Windur collided with the monster’s scythe. As if it had increased the water pressure making up the scythe, it managed to block Windur. Zich flung Windur one more time, and the monster blocked it with its scythe again. Yet, the scythe’s movements began to fall behind Windur’s speed.
Slice!
Eventually, Windur cut off the monster’s arm. As it lost its mode of attack, the monster tried to rush towards Zich with its body. Yet, before that, Windur sliced off the monster’s neck.
Slice!
The monster returned to the waters.
‘It’s not difficult to deal with.’ It was at a level where Hans and Snoc could handle it without difficulty. Yet, Zich was half-right.
Sparkle! Estellade sliced the monster’s head while glistening. The monster changed into ordinary water and soaked the ground. That was what Zich predicted would happen, but that didn’t happen with Snoc.
“Huh, what? Why is it doing this?”
Kooooo!
At Snoc’s screams, Zich turned around. With mithril floating freely in the air, Snoc struck the monsters. With a great amount of them and mithril’s characteristically hard texture, his attacks hit them in critical places. Yet, there wasn’t a single monster that Snoc managed to defeat.
“T-This!” Infuriated, Snoc continued to move the mithril. Some of the monsters flicked the pieces away with the arms they had transformed into weapons; although some attacks managed to land on their bodies due to Snoc’s unrelenting attacks, mithril simply passed through their heads and bodies. They didn’t receive even the slightest damage.
“Snoc!”
“Yes, Sir Zich!”
“You should just protect Lyla and Elena!”
“Y-Yes!” Snoc immediately slumped down as if he thought he wouldn’t be any help. Nowem sat on top of his shoulders and also hung his head low. However, Snoc executed Zich's commands thoroughly. Mithril gathered near Lyla and Elena and slowly circled around them. The two could focus on incanting spell with a bit more peace of mind.
Zich cut down three monsters at once, and they turned into water instantly. ‘So, Hans can kill them, but it’s impossible for Snoc…’
The monsters were not only physically strong but strong against magic. Lyla and Elena could only fight the monsters currently by vaporizing the water that made up their bodies. Other types of magic didn’t work well against them. Considering that, it didn’t seem strange that Snoc’s attacks didn’t work on them. Zich and Hans were simply special, and he could easily guess the reason why.
‘It’s because of Windur and Estellade.’
It was clear that the two special swords inflicted damage on the monsters.
Splash! Splash! Water burst out of the monster’s mouth, and a strong gush with high water pressure shot at Zich and his companions. Snoc sharply guarded the area, and he responded to the attack by moving mithril.
Pop!
The water streams failed to pierce the barrier formed by several mithril clumps. They lost their power, flowed on top of the mithril, and fell below. Then, Lyla’s large fire sparks passed by Snoc.
Flaaaaaash!
Fireballs fell on the monsters as they shot out strong gushes of water. The monsters’ bodies boiled and a considerable portion of their bodies evaporated.
Splash!
They lost their form and water splashed onto the ground. Even the water on the ground let out seething, white steam. Like that, the monsters began to fall one by one. Even while their companions died, they vigorously attacked to no avail against the mighty teamwork and power of Zich’s party.
Slice!
With Zich’s swing, the last monster turned into a burst of water and collapsed to the ground. That was the end. Only the soaked, surrounding ground indicated that monsters had once existed there. Nowem jumped down from Snoc’s shoulder. He sniffed on the water that wet the floor; it seemed like he was curious about the water that had made up the monsters.
“You can’t drink it, Nowem!” Snoc yelled out in worry that Nowem would drink the dirty water on the ground.
“Did you find out anything?” Lyla walked to Zich’s side. “After finishing off so many of them, I would think you found out something.”
“Not exactly, but there are two things that come to mind.”
“Me too.”
Then, they both said as they looked at each other, “The shadows and the flame troopers.” The shadows that ambushed them at Violuwin’s ruins and the flame troopers that the Iron Clan controlled in the Great Adrowon Forest were made up of fire and shadow. Now, their current opponents were created out of water; although the elements that made up these monsters were completely different, the form they took and the attacks they let out were remarkably similar.
Lyla commented, “If our guess is right, the principle of creation for this one is probably similar to the two previous ones.”
“You mean, the tree, right?” They saw a tree in Violuwin’s ruins and another one in the Great Adrowon Forest. If there was another tree in this place, it would be the third tree.
“It’s getting clearer and clearer that this place is part of Clowon’s ruins.”
“Yeah.” As they became certain that this place was the place they had been looking for, Lyla’s mood brightened up.
“I suppose this tree’s element is water.”
“Considering the guys that attacked us, it seems so,” Zich replied while looking at the water left on the floor.
“And there must be a guy using the tree.”
“It’s highly possible.” Although they couldn’t completely erase the existence of an automatic system that attacked trespassers like the one at Violuwin, they thought it was unlikely since monsters wouldn’t have even come out of the ruins to kill Lyla.
“What kind of guy would our opponent be?” Including the anger she felt towards her enemy, she also felt curiosity. She wanted to know the reason why they were trying to kill her.
