I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 244

Lord Blanche stepped forward, his confidence radiating from him as he approached the colossal doors. He placed his palms flat against the dark, metallic stone, his muscles tensing as he prepared to force his way through. With a grunt of exertion, he pushed. The door didn’t budge at all. It remained as immovable as the wall of rock it was carved into. A flicker of frustration crossed his face. He took a step back, rubbing his hands together. The air around him crackled as he drew upon his energy, the ambient light seeming to bend toward his palms.

“Stand back,” he grunted, his voice tight with strain.

He slammed his hands against the door again, pouring what felt like a river of raw mana into the ancient metal. The geometric patterns etched across its surface flared to life, glowing with a fierce, white light. For a moment, the entire cavern was illuminated in a stark, sterile glare. A low hum filled the air, vibrating through the soles of our feet. The door groaned, a deep, resonant sound of stone grinding against stone, but it was a false promise. The light died, the hum faded, and the patterns went dark. The doors remained firmly shut, defying his power.

“What’s wrong?” one of the guards asked, his voice tight with a new kind of fear.

“It’s locked,” Lord Blanche breathed, pulling his hands back and shaking them like they had been burned. “I can’t brute force it.”

As he spoke, I was already reaching out through the mycelium. My cells had spread like a fine web through the soil and rock, a silent, invisible extension of my will. Although the door was sturdy, countless millennia had given time for the mycelium to work its way into the door, giving me some awareness of its intricate locking mechanisms. It wasn’t a simple on-off switch; it was a complex series of conduits and capacitors, a mana circuit of Antecedent design. It required a precise sequence of energy pulses, a specific chord of power to be played. It was like a combination lock, but with energy instead of numbers. Compared to the energy signature security of the Blanche family vault, this was many times more difficult. This was a far more complex and intricate thing.

“Are we trapped out here?” Tiffany asked anxiously.

“No!” Lord Blanche spoke arrogantly. “I won’t be thwarted by a mere door. I have my tricks.”

I could feel him building up his energy, but at the same time, I became aware that some of the madmen noticed our presence and were approaching us. I didn’t know what trick Lord Blanche was going to use, but I was pretty sure it wouldn’t work.  We also couldn’t afford to waste more time here, or I couldn’t guarantee anyone’s safety. However, I might be able to do something about it. On account of the structural damage, age, and the presence of the mycelium, it might be possible to override the lock.

“One more time!” Lord Blanche roared, channelling everything he had left into a final, powerful blast.

As his energy flooded the door, I acted. Through the mycelium, I sent a series of precise, microscopic pulses of my own. They were tiny, infinitesimal compared to the patriarch’s raw power, but they were perfectly timed. I didn’t try to force the lock; I tricked it. I send a million different pulses at once. There were an infinite number of possible signatures, so I couldn’t guess, but perhaps I could cause the entire system to overload.

The effect was immediate and dramatic. The patterns on the door didn’t just glow; they erupted in a cascade of brilliant, cascading light. The grinding groan returned, louder this time, a deafening roar of ancient machinery waking from a millennia-long slumber. With a shudder that shook the very ground we stood on, the massive doors slowly began to swing inward, revealing a dark, silent corridor beyond.

Lord Blanche stood frozen, his chest heaving, his hands still outstretched. A slow, triumphant grin spread across his face. He shot a look at Tiffany and me, his eyes filled with pride.

“It seems the Blanche family still has some power,” he declared, his voice booming in the newfound silence. “Now, let’s see what treasures this old place holds for us.”

As we approached the opening, the air that blew out was stale, ancient, and carried a scent of ozone and decay. Beyond the threshold was a vast, dark hall, its dimensions lost in the gloom. He glanced over at the other two men, one supporting the other, and then stepped into the darkness. The rest of us followed him inside. I casually used the mycelium to cause the door to close behind us. As soon as it shut, everyone else jumped, likely thinking this was some kind of cliché trap situation.

In reality, I just wanted to keep the madmen behind us outside. Lord Blanche, still full of confidence, took a breath and then began to walk forward. The rest of us exchanged looks before following after him. We didn’t make it far before there was a split in the path. One direction continued straight ahead, descending deeper into the heart of the ruin, a darkness so complete it seemed to swallow the light. The other path veered off to the left, leading to a large, circular platform covered in dust and webs. If one looked very carefully, one might notice ancient script written into the walls and floor of that room.

As soon as I glanced at it, I had a feeling inside me and spoke before I could help myself. “That’s the way out.”

Everyone ended up glancing my direction. Tiffany raised an eyebrow.

“That’s the exit?” Lord Blanche first glanced at the room and then at Tiffany.

Tiffany stepped forward, looking at the writing on the walls and rubbing a piece of cobweb away. “This is an array… I’ve read about them, but I’ve never seen one intact. It could… be used for travel.”

“It’s a teleportation array,” I said, my voice calm and certain. “It will take us out of here.”

How was I so certain of it? It was because I had transcribed an entire library of that immortal. At the time, most of the information seemed useless. It was predominantly random people’s journals or sometimes fictionalized stories. However, at least one journal had been interested in studying arrays, and there was enough information that I was able to recognize this as an explanation.

“How can you be so sure?” Tiffany asked, her brow furrowed.

“I’ve read a bit about them,” I replied.

There was actually another reason I knew this was a transportation array. That was because I had the Translation skill, and the sign in front of the door literally said ‘Teleport’ and ‘Exit Here’. Had she not first identified it as an array, I might have just called it a teleporter. However, knowing it was an array, I could understand a bit more about it.

An array, in its simplest form, was a type of spell circle or runic diagram. It was the Antecedents’ method of performing complex magical or technological feats without requiring the same level of individual biological evolution.

The easiest way to think about it was like a computer program. A person doesn’t need to be a mathematical genius to use a calculator; they just need to know which buttons to press. An array was similar. It was a pre-designed circuit that, when supplied with energy and a specific input, would execute a complex function. The function could be anything—from creating a defensive shield to healing wounds, to, in this case, folding space to create a temporary bridge between two distant points. The glowing lines were the conduits, the runes were the commands, and the entire platform was the processor. I wondered what these antecedents would have made of a computer.

“Are you able to operate this array?” The man holding the injured asked hopefully.

“I should be able to get us home.” I nodded.

Lord Blanche looked at me, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. “I happen to know a little bit about arrays as well. Arrays are an Antecedent technology. The only way you can properly control it is if you speak their language. Why do you think no one else made it this far?

“I can read Antecedent,” I stated simply.

The silence that followed was heavy with shock. Tiffany stared at me with her mouth slightly agape. The two Blanche men exchanged wide-eyed, disbelieving glances. Even Lord Blanche, who had been maintaining a facade of stoic control, looked utterly stunned.

“You can read Antecedent script?” he finally managed, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. “Just who in the seven hells are you?”

In reality, my knowledge wasn’t that impressive. I was just using my Translation skill to do the work, the words and symbols rearranging themselves in my mind into concepts I could understand. But I didn’t have any desire to explain that.

“That doesn’t matter right now,” I told them as I walked towards the platform. “What matters is that this is our way out. I promised to bring you here, and here we are.”

Ideally, I wanted to send them on their way. Of course, I planned to come back, but only once Tiffany was safe. I couldn’t explore these ruins safely with so many others. The mycelium couldn’t get past these walls, so other than the general layout, the contents of this ruin were a mystery to me.

Lord Blanche frowned, glancing at the array and then down the hallway before finally gritting his teeth. “Fine, set the array.”