Cra Crack!
The ice beneath our feet cracked with each step that we took.
As we ventured deeper into the city, the towering landmarks lood beside us, their shadows stretching wide across the frozen streets. With every step forward, the air grew colder, biting my skin sharply.
The infrastructure was very different from that in the ’Land of Light’, which had a more gloomy, gothic design.
The buildings here looked a little more ’modern’, or at least more like the past where I ca from. The streets were also quite large, and although now deserted, shops appeared in all directions.
"Where are we heading?"
Upon hearing Anne’s question, I stopped.
"That’s a good question, to be honest."
I didn’t know myself.
I had been moving forward blindly, hoping to find soone, anyone, and learn more about what was happening. But instead, we were t with an empty, desolate city. Not a single soul was in sight. The silence hung heavy, and in its own way, the place felt eerily unsettling.
"I was hoping to see if there was anyone, but it looks like this entire place has been abandoned. I’ve yet to even see a single corpse. At the very least, it doesn’t look like the weather has killed anyone yet."
"Talking about the weather, isn’t it getting colder?"
Kiera rubbed her hands together once more, a fla flickering to life before her once more. Evelyn drew closer, and this ti, Kiera didn’t say a word. One could see at a glance that the mana films around everyone’s bodies were growing thinner.
"...This is odd."
An’as muttered, staring at the mana that coated his hand.
"I’m starting to feel my mana consumption increasing with each second that we spend here. I don’t really have a good feeling about this."
An’as turned in my direction.
"Should we go back? Maybe it would be best if we wait until the weather clears out before going into the city."
Several heads turned in my direction.
"What?"
Seeing them all look at , I was speechless.
Did they really expect to be the one to make the decisions?
"You’re the one who wanted to co here. Of course, we’re going to look at you."
Kiera pointed out the evident, and I could only sigh.
To go back, or to go deeper?
To be honest, the answer was pretty obvious to .
"Let’s go deeper into the city."
There was no point in returning to the ship. The weather wasn’t going to improve. If anything, it would only get worse. Without Clora’s return, there was simply no chance of the storm easing; it would keep growing stronger, swallowing everything in its path.
I started to give them all an explanation of the situation.
"From what I’ve heard, the Goddess Clora has died. The instability in the weather is most likely due to her passing. If I’m not wrong, things will only beco worse in the upcoming hours. For this reason, I think it’s best that we go ahead. In fact, we should probably hurry."
"....."
"....."
"....."
There was a mont of silence following my words.
I could feel multiple hostile stares focused in my direction. The way they looked at left montarily speechless.
What?
Why were they looking at like this?
"So you’re saying that Goddess Clora has died, and the reason why the weather is like this is because of her passing?" An’as said, rubbing his forehead.
I nodded shortly after.
"Yeah, pretty much."
He had summarized the situation pretty well.
"....."
The lot of them grew silent once more.
Eventually, it was Kiera who broke the silence.
"Should I do it, or should you guys do it?"
She clenched her fist tightly, threatening with it.
I looked at her speechlessly. The fact that the others were actually encouraging her only made that feeling stronger.
’Well, I can understand why they’re mad, but Panthea did say that there’s a chance that she’s alive. To be honest, I don’t even know whether she’s alive or not, and I also am not completely sure that my reasoning is correct.’
I could only shrug.
"What I’m saying is the potential truth. Like I said, ’from what I heard’. There’s a chance that I’m wrong. Either way, we should hurry up. If we waste any more ti, I don’t think we’ll be able to leave this place."
The others looked around, and after seeing that the situation was only growing worse with each passing mont, they let go of their anger towards before moving ahead.
"Since there’s likely no one in the city, let’s try to head out. In order to reach Veltrus’s territory, we have no choice but to leave anyway."
The main goal from the start was to reach Veltrus’s territory.
I wanted to know more about Delilah, but it seed pointless to look for information in this place. In that case, it was best if we all headed out of the city and made our way towards the goal destination.
"Let’s go."
I hurried my steps as I headed deeper into the city, covering my body with an even thicker veil of mana.
