Chapter 16
"Below the World"
The cold breeze that moved freely through the Black Sea soon resonated into Allie's ears who was sent into subconscious, her fine lips twitching slightly as it trembled from the disastrous event that had scattered herself and her friends into a great distance.
Her both hands twitched a little, but in a cold motion like a resurrected corpse that was abandoned alone on the lifeless beach.
With a sudden move, her eyes opened in a swift pace, and then sat on the horrible sand in an instant. The girl arduously tried to maintain her breath as possible, gasping for air inside her mask that was probably filled with scent of various flowers.
"W-where… am I?" Allie whimpered, looking around in confusion, "I-I managed to survive?..."
Allie then drew her right hand, putting it onto her chest as she tried to soothe herself. The improper breath then began to fade away like fog, too with her rattling-heart beginning to appease.
Unexpectedly, a sudden wave of headache striking her head as if it was being chopped into slices, it was likely a side effect from the terrifying event.
"Ouch!..." Allie mumbled, shaking her head to clear her own mind from the headache, "Huh… how awful."
Yet she managed to overcome the matter within seconds, like it was nothing for her in this weird world. Soon Allie's gaze was caught by a crimson scarf that insignificantly lay on the ground, Allie instantly fell to silence like she was watching something that warmed her heart.
With a heavy breath, Allie then slowly stood up with all her energy, even though her body was trembling at that time while her eyes were fixed on the red scarf. Before she eventually fell to the ground, bumping onto the sand harshly.
Yet, her blazing purpose did not burn out easily. After a few attempts, Allie managed to take a few steps forward, approaching the scarf slowly.
The crimson color of the scarf instantly pierced into the holes of her mask, a red color that existed in this colorless and eternal world.
Allie then crouched down for a better view, looking at it in silence. Grabbing the scarf gently, she observed the scarf similar to Cadeyrn's. Allie stared at it intently, before mumbling, "It's the scarf that Cadeyrn has… I think he lost it after going through that storm…"
Allie sighed, her breath flowed out of her mask with a smell of dozen flowers. Without hesitation, she wrapped the scarf around her neck tenderly while her gaze was locked to the grandeur, and vast sea.
"I'll return this scarf to Cadeyrn if I manage to… I hope very well…" Allie muttered in a cold tone, smiling slightly toward the sea that made her ashen hair cascading too with the scarf.
Turning around, Allie then took a few steps toward the hill of the beach with her only footsteps dared to resound. Her eyes suddenly widened, her gaze discovered a vast plain of land painted with gray color as usual, with few withered trees that bravely stood there. A quick recall flashed through her mind unhindered, the comprehensive landscape remembering her something.
Allie then shook her head quickly, before beginning her solo journey through the quiet world, forcing herself to take on an adventure by herself.
…
Through the boundless world and the silence that controlled over the world, a sense of paranoia was flowing through her vessels, while herself sensed something was unusual and perhaps set an eye on her incessantly in silence.
Allie's eyes sometimes darted on a few stones, swallowing her saliva hard as she walked on the wilted grass. She also fixed her eyes on a few abandoned and unknown pieces of material, taking form in dark color.
Until a stone caught her attention suddenly, the stone seemed pretty big in size as though it served like a resting place for someone. Soon Allie stepped toward the stone curiously, thinking she would find anything useful there.
She looked at the stone intently, until she found something odd on the stone's surface. The stone was covered in dust, she then looked around and thought something had happened with the evidence of the unknown pieces left on the ground.
The girl then crouched down, drawing her right hand toward the stone. Allie soon stopped her action, only glancing at the stone in mind of full thought. But then she exhaled serenely, wiping the dust from the cold stone.
A few strange symbols carved on the stone, but oddly she was able to read it like a linguist!
"'Here is the place where a hero rests…'" Allie murmured aloud, finishing the first line from the foreign text.
"'May His soul rest, a legendary hero worthy of reverence.'" Allie completed the final line of the text, finding it odd and asking to herself. Who was the hero that the text mentioned?
"How odd…" Allie mumbled, standing up and looking at the stone for the last time.
Allie then continued her journey, exploring around while the icy wind began to penetrate her hair in a slow process.
Until her gaze was caught by something dazzling, she looked upward and found a flow of a few white lines in the huge sky. It was likely similar to an aurora, with the thing continuing to flow ceaselessly. The black celestial object was able to be seen by Allie's eyes, and it was so horrendous like an occurring-eclipse.
"Wow… that looks so beautiful." Allie mumbled in a low voice, marvelling at the extraordinary phenomenon.
She soon added, "And then… that black star just ruined the feel."
Until her step was suddenly stopped at once, freezing in place as if the girl encountered something fearsome.
