The Collapsing Tunnel

“What’s wrong?”

Seeing her expression, Bai Muxue frowned, then forced herself to sit up, despite the intense pain racking her body.

“Did you hear any strange sounds?” Amber scanned her surroundings, her golden eyes faintly glowing. “Like something cracking open?”

“No…”

Bai Muxue shook her head, knowing that in her magical girl form, Amber’s senses of hearing and touch were far keener than her own, an ordinary person.

‘A cracking sound… cracking…’

The young woman muttered to herself, her brow furrowed in thought.

Suddenly, a possibility seemed to dawn on her, and she gazed blankly at the cracked glass ceiling above. “Wait, Amber, we’re currently in… an underwater tunnel, aren’t we?”

Amber froze at her words, then quickly reacted. “No way, isn’t this underwater tunnel just one of those kid-friendly attractions? There isn’t much water inside…”

‘This isn’t a real ocean tunnel built deep beneath the sea!’

Before she could finish speaking, as if to confirm Bai Muxue’s conjecture, the entire tunnel began to shake violently. Cracks spread rapidly across the surrounding walls like a spiderweb, and thin trickles of water gradually seeped through.

“Run!!”

Bai Muxue and Amber exchanged a glance, an astonishing mutual understanding passing between them.

This was clearly not the time to ponder whether the tunnel’s water level was normal. Without hesitation, Amber bent down towards Bai Muxue and roared, “Get on!”

“On, on where?”

“Tsk!”

Amber wasted no more time. She rose abruptly, grabbed Bai Muxue’s shoulder before she could react, pulled her tightly into her arms, cradled her slender legs, and sprinted towards the entrance.

“With those short little legs of yours, you’d be submerged by the water after just a few steps!”

“…”

Bai Muxue wrapped her arms tightly around Amber’s waist, resting her chin on her shoulder. She watched as the once-small trickles of water transformed into a raging torrent, surging into the tunnel at an astonishing speed, emitting a thunderous roar.

She understood the urgency of the situation, recognizing it as a matter of life and death.

Yet, with the two of them pressed tightly together once more, Amber’s warmth radiated from her palm to Bai Muxue’s thigh. There was also the soft sensation of Amber’s ample curves, rising and falling with each jostle, not to mention the constant friction as they ran.

An ineffable tingling sensation spread through Bai Muxue’s heart, causing her breath to quicken momentarily.

‘Damn it… At a time like this, why am I thinking such things? What is wrong with me!’

Bai Muxue secretly gritted her teeth, a vivid blush subtly creeping across her pretty face.

Yet, in this dire circumstance, the young woman’s embrace felt so unexpectedly warm… Subtly, Bai Muxue found herself less resistant to Amber’s hold.

However, unlike Bai Muxue’s wandering thoughts, Amber had no mind for such distractions at the moment. Though Bai Muxue in her arms was indeed soft and warm, in their current predicament, what good was someone, no matter how delicate or wifely, if they couldn’t help them escape!?

She attempted to take flight several times, but to no avail. Instead, she could only suppress the pervasive sense of weakness throughout her body and the burning sensation in her lower abdomen, continuing to stumble forward.

Noticing Bai Muxue’s body trembling slightly, Amber glanced down. Seeing Bai Muxue curled up in her arms, her face flushed crimson, Amber assumed she was simply afraid. A comforting smile touched her lips as she softly said,

“There, there, don’t be scared. This young lady will protect you; you won’t die, you won’t die.”

‘Haha, this one who always likes to pretend to be an adult, is still scared at a time like this, huh?’

At this thought, a faint smile appeared on Amber’s otherwise pale face, and she tightened her embrace around Bai Muxue even further.

‘No, you hugging me like this makes me *more* scared!’

Feeling the increasingly distinct sensation against her chest, Bai Muxue’s earlobes flushed so red they seemed about to drip blood. She silently complained in her mind.

‘Maybe you should just put me down. I could sacrifice a bit of my life force; it’s not like I can’t fight a bit!’

With a deafening roar, the tunnel walls finally collapsed under the immense pressure. A surging torrent of water roared into the tunnel, like an unstoppable beast, devouring everything within its path.

As the water continued to pour in, the faint fluorescent lights within the tunnel flickered out one by one. The entire tunnel groaned under the onslaught of the current. Glass shattered, steel rebar snapped, leaving only the roar of the water and the young woman’s faint footsteps echoing through the tunnel.

“Strange… This underwater tunnel is clearly just a children’s amusement facility, not a real ocean, so where is all this immense water pressure coming from…”

Bai Muxue’s flushed, pretty face showed a thoughtful expression as she stared at the surging, roaring water before them.

“This isn’t the time to be thinking about that!” Amber growled.

Although Amber attempted to create an ice wall with her snowflake spheres to block the water, her magic was already nearly depleted. The ice wall she conjured was flimsy and was swept away by the surging current almost instantly.

By this point, the golden-haired young woman was rapidly losing her strength.

Each time she flung out a snowflake sphere, each time she attempted to take flight, the patterned glow on her right collarbone dimmed further. The golden light rapidly drained from her, and her entire body began to grow translucent.

Fortunately, the tunnel wasn’t exceptionally long. Though unable to fly, Amber’s speed was still considerable, and the ice walls had provided some measure of obstruction.

‘If I recall correctly, the tunnel entrance should be just ahead… Eh?’

Amber looked up, somewhat startled, only to find the original entrance blocked by a solid ice wall.

‘That was the ice wall I created on the way in, to prevent those nutcrackers from chasing us!’

‘Who could have predicted this situation back then?’

“Damn it!”

Amber cursed under her breath, her body swaying as she abruptly slammed to a halt. Her feet splashed into the rapidly rising water, sending spray in all directions.

“Tsk, this young lady actually dug her own grave!”

She quickly set Bai Muxue down, then violently coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood. Mustering her remaining magic with great effort, a faint golden glow condensed on the blade of her silver rapier as she attempted to shatter the ice wall before them.

Before she could even thrust her sword, the enormous current surged from behind them, mercilessly knocking them down. In an instant, both were swept directly underwater.

The water, chillingly abnormal, instantly enveloped their entire bodies. Even with the protective properties of Amber’s magical girl attire, she felt a bone-piercing cold, let alone Bai Muxue.

“…!”

The young woman, already petite in stature, simply couldn’t withstand the surging current. She instinctively opened her mouth, but it filled only with icy water. Her lungs burned as if on fire, the sensation of suffocation intensified, and her eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, as though she were about to drift into a deep sleep within the frigid depths.

Faintly, she saw the golden-haired figure not far away desperately swimming towards her. Yet, at that moment, she had no strength left to respond.

The next moment, the young woman slowly closed her eyes.