CHAPTER 32: FREEING THE FALLEN

As the final seal crumbled away with a faint crack, the massive door groaned. Dust rained down from its frame as if the entire structure was sighing after centuries of silence. The sound was deafening in the otherwise dead stillness.

Then—creeeeeak.

The door shifted open on its own, forcing out a gush of air that smelled like rot, rust, and damp earth. The pressure of centuries released all at once. A wave of musky, stale air hit Oliver’s face so hard he gagged. Dust and motes swirled into the hallway, stinging his throat and eyes.

"Ugh... fuck," he coughed, waving his arm in front of his face.

Cautiously, he stepped forward. His boots crunched on a floor layered with grime that no one had walked across for ages. He braced himself for pitch darkness inside.

Instead—

"Holy shit—!"

The entire chamber was blinding. Light burst from all directions the second he crossed the threshold. It was so intense that it pierced his eyelids even when he tried to shut them. His head throbbed. His eyes watered. He stumbled back, squinting hard.

"The fuck is this? A sealed room that’s brighter than the damn sun?" he muttered, raising a hand over his face.

He couldn’t see anything. Just white. Pure, overwhelming white. He panicked.

"[Stone Lance!]"

A jagged spear of earth shot out from his hand and tore into the wall with a crunch.

"[Stone Burst!]"

The ground ruptured in a wave of stone fragments, scattering into the blinding light.

"[Earth Spike!]"

Spikes erupted around him, stabbing outward at random directions.

The chamber shook. Somewhere above, something cracked. He couldn’t see it, but the sound was unmistakable—glass shattering.

And just like that, the brightness weakened. The overwhelming glare dimmed to a level he could handle. Oliver opened his eyes, blinking furiously. His vision cleared.

"...Finally."

The room was enormous, shaped like a hall. On the ground around him were shards of strange, glassy objects—like fragments of translucent orbs. Their edges still faintly shimmered with traces of unnatural light. Similar glassy things were embedded in the walls and even the ceiling. Many of them now lay shattered from his attacks.

He frowned, picking one up. "These aren’t light crystals. Looks more like... bulbs? Some kind of ancient tech?" He rolled it between his fingers, but it slipped out of his dirtied hand and cracked further against the stone floor. "Doesn’t make sense..."

And then—

"...Who?"

That husky voice again. Low, strained, yet undeniably feminine.

Oliver’s head whipped around. His body stiffened.

At the far end of the chamber... something moved.

His eyes widened.

A face.

No... a whole person, embedded in the wall itself. Only her head and part of her chest were visible, the rest of her body swallowed by the stone as if it had grown around her.

Dark skin. Long, silken black hair, messy and wild, dangled down like a curtain. Through the strands, her eyes gleamed—black with rings of pale silver, like eclipses staring out of a dead sky.

Oliver swallowed.

"It’s... a human?"

The woman looked his age. Maybe younger. Her face, though haggard, was still hauntingly beautiful, a sharp contrast against the prison that encased her. She didn’t blink. She didn’t twitch. Just hung there, peering at him with an unreadable gaze, like a ghost stuck between life and death.

Oliver stiffened. Those moonlike eyes locked onto him, unblinking. His throat felt dry, but after a moment he forced a grin.

"...Hello."

Her cracked lips moved. "Please... save me..."

"Nope."

Oliver turned on his heel and started walking backward, one slow step at a time toward the massive door. He had already made up his mind to unseal her long ago—after all, it was his only shot at getting out of this hellhole—but seeing her beg like that gave him an idea. Conditions. He wasn’t about to play the idiot savior.

First, she couldn’t harm him after being released. Judging by her state, she wasn’t exactly human. Hell, no one could survive centuries sealed in stone. No way he was playing the idiot who popped open some ancient seal only to get his head ripped off.

Two: she’d help him get out of here. If she’d been sealed in this dump for centuries, she had to know something he didn’t. He couldn’t survive down here forever.

But before business—some drama.

"P-Please! I’ll do anything!" Her desperate voice echoed across the empty chamber. Even with just her head visible, the pain and pleading on her face were real.

Oliver let his expression drop into something grim. "You don’t get it, do you? This is the 100th floor. The bottom of the dungeon. There were dozens of seals stacked up outside this room. Do you even know how long I worked on those? Days without food, nearly losing my mind, hoping—just hoping—I’d find some kind of treasure, some inheritance, something that would actually change my life." His tone hardened. "And what do I find? You. Some random girl sealed here."

"Worthless?! You fool, I’m worth more than any treasure chest you could dream of! You didn’t find nothing—you found me! I am your inheritance, a living vault of knowledge! Why settle for old ruins or dead scrolls when I carry that entire era within me?"

Oliver’s lips twitched. Got you. Still, he kept his face cold. Time to push a little more.

"Even if that’s true... you’re sealed tighter than Fort Knox." He gestured around at the barren chamber. "Do you really expect me to believe they locked you up with all this security for no reason? That you’re harmless?"

The door groaned as he shoved it, dust shaking loose from the ceiling. "Sorry. Can’t help."

"No!" Her voice cracked, panic raw. "Please, wait—I’m not bad! I’m—"

He ignored her, pushing the door further, until—

"That bitch Synthia sealed me here!"

Oliver froze mid-step. His hand lingered on the stone as his eyes widened.

’Synthia? Wait. Isn’t that the so-called goddess who summoned us?’

