Chapter 344: In the Hollow
When the three members of Team 277 followed the magical fluctuations to find their target, they had unknowingly stepped into the center of the area.
The dark earth passage became wider and wider. The passage that was originally only a few meters wide had now expanded to ten meters. However, the widening of the space did not alleviate the increasingly silent atmosphere. On the contrary, the further one moved forward, the more depressing the air became, and the color of the earth walls became darker and darker. In the end, there were only a few dry branches left.
After passing through the last passage, what appeared in front of the three people was a huge hole.
The surroundings of the hole were still covered with the same mud as the previous passage, and both the top and the surrounding walls were gray and white. There was no light source, so it was completely dark. Although for the magical girl, this darkness could not block her vision, it was still enough to make people feel depressed psychologically. What made people feel even more depressed was that in this huge hole, except for a dead tree hanging in the middle of the hole, it was literally "empty". There was nothing to arouse interest, and there was no sound at all. The whole area seemed to have been drained of all visible and invisible things, and it became a dead place.
The three of them still maintained the formation of Osmanthus fragrans in front, Setaria viridis in the back, and Delphinium sandwiched in the middle as they stepped into the space, looking around, trying to find something meaningful.
“It looks like there’s nothing.”
Dogtail Grass leaned against the back of Delphinium's head and whispered, "Could it be that we have taken the wrong path? Is this area of the maze not actually open to candidates?"
"Probably not."
Delphinium shook her head. "According to the examiner, the entire maze was created for the purpose of conducting the exam, so there is no reason for an abandoned area to be closed to examinees."
"But this is also..."
Dogtail Grass searched the surroundings diligently, his sight seemed to be scraping a layer of mud off the earthen wall of the cave: "This is too empty. Logically speaking, if a huge space is designed in the center of a maze, there should be enemies, right?"
"Yes, indeed."
Delphinium showed a look of affirmation: "And I think our previous perception is correct. Since there are special magical fluctuations in this area, then there must be something hidden. It is best to look for it again..."
While the two were discussing quietly, the Tudinggui who was walking in front suddenly took two big steps forward. This action immediately attracted the attention of Delphinium and Setaria.
Did she think of something? Both of them had the same guess, even Delphinium was no exception. After all, along the way, Tudinggui's skilled performance had won her recognition. As a new generation of magical girls who took the test for the first time, Tudinggui's abilities in many aspects were indeed not like those of a newcomer, and could even be said to be "trustworthy".
Under her gaze, Tudinggui continued to move forward, as if he was inspired by something, slowly raised his head, facing the center of the void, and then -
"ah--"
She shouted in a long voice for a while.
"Ah..." An ethereal and clear echo was formed in the cave.
"ah--"
Tudinggui shouted again, and the echo remained.
Delphinium and Coleus watched her do all this, until she stopped, and Coleus asked, "Did you find anything?"
"Um."
Tudinggui nodded: "It's fun."
"Hey, you found it so quickly, you are worthy of it..."
Dogtail Grass was about to compliment him, but after hearing what the other party said, he got stuck: "What do you mean by 'very fun'?"
"Because I feel that such a large space should have an echo, I want to try it out."
Tu Dinggui had a calm and natural look on his face, as if he didn't think there was anything strange about his behavior at all: "So I tried it, and it was really interesting."
"What the hell is this... I thought..."
Dogtail Grass sighed, not knowing whether he was disappointed or relieved: "Forget it, it's not a big deal to play for a bit anyway."
"Don't you want to give it a try?" Tudinggui was even trying to invite him.
"No, forget it." Dogtail Grass had no intention of trying this kind of behavior that only extroverts would do. Yelling in front of others just to hear a few words in response was totally not suitable for her. It would be better to kill her than to let her do this.
But just as she was about to refuse, Delphinium suddenly took a step forward.
"Hey, Senior Longdan?"
Amid the doubtful voice of Corydalis, Delphinium had already stood at the position where Tudinggui had just shouted. It raised its head expressionlessly, stared at the top of the cave, and slowly opened its mouth.
"ah--"
Then, he shouted loudly like Tudinggui.
She controlled her volume, so the sound of her shouting was not harsh to the other two teammates. The clear and cold sound spread out in all directions, gradually getting farther away until it disappeared. But soon, another voice echoed from the empty sky:
"ah……"
There was a clear echo, exactly the same as the result that Tudinggui had just tried.
The dogtail grass standing by felt like crying but had no tears.
She originally thought that "Senior Longdan" would be her natural ally, but she didn't expect that Longdan would start playing with her after Tudinggui's casual trick. Although she also understood that Longdan was a child after all, and it was his nature to love playing. But now that two people in the three-person team had called out once, wouldn't she become the outlier?
What should I do? Should I really go up and scream at the cave like them? Dogtail Grass's thoughts were churning. She felt that just thinking about doing this made her dig her toes into the ground. She opened her mouth slightly, wanting to say something but stopping herself. She really wanted to ask if she could not go up, but she was worried that doing so would be too disappointing.
"Is it fun?" Unaware of the ideological struggle of Setaria behind him, Osmanthus fragrans asked next to Delphinium.
"Hmm." Delphinium responded softly, but its expression seemed as if it was thinking about something. Not only did it not look relaxed while playing, but its brows were furrowed and its face looked solemn.
She remained silent for a moment, then suddenly looked up again. This time, she did not make any sound with her mouth. Instead, she raised her hand and gathered a ball of fluorescent blue magic power in her palm.
In the palm of her hand, the active magic power continuously radiated the magic power fluctuations that belonged to the Delphinium. These fluctuations that only the magical girl could sense spread like sound waves, until they spread throughout the entire cavity and even penetrated the wall.
Now, both Setaria viridis and Osmanthus fragrans could see that Delphinium seemed to have other intentions.
As the magical fluctuations continued to spread, the dead silent environment around finally changed again.
Just as if there was an echo in the cave after the two shouted just now, now, there was another strange magical fluctuation that was somewhat similar to the style of Delphinium, but also had some differences.
"Is this... the 'echo' of magic?" Dogtail Grass was surprised by this sudden turn and asked subconsciously.
"No, that's not it. Unless it's an environment made of special materials, the strong penetrating power of magic fluctuations will not be able to form any 'echo' at all."
Tudinggui explained: "This is not a natural phenomenon at all."
"Including the 'echo' we just called out."
Delphinium immediately spoke up, staring at the top of the cave: "This cave is surrounded by soft soil. Logically, it should have a strong sound-absorbing effect. Even if there is an echo, it can't be so clear and loud. So, if it's not a normal natural phenomenon..."
As she spoke, the "dead tree" rooted in the soil and hanging upside down moved.
The alien magical fluctuations finally revealed their true appearance at this moment, and the huge "dead tree" stretched out nearly ten huge "branches".
The length of these "branches" even exceeds the length of its main trunk, and they step towards the ground with an extremely exaggerated amplitude.
"...That means something is imitating us." Delphinium finally finished the second half of her sentence, and at this time, the "dead tree" was already standing in front of the three people.
No, perhaps this thing is not a "dead tree" at all, but something like a stick insect, but countless times bigger, giving people goose bumps just by looking at it...
——A remnant beast.
(End of this chapter)
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