"Mr. Yellow Fox, below is the entrance to Enkanomiya, and this is... the key of moon-bathed abyss..."
After speaking, Sangonomiya Kokomi reached out and lightly tapped Yuuko's hand.
Following that tap, a faint light appeared on Yuuko's hand, forming a rune shaped like a key.
Yuuko looked at the rune on the back of his hand, then at the massive water vortex beneath the seashell, raised an eyebrow slightly, and asked:
"With this key of moon-bathed abyss, can I jump straight down and enter Enkanomiya?"
Sangonomiya Kokomi nodded:
"Yes, I have already had someone prepare the entrance ritual beforehand. Mr. Yellow Fox only needs to rely on the key of moon-bathed abyss to enter and exit Enkanomiya freely."
After a brief pause, Sangonomiya Kokomi bowed to Yuuko:
"In that case, I wish Mr. Yellow Fox great success in his martial endeavors."
Yuuko nodded, then lightly leaped toward the massive water vortex below.
Bang!
As he fell into the water vortex, he was immediately pulled in by the immense suction force within it.
However, at the critical moment, the key of moon-bathed abyss on Yuuko's hand emitted a faint light.
This light shielded Yuuko from the water vortex's suction.
Yuuko then took this opportunity to continuously descend.
After descending to a certain depth, he suddenly dropped into a massive cavern opening.
This place was a world unto itself.
This was a huge underground space. Above him, the rushing water vortex hovered at the top of the cavern opening, held in place by some unknown force, preventing it from spilling down.
This vast underground space contained all sorts of plants.
It was simply a small world isolated from the surface.
Looking at the strange scenery around him, Yuuko muttered softly:
"Is this Enkanomiya? No, this must be the path leading to Enkanomiya..."
Driven by curiosity, Yuuko proceeded along the only path ahead.
Before long, he arrived at a much wider terrain.
Although it had become wider, there was still only one route.
Following that route continuously, Yuuko soon arrived before a long corridor.
Along this corridor, many serpentine structures had been built.
It was clear that the people who once lived here must have held the serpent in great reverence.
For some reason, as he walked down this long corridor, Yuuko sensed an aura of sadness and helplessness.
This aura was undetectable by others.
Only Yuuko, who had a certain connection to the ley lines, could perceive it.
"This aura is very similar to that of the beheaded Serpent God Orobashi on Yashiori Island..."
Yuuko had visited Yashiori Island quite a few times before.
Therefore, he was quite familiar with the aura of the beheaded giant serpent on Yashiori Island.
For Orobashi's sad and helpless aura to be left behind in a place resembling an exit.
Could this mean that when Orobashi led his people out of Enkanomiya and onto the surface of Watatsumi Island back then, it was an act of desperation?
Thinking of this, Yuuko continued to step forward.
After reaching the end of the corridor, he arrived at a cliff.
Standing on this cliff, Yuuko finally saw the full view of Enkanomiya.
This was a gray, dim world lacking much light, containing only a few massive floating islands.
This underground world was not illuminated by sunlight like the surface world.
Instead, there was only something resembling a Solar Device providing a meager light source to this world.
Looking at the islands ahead, Yuuko lowered his head and glanced at the cliff beneath his feet.
The bottom of the cliff was bottomless; it looked like falling down would definitely be fatal.
So, how should he get from this cliff to those large islands?
It was visible that a path originally existed here, connecting the cliff to those islands.
But for unknown reasons, this path had been artificially destroyed.
If he were a Mondstadter, he could fly across directly using an item like a Wind Glider.
But Yuuko had never been to Mondstadt, so he didn't have one of those things... Taking a deep breath, Yuuko slightly bent his knees.
Bang!
The next moment, he kicked off hard, soaring toward the nearest island like a meteor.
In the blink of an eye, Yuuko landed on one of the islands.
If there had been any other creatures around just now, they would surely have been startled by this bizarre sight... After landing on the first island, Yuuko was not in a hurry to move to the next.
Instead, he decided to explore this island first.
After exploring, he made a strange discovery.
In a place like this, there were actually Hilichurl monsters, as well as many Ruin Guards.
It seemed this place must have been quite lively once... What surprised Yuuko even more was that there were many fresh signs of activity here.
This indicated that someone had been active here recently... He wondered if it was the Abyss's forces... Afterward, Yuuko continued his exploration of the island with this question in mind.
Soon, he discovered a relatively intact ruin structure.
For some reason, Yuuko had a feeling that something important was contained within this structure.
Because of this, Yuuko decided to enter the structure and explore.
However, to enter the structure, he would have to solve a bunch of tedious and lengthy puzzles... Yuuko was utterly helpless and could only slowly start solving the puzzles in order to get inside.
If he hadn't been afraid of destroying something important by forcing his way in, Yuuko would have just smashed through the wall... After finally finishing the puzzles, the entrance to the structure finally opened.
Once the entrance opened, Yuuko was surprised to find that:
The interior of the ruin was actually a library... What surprised him even more was that there was someone else's aura inside the library... The moment Yuuko entered the library, the aura inside sensed his intrusion.
A soft voice came: "Someone actually broke in here... Who are you?"
Yuuko followed the source of the voice and saw that the person speaking to him was a golden-haired Damselette wearing strange clothing.
For some reason, the Damselette gave Yuuko a very peculiar feeling.
She was uniquely different from anyone Yuuko had encountered before, though Yuuko couldn't quite pinpoint what that difference was.
"And who are you? Why are you in a place like this?" Yuuko countered.
The golden-haired Damselette remained silent for a long time, then spoke: "Are you here to participate in the trial?"
"A trial..." Yuuko was slightly stunned.
To be honest, his journey here had consisted mostly of forcing his way through, with occasional puzzle-solving.
He truly didn't know what a trial was.
"It seems not... So you snuck in, then." The golden-haired Damselette sighed lightly.
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