My hand finally went to the sword at my waist, ready to send my essence attacks flying at any time.
"Are we in the ruin already?" Slya whispered as she moved closer to me, her hands on the twin swords at her waist, her eyes scanning the shifting darkness beyond the light’s reach.
Timber grunted. "Yes. Don’t you feel it? It’s like we’re under some kind of territory. That’s one way to know a ruin, you’ll feel like you’re under the rule of something else. Or another world."
I listened to them while searching the darkness for anything that might jump out at us. But it was futile; the darkness couldn’t be pierced. How are the Captains leading us?
I could barely make out their outlines in the darkness ahead. Those at the back shouted periodically to let the team leaders know they were still with us.
Suddenly, the Captains stopped walking. Arvas turned back and gestured to Emily, who nodded grimly. All the teams halted as well.
"Gather around, everyone!" Arvas shouted, moving toward the group and leaving Kren at the front. "Emily, isn’t it...?"
The woman nodded. "Yes."
I watched the exchange in confusion. What is going on now? Are they stopping for a rest again? But that doesn’t make sense in a place where we don’t know what might come at us from the dark...
As if the Captains knew exactly what they were doing, they moved into their respective groups. Emily went all the way to the back, then looked at the thin Squire.
I saw her eyes moving in a counting manner. "Are you all right?" she asked.
The man nodded, his face drawn tight.
Emily shook her head and spoke softly. "Are you all right? I want to hear you say it. Speak."
The man stiffened even more, his face twitching. He opened his mouth, and it instantly stretched unnaturally into a wide smile. "I am all right," he said, his voice now filled with strange happiness.
A chill ran through me. The voice that came from him was so wrong and twisted. The workers flinched, recoiling and staring at him with wide eyes.
But Emily seemed to be expecting it. Her sword flashed upward, toward the man’s chest, but he floated backward to avoid it. His neck stretched out like a snake, twisting with a sickening crunch.
"Hehehe. Why are you here? You want to take the inheritance? Hehehe! You’ll get devoured by that dark!"
His flesh shuddered and ripped. His chest cracked open, forming a wing, while his intestines spilled onto the ground. He howled and flew at Emily, his fleshy chest flapping forward.
The workers recoiled even more in fear, gasping. Slya trembled and pressed herself close to me, and I realized I hadn’t moved at all, I was rooted in shock.
Emily, however, remained calm. She raised her sword, a thick weapon hollowed with a small, narrow hole at the tip, and brought it down slowly. Green powder puffed out from the tip.
The powder condensed into a small nail and blasted forward. It struck the monster solidly in the head, driving through his forehead without drawing blood.
What was that?
The attack didn’t stop him. He reached Emily with clawed hands and flapping chest-wings, and she met him head-on, dodging the claws and hacking at him.
Then, without warning, the monster’s head exploded—liquefying into green, smoking liquid. The body hit the ground with a dull thud and didn’t even twitch.
So that’s how an Alchemist fights... It hadn’t even taken a minute. That powder is a trap, no blood, but deadly. I should be wary of poison and things like that if I ever fight one in the future. Come to think of it, we drank a potion earlier... I pushed the thought away. I’m glad I’m not their enemy.
Emily crouched and inspected the body with a frown. I moved closer and saw the split-open chest lined with dark, rotted flesh. Then the corpse suddenly swelled and burst, spewing black smoke that billowed upward.
Emily didn’t flinch, but I jumped back, instinctively throwing up a blue shield in front of me. The smoke quickly thinned and vanished into the air.
"Bhut," a voice said.
I turned and saw Arvas standing nearby, glaring down at the remains. "I knew they’d come here. That’s why I kept saying they should give timely updates. You can hear the dark aura in their voice."
I shifted uneasily. "Bhut? You can hear it in their voice?"
He didn’t look at me, but raised his voice so everyone could hear. "They’re shadow monsters that possess humans. They’re very powerful and feed on their host’s strength.
"Be careful. Don’t walk close to the dark, and check the shadows of others. Those who are possessed won’t have shadows of their own."
"What about the inheritance the monster mentioned?" I asked quietly, my curiosity showing. "Do you know anything about that?"
Arvas’s eyes flickered toward me and he seems both worried and thoughtful at the same time, but he evidently ignored the question and returned to his place beside Kren.
Emily gave the body one last look and rejoined the others. We continued our journey through the dark.
Later, another person was revealed to be possessed, or exchanged and this time he killed two workers before a Squire from another team brought him down. Hours passed, and exhaustion crept into our bones as time wore on.
The constant tension of checking shadows wore us down. At last, the Captains called for a stop.
"Try to get some sleep. The potion won’t interfere. We’ll pass around food. Yes, you don’t need it, but you took the potions for emergencies, it won’t affect you, so eat!"
We set up camp in the darkness, hanging lights pushing the shadows back. Watches were arranged, and I took the first shift.
As everyone ate and settled in, the camp finally grew quieter, but the darkness around us still felt like it was watching.