Flame flickers from the torch Lilia holds, casting long shadows across the oppressively narrow corridor of cold cave walls.
Rosa gazes down as cold sweat trickles on her chin. Her fists clench, knuckles turning white.
She takes a long breath yet again.
Zzzzt
A subtle sensation, but it's there — right beneath her feet. As if the warmth of her body is being sucked out.
Her mind flashes once again to the sight inside that locked room.
They are lucky those monsters are trapped. They're lucky they haven't encountered anything so far.
They are lucky.
What lies at the end of this track is either hope or another despair.
Rosa clenches her jaw once more. Her hands tremble once more. Her breath quickens.
Then — warmth.
The torch drifts closer to her. So does Lilia, now walking closer.
A breath of relief escapes her lungs before she can stop it.
Again, she tries her best to keep her lips from curving up.
They walk further. The footprints become clearer. Fresher and fresher.
Rosa closes her eyes, bracing herself for what awaits them.
"THIS WAS YOUR FAULT TO BEGIN WITH!"
A loud thud echoes through the corridor, startling both of them.
A person's voice.
Rosa immediately bolts forward. Lilia's footsteps follow behind her.
The corridor widens before them, revealing a large opening.
Rosa's breath steadies, coming easier as relief washes over her.
"Calm down! You're not thinking clearly!"
"Let me go, Frieda! This bastard said it! He's at fault here!"
A man in full armor is being held from behind by a blonde woman.
His hands are already curled into fists, dark stains flickering under the torchlight — both from Lilia's torch and Frieda's, lying on the floor nearby.
The woman locks both of his arms with her own, clearly struggling as he begins to slowly slip free.
In front of him lies a man — bald and bruised, fist and jaw clenched tight. Tears trail down his cheeks as he gazes at the ground.
"I am sorry… I'm sorry…"
"You bastard! Let me go! What can an apology even do now!? Liesel is gone, you hear me!? Gone!"
The armored man slips from the woman's grip and sprints toward the bald man.
KRAACK
"GAH!"
The bald man stumbles backward after a kick lands square in his gut. Pain seeps through his coughs as he curls into himself.
"Eihard!"
Frieda shouts as she leaps forward to catch Eihard's arm.
Rosa and Lilia rush to help.
Lilia's torch falls to the ground.
"You're killing him…"
Rosa mutters as she grabs his other arm. Lilia plants her hands against his chest, pushing back.
"He deserves it! Let me go!"
"What bloodlust! Rosa, don't let him go! He really means to kill him!"
Despite being outnumbered, Eihard pushes forward, grunting as he fights his way free.
"I'm sorry… cough… I am so sorry…"
The bald man weakly mutters as he clutches himself tighter.
Eihard's body twitches. The veins in his neck visibly harden.
He moves his left arm forward, slipping further from Frieda's grip.
And thrusts his elbow backward.
"Ghaah!"
Frieda stumbles and falls onto her back.
A flail from his right arm shoves Rosa backward, breaking her grip.
Then he grabs both of Lilia's shoulders and throws her aside.
"Hyaaah!"
"Lilia!"
Rosa shouts. Her gaze lingers on Lilia for a moment before darting back to the bald man.
Eihard already stands before him. A faint red outline glows around Eihard's greave as he lifts his foot, clearly aiming for the man's head.
"Eihard… stop!"
Frieda weakly yells from the ground as she tries to push herself up.
He thrusts his foot downward.
Rosa quickly draws the jade staff from her back, aiming at the spot where the foot descends.
"Varriere!"
CRACK
The greave lands on transparent panels — hexagonal, joined together like a honeycomb, floating in the air. Glass-like surfaces catch the dim light.
At the center of the barrier, a crack already forms. It spreads further as the panels begin to flicker.
A shiver runs down Rosa's spine as she feels Eihard's gaze piercing into her.
Then his eyes widen.
"Where did you get that…?"
Eihard pulls his foot from the barrier. Rosa flinches backward — she now has his full attention.
His face tenses. His jaw shifts inward, eyes sharp and locked on the jade staff.
Then he steps forward. Each of his knuckles glows with the same red outline, though unlike before, it flickers.
Rosa readies herself, her mind racing to find a castable spell with what little mana she has left.
Then Lilia walks between them, facing Eihard.
"Not another step. What are you trying to do?"
Both of her fists are enveloped in wavering flames.
"Move."
He growls, clenching his fists tighter as he steps closer.
"Over my dead body. And I mean it."
Lilia's flames burst stronger. The red outline on Eihard's gauntlets no longer flickers.
"I beg of you! Both of you! Stop!"
