By the ti the group climbed out of the cave, the sky outside had already grown dark.
Nick was absentmindedly scribbling on his notebook, but when he saw the group return, he hurried over to greet them.
…
Just like that, their days of descending into the tunnels during daylight and returning before nightfall continued for five more days.
Since both Saul and Nick were Second Rank apprentices, the two of them took turns staying behind at the camp each day.
As for the Head Monster that had once appeared at the entrance to Hanging Hand Valley—it never showed up again. This allowed Byron and Saul, who had been tense all this ti, to relax a little.
Today, it was Saul’s turn to remain behind.
After watching the others disappear into the cave for a while, he imdiately put down the materials he had been working on and switched to studying his own eyes.
He hadn’t slept at all these past few days, relying entirely on deep ditation to rest. He had to avoid accidentally slipping into other people’s dreams.
While he might uncover so secrets that way, until he fully understood the effects of the Nightmare Butterfly, recklessly peering into others’ minds could bring disaster upon himself.
Saul always rembered a saying from the wizarding world, “Danger cos from the unknown, and the unknown is endless.”
He sat before the Soul Wave Detector, observing and recording the frequency of the silver flashes in his eyes.
He discovered that if he didn’t enter a semi-imrsive ditative state, the cocoon in his eye wouldn’t glow.
But when he did enter that state, a faint silver light would flicker through his left eye roughly once every minute.
The glow was very faint—barely noticeable unless soone was staring directly into his eyes from close up.
Just as Saul was planning how to begin his next round of experints once he returned, the sky suddenly darkened.
A vast shadow slowly stretched across Saul’s position.
He looked up. The sky was clear—no clouds at all.
He turned around—and froze. There, high on the opposite cliff, a massive ship had appeared.
It looked like an ancient three-masted sailing vessel, but much, much larger than a typical ship.
Each of the three gigantic sails bore the image of a different monster.
A slender ghostly figure, a thousand-eyed banshee, and an enormous flower that looked beautiful yet had disturbingly twisted petals and stans.
The sails were slowly retracting, and the colossal ship was gradually coming to a halt.
Its hull, wrapped in enormous white bones, stretched downward.
Below that, the cliffside obscured the rest of the view.
As the shadow stopped moving, the gigantic ship finally ca to a full stop.
“A ship sailing on land?” Saul stood with a grim expression. “...A Land Drifter?”
He still rembered when he t Bill and Wright—Bill had just killed four people from a Land Drifter crew.
Could it be that their comrades had co looking for them?
Saul glanced at the sky. It was still early—Byron and the others weren’t due back for a while.
He stood up and began quickly packing.
Fortunately, they hadn’t set up tents. As long as he hid the smaller instrunts, no one would easily notice that a group had been stationed here.
Whether or not these people were here for those four, it would be dangerous for a Second Rank apprentice like Saul to run into them alone.
He moved a few large instrunts into a nearby cave and covered the entrance with so plants.
Then he slung his backpack over his shoulder, preparing to move and hide elsewhere.
But just then, his diarysuddenly flew out, rapidly unfurling in front of him, the writing appearing as if on 4x fast-forward.
[April 20th, Year 316 of Lunar Calendar.
Since you left the Wizard Tower,
Your path has been smooth,
Things have gone your way.
At last, you’ve co to see how “wonderful” the outside world can be.
You will be caught,
You will be questioned—
But no matter what you say,
in the end,
They’ll still dig out your eyes
And turn you into a flower~
“I can’t be caught!” Saul imdiately realized that these newcors would be enemies.
He didn’t have ti to choose an ideal hiding spot. He dove into the nearest cave and scrambled deeper inside.
Rustle rustle rustle—
So loose dirt and sand fell with him. Saul imdiately stopped moving and pressed himself to the ground, afraid the sound would alert those on the surface.
Since the diary had activated, that ant the enemy was close—very close.
He likely only had a few minutes at most.
But those few minutes were enough to give Saul a chance to hide.
“Good thing this place is full of caves and twists… otherwise, my odds of escaping would’ve been slim.”
Holding his breath, Saul raised his head slightly to peer at the tunnel above him.
He’d already taken several turns and could no longer see the entrance. He could only hope he hadn’t left obvious tracks.
At the sa ti, he was ready to run at any mont.
Thump-thump thump-thump thump-thump…
His heart pounded wildly.
Anyone commanding a massive ship capable of traveling over land had to be powerful.
He could only hope there wasn’t a full-fledged wizard among them.
Thump-thump thump-thump thump-thump…
The wait, without any warning or signal, was excruciating.
The tunnel grew quieter and quieter. Saul couldn’t help but press his hand to his chest, still staring into the darkness ahead.
Ti passed bit by bit.
No sound ca from above.
Maybe they hadn’t noticed the signs outside. Maybe they’d already left.
Saul cautiously lifted himself and crawled deeper down.
After descending a few more ters and taking a few more turns, he fumbled through his backpack and pulled out a slender test tube.
It was sothing Wright had left him. If Saul buried the worm inside the tube in the dirt, Wright would know sothing had gone wrong.
Following their prearranged code, Saul buried half the worm in the ground, leaving the other half exposed.
That ant danger on the surface, but Saul himself was still okay.
If he buried the entire worm, it would an he was calling for help.
“Whew…” After finishing, Saul finally let out a long breath.
This way, at least Byron and the others wouldn’t walk out of the tunnel completely unaware and run straight into danger.
He lay back down, remaining still for almost two hours. His stomach had already started demanding food before he finally began to move again.
The darkness was absolute. Only the diary on his left shoulder, defying the laws of optics, remained clearly visible in his sight.
“Can I go up and take a look now?”
The diary flew out again and showed him an uncomfortably grueso death.
“…Fine. Hopefully they leave before nightfall. I really don’t want to spend the night underground.”
“Can I use Gleamlight?” Saul continued thinking.
The diary flew out again.
But this ti, what it showed made Saul’s heart stop.
April 20th, Year 316 of Lunar Calendar
You hide underground, thinking you’ve escaped the crisis.
You rise and light up your surroundings, and then—you see it.
A human head, directly opposite you.
He grins wide, revealing a row of perfectly red teeth.
‘You found ~’
You try to run, but his neck stretches faster.
You’re rolled up.
Once he realizes he can’t use you to find the others—
He bites off half your face.
Saul stared at the diary, unblinking.
But what he really wanted to know was—
Was there a face quietly watching him from the darkness directly across from him right now?
(End of Chapter)
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