NOVEL WEB Chapter 981: Secrets
Max's stomach tightened. He had fought monsters all his life, but these were different. These were monsters with intelligence in their eyes. Monsters capable of strategy. Capable of infiltrating the very heart of the Middle Domain.
As he studied them, Max felt the shift in the air. The waiting was over.
One of the original three glanced at the others, a guttural snarl escaping his throat before he jerked his chin toward one of the doors at the far end of the chamber. Heavy, double-layered iron, carved with strange, jagged runes that pulsed faintly in the blue torchlight.
The groups began to move, one after another, in silence now. Their chatter died down as they approached the door. A ripple of anticipation moved through them like a wave.
Max followed. His footsteps matched their rhythm, his invisibility wrapping around him like a second skin. Every motion was precise, every breath calculated. He kept close enough not to lose them, but far enough not to be caught in the swaying of a tail or the flare of some unnatural aura.
He trailed the group deeper into the underground chamber. Soon, he realized this was no ordinary passage. They entered a vast, spiraling gateway that unfolded into something entirely unnatural.
The world around him shifted.
Stone gave way to nothingness.
Max found himself standing on a staircase that floated in the void—massive stone steps suspended in midair, twisting and turning in directions that defied logic. Some rose into the endless dark above, others dipped sharply down, vanishing into swirling patches of black mist. Some even curved sideways or bent back onto themselves.
There were countless such stairways, stretching as far as his eye could see, each one leading to different glowing doors or platforms scattered across the abyss. The humanoid beasts strode forward without hesitation, their monstrous forms moving as though they knew the place by heart.
Max's Three Dimensional Body scanned outward instinctively, yet to his shock, it failed him. No matter how far he pushed his senses, they could not pierce the void surrounding him. The space was sealed, locked tight by laws far greater than his current mastery.
His eyes sharpened. 'This place isn't normal. It's like a hidden world buried inside the city itself… but it feels more ancient, more sinister.'
He followed carefully, his invisibility wrapped tight around him as the group ascended one set of stairs, then shifted onto another that curved downward. The beasts moved with uncanny precision, stepping onto intersections that seemed random but clearly weren't. They knew the exact paths.
Max clenched his fists as the journey went on, each step dragging him deeper into the unknown.
Then, the path ended at a wide platform jutting out into the void. A massive cave opened ahead, its jagged mouth glowing faintly with torchlight. The beasts entered without pause, and Max, silent as a shadow, slipped in behind them.
The sight inside made his blood run cold.
Rows of humans—men and women—were chained to the walls, their bodies gaunt and beaten, their eyes dim with despair. The stench of blood and sweat clung to the air, thick enough to choke. Some prisoners lay motionless, corpses forgotten in the corner, while others groaned weakly, their chains rattling at the slightest movement.
Max's jaw tightened. His eyes blazed cold fury, though he restrained himself. He couldn't act—not yet. His purpose was to uncover the truth, no matter how much his instincts screamed to burn this place to ash.
The beasts barely spared the prisoners a glance as they walked through, their guttural conversation continuing without pause. To them, the humans weren't lives. They were tools. Meat. Nothing more.
Max followed silently as they exited the cave and crossed another stretch of void stairs. This time the path led downward, spiraling into a lower platform. Another massive archway awaited them, carved with symbols Max couldn't recognize but felt instinctively were old—older than the Middle Domain itself.
The arch opened into a colossal hall, and the moment Max stepped inside, his heart clenched.
It was a battle arena.
Circular, vast, with tiered platforms rising along the walls for the beasts to watch from. At its center, bloodstains marred the stone floor, and the air reeked of slaughter. Torches burned with sickly green flames, casting an eerie glow over the scene.
Inside the ring, two humans were fighting desperately. Their bodies were broken, their movements sluggish, yet they were forced to keep going. Outside the arena, humanoid beasts cheered, snarled, and laughed, their monstrous voices rising in twisted joy.
Max's fists shook at his sides. 'They're treating humans like entertainment… like gladiators for their sick amusement.'
He forced himself to calm down, pressing his fury deep beneath the surface. If he lashed out now, it would be suicide. He needed information. He needed to find the heart of this operation.
The group he followed barely lingered, watching for only a moment before moving on. They passed through another gate behind the arena, stepping onto yet another staircase of void. Max followed closely, his eyes burning with hatred but his steps steady, cold.
This final path led higher than before, twisting upward into the abyss until it finally ended before a wall that shimmered faintly as though rejecting their presence. The humanoid beasts stopped there.
They raised their clawed hands, speaking words Max couldn't understand. The language was jagged, ancient, and the air itself rippled with their voices. Runes flared briefly, then sank into silence as the wall quivered and slowly dissolved.
A passage was revealed. A secret hall.
The beasts stepped through casually, their voices fading into the void as the wall reformed behind them.
Max didn't move.
His gaze locked onto the wall, unblinking, unwavering. The faint ripple of spatial energy pulsed against it like a hidden heartbeat, whispering of something sealed just beyond.
'There is definitely a secret room behind this wall,' he thought grimly. His Three Dimensional Body—usually his most reliable perception tool—was almost useless here, smothered by the void's oppressive laws.
But his level 3 space concept, Spatial Distortion, allowed him to sense fluctuations in space itself. And space didn't lie. There was a hollow beyond this wall, a chamber carved carefully into existence.
Slowly, he stepped closer, his invisibility skill still draped over him like a cloak of silence. His hand lifted, pressing gently against the cold surface. The wall wasn't ordinary stone—it hummed faintly with runes etched deep within, runes crafted to shield and conceal. Yet, where others might have been blinded, Max's affinity with space pierced the veil.
He closed his eyes and drew upon his Three Dimensional Body, intertwining it with his spatial concept. The effort strained him; the resistance here was powerful, alien. The void itself seemed to push back. But Max gritted his teeth and forced his perception through.
And then—like light breaking through mist—the blurred outline of the chamber beyond flickered in his mind.
The images were hazy, fractured, as though seen through fogged glass, but enough to ignite shock within him.
Five figures.
Three were seated around what seemed to be a dark stone table, their postures calm, deliberate. Two stood behind them, their towering silhouettes unmistakable even through the distortion.
But it wasn't their monstrous forms that made Max's heart skip a beat. It was the humans among them.
Humans sitting side by side with these beasts.
Max's eyes widened, his breathing shallow. He focused harder, sharpening the image, and then he recognized them.
The long, regal bearing of the man at the head of the table. The faint outline of his robes embroidered with thundercloud patterns, radiating authority like a storm waiting to erupt.
The Thunder Lord of the Thunder Monarch Hall.
And opposite him, a leaner figure, his aura cold, sharp, and suffocating even through the distortion. The Tower insignia etched on his robe, faint but undeniable, confirmed his identity.
The Tower Lord of the Void Soul Tower.
Max's pupils contracted violently.
The leaders of two of the Seven Overlord Forces of the Middle Domain—men revered and feared across countless regions—were here, sitting in secret with humanoid beasts.