After Giving Birth, All My Beast Ex-Husbands Suddenly Want Me Back

Chapter 312: The guardian of the sacred artifact

Nina studied the countless smaller tunnels branching off into darkness.

"I’m not sure either," she admitted quietly. "I can’t detect what’s inside them."

"Then we split up?" Idir suggested. "Whoever finds the sacred artifact brings it back."

"I think that’s our best option," Keil agreed.

Nina considered it for a moment before nodding.

"Alright."

She took out several long, durable ropes and handed them to the others.

"Tie these around yourselves. We don’t know what the terrain inside looks like. If anyone gets lost, use the rope to find your way back. It’ll also help us determine whether a path is still safe."

She was worried there might be maze-like traps hidden within the cave system.

"Understood."

The males immediately secured the ropes around themselves.

Nina then turned to Lani.

"Father, stay outside and hold the other ends of the ropes. Be ready to pull us back or assist if anything happens."

"Alright," Lani replied seriously. "All of you be careful."

Nina swept her gaze over the group.

"Choose your own tunnel. But if you encounter danger, don’t force it. Staying alive matters more than anything else."

"Got it."

Everyone nodded.

Nina glanced over the cave entrances and casually chose the one that somehow felt the most instinctively right before swimming inside.

The others each selected different tunnels and disappeared into the darkness as well.

The cave Nina entered was eerily silent.

The tunnel twisted and curved endlessly, branching into smaller passages every so often.

Whenever she reached a fork, she simply relied on intuition to decide which path to take.

Strangely, her journey remained smooth the entire time.

Lex’s side was similarly uneventful. But Aviel and Idir soon discovered their tunnel ended in a dead end, forcing them to retrace their steps and choose another route.

Keil and the other males encountered the same problem repeatedly.

Thus, while Nina and Lex continued moving deeper and deeper into the cave system, everyone else kept running into dead ends and returning empty-handed.

A long while later, they had nearly exhausted every possible tunnel.

"Lani," Aviel asked, "Nina still hasn’t come out?"

"No," Lani replied, his brows furrowed. "Neither Nina nor Lex has returned."

"Then their tunnels are probably the correct paths," Idir said grimly. "All of ours must have been wrong."

Keil sighed in amazement.

"Nina really is incredible. She picked the right path immediately."

"Aviel," Lani said, "contact Nina and ask about her situation."

"Alright."

Aviel activated Nina’s communicator. The connection was accepted almost immediately.

"Nina, how are things on your side? Are you in danger?"

"For now, no," Nina replied. "I just still haven’t reached the end. This tunnel is ridiculously long."

Then she asked, "What about you all?"

Aviel sighed. "We hit dead end after dead end and had to keep turning back. Only you and Lex never came out."

He paused before continuing, "We’re currently back at the entrance. Should we come find you?"

"That’s fine," Nina answered after a moment. "Come over. I haven’t encountered any danger along this route so far."

"Alright. Keep moving forward. We’ll catch up as quickly as possible."

"Okay."

After ending the call, Nina continued deeper into the cave. But not long afterward, she suddenly felt something strange. The rope tied to her waist had gone slack.

Her expression sharpened instantly. She pulled at it and realized it had snapped.

Nina slowly looked toward both ends of the tunnel, her vigilance immediately rising.

Meanwhile, Aviel and the others followed the path Nina had originally entered. Yet after traveling for some distance, they suddenly stopped in shock.

Dead end.

Aviel frowned. "What’s going on? How did Nina’s tunnel become a dead end too?"

"These stone tunnels definitely aren’t normal," Idir muttered, his expression darkening.

An uneasy feeling settled in his chest. He was beginning to worry about Nina.

"Forget it," Keil said decisively. "Let’s go back and check Lex’s route instead."

The group turned around again and headed toward Lex’s tunnel only to discover that it, too, had transformed into a dead end.

Aviel immediately contacted Nina again and explained what had happened.

Nina fell silent for a moment before speaking thoughtfully. "My rope snapped too. I think these tunnels can rearrange themselves."

Her tone grew serious. "You should all stay outside. Don’t come in again."

"Alright then," Aviel said reluctantly. "Be careful. If anything happens, contact us immediately."

