Hitman x Wives

Chapter 243 243- Trials Of Death (Part 1)

The huge number of clones looked exactly like Kai to the point where a normal person wouldn't be able to determine which one was the real Kai and which one was the fake Kai. Even skilled Origin users would have a hard time determining the real one.

In a sense, clones are a weapon Kai could use in fights to completely trick his opponent into a trap. However, he didn't really have any occasions where this was required. His other abilities were more than enough to do the task so why use a trump card like that when he doesn't have to?

Anyway, with a simple thought, Kai ordered the 50 or so clones to start digging in the same place. Immediately, the group started working. They all grouped around the area where they needed to dig and started digging sand with their bare hands. Their speed was very impressive even though they only had 1/50th of Kai's overall strength.

"Damn, they're fast. I don't think we even need to do anything." Kaya blinked in surprise as she watched the huge amount of sand they were pulling away every second. Their coordination and teamwork were so perfect that one would think they had one single mind which in this case was a very accurate description since Kai was the one who controlled their actions.

A normal brain wouldn't be able to handle such a gigantic multi-tasking but Kai was accustomed to it to some extent. However, even he can't keep this up forever since it takes a toll on his mind and body, not to mention the huge amount of Origin he needs to use to make it work.

"Just let them do the work," Kai murmured as he sat down with a sigh and looked up. Since they were so deep inside, they couldn't see the entrance of the hole anymore. It was just an endless darkness that extended endlessly.

"Can you feel any Origin Artifacts, Kai?" Kaya asked as she sat down with him.

"No. Not anywhere close, at least." He replied.

"Then, is it possible that this isn't indeed the Progenitor's Arsenal location?"

"Very possible. But, there is still a chance that it still could be here, just hidden very well."

"Hm, you think so?"

"Yeah, we couldn't discover this hole even though we used our senses so it shouldn't be hard for him to hide weapons inside this place if he wanted." He replied with a thoughtful look.

Kai was still curious as to how this hole was hidden so perfectly. Something deep should've been noticeable for him with how precise his senses were. For someone who can feel the presence of an ant from tens or even hundreds of kilometers away, a hole this big is akin to a sore thumb standing out amidst the vast desert.

'We will discover the reason for that soon enough.' He shook his head before he gazed at the group of clones working. In a matter of a few minutes, they had already dug deep enough to reveal a part of the hole.

The hole seemed very vast, akin to a cave entrance from what Kai could see which is why he was even more sure that this hole was going to lead to a very interesting place.

By the time the digging reached a point where they could pass through, Kai and Kaya stood up.

"Let's go." He said with a cold tone as the two approached the hole before they slid through it with a simple jump.

"My shoes are filled with sand, dammit," Kaya murmured as she emptied her boots before she wore them again and looked around her.

The place they were in was a very dark and long passage that seemingly extended endlessly.

"Is this an endless path like the hole we fell from?" She asked with a frown. She didn't want to keep walking for hours on end.

"I don't think so. But, we don't have time. Let's go." Kai replied as he dusted off his clothes.

"Hai, hai, captain!"

Then, the two dashed through the passage at top speed, vanishing completely from sight in a moment.

"This place is really magnificent. A perfectly polished passage that doesn't require pillars to maintain." Kaya murmured.

The roof above them was made out of the same shiny limestone used for the hole's walls. It looked perfectly built and what surprised her even more was the fact that all of this didn't require pillars to keep from collapsing. This place was possibly hundreds of kilometers underground and yet it's still maintained perfectly.

"They probably used some kind of power to keep it this way. I can sense some faint traces of Origin here and there." Kai replied.

"Hmm, that makes sense although it still sounds ridiculously hard to pull off."

To keep a tunnel like this from collapsing, it needs an astronomical amount of Origin constantly pumped into the walls every single second. Unless there is an endless source of Origin, keeping this up was impossible.

'What if…' Kai came up with an idea as he thought about it. 'If that's the case then this place isn't as simple as we thought.'

After a few minutes of running, the duo finally noticed a shift in their surroundings ahead of them. There was an exit from this tunnel.

Reaching the exit, they found themselves in a completely different place from the tunnel. 

"Wow…" Kaya murmured as she looked around her.

The place they were in was a gigantic hall, way bigger than any other hall they had been in before. Its ceiling was hundreds of meters high and its space was vast enough to fit a city into it. Numerous massive pillars made out of shiny marble rooted themselves in the hall, adding a layer of magnificence to it.

The duo were completely awestruck by the sight. As they were like that, torches of fire hung all over the place on the walls suddenly started shining on their own as they quickly illuminated the place without the need for Kaya's ball of light.

What it revealed along with it made the place even more interesting. Countless ancient drawings on the wall along with piles of text written in the Progenitor's Language surrounding it. 

"Holy… Where are we even?" Kaya asked.

Kai had the same reaction as her but he didn't stand there and instead curiously approached one of the walls and looked closely at it.

The images on it were of men and women, animals, monsters, and many other unknown things. Kai noticed that they were drawn in the form of panels, each panel telling a story of its own with words and images. However, the most noticeable out of all these characters was a certain man who had a shining orange aura around him.

He had a well-defined build, black hair, and a pair of piercing purple eyes. He seemed to be present in all the panels, drawn to look the biggest and most intimidating out of everyone else around him. He also seemed to be the one to do most actions in each panel.

"This is… These are stories of the Progenitor…" Kai said in an awestruck tone.

"So this is the Progenitor?" Kaya asked as she curiously stared at the man Kai pointed at. He seemed very intimidating and powerful even though he was merely a drawing.

"But… Kai… Doesn't he have the same hair and eye color as you do?" She asked as she looked at her beloved and the picture.

"..." At first, Kai didn't notice that detail but when Kaya mentioned it, he was even more taken aback. It was indeed the same color for both.

Although black hair wasn't uncommon in the world, purple eyes were in fact very very rare. Kai had never before met someone who had purple eyes, even his father didn't have them which led him to believe that he simply had a genetically rare trait.

'Is this purely a coincidence?' He thought to himself.

"And his aura… It's also similar to yours in the way it surrounds you." She pointed out another detail.

Kai's aura was akin to multiple serpents surrounding his body as they moved slowly clockwise direction.

"Weird…"

"This is seriously confusing. Or are we just looking too much into it?" Kaya asked.

"I don't know."

"Hmm, how are we going to decipher the text though?" She asked.

"I can read it… To some extent?"

"You do?" Kaya looked shocked for a second.

"Not many people know of the existence of this language but I did learn how to read it a long time ago." 

"... My Kai surely knows everything. Hehehe." Kaya chuckled. "So, can you read it for us? Perhaps we will find clues in this long hall."

Kai nodded his head before he approached the text of the very first panel and read it. Even though a very long time passed in this place, it was still very clear and well carved into the limestone.

As he read through the text, Kai's eyebrows started rising slowly.

Kaya noticed that and asked. "What is it? Did you discover something?"

"Many things…"