Seeing a young girl tumble out of the cocoon, Isa, who had been hiding behind him, stepped forward. She rummaged through her backpack for a towel, squatted down, and began wiping the slime and tiny spiders off the blonde girl's face. The girl trembled all over, looking like a cat that had just been fished out of the water.
Erich's attention, however, fell on the red necklace around her neck. The teardrop-shaped necklace glowed with a dim crimson light under the faint torchlight. Erich recognized this item; it was a very useful accessory in the game that could only be obtained by progressing through the main story. But why was it here?
Erich remembered... Well, actually, he didn't. He was a story skipper who never read a single line of lore, and he didn't even know how he was supposed to die in the future. How could he possibly remember the specific origin of a piece of gear? After transmigrating for so many days, he had come to a profound realization: skipping the story meant skipping life.
But one thing was certain: since this gear was obtained by progressing through the story, the necklace's original owner must have been victimized by his predecessor.
He quietly pulled up the hood of his cloak, concealing his overly conspicuous silver hair.
The blonde girl suddenly threw herself into Isa's arms and burst into loud sobs, as if crying out all the terror of being trapped in the cocoon. Isa's towel hovered in midair before she finally sighed and gently patted the girl's back.
“There, there, it's alright. Don't cry anymore.”
The girl only cried harder, and Isa resigned herself to continuing to pat her back.
Holding the torch in one hand and keeping his other hand on his sword, Erich silently kept watch over their surroundings.
The girl cried for a very long time—so long that Erich had to replace his torch, and Isa's legs went so numb from squatting that she had to shift her posture and sit on the ground—before her sobs finally began to subside.
“Thank you,” the blonde girl said, wiping her tears, her voice hoarse. “Can you take me out of here?”
Isa turned back to look at Erich.
Erich's gaze fell on the red necklace once more. He suddenly felt a brief moment of daze. The necklace was incredibly useful in the game, so it was bound to be a powerful piece of gear in reality. This mine shaft was extremely remote, and there was no one else around. If he were to...
Erich nodded. “Let's go.”
The wicked thought flashed for only a second before Erich snuffed it out. He was an educated transmigrator, after all; he couldn't bring himself to murder someone for their treasure.
The three of them began to trace their steps back along the mine shaft. Isa led the way, Erich brought up the rear, and the blonde girl walked in the middle, wrapped in a spare cloak Isa had given her.
“What's your name?” Isa asked as they walked.
The girl shook her head.
“Where did you come from? How did you end up trapped in that cocoon?”
She shook her head again.
“Where are you going?”
There was still only silence.
Isa glanced back and didn't press any further. She simply assumed the girl was traumatized. After being shut in with a bunch of baby spiders for who knew how long, it was only natural she wouldn't want to talk. Besides, in this Abyss, who didn't have a few things they'd rather not mention?
Only the sound of their footsteps echoed in the mine shaft. After walking for a long time, natural light finally appeared ahead. The exit was right before them.
Just as Isa let out a sigh of relief, a dark figure flashed in from the entrance.
Dark mana condensed in the shadow's hand as they lunged straight for the blonde girl's throat. The angle of the attack was incredibly tricky, perfectly avoiding Isa, who was leading the way, by passing through her blind spot. However, Erich, who was on high alert, spotted the strike. He lunged forward, drawing his sword, and activated Level 7 Vertical Slash. Infused with mana, his longsword swept down and clashed with the mass of dark mana.
With a loud boom, the mana exploded.
Erich took half a step back, holding his longsword horizontally in front of him. The black-clad figure used the blast's shockwave to flip backward, landing right at the boundary between the light and darkness of the entrance.
Magic was the act of giving formless mana an elemental affinity to condense it into an attack outside the body. This belonged to the elemental school among the five major schools of magic. Furthermore, it was dark element magic, which received a significant boost in dark environments. They had to find a way out first.
Erich let out a cough.
Behind him, Isa understood immediately. She drew her longsword and charged forward alongside him.
But even more dark figures appeared at the entrance behind the black-clad assailant. Erich and Isa pulled back their strength at the same time, spun around, and ran.
Erich ran fast. As he passed the blonde girl, he scooped her up and slung her over his shoulder. The girl let out a startled cry but didn't struggle. Isa, half a step behind, spun around and slashed her sword at the ceiling of the mine shaft.
A deafening rumble erupted behind them as rocks and debris rained down, completely swallowing the light from the entrance and blocking the pursuers. She turned and caught up with Erich, and the three of them fled deeper into the mine shaft.
The mine shaft grew narrower, and spider silk reappeared in their field of vision. Erich ran at the front, finally discovering a relatively hidden, partially collapsed cavern at the end of a fork. The space wasn't large, but it had the advantage of three exits for a quick escape, ensuring they wouldn't be cornered. Judging it temporarily safe, he stopped and set the girl down from his shoulder.
The girl's face was even paler than before, but she neither cried nor screamed, remaining abnormally quiet.
Isa followed them inside, planted a spare torch into the ground, and turned to face the blonde girl before she could even catch her breath.
“Who were those people just now? Why are they hunting you down?”
The girl looked up at Isa, then at Erich, who was guarding the entrance. The fear in her eyes faded, replaced by the calm of someone pushed to the brink. “I am the youngest princess of the Empire, Leonora Viridian. I came to the Abyss because I heard Erich was here.”
Isa's expression shifted slightly when she heard the name “Erich.” She subconsciously glanced at Erich by the entrance, but Erich had already suspected as much, so he wasn't surprised.
“You said you came here because you heard Erich was here. What do you want with him?” Isa pressed.
Leonora didn't answer. The torchlight illuminated her short, pale-blonde hair, which curved slightly inward against her pale cheeks. After a moment of silence, she only said, “I'm sorry for dragging you into this.”
Just as Isa was about to ask further, the ground beneath their feet shook violently, and several cracks split open. All three of them simultaneously sensed a massive surge of mana rising from below.
But the attack came from above. The rock overhead exploded as a massive white spider leg pierced through the stone, bringing down a shower of debris as it thrust straight down. Its target was clear, pointing directly at Isa, who was standing in the center of the cavern.
Almost simultaneously, a threat from another direction was launched in absolute silence. A dark blade condensed within the shadows beside Erich, aiming straight for his heart from his blind spot.
Isa looked up, the rapidly growing white bone spine reflecting in her eyes. Her body had already tensed to dodge, but the spider leg was too fast. She could only watch helplessly as the bone spine lunged closer and closer.
And at the edge of her vision, Erich was turning toward the shadow behind him, his sword only half-drawn.
Rate on N.U.