They all knew continuing to force their way through the tunnels would likely be pointless.

"I will," Nina replied.

After ending the call, she continued forward alone. Some time later, the tunnel finally opened up. Before her stood an enormous stone structure.

It resembled a vast ancient palace carved directly into the depths of the seabed—simple in design, yet grand and imposing beyond words.

Nina took out the crystal that resonated with the sacred artifact. The moment it appeared, the crystal glowed intensely. The reaction pointed directly toward the stone structure before her.

The sacred artifact was inside.

Certain now, Nina swam toward the massive stone doors. She pressed both hands against them and pushed... But nothing happened.

Not even the slightest tremor.

She then tried channeling energy into an attack, but the doors remained unmoved, as though they were fused with the entire abyss itself.

Nina frowned.

How was this thing supposed to open?

She began carefully inspecting the stone doors, searching for hidden mechanisms or clues.

Meanwhile, elsewhere within the labyrinth, Lex had also emerged from the tunnels. The moment he spotted Nina standing before the palace gates, relief flooded his chest.

He immediately tried to swim toward her, only to slam into an invisible barrier.

A ripple of unseen energy blocked him completely.

"Nina!" he called out urgently.

But she showed no reaction whatsoever, as if she couldn’t hear him at all. Lex’s brows knitted tightly.

What was happening? Why couldn’t he get through? Why couldn’t she hear him?

At that moment, Nina seemed to sense something. She suddenly turned and looked in his direction.

Lex’s eyes lit up with excitement.

He waved at her with all his strength, but Nina only glanced over blankly.

There was nothing there. Her brows furrowed faintly. For a brief second, she could’ve sworn someone had called her name... Yet the area was completely empty.

Finding nothing unusual, she turned back toward the stone doors. Then suddenly, her gaze paused. In a hidden corner beside the door, she noticed several strange raised symbols carved into the stone.

The symbols were subtle and nearly impossible to spot.

Even stranger... They seemed movable.

Nina’s eyes sharpened.

These symbols were very likely the key to opening the gate.

She immediately focused all her attention on studying them.

Not far away, Lex watched helplessly.

Disappointment flickered across his eyes.

She couldn’t even see him.

Unable to reach Nina, he could only remain where he was, watching her struggle with the stone door while he stood powerless to help.

Just as he was trying to think of another way to cross the barrier, a hoarse, rasping voice suddenly echoed through the void.

"Do you want to help her?"

Lex’s expression instantly turned cold and wary.

"Who are you?"

"I am the guardian of the sacred artifact," the voice replied slowly. "And I can tell you how to help her."

"Why should I believe you?" Lex narrowed his eyes, trying to locate the source of the voice.

But there was nothing. Only darkness.

"You don’t have to," the voice said leisurely. "You can stay here and keep watching her struggle until the Dark Abyss closes... and then remain behind to accompany me forever."

Hidden somewhere unseen, Asgor calmly watched Lex. He already knew this merman would agree eventually. Another pitiful fool whose heart had been stolen by a female.

His gaze shifted toward Nina, and a cold snort suddenly escaped him.

The prettier the female, the better they were at deceiving males.

Still... His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

This female truly was clever. She had actually discovered the key to opening the stone gate. But discovering the mechanism and solving the rune puzzle were two entirely different things.

Lex stared into the darkness where the voice had come from, but he still couldn’t see anyone.

Perhaps this mysterious being was trapped behind a similar barrier.

He tried moving toward the sound, but there was nothing. No matter where he searched, he found only empty darkness.

At last, Lex stopped paying attention to the voice and turned back toward Nina.

She was still standing before the gate, delicate brows tightly furrowed as she concentrated on deciphering the strange symbols.

Time passed little by little. Watching her from afar, Lex grew increasingly anxious.

Then, without warning, another thought surfaced in his mind—he realized he had never truly done anything for her.

Not really.

His gaze softened as it lingered on Nina, filled with quiet longing. Then he slowly turned back toward the unseen voice.

The tenderness in his eyes vanished instantly, replaced by icy resolve.

"Tell me," he said coldly. "How can I help her?"

As long as it could help Nina... He would do anything.