Down, down! You go!

We moved through the dark maze, our steps echoing in the hollow silence. 

Step! Step!

Everyone's grip on their weapons tightened. 

Twitch!

I tightened my grip on the Antraizel spear. Mia on the other hand, held onto her long, golden sword. Her sword positioned to the left, eyes piercing the endless darkness with honed precision.

The blind girl, as always, held onto the green-haired guy, as they both moved at a rapid pace.

As time crept by though, I finally couldn't take the unsettling silence anymore, and thus, questioned with a grim expression:

"Uh. You guys said something about a bonfire. Did you light one?"

'Here, in this cursed land!'

Although Mia and I were moving ahead of the cohort, there was only a little bit of distance between us and the others, hence they all heard me.

"Yeah," Mia replied with a grim expression.

She paused for a few seconds, and added.

"...It was a mistake we very much regretted quite quickly."

During those short yet unbearable moments that she'd taken to reply. I felt like smashing open, her head.

'Speak faster, princess! Can't you say more than one word at a time.'

I scowled in annoyance. 

However, I managed to calm myself, suppressing the laughter, just in time to ask with a curious, oblivious expression.

"And why's that?"

The blind girl shivered, and then glanced at Mia before her eyes came to rest on me.

'Where the sound had come from,' I assumed.

"I-It attracted these powerful and enormous monsters. I mean… I couldn't really see them. But—"

She froze, visibly shaken.

"The ground was shaking so much, and I-I could hear Mia and Aezel shouting. And… I-I also heard the sound of Mia's sword clashing with what seemed like… metals."

"...B-but that wasn't all."

She shivered subtly after saying that, feeling cold chills running down her spine.

"After all that…. just when we thought it was over. The bonfire— it... it attracted all kinds of unseen shadows. And we… we…"

"We had to fight them off." 

Mia cut in with a frown.

"Yeah." The blind girl nodded.

At that moment however, a frown crept onto my features.

And why wouldn't it. 

The timing of her interruption was all too… sudden. It was as though she was trying to stop the blind girl from saying… something.

'Something supposedly important?' My brows drew into a tight frown.

That however, raises the question. What could it be?

I didn't know, but I had a feeling I would find out soon. Very much so…

Though, even without being there, I could very much guess what had most likely taken place after that.

A dark smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

'How brilliant must such a scene have been!'

I thought inwardly, and for a second there, I regretted that I wasn't there to witness it.

'Of course, that was while watching from a safe... very safe distance.'

Just then though, my thoughts were interrupted.

"Come."

Mia gestured at me.

"..."

"Me?"

Mia frowned slightly. "Yes. Who else?"

She paused for a second, eyes piercing the endless darkness surrounding us. "Both of us will scout ahead, and take care of any nightmarish creatures we encounter."

'This is also a good chance to see what he's capable of.' Mia thought with a light frown.

"Hmm… Alright."

I nodded. Though, at that moment, I couldn't help but reassess what she'd just said.

Did I hear wrong or did she just call the supernatural creatures: nightmarish creatures. But—

'Aren't they supernatural creatures?'

My lips turned downward, confusion slowly creeping in.

'...But now that I think about it," I mused under my breath, "they are nothing like the creatures from the cursed land."

They were terrifying, yes. Monstrous even. But nowhere near the nightmares that haunted that forsaken place. Compared to those horrors, these things almost felt… tame.

Piecing together everything, from the encounter with the Djinn, to my encounter with Mia and her cohort, a deep scowl crept onto my face.

And it was at that point that realization struck me.

'Wait… Am I out of the cursed land?!'

My eyes widened in shock, and I barely stopped myself from yelling at the top of my lungs.

…I felt it was very well plausible. After all, I'd gone through that weird teleportation thing, and I had felt as though I'd been travelling through an endless labyrinth for what felt like months, if not years. Eventually arriving here.

But, at the same time, it felt... almost too easy. 