“Well, we’ll find that out if we continue to go down here.”
However, they had no intention of rushing. Their opponents’ abilities were still mysterious, and they didn’t know if the opponent could only move the monsters or possess an ability far greater than that.
‘I should try to keep my fitness in peak condition.’
Fortunately, their surroundings were a good place to stay; there was no guarantee that there would be a better place for them to rest in the future. Zich decided to rest here and recover their strength. At Zich’s order, his companions began getting ready to rest. They started a fire, took out blankets, and busily moved around. However, even Zich didn’t realize that there was a presence watching them from a far distance.
* * *
Lyla opened her eyes. She couldn’t see anything. The damp darkness seemed to squeeze her body and send chills down her spine. Lyla quickly lit up a fire and lifted it up, but she couldn’t see any light. Her magic hadn’t failed. She continuously felt her mana getting sucked up, and she definitely felt that sensation when she successfully completed her spell. However, she didn’t see a red light or even feel the fire’s warmth. It was as if the darkness covering her surroundings was eating up all her magic.
Lyla was struck with fear. She tried to find her companions asleep next to her. However, she couldn’t see anyone at all. She couldn’t see Elena, who had fallen asleep right next to her, or Zich, Hans, and Snoc. They all had made their beds in close proximity. No, Lyla wasn’t even sure if the place she was currently in was the underground city that they had fallen asleep in. When she looked down, she couldn’t see the floor—no, in this space, something like a floor did not exist. Lyla frantically moved around, but she couldn’t feel anything. She just felt the unpleasant feeling of floating even more clearly.
At this point, Lyla’s sense of fear increased. She moved her mouth; she circulated the mana inside her body and gathered it to her fingertips. She couldn’t see or use the staff she placed next to her so it was more difficult to use mana than usual. Yet, in the first place, Lyla had spent a longer time not using a staff. Of course, this was only considering the time she remembered. However, the important part was that Lyla was extremely strong, even without a staff.
Lyla was able to quickly finish casting her spell, but she grimaced. The magic she was preparing right now was lightning magic. Normally, unique light from a lightning spell and a rumbling sound should have stirred the surroundings. However, Lyla couldn’t see or hear anything. It would have been more understandable if Lyla sensed that her magic was being nullified, but she didn’t feel any such sensations.
Lyla finished her incantation. She shot out her magic without hesitation. Lightning with a huge amount of mana flew from her hand.
It was pointless. The lightning failed to rip apart the darkness. Instead, it was covered and consumed by it. Lyla shot out all kinds of spells, but they were all useless. She tried to swing her fists while desperately moving around, but there was no change. There was just endless darkness. Lyla was unable to calm her rough breathing, and while frantically looking around her surroundings, she suddenly saw something.
Lyla’s gaze shifted towards something that suddenly appeared from inside the darkness—she was happy to see something new, but it did not take long for her face to stiffen. She thought that it might be Zich or a different companion. However, the new being that appeared was not one of her companions.
It was an eye. There was no other way to describe it. A black circle was embedded in a round and white sphere as if it was a pupil. There were thin red lines intricately intertwined around the circle. A bloodshot eyeball—that was what it was. Lyla staggered back. Another eye appeared next to the first eye. Then another appeared. Then another, and another. Lyla freaked out at the enormous number of eyes that appeared in front of her, and the eyeballs continuously increased in number. As if to surround her, they appeared on both sides of her as well as the top, below, and behind of her. Regardless of where they appeared, all the eyes directly looked at her. Lyla subconsciously prepared a spell at this chilling sight.
In the only spot where the eyeballs had not encroached, a new eyeball appeared. This eyeball was gigantic. It looked big as an average-sized mountain. Lyla stumbled back at its enormous presence. Lyla and the eyeball met each other’s gaze. It was an existence that had no mouth or face—just a single, enormous eyeball. However, Lyla felt as if it was laughing at her. Darkly and viciously.
* * *
“Hey, Lyla!” A familiar voice struck her ears. Lyla opened her eyes.
“You’re finally awake. Are you all right?” Zich waved his hand in front of Lyla’s eyes. Her eyes followed his movements.
She could see. The darkness that had covered her surroundings and the eyeballs were all gone. Lyla quickly got up and looked around. She saw a panoramic view of the underground city where they had fallen asleep.
“Did you have a nightmare? You’re completely drenched in sweat.”
At Zich’s words, Lyla put her hand on her forehead. She felt her hands covered in sweat. Her clothes also felt damp. However, she felt extremely happy about this sensation and her sight. The fear she felt in the empty darkness still felt vivid to her.
“Are you really all right?” Zich seemed to have thought that Lyla’s condition was extremely serious, since he asked with noticeable gravity in his tone.
Lyla nodded her head. “I’m all right. Don’t worry. I just had a nightmare.” Yes, it really was just a nightmare; it needed to be.
“What kind of nightmare did you have that makes you look like you went through hell?”
“Yeah.” Lyla answered with little energy, “I wonder what that was?”