The Scarlet Wind might dispatch a search party for her, but it was unlikely that she would ever meet them again. And even if she did, escape still wasn’t certain. She would either die alone or die with her comrades. And though Lilka didn’t wish to entertain this idea, it was likely that her comrades might’ve already fallen victim to these monsters.
It was her fault for triggering the teleporting trap, and she vehemently prayed that her friends would abandon her and try to make it out alive. But Lilka knew more than anyone that the Scarlet Wind would never do that. They all shared a close bond; so long as there was even a small chance of survival, the Scarlet Wind would risk it all. They were like family to her. Lilka had entered this tumulus because she’d heard rumors of valuable magic tools stored within, but above all, she’d done it for the sake of her older sister, another member of the Scarlet Wind.
“I’m sorry, Izzy...” Lilka whispered.
Iz was the second-in-command of the Scarlet Wind. Two years ago, she became very ill with a rare disease endemic to a certain region. A special type of mana would eat away at the victim’s body, causing them to have severe symptoms, including black bruises all over the body. As the bruises grew in number, the patient would suffer greater pain. Ultimately, the victim would be unable to bear it, and their body would shut down, resulting in death. If one was afflicted by this illness, their death was almost certain unless they sought treatment.
But medicine for this ailment was costly, and the Scarlet Wind could only buy painkillers as a temporary measure. That wouldn’t hold off the sickness for long. Recently, the illness had progressed rapidly, and Iz was in so much pain that she spent a majority of her day in bed, unable to even sit up. Her symptoms were severe. The Scarlet Wind, Lilka included, had vowed to purchase the medicine to cure Iz, not thinking twice about pushing their limits as they challenged difficult dungeons in search of rare items. They even recklessly charged into ancient ruins, throwing caution to the wind.
Iz, of course, tried to stop her comrades, but the Scarlet Wind members and their leader refused to abandon hope. The group had faced danger countless times, and their tight bond allowed them to brave through anything. They tirelessly gathered intel on difficult dungeons, and this time around, they targeted the founder’s tumulus. There were rumors that this gravesite contained many priceless artifacts and magic tools, that this dungeon had not yet been developed and was ripe for the picking. And so, the Scarlet Wind decided to do some exploring.
Indeed, there was very little information about this place compared to other ancient ruins or dungeons, but the Scarlet Wind had assumed that this was only because very few people decided to venture within. In other words, this place was a trove of treasures that were untouched by other seasoned explorers. This optimistic outlook was soon proven wrong.
The Scarlet Wind had challenged various other difficult dungeons and ancient ruins, but all of the good items had already been taken. Admittedly, they were growing impatient, eager to bring home any sort of result. Even so, Lilka realized how naive they had been, and she could only let out a huge sigh.
“All righty,” she said. “I’m done feeling down.”
She slapped her cheeks, ridding herself of anxiety, and got herself together. Pessimism and negativity would only lead her to death. Besides, giving up would be letting down her comrades who were surely searching for her. And so, Lilka decided to act. She wished to at least inch closer to the exit and the floor above. She carefully tried to sense the presence of nearby monsters as she crawled down the corridor. The corridors were built like a labyrinth, and the lack of light meant that one could hardly see where they were going.
Lilka didn’t have a torch on her, but she was used to exploring dungeons and dark places, and she could see well. The darkness did little to inhibit her vision; to her, it might as well have been the middle of the day. Dungeons and ancient ruins very rarely had a convenient source of light, but a seasoned explorer knew that using torches or lanterns would only signal their location to monsters and other enemies. Hence, many chose to slink about under the cover of the darkness, and in her line of work, night vision was a practically mandatory skill. Indeed, it was the first skill that Lilka had learned when first joining the exploration team.
“Huh?”
Precisely because she could see so well, she was able to notice that something was off. She was able to make out her shadow by her feet. This wouldn’t have been unusual within a bright space, but it was concerning that her shadow was there, clear as day, within the dark. Not even a sliver of light made it down here, so how in the world could a shadow form? She stared at it, befuddled, when suddenly, countless pairs of eyes opened and stared right at her.
A silent scream escaped her lips as she instinctively leaped back. And yet, these eyes were glued to her feet, chasing after her with every step she took. Dozens of tentacles emerged from her shadow and began to wrap themselves around her body.
“No! No! No! No!” she shrieked.
The tentacles restrained her body. She was unable to fight back as she was slowly dragged into her own shadow.
“H-Hel—”
But she never got to finish as an appendage covered her mouth. The only thing she could do now was cry, and as these void tentacles began to slowly obscure her vision, sealing her fate, they were sliced into bits in front of her eyes.
“Huh?” she gasped.
She was abruptly freed from her restraints, able to move as she pleased, but the stunned girl could only remain in place, stupefied. Half of her body was submerged in her shadow, when she was suddenly grabbed by the scruff of her neck and dragged up to safety. Lilka sank to the ground and looked up—her comrades weren’t around. Instead, there was a boy enveloped in black glowering above her with an ominous air. Lofus Ray Lightless, dressed in his dark attire, glared at Lilka.
“I knew it was you...Lilka Skyfield,” he muttered with disdain and exhaustion.
“Huh? How do you know my name?” Lilka asked.
She neither thanked him nor sighed with relief; the first words that escaped her lips were but a silly question.
✶✶✶
I ran through the tumulus, activating my mana perception field to catch even the faintest hint of mana. I wasn’t sure if these were remnants of the founder, but the air was thick with mana particles. A mana perception field would normally be useless under these circumstances, but that was only for normal mages. Anyone with as much mana as I could brute force their way through this thick air. Walls and floors did little to obstruct me as I managed to see through all.
But since I’m emitting waves thick with mana, I’m basically announcing my location to the founder’s familiars, I thought. This wave was only meant to sense the presence of others, not to intimidate, so it wouldn’t make anyone faint.
Still, the move had one fatal flaw: It couldn’t sense those without mana. Luckily for me, this tumulus was filled to the brim with the stuff, meaning the entire area had a faint signal under my wave. In other words, if there was a blank blip, or an area that didn’t react at all, it was very likely that someone without mana was there. Through my dream, I knew that the Scarlet Wind member with mana was one of the heroines of the tale: Lilka Skyfield.
With this much info, I could easily keep tabs on the exact location of everyone within this cemetery. I detected four people without mana on the first floor, and a lone person with mana on the fourth. Why is this person the only one acting alone? Are they stupid? Suicidal? Or did they fall for some sort of trap that divides a party?
A teleporting trap would use the victim’s mana to transport them elsewhere. Since only the one with mana was separated from the group, it was very likely that they had fallen for this sort of ambuscade.
The fourth floor, huh...
The founder’s tumulus consisted of five underground floors. The deeper you descended, the thicker the air became with mana, meaning that the shadow familiars were more powerful as well. The fourth floor contained the strongest familiars of the bunch, and as far as I knew, there were also highly intelligent beasts lurking about. It seemed the teleporting trap’s victim was still alive, but it was only a matter of time before they met their grisly end.