Almost…

A grim expression darkened my features.

…Only I knew the horrors I had to crawl my way through, and the numerous deaths I'd to endure just to get to the teleportation portal. But even then, I found it hard, almost impossible, to believe that I could so easily escape the inhuman clutches of the cursed land.

It all seemed way too easy to be true.

And even if I had indeed left the cursed land. 

'Where am I now? And why have I been teleported here?'

As various thoughts ran through my mind, the frown on my face deepened. And as the blind girl and the green haired guy rapidly closed in, Mia spoke up once again.

""Aezel." Her eyes flicked to him, just for a second. "You know what to do if things don't go as planned."

Aezel nodded, hands tightening around his bow.

***

A few minutes later. Mia and I could be seen at the forefront, rapidly moving through the dark maze. But just then.

Flick—!

The world around us darkened. 

"...."

Instantly, my gaze was drawn to the sky. And from my point of view, I could see a dark, tenebrous storm brewing in the cracked sky. 

And then, almost immediately—

'Before we could fully process what was going on.'

Crackle~!

Lightning bolts streaked through the crimson cracks above, and for the briefest of seconds... illuminated the path before us.

"Run faster!" Mia's voice crept through the tense silence.

Step! Step!

With a dark expression on our faces, we all ran with even greater speed, pushing ourselves beyond our limits. 

Moments later, the rain grew into a heavy downpour, droplets of water pelting the ground with tremendous force. And before we knew it, the growing water began to slow down our movements. 

It became harder to take a single step forward. But even then, we never stopped running. 

Step! Step!

Even as dark mud splashed into the air, staining our clothes and face, it didn't stop us from running with everything we'd got. If anything, it only pushed us to run even faster.

And as thunderclaps reverberated through the air, bolts of lightning crackling across the sky's cracked surface, the dark storm brought with it; a strange azure hue. One that flashed continuously, as though trying to overwhelm the crimson constellation looming overhead.

...However, a Dune Structure was now visible in sight, and for a second there, relief, soothing yet brief, coursed through every single one of us. 

We were now just a few meters away.

Yet, ahead of us, laid several nightmarish creatures of all kinds.

"Curses!" 

A grim expression settled on my face.

"Be prepared for battle!"

Mia's cold, almost detached voice, sliced through the hollow silence. In that moment, everyone tensed up. With hands twitching around our weapons, 

Twitch!

We gripped them even tighter. 

Gritting my teeth, sweat drops tickled down my forehead, along with faint droplets of water that clung to my clothes. 

But surprisingly, as the horrifying creatures ran towards us, none bothered to attack. Even the most dangerous and reckless kind simply avoided us after we clashed two… three times, at most. 

Of course, it wasn't that they were afraid of us. But rather… With the dark mist slowly surging to life, every single creature within the nightmarish land were all looking for a safe zone— Any sort of safe spot they could hide in, to avoid the corrosive nature of the dark mist, and its other weird unseen properties.

And…

"...."

Watching them scurry up and down in search of a safe haven sent a weird feeling coursing through me. And for a second there, I almost couldn't hold back my laughter.

'Turns out I'm not the only one scared of the Dark Mist.'

'…How comforting.'

I let out a light smile. 

And heaved a sigh of relief as I ran past a nightmarish creature who suddenly ripped its way into the ground, hiding within the depths of the crimson-azure sand.

"Huff... That was close."

I breathed out the tense breath I had been holding in.

For just a moment though, as I ran faster, I felt a slight tinge of regret. 

'What a pity that I can't summon the dark mist to my beck and call.'

I shook my head lightly, removing the various thoughts racing through my mind. After all,

I had much more important tasks to focus on.

***

…Soon, more creatures did the same thing. While those too big or enormous to fit into such small holes all looked for natural terrains in which they could hide in. At least, until the Dark Mist retreated once again.

At that moment however, I suddenly spared the sky a glance, and for a second there, my heart almost leapt out of my chest.

