The elf girl stared at Raiden for what felt like an eternity. Slowly, the light inside her eyes began to fade. It wasn't dramatic—there were no screams, no frantic outbursts. It was simply the quiet expression of someone watching hope slip through her fingers. Her shoulders sagged beneath the weight of that realization, and her trembling hands loosened against the snow.
Xavier watched every bit of it. There was something unsettling about silence. Screaming was easy to endure. Crying eventually stopped. But this—this quiet surrender—unsettled him far more than any monster he had faced since entering the Spell World.
Raiden adjusted the sword resting against his shoulder and spoke in a calm voice. "We have to leave." Miriam lowered her gaze. She understood the decision. No matter how cruel it felt, she understood it. Without another word, she stepped beside Raiden.
The elf girl remained where she was. Her frightened eyes moved from Raiden… to Miriam… before finally settling on Xavier. She looked at him as though he were her last hope. It was a painful expression—one Xavier wished he had never recognized. His chest tightened. He knew that look. He had seen it before. Someone waiting. Waiting for another person to stay. Waiting for someone to tell them they weren't alone.
His fingers curled slowly into his palms. Raiden is right. The thought came almost immediately. She can't walk. She'll only slow everyone down. If monsters attack again… we'll all die. He took a slow breath and forced himself to turn away. One step. Then another. His boots had barely sunk into the snow before something tightened around his leg.
He stopped. Two trembling hands clung desperately to him. "Please…" The girl's voice was barely louder than the falling snow. "Please… don't leave me." Xavier closed his eyes. His lips parted, but the apology caught in his throat. Behind him, the girl struggled to speak between broken breaths. "I've… I've been trapped here for so long." Her grip tightened. "I have a younger sister waiting for me."
The words struck something deep inside him. "I promised her…" she whispered, "…I promised her I'd come back." Fresh tears rolled down her cheeks, disappearing into the snow beneath her knees. "I drank the potion because we needed money." She gave a bitter, trembling laugh. "I thought becoming a knight would change everything. I thought… if I earned enough… she wouldn't have to go hungry anymore." Her shoulders shook. "I thought… I thought it would save us." She lowered her head until her forehead nearly touched the snow. "If I die here… who's going to take care of her?"
The forest became deathly quiet. Only the wind answered. Xavier remained frozen. His leg never moved. Every word she spoke seemed to peel open something he had spent years trying to bury. He knew loneliness. He knew helplessness. He knew exactly what it felt like to reach toward someone, praying they would choose to stay.
"…Please." The whisper was so faint it was almost swallowed by the wind. "Don't abandon me." Xavier's breathing grew uneven. He stared silently at the snow beneath his feet before letting out a slow, exhausted breath. Then… he turned around.
The girl's face was stained with tears. Fear, exhaustion, despair—they were all written plainly across it. For a brief instant, he wasn't looking at an elf. He was looking at another human being who was terrified of dying alone. "…Alright." The word escaped almost on its own. The girl's eyes widened. "I'll take you with us."
Raiden frowned. "What did you say?" Xavier slowly lifted his head. "I said… I'm taking her with us." Raiden stared at him as though he had completely lost his senses. "You've gone mad." "I'll carry her." "You won't make it halfway." "I'll manage." "She'll slow everyone down." "I know." "If monsters attack again, you'll die protecting someone who can't even stand." "I know."
Every answer came calmly. There wasn't the slightest hesitation in Xavier's voice. Raiden searched his face for several long seconds. Finally, he spoke again. "A few hours ago, you were the one telling me to leave strangers behind. You said survival came first." The winter wind swept through the clearing, stirring loose snow around their feet. "So tell me. What changed?"
Xavier opened his mouth. Nothing came out. His thoughts tangled together so tightly that even he couldn't separate them anymore. Raiden didn't rush him. He simply waited. The silence stretched between them. Finally, Xavier laughed. It was quiet. Bitter. Almost ashamed. "I keep telling myself you're right. I keep telling myself leaving her is the logical choice." His hands tightened into fists. "So… why can't I walk away?"
Nobody answered. "I've asked myself that ever since she grabbed my leg. I know what happens if we take her. I know the risk. I know she might get all of us killed. I know all of it." Another silence followed. Then, almost unwillingly, the words finally escaped. "…Because I've walked away before. I've spent every day since then wishing I hadn't."
