The sound of dripping water stirs me awake, each drop echoing like a nail in the dark. The world greets me with nothing but shadow. I feel cold again, my skin bare against the air, my nerves prickling as though I've been thrown into an ice bath.
A tight feeling crushes my neck. That's right, I've got that damned collar on again.
My eyes drag themselves open. Pain lances through me immediately, both sharp and raw. My muscles ache with every small movement, but I know this feeling. I've lived through it before. It's the same gnawing fatigue I felt in that cave.
I lift my head with effort. Kyros sits with his back turned to me, fiddling with something I can't see.
Hm? Did I place a checkpoint here?
I twist, my body resisting, searching for the familiar rune that signifies my return to life. The one that refuses to leave me alone.
Rolling onto my side, I find it.
It's there. Underneath my shirt, which had been used as sort of cushion for my head. It's grinning at me.
I groan.
Letting myself fall back onto the stone floor, I suck in a ragged breath, letting my body sink. Every muscle complains.
I'm assuming that when I…
I'm about to think of the word 'loop', but I stop myself. I'm not looping. I'm more or less hopping between worlds.
So, I'm assuming that when I 'hop', my body also returns to the state it was previously.
Hm, I need to be more careful about where I place checkpoints. But wait..
Damn it, I should've asked Aza how they actually work.
All I know is the sound of bones cracking in my skull whenever one sets, and the fact that it only happens through my hands. So if I want to avoid placing them at random, I just need to keep my hands off the ground when things go bad.
And if I place another, the previous one expires. Simple enough. Or maybe not.
"Kaito?"
The goblin's voice cuts through the cavern, pulling me back. He sounds almost surprised that I'm conscious.
Man. Running through all this again is going to be such a hassle. But I don't have the luxury of laziness. That thing is still out there. I haven't forgotten. I won't forget.
I lift my hand, scratching my head. It's hanging in loose strands, almost forming bangs in front of my forehead. I don't like having my hair down, as the feeling of hair brushing against my skin really irks me.
"Yep. The one and only… haha…"
My laugh comes out thin, my voice cracked. I rub the back of my neck, forcing my lips to curl into something that isn't real. My hand stops as it reaches something cold.
Ah, the collar. I find my face almost dropping a bit at the realization.
My head rises back up, my eyes shifting towards the goblin.
Kyros looks almost… unsettled. I don't blame him. Seeing me sit up so soon, despite the injuries that should've left me down, would shake anyone.
"You've recovered faster than I expected."
"Yeah. This isn't the first time I've been seriously hurt."
The words slip out, both for him and for myself. I shudder as memories flicker behind my eyes.
The deaths.
"I see. Then I will tend to Navi's wounds."
The goblin slowly moves towards the girl. My eyes follow. She's slumped against the wall, her body bathed in the flickering glow of the small fire. Her white hair catches streaks of yellow from the flame, her face pale and still. A majority of her body is covered with her coat, her armor tossed to the side.
She's only outfitted with a tank-top-like shirt.
She's in the exact position as before'. Or the previous world line.
The best way I can describe this situation would be a powerful feeling of deja vu, yet I can still vividly remember the 'memory'. It's quite strange, really.
I clench my teeth. I already lamented her state before. No point dragging myself back down. Focus. If we don't want to end up corpses, I have to keep moving forward.
Kyros kneels beside her, his hands working carefully. I force myself upright, rubbing my eyebrows as my thoughts circle like vultures.
Alright. Time to assess.
We walked for about twenty-five minutes before it attacked. Which means it's patient, stealthy. Too stealthy for something that size. From what I've seen, it's definitely good at moving silently through trees, so there's that.
No, but there were barely any trees around us at the time; even if there were, they were simply too far apart to be able to cloak such a large monster. So it must have used some kind of other method that concealed it for such a duration of time.
Well, it's still damageable.
Navi dodged most of its strikes and even landed a blow on its leg. So it isn't invincible. Regular weapons can wound it, so that's a plus.
Come to think of it, why hadn't she used her mag- Koho more often?
Well, she was injured previously, maybe she was exhausted.
Alright, well, it wasn't fast. That much works in our favor
But—
The image burns across my mind: its body rising from the dirt, its appendages tearing into Navi. My chest tightens. Her lifeless body soaring through the air.
It can burrow. That explains how it moved without us noticing. Underground. Lurking just below our feet while we wandered the open field like idiots.
Yeah. That's the answer.
"Mmm…"
Navi's voice trembles awake, bouncing off the stone walls even though she speaks softly.
Kyros is bent over her leg, and I catch the flicker of surprise in his face as she stirs. At first, it's a slow motion, before gradually rising more and more, albeit being just that, slow.
She blinks, groggy, before turning her head. "...How long have we been here?"
"Approximately thirteen hours," Kyros replies without hesitation.
"…Thirteen?"
"Yes. You and Kaito were unconscious that entire time. I've done what I can for you, but your leg requires more treatment."
"..."
She exhales slowly, her body shifting. She glances at her foot, moving it back and forth, the jacket shifting in that position.