"...!!"

I stood frozen in sheer terror as the azure constellation crept into existence. Within mere seconds, it overwhelmed the crimson glow bleeding through the sky's cracked surface. 

At first, the void looming overhead was a mixture of two blinding colors. But that soon changed. Before long, an azure light bled into existence, blanketing the endless darkness in a bright, fiery glow.

And with it…

'Crap!'

Came the Dark Mist.

I stood frozen, my limbs locked in place.

Step! Step!

"Run fool!"

Mia tugged my sleeves as she ran past me. Though I almost failed to hear her due to the deafening thunderclaps, I still did.

Crackle!!

Lightning bolts streaked through the bleeding sky. And as I glanced ahead, I saw Mia and the rest at the forefront, each all running with everything they had got. And I had to say, compared to them, I was weak.

'Very much so.'

But I had no time to dwell on that. Mia's voice continued to reverberate through my mind.

Glancing back…

"...!!"

I saw the Dark Mist gush onward with unstoppable momentum.

It was at first, a few drops, and didn't amount to anything when compared to the vast, almost endless nature of the dark maze. However, in the blink of an eye, the dark, shadowy mist started to grow in size. And soon, it became akin to a tenebrous hurricane summoned from the depths of hell to bring ruin to all.

I shivered subtly, gritting my teeth as I tried to remove the various paranoid thoughts that clung to the walls of my mind.

'Focus Dean. Focus!'

Tap! Tap!

I immediately pushed myself beyond my limits, running desperately towards the dune structure. But by then, the others had already arrived before its door.

"It's locked Mia."

Aezel's voice resounded in the darkness.

Mia frowned, heart pounding. The frown on her face grew deeper until…

"There!"

She pointed at a broken portion of the dune structure. 

A broken window…

Glancing back, Mia caught a glimpse of the dark mist, fear rapidly creeping in.

"Climb now Aezel!"

With a grim expression, Aezel backed the blind girl as quickly as he could, and started climbing. Stretching the tip of his arrows towards every vantage point he could find.

Seeing the blind girl being backed by Aezel, I couldn't help but feel a slight tinge of jealousy.

'Why can't I be so lucky?'

Mia had also started climbing by now. With her sword striking strategic spots, she was quick with her ascent. And here I was, still a few feet away from the Dune Structure.

"Curses!"

At that moment however, Aezel, now a few meters above the ground, glanced back and spoke on top of his lungs:

"Don't you want to kill me boy?" 

He smiled a dark smile and added. "At this rate, you won't even be able to get in line."

A scowl crept up my face.

"...What a bastard!"

Nevertheless, I'd to give it to him. His words did work.

I gritted my teeth and continued running. And just as the Dark Mist was now clearly- horrifyingly visible to me, I finally made it to the dune structure.

And with a dark grimace, immediately began with my ascent.

Rumble!!

Beneath me, the Dark Mist rumbled violently as it clashed with the Dune Structure. But by then, everyone had made it into the dune structure.

Everyone except for me.

Gritting my teeth, I ignored the sharp pain tearing through my muscles and pushed myself beyond my limits, propelling myself upward with every ounce of strength I had left.

In that instant, I couldn't help but stare at my feet. What I saw however was:

"...!!!"

Weird unseen hands wriggling across its surface, stretching and reaching out, as though to tear me apart.

"Curses!"

I gritted my teeth, removing the dark thoughts that clung to the walls of my mind. And then, continued with my ascent.

Click! Click!

Now just a few meters away from the broken window, the Dark Mist beneath me surged upward no further.

'Yes, that's it! You piece of ugly shit! Down, down! You go!'

A dark smile crept up my face and for a second there, a soothing relief washed over me. And just as I took another step further.

Flick—!

My legs slipped from the edge of the crack it was placed on. And,

"...Aaah!!"

For a second there, dread and fear unlike anything I'd ever felt rippled through every fiber of my being.