Chapter 2892: Chapter 2892: Shelter

The past few days, Zen and Elvinia had been living under the candlelight.

Compared to the absolute darkness of the Dark Region, the candlelight seemed extremely bright -- but still, it was nothing compared to actual sunlight outside the Dark Region.

When they started taking the Darkness Fruits, they adapted to the darkness, being able to see their surroundings.

They had grown accustomed to living in the darkness, so once they saw the dazzling bright light streaming into the Dark Region, they were stunned.

Elvinia's eyes widened. Leaning on Zen's shoulder, she whispered, “That place covered by the light... it doesn't belong to the Dark Region, right?”

Anyone who was in the Dark Region and the temples would be unable to leave the Other Shore. But in other places, they'd be able to leave the Other Shore and return to their bodies normally.

Elvinia had grown tired of the Dark Region, having been trapped here for a long time. She wanted to leave as soon as possible.

But when she considered leaving, she sighed in resignation.

According to the rules of the Other Shore, they could only enter it from the place they left last time. So, if she tried leaving now, she would only return here the next time she entered the Other Shore.

The tentacles that hung from the mouths of the triangular caves were extremely sensitive. They had no eyes, but they could easily sense their prey by following their energy. While Zen and Elvinia had energy within them, because they weren't creatures born in the Dark Region, the tentacles couldn't seem to sense them.

But as Elvinia whispered, the tentacles suddenly tensed.

Whoosh...

Thousands of tentacles whirled into action, filling the air around the valley with a black indiscernible mass. It was as though a dark windstorm formed.

Seeing this, Elvinia immediately shut up.

Zen, on the other hand, remained calm. As long as he was beginning to comprehend how the creatures of the dark worked, they wouldn't be as scary.

Gently and quietly, he pulled Elvinia to the side.

The black whirlwind shot towards the spot where Elvinia had been standing only a moment later. After finding nothing there, the black tentacles retreated to their respective triangular caves.

“Isn't this fun?” Zen said to Elvinia with a sly smile.

Elvinia, however, just shuddered. The mere sight of those menacing tentacles made her uncomfortable; she didn't dare provoke them further. However, as Zen spoke, the tentacles rushed out from the caves once more.

“You, you, you...”

Elvinia looked to Zen helplessly, desperate to tell him to shut up. But she didn't dare to make a sound. With a nervous gulp, she followed Zen as he moved to the side to dodge the tentacles. The tentacles circled around the valley again, seemingly confused that they couldn't catch their prey, then resignedly returned to their caves.

As this was happening, Zen carefully observed the process.

Since these tentacles lurked here, there shouldn't be any other Dark Region creatures in the valley. They should be able to reach the column of light safely. 𝐫Ã𐌽ꝊꞖËꞩ

But Zen hesitated. There might be traps within the light column.

Cautiously, Zen approached the column of light. The closer he got, the more he could see what was within the light.

A lone bronze tombstone lay in the center of the light. Seven stars had been engraved on its surface. Underneath the stars was a row of strange words; they weren't Sanskrit words, so they must've been in a language belonging to a special civilization.

Behind the tombstone was a small tomb, only around five or six feet wide. Some green weeds and petite flowers grew on top of the tomb.

Just as Zen and Elvinia were closing in on the column of light and they were about sixty or seventy feet away from the tomb, suddenly a circle of purple light glowed from the ground.

Buzz...

After the circle of light appeared, sharp sounds pierced the air, like an alarm blaring throughout the whole valley.

Cracks suddenly appeared under the triangular caves, causing the caves to collapse. On one side of the valley, small, round portals appeared. Monsters the size of a young child emerged from the portals, heading straight for Zen and Elvinia.

These monsters were bipedal. From the neck upwards, they had the face of a pig. As they ran towards the two, they waved black spears in the air.

“Who dares to trespass into our holy tomb?”

“Catch them!”

“Don't let them approach the holy tomb!”

Zen and Elvinia were momentarily too stunned to react -- after all, these pig-faced monsters spoke in the human tongue!

Before they could respond, the tentacles also began to move.

While they originally weren't able to detect the existence of Elvinia and Zen, with the appearance of these pig-faced monsters, the situation suddenly changed drastically.

It seemed they had some sort of a symbiotic relationship. The pig-faced monsters served as eyes to the unseeing tentacles. The tentacles shot into the air once more. Only this time, they knew where their prey lay.

“Dang!”

Zen cried.

He didn't expect any other creatures lay hidden in the walls of the valley.

His eyes darted around as he tried to figure out the best plan of action. It was impossible for them to leave the valley in a short time. Then, his eyes landed on the copper tombstone. He gritted his teeth. There was no other way.

“Head for the light column,” Zen told Elvinia.

Seeing the tentacles rush out again, Elvinia was pretty annoyed. But her experience in the past few days made her know it was useless to complain.

“Charge!”

Elvinia cried as she ran towards the light.

Zen staggered from behind her. He only had some of his physical strength restored and could barely keep up with her.

Like a black whirlwind, thousands of tentacles shot towards them.

Aside from the tentacles, the pig-faced monsters also moved fast. Some of them threw their spears at the two.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Black spears came at them, like a swarm of locusts.

Zen and Elvinia were very close to the holy tomb, and it would only take them a few seconds to reach it. They helplessly continued to run as fast as they could towards the tomb.

Another volley of spears came flying at them. Just as the spears and the tentacles were about to reach them, Zen mustered all his remaining strength to pounce forward. As he leapt, he pushed Elvinia into the column of light as well. He rolled in behind her, looking desperate to take shelter from the attacks.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh...

Ear-piercing shrieks suddenly burst from behind Zen as he landed within the column of light.

The tentacles whirled into the column of light like crazy. As they were creatures of the Dark Region, they'd die as soon as they came into contact with the light. But still, they continued to charge after Zen. Once they touched the light, they became nothing but ash. The air was filled with the pungent scent of thousands of scorched pigs.

Besides the tentacles, the black spears shot by the pig-faced monsters also disintegrated once they came into contact with the light.

Elvinia sat inside the light column, her body trembling. She wasn't used to a life of narrowly escaping death.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Some tentacles were stubborn and still attempted to reach for Zen, charging fearlessly into the column of light.

Some thick tentacles weren't burned completely after they rushed into the light column. They fell on the ground and on Zen's body, still jumping like mad. They quickly turned into a hapless, seared mess. The smell of char filled Zen's nostrils.

The pig-faced monsters stood right before the light. They roared, cursed, and even stabbed their black spears into the light column in fury.

“Come out!”

“Why are you hiding in there? You cowards!”

“I will make you die a graveless death!”

However, Zen just heaved a sigh of relief. He knew they only cursed at him because there was nothing more they could do.