Frieda's plea falls on deaf ears. Neither of them backs down.
"Lilia…"
Rosa calls to her, unsure what she wants to say. But she knows she has to stop her somehow.
Lilia glances back toward Rosa.
And her eyes widen — at something behind her.
Before Rosa realizes it, a soft rustle creeps up from behind.
Lilia's flames vanish. She spins around and rushes toward Rosa.
"Look out!"
She tackles Rosa sideways.
A moment later, a violent crack splits the ground where Rosa had been standing.
Rosa immediately pushes herself up, pulling Lilia with her.
A giant chain of metallic carapaces is planted in the spot, wriggling aggressively.
Kssshaaaa!
It hisses as it slithers away toward the far end of the cave wall.
"It… it followed us…"
Frieda's voice dies out as she clasps her mouth with both hands.
"RAAAAAAAH!"
Eihard roars as if he has had enough.
He rushes toward the centipede with his glowing fists.
The creature quickly slithers away. His punch lands on empty cave wall, leaving a web of cracks on its surface.
A giant centipede — the exact creature Rosa deduced. The only difference from the one she knows is that this one has full plate metal as its carapace.
Metallic body. That means she can try to fry it with her lightning magic.
The creature doesn't wait. It slithers again, lurching toward the helpless man on the ground.
Lilia's footsteps follow as she immediately reacts.
Before it can reach him, a loud clank echoes as Lilia's flaming fist connects squarely with one of its carapace segments.
"Vrandefaust!"
It stumbles sideways and immediately retreats to the far end of the cave wall.
"Velaitten!"
Frieda shouts as she raises her staff.
The sapphire tip glows with bluish light before the glow detaches itself and floats to the center of the room.
The remaining darkness dissipates.
Rosa pops the corks of two green potions. She gazes at the vials — they tremble. No, she is trembling yet again.
Closing her eyes, she tilts the vials toward her mouth.
She fights the urge to gag as the bitter green liquid pours down her throat.
Flickers of warmth surge through her body. She opens her eyes.
Eihard launches another fist and hits another cave wall.
The centipede is too fast.
It goes for the bald man again.
Lilia is already there — another burning fist drives it back.
It hisses and retreats to the wall.
Lilia is not going to let it reach him.
Yet her flames slowly flicker out.
"Frieda!"
Rosa throws one of the green vials to Frieda.
She catches it effortlessly.
"Try not to puke it out, and find a way to slow it down! It's too fast!"
Frieda glances at the green vial, then at Rosa with a face full of grimace.
Yet she silently nods. She pops the cork open and drinks.
"Hurrk…"
She clasps a hand to her mouth. A tiny trail of green trickles down her jaw.
"Aaaargh!"
Eihard's scream snaps their attention toward him.
The centipede is wrapping itself around Eihard. Sharp metallic legs claw at both his armor and his skin.
A red glowing outline forms on his head, and he headbutts one of its carapace segments.
A sound of clank mixed with crack travels through the cave air.
In response, it wraps even tighter.
Lilia rushes in with a barrage of fiery fists against one of its segments, each strike weaker than the last.
As if noticing Lilia, the centipede unwraps itself and quickly slithers toward the now-defenseless man.
Lilia tries to run back. But the centipede is far faster.
Its mandibles spread wide as it lurches yet again.
"Frieda!"
Rosa shouts, her voice cracking in desperation.
The light in the center of the room flickers out.
"Lichterkaite!"
Chains made of light wrap around the centipede's body, stopping its movement.
Lilia catches up and grabs the sobbing bald man, pulling him out of the way.
This is the moment Rosa needs.
"Hold it a little longer!"
Rosa commands as she points the jade staff at the chained creature.
Her body glows as a garden of lightning sparks blooms from her toward the ground in brilliant blue.
But the glow sputters. The sparks scatter and fade before they can gather.
She grits her teeth and pushes harder.
The thunderous sound cracks around the cave as the jade tip of her staff gathers more and more sparks — slower than it should, each one dragged from her like pulling teeth.
The tip glows brighter and brighter, as the gathered lightning forms a draconic head.
"Vlitzdraiche!"
A dragon made of blue lightning sprouts from the staff and surges toward the centipede.
The moment it contacts the creature, it explodes into a lightning forest.
All of the sparks travel back toward the centipede, frying it from all directions.
The legs spasm as they splay out.
KSSHHIIIIIIIII!
Its cry drowns in the thunderous roar of Rosa's spell. No mercy is given.
Yet the lightning flickers too early. Where the sparks meet the dark metal carapace, they dim and die — swallowed before they can burn. The spell dissipates faster than it should.