It could have been coincidence. But the venom in her tone said otherwise.

"That fraud parades as a goddess, but she’s more vile than any devil!" the girl spat, her hollow eyes suddenly burning with raw hatred.

Oliver’s pulse quickened. He turned back toward her, squinting. "Which Synthia are we talking about? Because I happen to know one too."

"If you mean the goddess of light," she growled, "then yes—we’re talking about the same one."

Oliver blinked. Then a grin tugged at his lips. Holy shit. Next-level gossip. This is way juicier than I expected.

He stepped closer, crouching down to her level. "Alright, now you’ve got my attention. Tell me everything."

"Then free me," she begged. "Please. Break this seal."

"Well, I could..." Oliver drawled, tilting his head, "...but I’ve got conditions."

Her eyes narrowed. "Conditions?"

He held up two fingers. "One: you don’t hurt me. Two: you help me get the hell out of here."

Her answer came instantly, desperate but unwavering. "I’ll do more than that. Free me, and I’ll obey your every word. If you say left, I’ll go left. If you say right, I’ll go right. If you say kill, I’ll kill. If you say kneel, I’ll kneel. I’ll be yours."

Oliver raised a brow, smirking. "Heh... now that’s the kind of deal I like."

"But... how do I even free you?" Oliver asked, pointing at her half-embedded body. "You’re stuck inside the damn wall. And I don’t exactly have the muscles or magic power to just bust it open, you know."

"You don’t?" The girl’s brow furrowed, her eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Then how did you even reach this place? No one has been able to come here since that bitch sealed me. She must have placed countless barriers and layers of security. Someone who broke through all of that can’t break a simple wall? Are you mocking me?"

Oliver froze. His lips twitched. Why does it feel like this girl is humiliating me...?

"Well, you see..." he scratched his head awkwardly, "...technically, I cheated."

"Cheated?"

"I uh, accidentally triggered a teleportation rune. Next thing I knew, boom, I was down here. I didn’t exactly come by choice." The girl blinked, her expression twisting into disbelief.

"Anyway!" Oliver raised a hand quickly before she could question further. "The real problem is how to get you out. There has to be another method besides brute force, right?"

She hesitated, then tilted her head. "...The collar. If you can remove this damn thing from my neck, I can free myself."

Oliver leaned in, spotting the black choker bound tightly around her pale throat. "That’s it? Easy!"

He reached for it—

BZZZTT!

A violent shockwave blasted outward the instant his fingers brushed the metal. Oliver was launched across the chamber like a ragdoll, smashing against the stone wall.

"Ghhhaaaahhh!" He groaned, sliding to the floor.

"Oh. Forgot to mention." Her tone was completely flat. "You can’t touch it directly. Only she can. That bitch made sure only her own mana—or someone carrying her direct blessing—could tamper with the collar."

Oliver staggered back up, glaring. "You couldn’t have said that before

I got electrocuted?!"

She shrugged faintly. "Would it have made any difference? You’re too weak anyway. You couldn’t even break a wall. And you don’t carry her blessing." Her voice cracked at the last word, hope draining from her features.

Oliver dusted himself off and grinned crookedly. "Oh, you’d be surprised."

He took a deep breath and activated his class.

[Linguist]

A subtle ripple spread out from him, invisible to most eyes—but the girl froze. Her pupils dilated. That energy... she recognized it instantly.

Her eyes hardened into cold hate. "You... you carry her taint. You’re that bitch’s underling. If you free me, I’ll rip you apart myself."

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, lady." Oliver raised his hands quickly. "You think I want this? Hell no. She dragged me to this shitty world against my will. Gave me the most useless garbage class. Back home I was happy. School, games, anime, boring but safe. And ever since I got here? Every single day has been me almost dying. Over and over again." His voice cracked as anger finally poured out.

The girl blinked, her fury momentarily interrupted. "Other... world? School? Games...?" Strange words spilled from him that made no sense to her.

"You’re... not from this world?" she asked carefully.

"Nope," Oliver snapped, his voice still heated. "And let’s not get stuck on the details. First things first—let’s get you down."

He stepped forward, class still active, and reached for the collar again. This time, instead of backlash, the lock clicked open. The cursed choker fell to the ground with a sharp metallic clink.

"Finally..." The girl tilted her head and rolled her neck with a satisfied crack.

Oliver backed up, waiting for her to pull herself free. One second passed. Two. Three. Nothing.

"...Why are you still stuck there?"

She glanced at the glowing stones embedded around the chamber. "Those. The Sylonite. They suppress my strength. As long as they’re active, I can’t move."

Oliver followed her gaze. "So that’s what they’re called... No wonder there were so many. Bright enough to blind someone, but turns out they had another use, huh." His lips curved into a grin. "Don’t worry. I got this."

He raised his hand.

[Stone Lice!]

[Stone Spear!]

[Fire Bell!]

Spell after spell flew out, blasting into the walls. Cracks spread, Sylonite chunks shattered, the chamber dimming with every strike.

Then—

CRRRAAACKK!

The wall began to split. Debris rained down, dust choking the air.

Oliver coughed, waving his hand in front of his face. "C-Cough! Damn—"

From the cloud of rubble, a figure slowly emerged.

When the dust cleared, Oliver’s eyes widened.

The girl stood free at last—completely, utterly naked.

Blood rushed to his face instantly.

And then—splat!

His nose erupted like a fountain.