As a loud rumble rang through the air, Blaine’s eyes narrowed.
Sothing was coming.
Without wasting another mont, he scanned his surroundings apprehensively, searching for the origin of the sound.
It was then that he noticed it.
The bioluminescent moss that adorned the cave’s expanse suddenly began to flicker and dim.
Like dying flas in the wind monts before being put out.
Since the moss consud mana from their surroundings to produce light, the concentration of mana around him was plumting rapidly.
Blaine summoned a green energy construct next to him to test his theory.
Not having put much effort into giving it a coherent shape, the construct looked like a misshapen blob with no apparent function or purpose.
Without wasting another second, he hurriedly dismissed it.
Since the object wasn’t destroyed, the characteristic chi of shattering glass didn’t ring out.
The construct disappeared as silently as it had appeared.
However, Blaine wasn’t particularly interested in the details of his ability at the mont.
Instead, his focus was on his Mana Core.
But monts later, his eyes narrowed slightly.
Having used so mana earlier to create the construct, his core would have fallen from its maximum capacity to slightly less than that.
This ans he would begin to passively absorb the ambient mana from his surroundings with every breath he took.
If Blaine’s earlier theory that the mana concentration in his vicinity was falling was indeed true, he would replenish his core at a far slower rate.
However, this wasn’t the case at all.
In fact... His mana absorption rate was actually higher than usual.
This ant that the area he was in had naturally high levels of ambient mana, or at least higher than that of the surface.
So why was the moss’smoss’s light dimming?
Just as he thought this, sothing moved in Blaine’sBlaine’s peripheral vision.
Blaine hastily snapped his head and raised his daggers to assu a combat stance.
While his primary weapon was a longsword, Blaine was proficient with most commonly used weapons.
Daggers were naturally included in this list.
While he may not be as skilled as Lyn, Blaine was still far better than average.
Blaine’s eyes narrowed slightly, and his daggers glimred sharply in the fading light as he focused on the sight before him.
Several ters away... An oblong creature with large white ears glared at Blaine and Cecelia nacingly.
As a ravenous glimr flickered through its eyes, the creature bared its sharp, fang-like canines at the two youths, salivating over its newfound ’’prey.’’
""SCREEEEEEHHH""
Letting out an ear-piercing shriek, the creature kicked off the ground, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.
At the speed it was travelling, Blaine was almost one hundred percent sure that the monster was at least a Rank 2, or perhaps a Rank 1 with a speed-increasing ability.
However, while the creature seed completely fixated on Blaine and the princess, Blaine still felt on edge for another reason.
[RUMBLE]
Not only was the rumbling sound still coming, but it was getting louder with each passing second.
Despite the long-eared creature barreling toward him, Blaine’s instincts told him not to bother dodging or defending himself.
As if trying to do so was nothing short of a death sentence.
Instead... His gut was warning him not to move a muscle and to stay absolutely silent.
Blaine’s instincts weren’t anything like a Mana Art that allowed him to gain superhuman senses or intuition like that of the black-haired Kelonian woman and Delsie.
Instead, the auburn-haired youth’s instincts were ford after surviving countless life-or-death scenarios, things that most people his age wouldn’t have even dread of experiencing.
If one is pushed to near death enough tis, eventually, they begin to sense the signs.
It was like experiencing a feeling of déjà vu.
Hearing a sharp inhale beside him, Blaine quickly turned around and cuffed Cecelia’s mouth with his hand before she could let out a scream.
As he had no ti to holster it, Blaine ended up inadvertently shoving a portion of the dagger’s hilt into her mouth.
Surprised by his sudden actions, Cecelia couldn’t help but panic.
Not only was Blaine not defending them, but he also seed more interested in making sure she didn’t make a noise.
In the rapidly dimming cave, Blaine raised the index finger of his free hand to his lips.
While he didn’t make a sound, the aning of his gesture was unmistakable.
’Stay quiet.’
Blaine didn’t know why he thought this, but he felt that if Cecelia made any kind of sound... They would both die.
It was then that the lights in the cave suddenly flickered out completely, bathing the world in complete darkness.
As the last flickers of light faded away, Cecelia inadvertently closed her eyes in anticipation of her rapidly approaching demise.
It was then... The rumbling sound finally stopped.
Instead, she heard a loud ’’Crunch’’ not too far ahead.
The sound was sickening, like multiple bones being crushed at once.
""SCREE-""
A scream of pure agony rang out through the darkness but was quickly silenced by another loud guttural crunch.
As the sweet sll of iron filled the air, although she couldn’t see what had happened... Cecelia could already tell.
The long-eared creature was dead.
Cecelia felt her heartbeat accelerate as she began to hyperventilate.
Sothing... Sothing was there.
Even though she was effectively blind, being deprived of one of her senses made her other ones far more sensitive.
Whether it be the pungent aroma of blood or the sickening cracking noises, both of them attested to a new threat.
Given the proximity of the noise, it wasn’t-wasn’t too far away from them.
The thing hiding in the darkness killed the long-eared creature without the latter being able even to put up a fight.
This could only an one thing... Their new threat was far more deadly than their old one.
Cecelia’s body shivered at this realization, threatening to release a scream of terror.
However, she could still feel Blaine’s hand covering her mouth as if warning her of the implications.
Cecelia had been trained to remain calm under any circumstance, but she was never the best at this.
She had always struggled with controlling her emotions, so Blaine’s presence beside her was a welco change, no matter how badly she wanted to deny it.
Feeling the warmth of his hand on her face, at least she knew she wasn’t alone.
Soone was there in this hell with her.
Even if it was soone who she didn’t particularly enjoy being around.
And now... It was up to that sa person to get them out of this nightmarish predicant.
As for how he’d do it?
Cecelia had no clue.
Reading the emotions on her companion’s face was even more challenging than holding back a scream.
She just needed to pray he sohow pulled through, all while dragging her along with him.
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