Rosa steps toward the creature, her staff still pointed forward.
She isn't done.
Her other hand holds two more vials. Green and blue.
She bites the corks, pops them with her teeth, spits them out, and drinks both potions.
Bitterness mixes with cold — far more pleasant than drinking two greens.
Another surge of warmth floods her body.
Her body glows yet again as she stands right in front of the centipede, still twitching from her previous spell.
She cannot waste this. She has to make sure it is dead.
She recalls the moment she successfully cast this spell for the first time.
She has to do everything right.
Words begin to pour into her mind, then flow to her mouth.
"Hear me, world. I call upon the storm that sleeps in the sky."
She mutters. Sparks slowly emit from her body — slower than before, fighting against an invisible resistance.
"Let it wake — not as a roar, but as a whisper."
The sparks grow thicker, reaching toward the ground from her body. Each one flickers, threatening to fade.
"Gather. Compress into a single breath."
The sparks gather at the jade tip of her staff. The pull is heavier now, like dragging light through mud.
"Hold the scattering light. Bind the chaos into form."
A lightning sphere begins to form — unstable, flickering, but there.
"Become the fist I cannot throw. Become the strike I cannot reach. Grant me thunder made small. Grant me ruin I can hold. And as I release you, do not scatter."
The sparks solidify. The sphere hums in the air as it floats just above Rosa's staff, finally stable.
"Keugelvlitz!"
The spell hits the centipede at point-blank range.
Rosa's knees immediately give out and she collapses.
The convulsions grow more intense — yet even now, the lightning dims faster than it should. The dark carapace drinks the sparks, dulling their fury.
Then the chains of light shatter. Frieda cries out as the spell breaks — drained, overpowered, torn apart all at once.
The creature violently slithers, still sparking, still burning.
The sparking centipede lunges toward Rosa, who cannot move.
"Rosa!"
Lilia tackles her from behind, throwing them both aside.
The mandibles rip through Rosa's bag, spilling out its contents.
Unusable sigil scrolls, glyph stones, dead mana stones — and two runic daggers and a runic scroll.
The runic items glow.
The creature continues to thrash around.
The spell clearly works. But the kill is too slow.
Or rather, it is too persistent to die.
It lunges again, this time for Lilia.
"The dagger! Now!"
Frieda's sharp voice catches Rosa's attention.
She instinctively grabs one of the daggers and stabs it into the metal carapace.
The dagger clinks against the armor, unable to penetrate through.
However, the centipede jolts violently as the lightning around it surges brighter. Stronger than it should be.
It thrashes harder, now away from Lilia.
It slams itself into the cave wall. A crash rumbles through the chamber.
Even Rosa feels the tremor through the ground.
As the dust of the impact scatters, the centipede lies limp.
Not a jolt. Not even a twitch in any of its legs.
It lies still. Lifeless.
"We… did it…"
Rosa mutters, her eyes wide in disbelief. Her hands still tremble.
Her body remains frozen in the exact position from when she stabbed the creature.
"Haha… hahahaha…"
Lilia chuckles as tears streak down her cheeks.
"I swear I just saw my life from infant to the moment I met Mr. Helgen…"
"Lennard…! Lennard…! Please bear with me!"
Frieda wraps her arms around the unconscious bald man, tears pouring from her eyes.
She raises her palm, facing him.
"Heilen!"
Green light envelops his body before it flickers out almost as soon as it begins to glow.
"Use this."
Lilia crouches down next to her, extending her hand.
She holds a green vial. The same potion Rosa uses.
A loud mix of clank and crack from the centipede's body grabs Rosa's attention.
"RAAAAH! HAAAAAH!"
Eihard's knuckles glow with a flickering red outline as his fists land on the dead centipede over and over again.
Each punch grows slower than the last.
Then he finally stops. And begins to sob.
"Liesel…"
He clutches the centipede's corpse as if mourning it.
Rosa gazes down at the cave floor.
She knocked on death's door yet again.
And Lilia had to save her yet again.
But at least the creature is defeated.
She glances at each of them.
Lilia, crouched beside Frieda, offering what little they have left.
Frieda, clutching her sister's lover, trying to heal what is already broken.
Lennard, unconscious, breathing shallow.
Eihard, sobbing into the corpse.
Each carries a wound from this cave, including her.
Yet all of them are still alive. And that's enough for now.
Rosa exhales slowly.
First, we recover.
Then, we find the exit.
Then...
She doesn't finish the thought as her eyes begin to drift.
Finally, she falls backward. The world around her goes dark.