Their steps were slow. The closer they got to the area, the more gloomy the air grew, as if the earth itself refused to welcome them.
Minamoto broke the silence with a dry voice:
"Tell me, what is the truth about this area?"
Korole looked ahead without turning around:
"Segeya... a region that traps souls. The soul that enters it never returns as it was... and if it does, it will never be the same again."
Everyone's breath froze for a moment. Even Hiro Shin, who was trying to put on a brave face, widened his eyes in suppressed fear.
Taiko interjected, clenching his fists:
"Then there must be something... or someone behind this. It can't be normal."
Korole replied heavily:
"I don't know. Since moving to this world, we haven't dared to approach it. We've lost enough souls... and information about them is scant."
The team exchanged glances, each trying to hide the trembling of their hearts.
After a long walk, they finally stood on the edge of a towering mountain. Before them lay Segeya in all its terror.
A thick black cloud covered the sky above, no light escaping, and the chill emanating from its depths made the air sting.
"Why do you think she's there?" Minamoto asked, staring into the darkness.
Korole answered firmly, "Because you tried to sense her spirit and didn't find her... If she were anywhere else, you would have picked up a trace of her. Besides, the surrounding areas are relatively safe... She couldn't have disappeared like that."
Taiko tugged on his iron gloves, the clinking of their metal echoing in the silence. "Let's hope she's okay... Otherwise, we'll have no choice but to plunge into the darkness itself."
Silence fell after that, as their eyes fixed on the blackness before them... an unknown world, each one wondering if they would ever make it out alive.
The team entered Siggia with sluggish steps.
The air was stifling, saturated with the smell of death and dried blood, as if the earth itself were breathing its last. No birdsong, no sign of life… only deafening silence, and corpses scattered like cold, lifeless stones.
Kaito stood contemplating the place, his eyes darting between the ruins and the symbols etched into the ground. For the first time, he felt no connection to this world… It didn't seem familiar to him, but rather as if he were seeing it for the first time.
Korole said in a low but sharp voice, "Remember… show no mercy to any creature you encounter here. Everything that lives in Siggia is a natural killer."
Everyone nodded heavily, tension almost suffocating their chests.
Hairu Shin walked in front, lightly touching the corpses with his sword, checking each time for any signs of life… but death was the master of the place.
They advanced further, until a vast courtyard opened up before them. The ground was painted with strange, dimly glowing symbols, and the shattered walls leaned on corroded statues, their faces distorted as if they were screaming in eternal torment.
But what terrified them was that the place… was lit by an unknown source. It wasn't firelight or sunlight, but a mysterious glow emanating from cracks in the floor, as if darkness itself was breathing through those openings.
Everyone stopped in the middle of the courtyard, a cold sweat dripping from their foreheads.
The fear wasn't just from the place… but from the feeling that something was watching them from within the shadows.
End of Chapter