Although called a platform, the Return Platform was actually just a circular stone dais, barely rising half a person's height off the ground. Faint, worn-down patterns were etched into its surface, and a bowl-sized indentation sat at its center.
Erich landed at the edge of the platform and set the little princess down before retrieving a bone-spine spider core from his bag.
“Step up,” Erich said.
Leonora lifted her skirt and climbed onto the Return Platform. She looked back to see Erich press the core into the indentation. A pillar of light surged from the dais, wrapping around them like water, as the stone platform beneath their feet vibrated slightly.
Almost there, Erich counted in his head. If it was just like in the game, they would be out of this hellhole in another dozen seconds or so.
Suddenly, a flurry of dark crescents swept out from the shadows of the Withered Bone Forest, slicing through dead branches and debris as they flew straight toward the Return Platform.
Erich drew his sword and swept it across in a wide arc. Metal clashed against metal in rapid succession as the crescent-shaped dark blades shattered, dispersing into black smoke.
A figure in black materialized from the smoke at terrifying speed, thrusting straight at Erich's head. Another figure skirted around to the opposite side of the Return Platform, targeting the little princess.
Erich tilted his head, letting the blade graze his hood. He brought his sword down in a Vertical Slash, splitting the figure in black cleanly down the middle. The corpse slumped lifelessly onto the platform.
Having dealt with the immediate threat, Erich quickly spun around to parry, forcing back the assailant who had targeted the princess. Standing inside the pillar of light, Leonora's hand was already clutching the necklace around her neck, her red barrier flickering faintly into view.
“Don't move,” Erich said. “Stay inside the light.”
Only after speaking did he realize something was wrong. Why hadn't the teleportation triggered yet? Then it hit him: the Return Platform's teleportation mechanism did not allow combat. As long as someone was attacking or defending within the pillar of light, the teleportation would be interrupted. He had to either push all the men in black out of the range or kill them all.
But even more figures in black were emerging from the shadows. They formed a loose circle around the Return Platform, their faces hidden beneath hoods. They carried an assortment of weapons, all of which were coated in a dark, ominous glow.
In the distance, a few adventurers preparing to leave took one look at the situation—especially the magic swirling in the hands of the figures in black—and promptly steered far clear.
No one would stick their nose into other people's business, especially when magic was involved. In the Abyss, those who meddled in others' affairs were already dead.
Sensing they had the advantage in numbers, the figures in black surged forward.
Erich beat his wings and took to the air, weaving a web of sword light before him. He couldn't stray too far from the pillar of light, or the princess would become a sitting duck. Yet, he couldn't simply stay on the platform either, as that would only lead to them being surrounded and killed. He had to strike a balance between the two.
His blade slashed through the throat of one figure in black, but before the corpse could even grow cold, several more rushed to take their place. Erich's sword grew faster and faster, but his attackers seemed to have calculated his defensive range. They kept probing the edges of the pillar of light, forcing him to repeatedly turn back to defend.
A dark blade grazed his left arm, and another stabbed into the side of his thigh. The wounds weren't deep, but the blood flowed incessantly. Gritting his teeth against the pain, Erich lost some altitude.
Inside the pillar of light, the little princess covered her mouth as tears began to stream down her face once more.
Erich noticed that the figures in black habitually maintained a set distance from one another to facilitate simultaneous attacks from multiple directions. If he kept shifting his own position, he could force them to move as well.
He began to fly in circles around the pillar of light, constantly varying his speed, and the figures in black began to rotate with him.
Suddenly, Erich accelerated. Spreading his wings to their fullest, he swept around to the opposite side of the light. The figures in black instinctively adjusted their positions to surround him once more.
Now. They were lined up.
Erich tensed his wings to their limit, then launched himself forward like an arrow. He slammed bodily into the figures in black, shoving them all in one direction. Over a dozen of them tumbled into a heap, forced out of the pillar of light's range.
The teleportation activated.
Standing inside the pillar of light, the little princess's figure began to blur. She wanted to call out her knight's name, but no sound could escape. In the final moment before she vanished, she saw a black longsword thrust through Erich's back, dripping with his blood.
Then, Leonora's world dissolved into white light.
...
Dizziness, nausea, and a splitting headache.
Leonora knelt on the ground, retching, but could only spit up stomach acid. Her ears rang with a sharp, high-pitched buzz, and her vision swam with double images.
“...Your Highness? Your Highness!”
A pair of hands helped her up from the ground. It took the little princess a long time to regain her bearings and recognize the man before her—a middle-aged man dressed in the military uniform of the Radiant Empire, looking at her with deep concern. Behind him stood a squad of fully armed soldiers.
They were stationed just outside the gate of light at the base of the Abyss, surrounded by adventurers constantly entering and exiting the structure.
“Your Highness,” the captain said, supporting her. “His Majesty is extremely worried about you. Please, come back with us.”
Leonora clutched his arm, crying out with all her might, “Quick! Go inside and save him! Go in and save him!”
The captain nodded. “I will arrange it immediately,” he said, while half-supporting, half-dragging her away from the Abyss. He gave his adjutant a look, and the adjutant led a few men toward the gate of light with a thoroughly half-hearted expression.
...
The teleportation hall of Ash City was located in the center of the city, a towering building constructed from gray stone. A massive magic circle was etched into the hall's floor, with multicolored crystals embedded at key nodes.
From here, one could travel directly to various parts of the continent via teleportation arrays, though the cost was outrageously expensive—so much so that ordinary people would never dream of using it in their entire lives.
But the little princess was clearly no ordinary person.
Supporting the little princess, the captain signaled the accompanying mages to activate the teleportation array. The crystals began to light up one by one.
Staring at the glowing crystals, Leonora suddenly snapped out of her daze. She violently wrenched her hand free from the captain's grip.
“I'm not leaving!”
The captain froze. “Your Highness?”
“My knight,” Leonora said. “He hasn't come out yet.”
“Who hasn't come out? Princess, I do not believe you have ever knighted anyone. It might be memory confusion caused by the curse of the Abyss...”
“He hasn't come out yet.”
Leonora merely repeated those words. She stood at the edge of the teleportation array, her body trembling, her mind entirely filled with the image of that black longsword. She didn't know how badly he was hurt, or if he was even still alive, but she knew one thing.
“He hasn't come out yet.”
The captain frowned. He reached out to support Leonora, but she dodged his hand.
“Your Highness...”
“Didn't you hear me? I said he hasn't come out yet!”
After screaming those words, Leonora's vision began to fade to black. Grief and anger choked her chest, while the curse of exiting the Abyss began to take its toll. The captain's voice drifted away, sounding incredibly distant: “Your Highness? Your Highness!”
Leonora's body went limp, and she collapsed into the captain's arms.
The light of the teleportation array swallowed them all.
The teleportation from Ash City to the imperial capital took only an instant.
When Leonora opened her eyes again, she saw the familiar ceiling of the royal palace. Her mother sat by the bedside, her eyes red from crying.
Outside, voices were whispering in low tones, mentioning words like “Abyss,” “men in black,” and “investigation.”
Leonora closed her eyes weakly, the image of that black sword flashing before her once more.
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