"It's fine… I can probably get back on my feet in an hour."
Her gaze drifts to me. I'm sitting against the wall, hand on my mouth, eyes stuck on the stone as if I can burn the memory of the beast out of it. She raises a brow. The only reason I can see her expression is because of my 360 vision.
"What's up with him?"
Kyros says nothing. Likely shrugged.
"I'm fine," I mutter. "I'm just thinking about the first creature we fought. The one before the angel." My body remains in the same position.
"The hairless wolf-thing?"
"Yeah."
She adjusts herself, looking a little steadier than before. Maybe this checkpoint is slightly further than I thought. She seems in better condition.
I push myself to my feet, my voice heavy.
"You're not going to believe me, but I just died. We're going to be attacked by the same creature as soon as we step out of this cave."
Her eyes narrow, sharp with disbelief, like she's silently saying Here he goes again. Even Kyros himself looks a bit confused.
I don't care. Believe me, don't believe me, whatever. Your life's still on the line.
I almost scoff at her look, but force myself to continue.
"We walked for about twenty-five minutes before it struck. It stayed hidden underground the entire time. I didn't even notice it until it killed you all."
I lower my gaze, fists clenching.
Navi still has that look on her face, as if I'm some insane convict, rambling on and on about delusions that never occurred.
"If what you say is true," Kyros begins.
It is true. I've seen it. I've felt it. My blood soaked into the dirt while its shadow loomed over me. The feeling of every breath being snatched away from you every time you try to catch it. I don't need doubt stabbing into me on top of that.
"...We should wait here. Perhaps that will make it lose interest."
I shake my head, hard.
"No. There's that machine out there. While it hasn't attacked for a while, something tells me it's still trying to get in. It's smart enough to cut off this cave's entrance with its beam—I saw it do it before, so it's definitely smart enough to do something else. Waiting means death. We need to move."
Kyros dips his chin, his 'gaze' flickering with thought. He looks like he understands, but another plan simmers beneath his mind. I can tell. He's weighing the odds. He should. Whether we like it or not, we're already trapped between death in here and death out there.
I sigh, slicking my hair back, the loose strands that had fallen over my face clinging stubbornly until they conform.
"Navi, if it attacked you first, would you be able to throw out spells?"
Her eyes narrow, and her reply comes out flat.
"Is my condition not an indicator of my performance?"
"Yeah, you're right. Sorry."
So I was right… her physical well-being has to do with her Koho. She's injured, so her abilities will have some kind of repercussion for being used.
She doesn't say anything else, and the silence stretches for a moment. I click my tongue, my eyes shooting towards the goblin.
"Kyros, is there some kind of alternate path we can take? Something that's got, I don't know, bushes, rocks, anything we can use for cover? Something that can conceal us?"
The goblin shakes his head. "Unfortunately not. There are only plains on this layer. The only forest is the one surrounding our village. Other than that, nothing we can use to mask ourselves."
"Damn."
So no matter what direction we go, we're sitting ducks. It's not just the fact that it's stronger than us. I still don't know how it tracks us. That's the one detail that makes this whole thing hell. If I knew that, if I could figure out the rule it operates under, I might be able to make this nightmare tolerable.
But I can't afford the luxury of perfect information. Not yet.
Well actually… I could.
If I were to walk out on my own, with no regard for my life and let it come after me, maybe I'd find out how it tracks us. The thought slips in, cold and clean, like a knife pressed against my throat. All it'd cost me is another death.
…...
My body shudders. No. I'm not going through that again.
I'm not putting myself back in that place, with my lungs collapsing and my nerves screaming, drowning in suffocation, stripped of every sense except pain.
Never again.
I force myself upright. It's the first time I've stood in a while, and blood rushes to my head, making me wobble. My knees almost give in before I steady myself. Stretching my back, I feel the knots in my muscles strain, then ease just slightly.
A calm mind is a smart mind. I need to stay calm. If I panic, I'll screw things over.
I bend down to grab my shirt from the ground, but Kyros's voice cuts in.
"Hm. Was that always on your back?"
"…?"
I raise a brow, glancing over my shoulder. My right hand reaches awkwardly behind me, fingers searching along my spine, but I don't feel anything out of the ordinary.
Navi nonchalantly picks up her sabre, drawing it free from the scabbard she'd left at her side. She tilts it toward the fire, the blade catching the light. It's working as a makeshift mirror.
Curious, I step closer backwards and look into the reflection. The steel is thin and long, and I look warped, but it's enough. My back looks normal… except right in the center.
It isn't normal at all.
There's a mark, like a vertical scratch, except too deliberate, too elaborate. The lines are carved into a pattern. A faint purple tint stains the design, subtle but there. At the top and bottom, three dots sit like punctuation marks.
It's huge.
My breath catches. I reach back again, running my palm along the spot. The texture is rougher than my skin, though not by much. Just enough that I know it's there. I shiver, brushing it again and again, until my hand just slides across bare flesh.