Raiden's expression shifted—only slightly, but enough for Xavier to notice. "I don't know if carrying her is the right choice. It probably isn't. But if I leave her here… I'll spend the rest of my life wondering if I abandoned another person who was begging me not to." His shoulders trembled once before becoming still again. "I can't do that. I just… I just can't."
Silence settled over the clearing once more. Raiden looked at Xavier for a long time before his gaze slowly drifted toward the elf girl. She hadn't moved. She couldn't. Her tears continued falling quietly onto the snow. The knight let out a long, weary sigh. "Xavier." His voice had softened. "Come here."
Confused, Xavier stepped forward. Raiden pointed toward the girl's legs. "Look carefully." Xavier frowned. At first, he saw nothing unusual. Then… his expression froze. Dark stains spread beneath the girl's skin like ink bleeding through paper. Tiny black fungi pushed through her flesh, clustering around her calves before slowly creeping higher. His stomach tightened. "…What is that?"
The girl lowered her head. Fresh tears rolled silently down her face. "I… I don't know." Without another word, Raiden knelt beside her and gently pulled aside the torn fabric covering her shoulder. Xavier felt the blood drain from his face. The same corruption had already spread across her back. Thin black veins branched beneath her skin like the roots of a dying tree, while clusters of dark fungi protruded from her shoulder blades, disappearing beneath her hair as though they had already become part of her body.
The sight was enough to make anyone lose hope. "What happened to her?" Xavier asked quietly. Raiden didn't answer immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the spreading infection. When he finally spoke, his voice carried an unusual heaviness. "…Mutation." The word settled over the clearing like a curse.
Xavier turned toward him. "Mutation?" Raiden gave a slow nod. "Do you remember what I told you about those who die in the Spell World?" Xavier's expression stiffened. "If your body dies… your soul remains trapped here." Raiden looked toward the corpses of the demon centaurs scattered across the battlefield. "And if enough time passes… the Spell World begins changing what's left of you, you become a monster, a slave to this world."
No one spoke. Even the wind seemed quieter now.
Raiden looked directly into the elf girl's eyes. "Tell me. How long have you been trapped here?" The girl froze. For several seconds she said nothing. Then, as though every remaining ounce of pride had finally crumbled away, she lowered her head. "…One month. And another two weeks."
Xavier stared at her in disbelief. "You've survived here… for over a month?" Raiden slowly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his expression had become grim. "…Now I understand."
He looked at the girl with quiet certainty. "Your family hung a Crystal for you… didn't they?"
The girl nodded weakly. "My little sister did. She's back in the physical. My family is dead. we all drank the potion, and we ended up together… here. We heard the payments knights receive for their services were huge.....
Raiden stopped her and continued ' So...driven by poverty and hunger, you all came here without survival knowledge or fighting skills. And one by one, the environment and monsters picked you off. "
"We didn't know it was this dangerous." she said.
Raiden continued, his voice steady and stern. "The crystals can keep a person's body alive while they're trapped in the Spell World temporarily."
His gaze narrowed. "The crystal feeds your body for a time. After that, your body survives on whatever strength it has left."
He pointed toward the black fungus spreading across Elra's skin. "But once your body slowly depletes in energy… then eventually your body begins to die."
Elra's eyes widened as fear crept in, but Raiden did not stop. "And you transform into a monster. It was foolish of you and your family to leave your little sister alone with no guardian, having no knowledge of how we get our spells or the risks involved. Now your sister lies in a room full of corpses, thinking her family will soon return. This is why the royal families and elites train their children before they ever come here."
Elra lowered her head in sorrow. For weeks, she had feared being trapped. Now she was being told something far worse. She wasn't just trapped anymore. She was dying. And every second she spent here brought her closer to becoming one of the monsters she feared.
The realization shattered her. A sob escaped her throat. Then another. Then another. Soon she was crying openly, unable to stop. "I don't want to die…" Her voice cracked. "I just want to go home…"
Nobody spoke. Nobody knew what to say. The snowy clearing suddenly felt colder than before.
Finally, Xavier looked toward Raiden. "Is there a way to save her?"
The question hung in the air. Raiden hesitated. That hesitation alone was enough to terrify Xavier. "There might be."
"Might?"
Raiden nodded. "But I don't know if we'll make it in time."
"Tell me." xavier asked.
"The Black Tower."
Xavier's eyes narrowed. "The answer is there?."
For the first time since the conversation began, Miriam spoke. "How is the Black Tower supposed to stop her mutation?"
