CHAPTER 93: CHAPTER 93 - SUDDEN REMINDER

"Marvelous... Even back at the academy, I only ever saw one of these crystals in a professor’s possession," Henry muttered in awe, observing the space vessel crystal carefully. "And even that one was barely half the size of this."

"Just how exactly did you come into possession of the money to buy something this rare?" he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

"I borrowed it from someone," Auran answered casually, shrugging.

Henry opened his mouth to ask another question—but suddenly, the entire room trembled. The ground beneath them shook violently, making both of them grab onto nearby furniture for balance.

"What was that? Is something wrong with the blessing crystal?" Auran asked, glancing toward the room wall.

Before either of them could act, a knock came at the door. It was Clara.

"Did you feel that just now?" she asked as the door creaked open.

"So it’s not just my room," Auran muttered, confirming his suspicions. He immediately stepped out into the hallway, with Henry and Clara following close behind. The mansion itself continued to shake intermittently.

"Whoa!" Henry exclaimed as the tremors worsened. He lost his balance and stumbled to the floor while Auran and Clara managed to hold onto the walls for support.

"What is happening?" Henry shouted, trying to get up.

"Oh good, so I’m not hallucinating," came Octo’s voice as he stepped out of his room and saw the others in the hallway.

"This is abnormal," Auran said grimly. "Let’s ask the owner of the mansion first."

They began heading toward Marain’s room. Along the way, Nimuk burst out from his room in a hurry—only to freeze when he saw Clara. He immediately stepped back inside, avoiding eye contact.

But just then, another tremor shook the ground, knocking over furniture in Nimuk’s room. Driven by fear and urgency, he finally rushed out and followed behind the others.

As they made their way to Marain’s room, they found her already outside, standing tensely in the hallway.

"Marian, what’s going on? Why is the mansion shaking like this?" Henry asked urgently.

"I have no idea what’s happening either," she replied, her voice uneasy. "The only ones I can ask are the guardian golems."

Without wasting time, the whole group rushed out of the mansion. They quickly arrived at the front entrance, where the two golems, Jin and Gin, usually stood guard.

"Jin! Gin!" Marain called out.

"Hey, you two stone-headed idiots!" octo shouted, trying to provoke a response.

But despite calling for them several times, there was no sign of the golems.

"This has never happened before," Marain muttered, her brows furrowed with concern. "They always respond to my call... every single time."

She scanned the area. Normally, the golems would manifest from the twin cliffs flanking the entrance, but there was no trace of them. The ground trembled again beneath their feet, and Marain’s unease deepened.

"Something’s happening... something’s wrong here," she murmured, her voice tight with suspicion.

"Try calling the Guiding Wind," Auran suggested. "If it works, we can at least get outside and see if we’re the only ones experiencing this shaking."

Marain nodded and quickly began the incantation. Within minutes, a massive gust of shimmering wind formed in front of them. The Guiding Wind had arrived.

Before anyone could say a word, the wind surged forward, engulfing them all. In an instant, they were swept off their feet and pulled into a hidden tunnel beneath the mansion—drawn rapidly toward the world outside the Blessing Crystal.

After a long and rapid ride through the tunnel, the Guiding Wind finally pushed Auran and the others out from within the Blessing Crystal. The wind didn’t stop there—it continued to surge downward, dragging them toward the sixth floor of the underground city.

"Ah...!"

On their way down, all they could see were people running in every direction, panic etched into their faces.

The entire sixth floora of the Awakeners’ City was in chaos. Citizens rushed toward the upper levels, desperately seeking an exit from the subterranean city.

Grrrmm...!

Another tremor rumbled through the ground, sending debris and chunks of earth from the upper layers crashing down into the city. The shaking only escalated the pandemonium.

In the midst of the chaos—people scrambling to escape and screaming in fear—there were also opportunists. Those with wicked hearts took advantage of the mayhem, looting shops and stealing anything of value.

"It’s not wise to stay here any longer," Auran said grimly. "Judging by the situation, it looks like a massive earthquake is underway. If the ceiling collapses... it would be catastrophic. And clearly, everyone here has already realized that."

"Then we should be heading up, not down to the sixth—and deepest—floor!" Marian exclaimed.

Responding to Marain’s direction, the Guiding Wind changed course and swept them upward toward the top floor of the city.

"Oh, for life’s sake..." Marain groaned once they arrived.

The uppermost floor was packed—flooded with people, shoulder to shoulder, all trying to reach the one and only exit.

"If someone had told me to imagine what a whole city escaping through a single portal looked like... I don’t think I’d ever have pictured something like this," Nimuk muttered in disbelief.

"There’s nothing we can do except try to get through this crowd however we can," Henry said, offering a few encouraging words before stepping forward.

The others followed close behind, bracing themselves to push through the frantic mass of crowd.

There were all kinds of people in the crowd—each one gritting their teeth, shoving and squeezing forward, desperate to reach the portal as quickly as possible.

"Oh!"

"Hey!"

"Ah, over here!"

"This way! Come this way!"

"Join me!"

Even in this suffocating sea of people, some still managed to draw special attention—and unfortunately for Nimuk, he was one of them.

But to his dismay, the attention was coming entirely from women.

Nimuk, already overwhelmed, was in no condition to properly respond to any of them.

"Oh crap!"

He quickly ducked behind Octo’s massive, tentacled body to hide.

"Nimuk, come out and use this situation to our advantage!" Marain shouted. "If you handle this properly, we might all be able to move ahead faster!"

Without giving him a chance to protest, she yanked him from behind Octo and shoved him forward.

"Oh boy..."

Looking at the smiling women inviting him to stand beside them, all Nimuk could see were not kind faces, but illusions—faces hiding judgment, ridicule, and the sting of past humiliation.

"I can’t..." he muttered, retreating behind Octo once more.

Even though he knew this was an opportunity to possibly advance further, Nimuk couldn’t bring himself to act. Trauma wasn’t something easily brushed aside.

"Tch! Useless," Marain scoffed.

Then, she paused as something clicked in her mind.

"Huh... Wait a minute. Why am I trying to escape the ordinary way... when I already have an exclusive method of getting out?"

In that moment, a fact she had forgotten suddenly returned to her.