Transcendent Gene
Chapter 190: Hidden Legacy [4]

Chapter 190: Hidden Legacy [4]

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosions only subsided for a few seconds before fireballs filled the air again. The piglet creatures didn’t try to aim, so most of them flew around Gio instead of hitting him, but their impact didn’t go away.

The world in front of him and around him was turned into a ball of flames. The heat touched his skin and burned him, forcing him to remove his energy from the pit and use it to quell the inferno instead.

Gio could be considered lucky that they only knew how to use the one move. If there was any kind of variance in their movements or patterns, it would have been trouble.

’But they move without any purpose and attack the same way. They chase because that’s all they know how to do, and they’re hostile for the same reason.’

It was still a question whether these piglets were real living beings or not. Gio was starting to think they were puppets or robots instead.

’They never take damage.’

He continued to attack them even after his first few traps failed. He morphed his energy into weapons, tornadoes, infernos, and more, yet nothing he did was able to kill or destroy even a single one of the creatures following him.

’Maybe combat isn’t the answer.’

It was entirely possible that this was also a subversion of sorts.

’I should meet up with Neriah and see what she thinks as well.’

He rushed forward, pushing through one of the crevices that led into the main hallway before closing off the path behind him.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The muffled sound of those creatures slamming their bodies against the wall resounded as Gio looked around.

Bang!

All of a sudden, Neriah blasted through a wall and arrived in the corridor as well. She faced the wall with two swords in her hands and raised her energy.

[Midnight Blade Style]

Her arms moved like there were eight of them, swinging with such speed that they blurred out of the naked eye’s perception.

[Flurry of Blades]

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

It was preposterous to see so many scars appearing on the wall at the same time. She swung at least a hundred times over the course of only ten or so seconds. The walls didn’t fall, but the beings beyond them also weren’t able to chase her.

Gio put his attention into maintaining his barrier and keeping his own horde away.

"Were you able to harm them?"

"Negative. They seem invincible."

"They can’t be invincible, but killing them also may not be the answer."

"Then, the answer?"

Gio grinned.

"It’s this."

They were already in it. The horde was held back, and the doorway was unobstructed.

"The moment we run, they’ll come for us. We need to gamble on what’s beyond the door."

Gio only saw a glimpse of the scenery. What he saw in the [Memory Book] looked to be a collection of lava pits with narrow rocky pathways in between. It was risky, but it was better than aimlessly running around the labyrinth while trying to avoid them.

"You go first. I’ll follow," Neriah said.

"No," Gio denied, shaking his head.

"You go, then me. I have more versatility. I can hold them back better than you can."

Neriah’s brows furrowed, but she didn’t disagree. She had to admit that his Sequence gave him a lot more freedom than hers did, even based on the little bit of it she’d seen.

"Fine," she finally agreed.

"On my mark."

The sound of their conversation was slowly drowned out by cries and squeals of those creatures. They were dumb, but they eventually realized that if they wanted to reach their targets, they could just use other routes that weren’t blocked.

Gio paid attention to the rumbling coming from the wall, trying to predict where they were coming from until–

"Go!"

Neriah gave the signal. Gio immediately took off, feeling the breeze from his side as Neriah did the same. Bursts of virtual energy shot out of his feet and propelled him forward, shooting him through the doorway like a speeding bullet.

Whoosh!

He blasted into the next room, his eyes taking in the surroundings and confirming that they were indeed what he expected. It was a large cavern filled with molten lava that bubbled in pits that took up the majority of the space.

The lava shot up in geysers occasionally, shining light on the small cliffs and pillars that existed all around. Other than them, the only place to stand was the path that snaked through the entire cavern, wide enough to barely fit one person.

’The path isn’t viable. I need to jump.’

He set his eyes on the nearest cliff that was high above the lava’s surface. He skidded to a stop before redirecting the energy in his feet directly into the ground.

"Hey!"

Right before he took off, his attention was turned to a voice behind him. He saw Neriah holding her hand out to him and grabbed it without hesitation.

"Hold on!"

With their hands tightly clasped, Gio let the energy in his feet run wild, shooting them into the air.

He pulled Neriah closer and held her waist, keeping her steady as his energy moved to his back and flew them to the cliff.

Their pursuers arrived when they were still in the air. Fortunately, their safety was already guaranteed.

They landed on the cliff and turned around. Neriah swung her swords and cut away any fireballs that reached them while Gio put up a new virtual wall around them.

When they were finally secure, the only thing left to do was watch as the piglets charged into the lava around the cliff to reach them.

"If they come out of there, it’ll be an issue..." Gio muttered as he separated himself from Neriah.

"It shouldn’t be possible," she responded. Her eyes narrowed as she looked into the lava. Though she believed it was so, she also had the same doubt in the back of her mind.

However, their original thoughts were correct. One by one, without caring about the disappearances of their comrades, the piglets jumped into the lava lake and swam until they combusted and drowned.

"Haa..."

Gio sighed in relief after confirming that they didn’t have to deal with invincible piglets anymore.

Only, one problem led to another.

"We don’t have to worry about them anymore..."

He looked around. There wasn’t a clear exit to the cavern, and the small path through the lava lakes didn’t lead anywhere.

"...but what do we do now?"

He frowned before looking over after feeling a nudge from Neriah.

"What’s up?"

"Exactly. Look."

She pointed into the air. Gio raised a brow and followed her finger with his gaze until he was looking at the ceiling above.

Or, rather, the lack of a ceiling.

There was another abyss above them, but this one wasn’t so empty. It was filled with floating platforms and strange structures, leading to a small bit of light a hundred or so meters into the darkness.

"Great..."

Gio grinned wryly.

The last thing he expected to do after entering a legacy site was practice his parkour skills.