Raiden shook his head. "The mutation isn't the real problem." He pointed toward Elra. "Her body is losing energy. Starvation and dehydration are killing her physically. The fungus is only the symptom, the effect. The closer her body gets to death, the stronger the corruption becomes."
He looked north, far beyond the trees, far beyond the snow-covered wilderness, toward the impossible structure waiting somewhere in the distance. "At the very top of the Black Tower, a portal appears after the final trial. Anyone who enters that portal is returned to their physical body."
Hope flickered across Elra's face. Raiden noticed it immediately. "So if we can get her there before her body dies… if we're fast enough… and if luck is on our side… then she might survive."
The hope lasted only a second before Xavier asked the question everyone was thinking. "Has anyone actually done it before?"
Silence. Raiden's jaw tightened. Then he slowly shook his head. "No. No one is crazy enough to carry a currupted with them. They would rather run… or kill them."
Xavier truly understood what kind of place the Spell World was. There were no guarantees here. No heroes. No miracles. Only impossible choices and people desperately racing against death.
And somewhere beyond the frozen wilderness stood the Black Tower. Their only chance. Perhaps Elra's last.
Slowly, Raiden lifted his head. The golden light filtering through the endless canopy of trees had begun to fade. What little warmth remained in the winter sun was disappearing beyond the horizon, painting the snow-covered landscape in shades of orange and crimson. Night was coming.
Raiden's expression immediately darkened. "We need to move," he said firmly, his gaze sweeping across the frozen clearing. "Now."
Everyone turned toward him. "The nights in the Spell World are far more dangerous than the days. We don't know what kind of creatures roam these woods after dark, and even if monsters don't find us…" His eyes shifted toward the falling snow. "…the cold will."
The urgency in his voice erased any thoughts of resting. For a moment, silence settled over the group before Elra hesitantly raised her hand. "I… I know a place."
Everyone looked toward her. "There's a cave a few miles from here," she explained. "It's underneath a giant tree. The entrance is hidden beside its roots, so most creatures don't notice it." She lowered her gaze slightly. "That's… where I've been staying."
Xavier couldn't help but glance at her. Just imagining her spending countless nights in this merciless world by herself.
"It should protect us from the wind," Elra continued quietly. "It's warmer than staying outside."
Raiden considered her suggestion for only a few seconds before nodding. "Fine. We'll head there."
Relief immediately flashed across Elra's tear-stained face. Raiden then turned toward Xavier. "Xavier, carry her. We're leaving."
Xavier blinked before nodding quickly. "…Right." Then, after a brief hesitation, he looked toward Raiden again. "Thank you."
Raiden clicked his tongue and looked away. "Don't thank me yet," he muttered. "I still think this is reckless."
Despite his words, he hadn't objected again. Xavier smiled faintly. That was enough.
Carefully, he crouched beside Elra. "Can you hold onto me?" he asked. Elra stared at him for a few seconds before slowly nodding. With great care, Xavier lifted her onto his back. The movement caused her to flinch slightly, but after adjusting herself, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
She was lighter than he expected. Far too light. As though the endless days trapped within this place had slowly worn her away. For a few moments, neither of them spoke. Then, in a voice so quiet Xavier almost missed it—"…Thank you."
Xavier paused. The elf girl rested her forehead against his back, her voice trembling. "I really thought… I thought I was going to die here."
Xavier's expression softened. He adjusted his grip slightly to make sure she was secure. "You're welcome. I know how you feel. I used to have a younger sister…" he said gently. "And for what it's worth…" A small smile appeared on his face. "I don't plan on leaving you behind."
Elra fell silent. A moment later, he felt her grip tighten slightly around him, as if she were making sure this wasn't another cruel illusion.
Raiden watched the exchange quietly before turning toward the darkening forest ahead. "Save the touching romance for later," he said. "If we don't reach that cave before sunset, all of us might end up dead."
The distant cries of unfamiliar creatures echoed somewhere deep within the woods. Miriam instinctively moved closer to the group. The fading sunlight cast long shadows across the snow-covered earth. Xavier truly understood why Winston panicked when he drank the potion.
The real challenge now was surviving long enough to reach the Black Tower.
"Let's go," Raiden said.
Without another word, the small group stepped forward, leaving behind the bloodstained clearing and disappearing into the darkening forest. Above them, the last rays of sunlight vanished beneath the horizon.