"No… it wasn't there. What the hell is this?"
"Tattoo, maybe." Navi slides her sabre back into its scabbard and leans against the wall again, her tone careless. "Arivia probably did it. She likes messing with people while they're sleeping. You'll be fine."
"People don't just give tattoos to sleeping people! That's actually concerning!"
I shut my mouth quickly, realizing the cause of this sudden emblem on my body.. The words of that woman from before echo in my skull. Aza. She was the one who gave me this ability. I remember her voice, her explanation.
Could this mark be connected to that?
A tremor rolls down my spine, my hand brushing the scar—no, I'll call it a scar. It sounds better. It feels better.
Scar. Yeah. That's cooler.
Weirdly enough, I feel lighter now. Almost cheerful. Maybe it's the idea that this thing, whatever it is, might be a hidden ability. Something I haven't tapped into yet. Something crazy.
I glance at Kyros, who's watching me quietly, his gaze locked on the mark.
"You know anything about this?"
"I do not."
"…Figures."
Pulling my shirt over my head, I settle into it. It doesn't fit well, not really. The sleeves aren't even real sleeves, just rough holes. The kind of shirt a peasant would wear. Guess I shouldn't expect more.
Kyros sits back by the fire, exhaustion clear in his posture. He glances at Navi, then closes his eyes. "Forgive me, but I'll rest for a moment."
Within seconds, he's out. His body slumps, the life draining out of his face, leaving only calm.
The fire cracks. I sit down again, closing my eyes. Navi still needs more time, so I can think.
The best move is separating myself from the group. Stay behind them, shadow the creature, maybe ambush it. Not that I could kill it, but at least I could buy time. Kyros could probably deal with it, but if I'm honest, I'm scared for him.
The risk hangs there like a blade over my head. I still don't know how it's tracking us. Probably smell. It looked canine, and the size of its nose… yeah, smell makes sense.
But if I hang back far enough… would it notice?
I lean against the rock wall, my hair crunching under my weight. The stone is freezing, biting at my skin through the shirt, but the fabric offers at least some comfort. The others are already asleep.
I'm the only one left awake.
The only one awake in this world.
The only one who knows what's coming.
I clench my fist.
I won't fail. Not this time.
Suddenly.
"Kaito."
I'm not responding.
I'm asleep.
I'm asleep.
I won't answer I won't answer I won't answer I won't answer
_______________________________________________________________________________________
The grassy fields of this layer stretch out before us, a rolling land that looks deceptively peaceful.
From the mouth of the cave, the air is much different, almost pure in contrast. Rays of sunlight filter down from cracks in the world above, spilling onto the fields like golden threads. I squint against the glare, raising a hand to shield my eyes.
It's almost blinding, which is strange, considering how far we are from the surface.
"So that's your plan?" Navi's voice cuts into my thoughts.
She turns toward me, one hand on her hip, her expression as flat and unamused as ever. Her bright orange eyes pierce into my skin.
The light catches in her silver hair, painting it almost white, like spun glass. Against her pale skin, it's striking, almost surreal.
"More or less." I roll my shoulders, stretching them until I hear a faint pop.
"It's real risky, but I won't die."
She clicks her tongue, shifting her weight onto her left leg. For a moment, I just stare. I could've sworn she wasn't supposed to be standing like that yet. I still remember the sight of that chunk of wood piercing into her flesh, buried deep. The image flashes, vivid and uncomfortable. Yet now she stands without a grimace, without so much as a flinch. Did she heal herself withsome kind of spell?
Or is she just forcing her body to move through sheer stubbornness?
Either way, no one recovers that fast.
"Well… try not to die," she mutters finally, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.
She pivots back toward the fields, hand brushing over the scabbard at her side. Hm, her movements are a little too sharp, a little too theatrical. She's putting on a show, trying to look stronger than she is.
I can tell.
Her act doesn't fool me.
Kyros, standing beside her, turns next. "Then we'll be on our way. Stay safe, Kaito."
I nod, forcing a grin onto my face. The kind of grin that says I'm not scared, even if my insides are twisting tight. Raising my fist, I call out, louder than I need to.
"Nah, I stay dangerous!"
The words echo out into the open air, swallowed quickly by the vast emptiness of the plain. My voice feels too small against it, but I keep my grin plastered on anyway, like a mask.
Navi glances back once, her expression unreadable, before facing forward again. If anything, she's probably disgusted and cringed out, but I don't really care.
Kyros lingers half a second longer, giving me a slight incline of his head, and then the two of them step into the sunlight. Their figures grow smaller as they walk into the open field, silver and green flickering in the light, until the brightness starts to wash them out.
And then I'm left at the mouth of the cave.
Alone.
The grass ripples with the faintest breeze. The illusion of calm lingers in the air. But beneath that calm, I know it's waiting.
It's somewhere under there, ready to tear into my flesh at a moment's notice.
I grind my canines against each other before curling my lips into a smile.
Yeah. Risky plan.
But it's the only one I've got.
And I stay dangerous!
iMdISguSting