Dukiel and Julius frowned and exchanged looks of confusion. But Yanael understood what Zach wanted. She unsheathed her sword by transforming her bracelet. Its edges seemed to glow golden in the darkness of the forest night.
Like an executioner of dirt, Yanael brought her sword up until it pointed at the sky, where stars had just begun to show themselves, before bringing it down onto the ground Zach had pointed out.
Yanael's sword left a streak of yellow light in the air for a moment before slicing through the earth. Nothing much happened from just one slice, so Yanaael repeated the attack several times.
Yanael wasn't sure what Zach had found, but there was something that made hitting the ground feel strange. However, her weapon wasn't the best for cracking open the ground, so she had to attack several times before it finally caved in.
Yanael stepped back and pulled Zach along with her as the ground crumbled beneath their feet. The others also quickly scrambled away before they got swallowed by the hole that opened up in response to Yanael's attacks.
They would probably have been fine, though, since the falling earth hit solid ground again only a few steps down. As long as they didn't slide down the ramp into the depths of the ground, they wouldn't have had anything to worry about.
Clumps of soil rolled down the ramp. Occasional rocks also bounced and clattered as they fell. The sounds echoed in the large tunnel that was wide and tall enough for all of them to walk next to each other, familiars included.
"Huh." Zach stood with his hands on his hips and looked at the tunnel with mild surprise.
The other tore their eyes away from the tunnel and looked at Zach.
"...How the fuck did you notice that by listening to the grass?" Julius asked incredulously.
"I wasn't listening to the grass. I heard something roar."
Almost as if in response to Julius' question, a low rumble and a soft, warm, vile gust of air escaped the tunnel. The three frowned in a mixture of concern and disgust. That gust of air had smelled way too much like monster breath.
The monsters didn't have dental hygiene, and it showed whenever they roared in one's face.
"How the fuck did you hear that through earth thicker than you're tall?" Julius asked incredulously.
Zach shrugged, his gaze focused on the depths of the tunnel. Now that he could hear it clearer, that roar sounded like it was filled with pain. It also sounded familiar.
It wasn't the faint roar he heard in the swamp Locale, which was a relief. That one had been more haunting. But there was something reminiscent about this roar's sharpness and ferocity.
Zach grabbed the map out of Dukiel's pocket.
"Where was the field trip?!"
Dukiel frowned at Zach suddenly snatching the map before frowning at his question.
"First of all, gimme dat." Dukiel took back the map. Why did Zach grab it when he couldn't even read it?
"It's…" Dukiel fiddled around in the air above the map with his finger as he looked for where the field trip had been held and where the camp had been. He frowned as he realized it was an hour's walk away.
The Underworld had been hiding under their noses during the entire field trip.
But that wasn't the only thing he realized. Their current position relative to where the camp had been…
Dukiel's eyes shot wide open as he looked at Zach, who was looking at him with a similar expression.
"Zach, are you trying to tell me that that roar is…—"
"No, I'm trying to tell you that it isn't, but it's not working because I think it is!"
"Hey, what the fuck are you two doing? Are we going in or not?" Julius stepped in between them and grabbed their shoulders to snap them out of whatever hysteria they had caught. Instead, they snapped their heads toward Julius.
He hadn't been with them back then. He had been back at the camp, so he didn't know what they were talking about.
"No, we're not going inside! Not yet, at least."
"Why not? Isn't that why we're here?"
"Because…" Zach trailed off as his gaze shifted to something behind Julius. Dukiel also grew mute, and his face hung on his head as he looked at the same thing Zach was looking at.
"What? What's going on?" Julius looked at Zach and Dukiel demanding an explanation without getting one. Eventually, he decided to fall for it and was about to turn around.
"We're not going in because of that!" Zach screamed and pointed at the tiger that was even bigger than before but had still soundlessly squeezed itself out of the tunnel. Zach grabbed Julius and yanked him back as hard as he could.
A moment later, a striped paw attached to a lag as thick as Julius slammed into the ground, leaving a deep imprint.
The tiger's glowing green eyes met Zach's. The corners of its lips pulled upwards and revealed a row of glistening, half-rotted teeth. It let out a gurgling growling sound like twisted laughter.
For a second that seemed to stretch like rubber, Zach and the tiger looked at each other like fated lovers seeing each other for the first time or mortal enemies catching each other at an unexpected location.
Zach and the tiger belonged to the latter group.
And just like rubber, when it could no longer stretch, the second snapped. Zach blinked.
The tiger's muscles released and it shot forward. It shot straight into a low-heeled axe kick from Yanael and got its head knocked into the ground, sending a shower of dirt spraying over Zach's barrier.
Zach's heart skipped several beats as the tiger's nose pushed against his barrier. Without stopping, he grabbed Julius and Dukiel and dragged them backward.
They wouldn't have much of an active role in this fight.
Without so much as a scratch, the tiger got up and glared at Yanael as if saying it hadn't forgotten about her. It snarled and walked around, its feet making soft ploffs with each step. Yanael matched the tiger's movements with her weapons unsheathed and wings tucked behind her back. Her halo shone in the dark forest like the lantern of a lone traveler.
Zach couldn't help but admire the scene for all its majesty.
An angel of holy light fighting against a monster of eerie darkness.