CHAPTER 51: A SHIFT IN THE ATMOSPHERE OF A NIGHTMARISH REGION.

I turned to face Mia.

"Um," I said. "So when do we plan on moving?"

The crimson haired lady rose to her feet, and replied, "Right about now."

Having recovered her soul essence, well... most of it anyway, it was finally time to continue with the harrowing journey. With a grim expression, she sheathed her sword and exhaled.

’The journey ahead was only going to get more and more gruesome, and certainly more dangerous. However, since her physical battle prowess was now back to its peak form, she was confident in being able to handle most horrors that this region could possibly throw at them.’

Or at least she hoped she could.

...Sighing lightly, Mia shifted her gaze towards me. I hefted the makeshift vessel over my shoulders, and stepped forward.

I glanced at the others, paused for a second, and said:

"Guess we can start moving then."

Taking one step forward, I added grimly, "We haven’t gotten all day."

The crimson haired lady nodded. Her eyes then shifted towards Aezel who backed his sister.

His bow and set of arrows were held in his left hand. This way, she wouldn’t be affected in any possible way, provided they did come across a threat that required him to take action.

...Even if he hoped that they wouldn’t.

Exhaling sharply, he forced himself to remove the thoughts clinging to his mind. At the end of the day, to truly protect Livia, he had to become strong.

’Strong enough to protect her from all harm.’ The thought brought a dark expression to his face.

However, he was hell bent on becoming that strong. Even if it meant going through hell, and worse, he would do it.

’He was going to do everything possible to protect her,’ Aezel thought with clenched fists. ’...To hell with some fucking blessing.’

Tak, Tak--!

His thoughts dissolved into the rhythmic pounding of his feet.

...And with Dean scouting ahead, with his ability to see, heightened in the suffocating darkness, it could be said that they had little to no worries.

Of course, that didn’t mean that they were going to let their guards down.

They were after all, different kinds of nightmarish creatures, both known and unknown, that could shapeshift, merge with the shadows, and do much more horrifying things.

Aezel exhaled shakily,

"Haa..."

All this knowledge, they had been taught in the academy.

***

I cautiously moved forward, farther away from the rest of the cohort.

Step, Step--!

Each step I took intensified the sense of dread and unease slowly rising within me. Only for it to be accompanied by the deafening echoes of my heartbeat.

Ba- thump! Ba- thump!

My heart pounded against my chest as though to break free. Eventually, I had no choice but to try and convince myself.

"Paranoia Dean," I whispered to myself. "It’s all in your head."

As though in response to my thoughts, the surrounding grew quiet, and the veil of darkness that surrounded us slowly dimmed. However, instead of easing the discomfort within me, it only served to intensify it.

And the further we walked, the more this sense of unease continued to grow. Glancing at the others, I realized I wasn’t the only one who felt that something was wrong.

’Where the hell are those bastards!’ I growled.

Sweat drops poured down the side of my face as I walked further.

’Who would’ve thought that a day would come when I would be so eager to see a few nightmarish creatures.’ The thought marred my face with a grim expression.

Exhaling sharply, I muttered under my breath, "Well, there’s always a first time for everything."

However, that didn’t ease the sense of apprehension running through me, nor did it remove the dark expression on my face.

And how was I to be blamed.

Even the usually indifferent Mia had a frown etched onto her features, her eyes scanning the surroundings with honed precision.

Abysmal trees rose to the sky, their skeletal branches grasping for the heavens. Along with them, were numerous terrains, both natural and man-made, scattered across the nightmarish landscape.

...However, this time around, something— a constant part of the nightmarish shattered dimension was... missing.

The nightmarish creatures.

’Where could they possibly be?’ My brows arched downward in a deep frown.

However, no matter how hard I pondered on it, I wasn’t able to come up with any logical explanation.

And that didn’t really sit well with me.

***

With the members of the cohort walking at a rather slow pace—though still fast enough to avoid being drowned by the dark mist—we walked further into the depths of the hellish labyrinth.

From our current point of view, I could faintly see what appeared to be the edge of the labyrinth.

"So it does have an end," I muttered under my breath, a faint smile creeping up on my features.

Though I didn’t know if I should be relieved about it or not. After all, I had no doubt, not for a second, that the next region was going to be more grueling, and certainly more nightmarish.

