up beside him. “It’s me. We need to go left and be careful.”
Before they could move any further, a frightened bat flew towards them. Gordon pulled the trigger and shot it down into the water below.
Jerry trembled behind him with fear in his voice. “Let’s go! Bats are social animals; we’ve killed one, so more will come soon.”
They continued forward into another cave on their left for about ten minutes before finally reaching an open space that looked like another world entirely.
The entire cave was filled with snakes despite it being winter when they should have been hibernating. Gregory led his group who were now surrounded by these snakes while fighting for their lives on the ground covered in blood.
In the center of this snake kingdom lay a purple python over ten meters long coiled around a coffin-like structure with two antlers resembling those of deer growing from its head – its red vertical pupils cold-blooded yet full of murderous intent.
Gregory fought alongside Gracie against this giant python while Layne hid Omari in a relatively safe corner where he had sprinkled some realgar powder beforehand – keeping snakes away from himself.
Gordon drew out his dagger at random moments cutting off small purple snakes trying to bite him or anyone else nearby; however, these broken bodies were quickly devoured by other hungry reptiles since even among themselves – they too were prey for each other just like any other cold-blooded animal would be.
The snake, awakened from hibernation and starving after a long winter, saw every moving creature in the cave as potential food.
“Old Mr. Edwards, are you okay?” Layne was overjoyed to see his old acquaintance Captain Gordon. He had just stepped out of the circle when he felt a chill from the sea of snakes outside.
Better stay put.
Layne didn’t recognize Kelvin with his mask on at first but thanked him tearfully for protecting himself when he got bitten by a snake. “Thank you, young man.”
“Grandpa, I’m fine,” said Kelvin before joining the fight again.
Layne was left alone and confused by the young man’s sudden use of “grandpa” to refer to himself.
No time for that now; he had to get Omari out of here fast. He had used some rare purple lucid ganoderma from inside the coffin to revive him earlier; if they were lucky enough, Omari might survive with timely medical attention.
But there were too many snakes here-maybe not quite a thousand but close enough-and they were all tangled up together like an impenetrable web that would scare anyone with arachnophobia senseless.
Continuing this battle wasn’t an option because more blood would only stimulate their senses even more than before.
Their only hope now was to set fire to this place and burn it all down-but it was damp here without gasoline or any source of ignition; setting fire seemed impossible!
“Kelvin!” Sam sneered at him upon seeing him arrive unexpectedly but decided it could be useful since they could catch them all in one fell swoop instead of searching one by one later on.
“How did he get here?” Gracie stared at Kelvin’s black silhouette for a moment before turning her gaze towards Gregory unconsciously while fighting off the purple snake king beside her.
Upon seeing Kelvin’s arrival, Gregory came up with a new plan. “Gracie, lead the snake king towards that guy over there while I open up the coffin and enter into the cemetery.”
“But Gregory…” It was difficult for her as she couldn’t bear leading her own son into danger like this!