Cra Crack! Cra Crack! Cra Crack!
The ice cracked beneath our feet with every step, and the farther we ventured into the city, the colder and eerier it grew. As if that weren’t enough, a thick fog began to creep over the area, slowly wrapping around us and clouding our vision.
Still, this wasn’t enough to make panic.
Without a second thought, I used my threads and connected them with a piece of their clothing.
There was also [Mana Sense].
I wasn’t worried about losing sight of any of them.
But there was a growing issue.
"Haa... Haaa... Haa..."
The mana in the air began to drain faster than before, dropping at an alarming rate. If I hadn’t been Tier 8, I might’ve started to panic myself. But even if I could endure it, the sa couldn’t be said for the others.
"An’as, can you hold on? Do you need to share so mana with you?"
An’as was struggling the most out of everyone present.
With a pale face, he tried to keep up with everyone as he held onto Anne’s hand and continued marching forward.
He was the weakest out of all of us present, just barely at the 6th Tier. No, it was more accurate to say that he was still in the 5th Tier, just on the verge of reaching the next Tier.
His talent wasn’t too bad, but it wasn’t anything monstrous either.
"I... think I can hold on."
Not a mont after he spoke his words, the fog thickened.
"Shit!"
Everything within the vicinity started to vanish from our sight.
"Fuck, I can barely see."
"This fucking fog!"
"Let’s hurry!"
Out of precaution, I activated [Mana Sense]. There was sothing about this fog that felt deeply unsettling to as I scanned my surroundings, trying to see if anything was approaching us.
Thankfully, it appeared that we were the only people present as I expanded the threads from out of my body to get a better feel of the surroundings.
The simple act caused my mana to fall faster, but this was still within manageable levels for .
Using the threads, I reached out, scanning everything ahead in hopes of finding a way out of the fog-covered city. But the place was far larger than I’d anticipated, and no matter how far I extended the threads, the exit remained beyond my reach.
Still, I was at least sure that there was only the seven of us within the surroundings.
"Let’s go this way."
I guided the group using the threads.
Keeping [Mana Sense] active, I made sure to keep everyone next to so we wouldn’t get lost, and ti continued to flow that way. None of us tried to speak the entire ti; the only sounds were the howling wind and the weight of our own breathing.
At so point, however, I had to stop.
"How is everyone holding up?"
I needed to check up on how An’as and the others were doing. In case they needed mana, I planned on helping them.
"I can’t say we’re close to the city’s exit, but I think we’re nearing the center. If that’s the case, we should be able to get out of here soon. Hopefully, the fog doesn’t spread beyond that point... though I can’t be sure. At least I know it’s only temporary."
"....."
It was silent.
"Hm?"
I cocked my head, staring at the nurous glowing pieces of light that hid in the fog.
I was certain that they were there. The threads were still attached to their body, and I could also see their outline with my [Mana Sense]. Why weren’t they speaking?
"Guys?"
Silence.
My words were t with heavy silence.
I licked my lips, finally realizing that sothing was off as I squinted my eyes to stare at the six glowing figures in front of . Eventually, I drew closer, and the mont I did, my expression started to change.
".....!"
Instead of seeing the others, my eyes fell on six figures carved from ice, their shapes identical to the others, each one staring straight at with lifeless, frozen eyes. The threads were all connected to them, and for so reason, their bodies each manifested the sa glow that the others did when using [Mana Sense].
’Shit...’
My heart pressed tightly against my chest as I felt a terrifying premonition.
And sure enough...
Cra Crack!
The statues of ice began to move, their hands and bodies robotically turning in my direction.
I didn’t waste a second, pressing my hand forward and shattering the first statue.
BANG!
The statue broke without much effort, but...
Kakakakakaka!
The mont one broke, another one built. To make matters worse, I could feel the pressure coming from the ice statue grow as my heart sank further, and the other statues started to draw closer in my direction.
’Fuck...’
I secretly cursed under my breath, the mana inside of my body starting to boil.
’...I can’t ever visit a place without it trying to kill , huh?’
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