"What kind of place did we land in? It looks like dead land all around us. I still cannot believe that soone tried to sabotage the Holy Chalice like this. Did they want everyone in the hall to die in the explosion?"
Sara complained as she dragged down the old and decaying branch blocking her path. The whole forest looked kind of dead and empty of any sort of life form.
Eve was kind of dead weight on her back right now but at least she was not hurt badly. Now Sara only wanted Eve to wake up and tell her what happened.
"Huh? Where are we? And where is everyone else? Weren't we just in the Ceremonial hall of the temple? When did we co out?"
Eve woke up without any warning, her eyes looking around to seek out Elysia instantly.
Or that was what Sara gathered.
"There was an accident and we ended up here as a result of it. We all also kind of got separated so I'm trying to find other people nearby. Do you not rember what happened?"
Sara was not surprised to hear that Eve had no recollection of what happened back there. Eve's eyes looked like they were in a trance.
"Not a thing. My brain is as blank as a white paper."
"So nothing out of the usual, right? I guess I cannot even call it a case of brain damage."
"Hey!"
Eve sounded offended but Sara could tell that she was not really offended by what she heard. This was not the first ti Sara had called Even empty-headed but the reaction was the sa as any other ti.
Eve's words sounded clear and strong so Sara risked letting her walk on her own. The first few steps were wobbly but Eve gathered herself by the end of her first five minutes of walking.
"By the way, who is 'everyone' you were talking about before? I just realized that I don't know who else could have co here with–Wait, did Elysia fall in here with us as well? Did I sohow drag her in as well? Oh god, what should I do now? What if Elysia hates as a result of this?"
Eve was driving herself into a corner with her imagination. Her needle had stopped at Elysia and refused to move ahead.
This was a very familiar scene to Sara and she no longer felt surprised when she saw it.
"Eve, calm down. Crown Prince Adam will take care of Elysia for now since they fell together. We should concentrate on finding Lord Dirac and Lord Sorias for now. They will be able to help us out."
Eve's face turned toward Sara with an annoyed expression. She seed to only have heard the first part of what Sara said.
"That bastard fell together with Elysia? I am sure he will use this chance to score brownie points with Elysia. Don't tell ! It was all a part of his plan?"
"Likely not. Even a half-dragon doesn't have enough magic to pull six people through the dinsion like this. We should look for others before we draw any conclusion-"
There was a rumbling feeling beneath Sara's feet. The earth that had been quiet until now had started to feel alive.
"W-What is happening? Is the ground shaking?"
Eve's surprised face showed what Sara did not say out loud. This was an unexpected developnt.
Wasn't this place supposed to be abandoned? Then why was the earth-shaking like this?
The earth spilled apart beneath Sara's feet but both she and Eve were fast enough to avoid being dragged to the ground.
Far away from the pair, the sky lit up with spots of red. The huge rocks seed to be falling from the sky into random spots.
"Fuck, it's a volcanic eruption. We need to look for a place to rest and hide so that we don't get caught up. Let's head toward the mountains and wait this out."
Sara was quick on her feet, her years of experience staying alive finally kicking in and leading her toward a safe spot.
Eve looked stunned to be in this situation. No amount of training could have prepared her for such a unique situation at hand.
"Ugh god. This is too much excitent for a single day. My feet are beginning to kill now."
Sara complained as soon as she touched the cave's floor. The outside world was still rumbling and it would continue to rumble for so ti.
They both did not notice a pair of excited and happy eyes looking back at them. The child who looked almost six years of age crawled out at the first sign of human contact he saw.
But his eyes looked far older than six years old.
"Excuse ladies, but what are you doing here? I was not aware that this world had any more people in it. I thought I was the only one alive."
The pair did not jump up in a fight but the child did find himself on the wrong side of staff and a pair of claws.
It was the worst first eting one could have asked for but the child did not look scared at all.
Instead, he had a smiling face and a knowing look in his eyes.
______________________________
"Are you sure it is safe to enter this mansion? We might run into so anti-theft traps and lose our lives if we are not careful."
Adam seed to be in a joking mood today. Elysia was not sure why he was in such a good mood despite having ended up in a dangerous situation.
Actually, Elysia knew but she actively refused to rember the details. She did not want to be reminded of Adam's confession.
Every ti she rembered, Elysia beca hyper-aware of her surroundings and how close Adam was to her.
And every ti that happened and Adam did not do anything, Elysia felt guilty before feeling Adam's presence nearby again.
It was a non-ending cycle that continued to tornt Elysia throughout her walk to the front gate of the Dirac mansion. And every ti that happened, Elysia felt guilty for treating Adam like that.
This was not the reaction Elysia had toward Eve so why was she so hyper-aware of Adam? Was it because he was a guy and fundantally different from Elysia?
Sohow the answer seed to be a firm 'no' for Elysia. She had a feeling that it was not the reason why she was so hyper-aware of Adam.
She could just always feel where he was and his presence was rather loud in Elysia's receptors as well. There was almost a connection between them that made Elysia so aware of him.
"I am sure this mansion is safe to enter. I told you before that I saw this mansion in my dreams, right? I have an idea how we can enter it now. There should be a switch that acts as an ergency exit. Let see…"
Elysia had a vague feeling that the switch existed and where to find it. The more she tried to look around, the more similar this place got to the ones she had seen in her mories.
"Is it because this place looks a lot like the Dirac mansion that you are thinking that? I almost thought we were back at the Dirac mansion just a second ago as well."
Now that Adam had pointed it out, this place did look a lot like the Dirac mansion. But there were slight differences that made this place different from her ho.
There was a subtle texture difference beneath Elysia's hands and the warmth this place produced was entirely different.
It was difficult to explain how this place was different from Elysia's ho but she knew the difference in her feelings and heart.
"This ho doesn't look similar to Dirac mansion to . I don't know how to explain it all but I feel sad seeing this place while I never felt such a feeling back ho."
Back ho, Elysia did not have ti to feel anything. Every day had been busy and people needed Elysia for one thing or another.
Besides, there were people who were waiting for Elysia to co back ho there. But this place? This felt old and abandoned by everyone and left to rot.
"Anyway, get ready now. I am hopening up the door."
Elysia pushed the front door open with the help of the ergency device. There was a pause before the wall fell apart and allowed the pair entry.
Elysia entered the place without any hesitation. The place might have been abandoned but it still gave off a safe feeling.
"I think we should wait here for my brother and Eve to co and find us. I am sure they will– Adam, are you alright?"
Adam was growling at empty air, his eyes having gone reptilian-like at what he was slling.
Elysia could sll a barely-there sweetness in the air. Whatever it was, it was making Elysia's head feel lighter.
If she was feeling the effect of this sll so strongly, then surely Adam must be having a harder ti with it. He was the one with the actual animal-like slling power.
"Elysia, get down. There are undead in the vicinity and you are in no condition to face them."
Adam forced Elysia's head down as the sll got worse. It was also then that Elysia saw the first semblance of life in this cursed place.
And it was in the form of the most mal-nutrition person she had ever seen. But that was not all. There was more than one person like that currently heading toward Elysia and Adam's location.
"These dead bodies are being drained of their magic. We should avoid getting caught by them if we want to make it out alive. Do you think you can freeze them all if I provide you with water?"
"Yes, I can."
Adam had a feral grin on his face as he cast his magic. It had a familiar undertone to it but Elysia could not rember where she had felt this warmth before.
It was addicting and made Elysia want to surrender to it's power and -
"Elysia, attack now. I have them immobilized."
Elysia let out her magic and it joined Adam's to freeze the surroundings. The first danger had finally been braved.
Reviews
All reviews (0)