NOVEL WEB Chapter 369: Mysterious Cave
They stepped into the cave. A wide, sloping passage stretched ahead, descending steadily. The walls were dotted here and there with sticky, slimy substances that gave off a faintly nauseating vibe.
Hikaru held a glowing card in hand, using it like a flashlight to illuminate their way forward, or rather, downward.
After a while, the cave grew brighter. Fluorite crystals embedded along the walls lit the space with a gentle glow.
As they ventured deeper, voices reached their ears.
Not many, just two or three. And they sounded familiar.
The further in they walked, the clearer the voices became. The cave brightened further.
At last, after a long trek through the passage, the space opened up into an enormous underground cavern.
It was massive, stretching beyond sight. By rough estimate, it might not even be smaller than the Forest Zone.
In the distance, Hikaru spotted several students sitting on the ground, locked in an intense discussion.
"So why didn't you fuse into Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem back then?"
"Didn't have the materials! I don't run that many Ancient Gears!"
"Then use Gaia the Dragon Champion!"
"I didn't have the materials either."
"You had Monster Reborn and brought back a Gladiator Beast!"
They chattered endlessly, completely unaware of Amaki Hikaru's approach.
"Huh?" Celina blinked in surprise.
Hikaru let out a small sigh of relief.
At least they were safe.
Compared to the outside, this place was remote and sealed off. Even Dark World demons hadn't noticed it.
"Alexis! How have you guys been?" Hikaru called out.
Hearing his voice, the students turned toward the cavern entrance.
"Hikaru-nii?"
"Captain!"
Dimitri jumped to his feet and waved.
"Haha, Captain! You guys came too?"
The trio were Fusion Club members on rotation duty, usually manning the club's bar desk. They had a good rapport with Hikaru and were traveling together in the Critical Nexus. From a distance, Hikaru could already see that Dimitri had three badge marks, he should be able to pass the exams smoothly.
Hikaru chatted with them for a bit, asking how things had been and explaining why he came looking for them.
When they heard about spirit attacks on humans, the three were shocked, grateful and a little shaken.
Grateful because they'd stayed in the cave, dueling the spirits here, and didn't know what had happened outside.
Shaken because they were nearly out of food. Had Hikaru come a day or two later, they would've had to venture out, unaware of the dangers, and might have been ambushed unprepared.
Since this was underground, KaibaCorp's communication systems hadn't reached here, so they'd been cut off from the outside world, unaware of the chaos, just dueling with the local spirits.
But when Hikaru asked what kind of spirits these were, the three clammed up.
"You'll love it, Captain," they said mysteriously.
"Since the Captain's here, Dimitri, how about we stay and challenge them another day?"
"No way. There could be other students trapped elsewhere. What if we're too late?"
Dimitri nodded, not agreeing with the suggestion.
"We don't need to be that strict," Hikaru said, opening a map and pointing casually. "This place is the most remote of the locations. Others are being rescued by different people and spirits. Everything's proceeding in sync.
I can't go everywhere by myself. Not enough time or resources."
He knew this from the start. Outside emergency rescues, his job was helping KaibaCorp regroup and redeploy.
"Then we can stay a little longer!" Dimitri cheered.
Tierra elbowed Hikaru lightly, curious about what could make Fusion Club students this obsessed.
Frankly, Hikaru was curious too.
The Fusion Club didn't have access to many base decks, though they had seen plenty. Dimitri himself came from money, his cards weren't rentals, but personal property.
He even owned half a set of Hikaru's own Fusion deck. What sort of cards could make them so excited?
Dimitri slotted his deck into place and stepped in front of a pool in the cavern, shouting:
"Heyyyyyy!"
"Dragon King-samaaaaa!"
"We're ready!"
With his shout, the pool began to tremble.
One after another, small spirits flew out from the surroundings.
They glowed softly, covered in viscous slime, wings fluttering as they gathered from every direction.
They looked like dragons, tiny, blob-like, with muddy bodies and gleaming eyes, joyfully chirping, "New humans! New humans!"
From the walls and ceiling, more strange and varied little spirits emerged, buzzing with excitement. They were all waiting for a "performance."
As the swarm of tiny dragons surrounded them, the pool began to bubble.
Gradually, it rose, morphing into a huge, glowing green mud dragon.
Hikaru's eyes widened.
It was…
Mudragon King!
As it appeared, it slowly opened its mouth. A deep, ancient voice echoed:
"Humans... have you come to challenge me once again?"
"That's right!" Dimitri said, eyes burning with spirit. "This time, I'm definitely taking home a Beast King!"
Now it clicked for Hikaru.
So this was it.
No wonder Dimitri was being so secretive.
So this place was tied to [Swamp]!
Hikaru never would've guessed there was a swamp hidden beneath the cave.
This really was the Spirit World. So strange, so wondrous.
For any member of the Fusion Club, seeing this place would make them want to stay forever.
Anyone who knew anything about Fusion cards would instantly recognize the significance:
These swamp spirits were almost certainly "universal fusion materials"!