Becoming a God Starts with Acting-Chapter 424: Escape from the Secret Passage

Almost the moment Silvanus finished speaking, a violent tremor suddenly erupted, like an earthquake.

The walls behind him abruptly collapsed. Thick black smoke surged upward, twisting and converging as it began to take shape, forming a colossal figure with eyes and a mouth like bottomless pits.

Its body writhed sinuously. It let out a long, piercing shriek, then lunged straight at Silvanus, its fingers stretching out like hooked claws.

Silvanus knitted his brows. A fierce gust of wind suddenly rose and blasted him away, so fast that only afterimages were left behind.

The thing roared in fury. The path ahead seemed to grow narrower as well, while the echoing vibrations rolled far into the distance.

Nick had no idea how long he had been running. He only felt that the passages ahead were endlessly long. The sensation that something was chasing him from behind left him with no choice but to run at full speed, as fast as he possibly could.

He had no idea how the others were doing...

Just as that thought crossed his mind, a massive stone door came into view. It looked like a door, yet at the same time it seemed fused into the rock itself, enormous like a single smooth monolith. Carved upon it were runes no one could comprehend.

Nick skidded to a halt, kicking up a trail of dust beneath his feet.

He approached slowly, his expression wary, and cautiously reached out to tap the door before instantly pulling his hand back.

Silence. Nothing happened.

Nick’s eyes widened. He stepped forward again and pushed harder, but this stone door was nothing like an ordinary one. It felt more like an immovable, solid boulder.

Frowning, Nick examined the runes engraved on its surface, but he could not make sense of them at all.

Maybe this thing needed an explosion.

With that thought, Nick did not hesitate. He raised his hand while retreating a few steps. Energy gathered in his palm, condensing into massive fireballs that shot straight toward the door.

"Boom! Boom boom!"

The thunderous explosions rang out one after another, shaking the surrounding space. Thick smoke filled the air and obscured his vision, yet the stone door did not even tremble in the slightest.

Now it was clear that this door was anything but ordinary.

"Move aside."

At that moment, another voice suddenly sounded right beside him. Nick jolted in fright and leapt sideways like a startled rabbit.

He frowned at Matthew. "Do you walk without making any sound at all?!"

Matthew smiled at Nick, his eyes slightly narrowed. Nick, however, felt a sudden chill crawl up his spine.

"What is it?"

He spoke with a hint of hesitation.

"I already told you to move aside," Matthew said. At the same time, a burst of brilliant light flared from his palm. In the blink of an eye, a surge of violent energy shot straight toward Nick.

Nick’s eyes widened as he dodged with the fastest speed he could muster.

At that moment, Matthew’s attack slammed directly into the massive stone door.

"BOOM!"

The deafening explosion shook the entire space so violently that it was impossible to stay upright. Both Ariana and Nick were sent stumbling, collapsing to the ground.

At the same time, the sound of walls cracking apart from above and to the sides filled the air, sending a wave of panic through them. Sure enough, moments later, chunks of stone began raining down from above amid the continuous tremors.

Nick was stunned. He had not expected that the man accompanying Silvanus could be this terrifyingly powerful.

But once the shaking eased slightly, he almost immediately sprang to his feet and lunged forward, grabbing Matthew by the collar. "What the hell were you doing? You almost killed me just now!"

Matthew seized Nick’s wrist and said softly, "It was just an accident. Sorry about that."

Despite the apology, the hand gripping Nick’s wrist began to tighten. The force was so great that Nick felt as if his wrist were about to be crushed into pieces.

He frowned. Facing Matthew’s flawless, smiling face, Nick raised his hand directly, light bursting forth.

Matthew’s body was blasted backward, slamming heavily into the wall. He collapsed to the ground and spat out a mouthful of blood, looking so weak it was as if he were on the verge of death.

Nick stared wide-eyed at his own hand, then looked back at Matthew.

What the hell was this? Matthew was supposed to be strong... could it have been an illusion?

Just as that thought crossed Nick’s mind, the hurried sound of footsteps approached. Silvanus arrived moments later.

The instant Silvanus reached the scene and took in what had happened, he could not help but frown. At that moment, Ariana was still treating Matthew. When she saw Silvanus arrive, her eyes widened, filling with pain and sorrow.

Silvanus looked at her state and could not help asking, "Ariana, what’s wrong with you?"

Ariana lowered her eyes and shook her head, only tightening her grip on Matthew’s hand.

Thinking of the things pursuing them from behind, Silvanus had no intention of wasting time here. Whatever needed to be said could wait until they were outside.

Nick was just about to step forward when Silvanus shoved him aside. Nick looked at Silvanus, then at Matthew. At this moment, Matthew even had the mood to smile at him.

Nick clenched his fists tightly. Damn it all, what kind of script was this supposed to be?!

Silvanus, unaware of Nick’s turbulent thoughts, placed his hand against the stone surface. After Matthew’s earlier attack, aside from a few scratches, it had not shifted in the slightest.