"Agh!" The thought deepened the scowl on my face.

Step, Step--!

The further we walked, the more desolate our surroundings became.

Making it past the dark maze, a crimson glow illuminated the surroundings, and laying before us was a vast ashen land. Jutted by a few dune structures here and there, it seemed we didn’t have to worry about the dark mist.

As a result, despite the dark sense of unease rising within us, Mia gave the command:

"We keep moving."

I gritted my teeth and nodded.

Glancing at my surroundings, I scowled, and muttered under my breath, "How bad can it even get?"

...A long while later, after an arduous moment of walking, with constant pain lancing through my legs, I finally had an inkling of why our surroundings was growing more and more desolate, and why the stifling quiet was only increasing in intensity.

Ba- thump, Ba- thump–!

My heart thundered in my ears, and my hands trembled.

Swallowing a bile of saliva, I clenched my hands together.

"Aah..." I exhaled.

From my experience with various supernatural creatures, the only thing that could result in such a change, or shift in the atmosphere of a nightmarish region, was when...

’Crap!’

A nightmarish creature far higher on the food chain lay ahead. Or to be more precise, its territory was nearby. Very much so.

I guessed Mia and Aezel had probably also figured this out by now, but here we were still heading for that same place.

"Shit."

I didn’t know if we were insane or not. But I knew to get to the so-called Human Acropolis, we had no choice but to head north.

It was then that I raised my head up, a dark expression creeping up on my features.

"...."

"W-What the..." I stared wide-eyed at the scene before me.

Far ahead of us, a grand nepolis of white and obsidian crystals rose into the sky, its spires piercing the sky like the bones of a long-forgotten god. A towering bleeding gate with intricate sigils etched onto it could be seen beneath, serving as an entrance to the beautiful necropolis. On its summit was a moon-shaped construct, mirroring the Môón.

The grand beautiful, yet eeriely bleeding necropolis, was still far ahead of us. However, I could see it because of its massive size, and more so because of...

’The endless shadows it cast onto the land.’

Right about then, the deep sense of unease within me intensified.

Glancing at the necropolis gave me this weird suffocating feeling that I couldn’t really place my hands on. It was almost as if numerous unseen hands were tightly clenched around my neck.

And I didn’t like that feeling one bit.

It was then that a voice resounded in the dark, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"We stop here."

I turned to face Mia and Aezel, and heaved a sigh of relief.

’I didn’t really want to approach the necropolis.’

Even if I knew we’d eventually have to.

But that was a problem for another day.

...Gazing at the dune structure before us, Mia grimaced, and unsheathed her sword. Before long—everyone was prepared to start climbing—and just as we proceeded to begin with the arduous ascent,

"....!!"

I felt a suffocating presence descend on the surrounding space. My expression paled.

Staring into the distance, I could feel that whatever it was, was coming from the horizon just right behind us. For a second there, my thoughts seemed to freeze, and worse, I was finding it hard to move.

However-

Ba- thump, Ba- thump–!

Just a second later, I was able to regain my bearing.

"Hide!" My voice echoed through the stifling quiet.

Instantly, I rolled behind a towering rock, my body now backing the path we were previously on. Mia was quick to react, easily dashing towards me. Aezel, despite backing the blind girl, was also quick to follow behind us.

Tak, Tak--!

I immediately gestured for them to duck onto the ground. They were obviously confused, that much was obvious from the looks on their faces, but they all knew now was not the time for questions.

The only thing they could do now was trust in my words.

Hence, they simply kept quiet, and all they could hear was the rapid rate at which their heart was beating.

Ba- thump! Ba- thump!

The sound echoed through the silence.

And right about then-

...From beyond the horizon.

A terrifying silhouette emerged in the darkness. Cladded in an onyx black armor, it stood tall and gargantuan, its cold pair of eyes scanning the surroundings with cold, unfiltered malice.

It stood there for a few seconds or so, but to me, each second felt like an eternity.

"Hah, Hah..."

I dared not glimpse at the creature, but I could see the shadow cast onto the space just right beside me. Based on the silhouette of the shadow, all I could say was... nothing.

Tak, Tak– !

I was left breathless, speechless, fear-stricken, as the nightmarish aberration inched closer and closer to the rock we hid behind.