Chapter 3: Underneath The Carpet Of Dust

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"A goddess..." One from the front line said.

To everyone's shock, he really managed to speak. They all clamored to try their voices and none of them could contain their excitement and joy. It was like they finally regained something very precious, the feeling was so marvelous and indescribable.

They were finally no longer mute!

Meanwhile, the woman smiled at the man who spoke first.

"You are correct, young man. My name is Anda, one of the goddesses of this place. Please bear in mind that you are all now in the Underworld. This whole world is called that. This world is a never-ending wasteland. The only sanctuary for humans and all deceased beings is the sacred mountain behind me, Mount Balatukan."

The people expressed their confusion. They all inspected the mountain that stood tall after the forest. Then they began debating on what was currently happening and what the goddess meant when she said that. The young man from before kept frowning. He felt like he heard the name Mount Balatukan before, but it was that of a volcano… Wait, were his memories even reliable when he didn't know where he got them? He shook the thoughts out of his mind.

The goddess, Anda, merely smiled. One corner of mouth slowly turned up before she laughingly said, "Now, now, everyone please listen carefully. What lies in front of you is a sacred place. Of course, a test is a must to determine if you are worthy, don't you agree? After all, how could we call it sacred if all types of people could enter just like that? We must first see if everyone here fits the criteria. I'm sure you all understand what I mean."

Anda paused, watching everyone's reaction. The goddess's eyes twinkled in mischief before she continued, "I will now issue a simple task. Those who won't pass will be the proof why this world is called the Underworld. Look around, everyone. Carefully ponder what will happen once you fail the simple challenge."

Like magic, Anda's voice managed to make everybody inspect their surroundings. Earlier, they were all not able to see the place clearly due to the knee-high dust swirling about the whole area, thus they were only able to know the place was akin to a dead wasteland.

As they swept their gazes around… there seemed to be still nothing but dust? The people standing below the rock and the goddess did not shy away from expressing their confusion.

"Here!" The gentle and chime-like voice echoed.

After Anda's heavily adorned long sleeves swayed, the thick smog and dust around them suddenly and mysteriously vanished.

"Aaaaahhhh!"

What came next was the shrieking and screaming from some weak-willed women.

Everyone's eyes, except Anda and the werehorses, widened their eyes in disbelief. Even the young man in the black jacket was badly startled… because what they saw was a never-ending carpet of bones and skeletons, all seemingly from humans!

"My god!"

"H-human skulls? Dearest heaven! It's really h-human skulls! Human skeletons!!!"

"W-where are we! I d-don't like this p-place! M-mooommmmmyyyyy!"

Everyone felt like their hearts jumped out of their throats. Fear reigned upon them as many even knelt on the spot and made a fuss.

The young man also felt cold sweat trickling down his back. His gaze went to the werehorses neighing and laughing wantonly at the reaction of the stupid humans near them. One of the horse-headed creatures looked at him, laughingly taunted him with a cutthroat.

"Son of a stray cat!" He cursed out. However, his hands move to clutch his neck as if protecting it from something.

"Damn it, where am I? What's going on? Did someone kidnap me or some aliens captured me together with everyone else here for experimentation? No no no, I definitely don't want to end up like those skeletons!"