However, the patterns on the door reminded Silvanus of something familiar.

That’s right. They looked exactly like the mechanism used to open Alden’s forge space.

At the same time, a long, piercing shriek suddenly rang out from behind. Black shadows came charging in. Their towering forms blotted out what little light remained. After letting out their shrill cries, they immediately swept toward the humans below. Wherever their fingers passed, deep fissures were carved into the ground.

Matthew frowned. He truly wanted to swallow these things whole on the spot, but with others present, especially Silvanus, he did not dare to act too openly. He could only resist them in a conventional manner.

Nick, standing to the side, frowned as he watched Matthew, wondering why he did not unleash an attack like the one just now. What a scheming hypocrite.

Meanwhile, Silvanus had already cut open his palm. There was no other way. They were truly the same, and he needed to test it.

Ariana could only watch helplessly as Matthew and Nick fought, then her gaze shifted to Silvanus. By chance, she saw what he was doing.

Silvanus’s blood seeped into the cracks in the stone. Immediately after, rings of light began to glow, one after another. The runes flickered as they twisted and flowed in constant motion.

"Boom! Rumble!"

A heavy sound echoed through the space, and at last, the stone door began to move.

Matthew and Nick also noticed this and hurriedly dragged Ariana with them as they charged out, regardless of everything else.

A flash of light streaked past, accompanied by a sound like wind screaming through a mountain gorge. In an instant, the space before their eyes transformed once again.

The night wind was icy cold. The two flames had long since gone out, and a pale fish-belly white had appeared in the sky.

They did not stop there, instead quickly flying out of the area where the collapse had occurred earlier.

Only ten minutes later did they finally land. Nick collapsed straight onto the ground, mouth open as he gasped for breath. His entire body was now covered in gray dust, small wounds crisscrossing him. It was as if the pain had only just begun to set in.

Silvanus raised his hand, and light immediately enveloped all of them. In the blink of an eye, their wounds were healed.

Nick could not help widening his eyes as he looked at Silvanus, wondering if there was anything Silvanus was incapable of.

Only then did Silvanus finally have the time to look toward Ariana and Matthew.

The moment Ariana saw Silvanus turn back to her, she immediately pressed her lips together, tears welling up as if she were about to cry.

"Alright, what exactly happened?" Silvanus asked.

Ariana shook her head, then suddenly burst into sobs, utterly despairing.

Matthew took her hand and pulled her behind him, his face filled with shame. "This is my fault... I wronged Ariana..."

He slowly recounted everything. Silvanus could not help but feel stunned, momentarily at a loss for words.

In the end, he only said, "It’s probably best to follow Ariana’s wishes..."

Feeling her hand being tightly held, Ariana suddenly did not even dare to cry anymore. "Actually, I was poisoned back then too... I also asked Matthew... Silvanus, I..."

Silvanus, please, save me. Please, don’t listen to Matthew.

Hearing Ariana’s uncontrollable sobbing, Matthew truly wanted to kill her on the spot.

Silvanus stepped forward and gently patted Ariana’s head. "It’s alright, Ariana. You did nothing wrong. No one wanted this to happen."

Ariana opened her mouth, choking back sobs. But no one will think that way, Silvanus. Everyone will only look at me with contempt and gossip if the truth comes out of Matthew’s mouth...

Silvanus...

Ariana instinctively wanted to grab Silvanus’s hand, but at that moment, she suddenly pulled back and retreated behind Matthew.

Silvanus’s hand froze in midair.

Matthew looked at Silvanus and said softly, "She might still be a little frightened right now."

After a brief pause, he added, "And Silvanus, from now on, you shouldn’t touch Ariana like that anymore."

Silvanus could not help feeling slightly surprised. He had not expected Matthew to show such a strong sense of possessiveness at this point. But at least for now, Matthew and Ariana were a couple. Since Matthew had said so and Ariana did not object, Silvanus nodded. "Sorry."

Ariana’s sobbing seemed to grow a little louder. All Silvanus could do was say, "Comfort her a bit."

At that moment, Nick also came over. Seeing that they had finished talking, he immediately jumped in front of Silvanus. "Silvanus, that was incredible! I tried everything just now and couldn’t make the door budge even a little! How on earth did you do it?!"

Silvanus glanced at him. Without explaining how he got them out, he instead asked, "Where are your teammates?"

Nick looked dispirited at the question. "I couldn’t find them... life and death are a matter of fate. It can’t be helped."

It seemed that Nick did not have much emotion toward his teammates.

But in truth, his gaze had already swept over the bloodstained cloak draped over Ariana’s body.

His eyes moved upward and happened to meet Matthew’s gaze. Matthew gave a weak smile. Nick frowned as the suspicions in his mind grew ever clearer.

Matthew did not even bother to hide it anymore... and Silvanus... couldn’t he see it?