Sultan froze as his hand, extended in front of him, found nothing but air. The flooring beneath him had disappeared into a sharp, jagged drop.
At first, Sultan fritted that he has reached a cliff, truly and inevitably trapping him.
Blessedly, fate had his side this time, which wasn't comforting at all, as it usually chose to be there only when plotting to stab him in the back.
Anyway, as Sultan lay flat on his stomach, lowering his hand that holds the knife towards the ground to assess the distant, his reach thankfully didn't came out short.
The tip of the blade barely scratch the landing, meaning that it would be a manageable jump.
Egor to get out of the stifling tied space, sultan pushed from the arch of his feet, propelling himself forward and letting gravity do the rest.
And gravity hasn't disappointed.
Sultan hit the ground like a sack of potatoes.
Like the moron he is , Sultan dived head first, trusting his hands to catch him.
And… one of those hands was still holding a knife.
So it was quite understandably when it gave out beneath him since his knuckles aren't meant to punch the ground with the force of his entire weight behind them.
Sultan Rolled awkwardly on the ground, dissipating the force of the fall. the citizen ,of course, didn't let that slide, littering the chat with rolling on the floor laughing emojis, and many more snide comments.
Ignoring that for now, Sultan began to move his gaze in a circle, hoping to glimpse any sliver of color or a flicker of light.
Sighing deeply, Sultan genuinely wished he could meet those philosophical, presumptuous writers and poets who always proclaimed that there was light at the end of every dark tunnel.
The purpose: he would inform them to their face that they are a punch of slanderous, deceiving liars.
Because here he was, at the supposed "end," and there was no light to be found, only more suffocating darkness.
Giving up on vision for now, he put one Hand on the wall, another tightening around the pommel of the blade, and commenced moving.
`Sultan chased the arrow in the periphery of his vision, assessing the vicinity at the same time.
The texture of the walls remained the smooth, metallic substance from which the whole construction seemed to be built.
More strangely, The wall was unblemished. no cracks, no chinks, no trace of nature's touch or the passage of time. It stood as if its builders had completed it only yesterday, an impossibility that defied many of Sultan's observations.
And as for the current passage, while it wasn't too restrictive, allowing for ordinary two-legged marching, it wasn't spacious by any means. Flanked on both sides by the warmth-devouring material, Sultan could reach out and touch both banks if he just widened his arms slightly.
After rounding a couple intersections, Sultan started to have some more observations.
To begin with , the sickening stench weakened, growing distant by each stip.
Secondly and more importantly, Sultan noticed a frequency in the opening he passed.
There was a pattern. Every few consistent steps, his hand would encounter an outlet akin to the one he had crawled out of.
Investigating more, he noticed similar openings lower down and, judging by the airflow, perhaps higher up as well.
If he had some light to illuminate the wall, Sultan assumed it would reveal a grid of spherical openings burrowed into the surface, with regular, clear spacing between each sphere and the next.
they suggested design. Unquestionably, This was the work of intelligent beings.
Knowing that, Nevertheless, wasn't reassuring in the slightest, for it only made the ensuing question the more worrisome.
why was it so empty? So abandoned?
What had fallen to the original people who inhabited and pioneered this Sophisticated architecture.
"Citizen, You there?" Sultan prompted.
"Hey! That's not my name." came the immediate reply, punctuated by an angry-face emoji.
" you didn't give me one. You don't get to complain."
"I didn't give you one, you don't get to decide ."
"Don't drag me into a pointless argument. I have a question." Sultan added hurriedly after noticing the typing indicator next to the citizen name.
"Why is this place so empty? Did the people who brought me here forget about me?"
"forgot about you? What a heartless lot!" [a heartbreak emoji]
'Well, you can't blame a guy for trying.' Sultan hoped that by asking the question, the Citizen might let something slip about how he came here. Unfortunately, the psycho was as slippery as a cat.
"no really. Why there is no one here? The place is clearly manmade." Sultan continued.
Despite realizing that no helpful statement would result from maintaining the conversation, Sultan supposed that he can use the chat at least as a diversion
A decision he would come to regret shortly after.
"They went to buy ingredients since you're here to prepare dinner for them," the Citizen sent.
"Or wait, let me rephrase that."
"They went to buy ingredients to prepare you for dinner." [a face-licking his lips emoji]
"ha-ha, so funny." Sultan reacted, unease growing in his chest.
And as he perpetually traversed the ghostly corridors , The eerie silence started to gnaw at his nerves. It wasn't the usual quiet of an abandoned space. it was oppressive, the kind of silence that made Sultan's skin crawl and his mind churn with unwelcomed thoughts.
'it's the psycho's fault, talking to me about man-eating creatures and what not.'
Sultan knew deep down that most, if not all, of what the Citizen spouted was nonsense, yet he couldn't help feeling a bit on edge. His head whipped around every now and then despite the darkness, his ears straining to their utmost to catch even the faintest hint of a noise.
This place was as creepy as hell. For Sultan, every place had its own song, but this one was dreadfully silent. like the mournful resonance of graves or the heavy noiselessness that lingers before the beds of the dying, the calm atmosphere is so profound it it transcended the physical realm, wrapping even his soul in its icy, depressing grasp.
He anxiously trudged through the lifeless passage, reflexively, jumping back each time his feet encountered anything except the smooth chilly ground. Sultan recognizes that This level of fearfulness might be irrational, foolish even.
yet when the darkness came alive and started to attack him, this foolishness has conserved his life.
a horrific, ghastly creature materialized, just as Sultan approached another opening similar to the one he had crawled out of. It moved so fast he barely registered its form. Flying nimbly, it sped toward his face like a bullet. Instinct took over, and Sultan ,already restless and tense, ducked just in time to avoid it penetrating his left eye. The insect-like creature smashed into the metallic wall with a sharp, echoing clang.
His body acting on its own, the hand holding the Knife slashed at the air as the creature tried to recover, pinning it to the wall in one swift motion.
Breathing heavily, Sultan struggled to subdue his raging pulse .
Fear and alarm sent his mind into overdrive, while his heart began rampaging in his stomach.
Then a peculiar sensation coursed through him. a hum-like electricity, vibrating against his skin and reaching deep into his soul. It was an emotion unlike anything he had ever felt before.
No. That's not true.
Sultan vividly remembered experiencing the same sensation in the dream-like place. However, back then, it had been far more intense, far stronger.
[a grade-0 3-star adversary has been eliminated," a cool,, Congratulating voice announced .