Mysterious fog unexpectedly emerged from thin air, bearing shortage of vision for Allie herself. Allie began to sense something was wrong but could not find any evidence of it, while the fog began to thicken over time. Sooner or later, she would be devoured by something from the fog if she did not take any action at all.
Huh!? What's happening? I thought my solo adventure would be peaceful… but it's rather awful. Allie's glance soon fixed on an approaching shadow, it going nearer with her body trembling and hands shaking.
Without hesitation, Allie immediately sprinted and tried to flee away from the shadow. Her heart pounded in a fast pace, piercing the fog in an attempt to escape the unknown creature.
Her crimson scarf swayed and blew by the air, glancing around quickly to find something helpful to prolong her life in this realistic game!
Allie turned her gaze, finding the thing that pursued her now: a beast, similar or perhaps from the same stock like the beast she and her friends had encountered prior.
The pursuit truly made her drown in stark terror, while the beast relentlessly chased its prey like a mindless psychopath who was hunting their victim. Allie soon passed a few gargantuan pillars and it was painted dark, of course.
Allie was both amazed, but still the situation she was going through was her attention priority. The girl then breathed heavily, slowing her steps while the beast slowly moved toward her. Would Allie give up? Or resist her fate with useless effort?
Unexpectedly, a mysterious figure leapt upward and jumped down from a dark pillar toward the terrifying beast. Perfectly, like it was destined, the mysterious figure then declared so loud it echoed through the giant pillars…
"Shadow Siphon!"
A burst of numerous and uncountable particles with dark color soon blasted out from the beast, the particles then flowed through the air and coalesced into the figure's body.
Allie immediately turned back, looking toward the beast exhausted. But before she was able to breathe, the nameless figure who landed hard next to her then said, "Let's go! What are you waiting for!?"
The figure had the shape of a boy, wavy white hair that looked so pure in this world. He was wearing an ashen cloak, a pair of gloves with a vague meaning, and so he was wearing gray trousers and boots.
He instantly grabbed Allie's right hand, trying to run with her, and Allie was only able to follow him even though she did not know his true intentions.
Allie's timid nature prevented her from asking a question toward the boy, yet, in the moment of escapement, an answer would likely make her mind clear.
"Um… w-what's that creature?..." Allie questioned, intently looking at the boy in puzzlement.
The boy then replied with a rushing tone, "That's Choir of the Slain, but please, I can explain about it later. But now, we should run from that terrifying beast!"
Allie quickly nodded at him, turning her gaze for the last time before escaping the beast with the boy. Suddenly, the dark particles that the boy had absorbed prior came out from his body and immediately went back to the stunned beast.
The boy's face soon became pale with fear, with the beast's body twitching and beginning to move.
The boy turned back, scrunching his eyebrows with his lips tightening and pointing his right hand at the beast in the distance, before loudly declaring, "Dark Veil!"
Dark and semi-transparent particles emerged in front of his palm, taking the form of a blindfold. It then glided toward the beast at a fascinating speed, blinding the creature and buying them time to escape.
…
After an intense pursuit, both of them survived and fled away from the ghastly creature at last.
Allie sat down shortly after, breathing heavily with her heart still pounding rapidly from the exhausting chase. The boy's face seemed to show a sense of relief after being able to escape, and it was a gift for them to be able to survive until here.
Allie could not move her lips and also utter a single word, her body trembling and her mind was unable to grasp an explanation.
The boy, who was greatly exhausted, then asked Allie even though he looked kinda shy toward her, "Uh… m-may I know your name? And are you okay?..."
Allie, who was looking down, snapped at the question, she then turned her gaze at him, forcing herself to reply at the boy, "W-well… um… My name is Allie."
"A-Allie? That's a cool name, y'know!" He replied shyly, anxiously playing with his fingers while sitting in a cross-legged position.
"A-also my name is Gean!..." he added.
"W-well then…um, would you like to go to my house? I think it's dangerous here, also it's just my suggestion!" Gean said in an awkward tone, with him standing up.
"S-sure! Also thank you for offering me that!..." Allie murmured, standing up and looking at Gean with excitement inward.
With Gean guiding Allie to somewhere, Allie did not have any bad feelings for him, she knew that Gean was a pure soul in the midst of this cruel world.
…
Allie's eyes widened as soon as they arrived, she saw a giant hole with few dark pillars circling the hole.
"Don't be afraid! Let's go into the hole!" Gean smiled to reassure her, before jumping straightforward into the hole.
Allie seemed kinda hesitant, she then took a deep breath and tried to believe Gean's words. She soon closed her eyes, positioning herself before sprinting and jumping into the hole!
Allie's scream soon echoed, her gaze suddenly fixed on a giant lake that was exactly under her. With a sense of dread flowing unobstructed, she then closed her eyes once again.
But she did not feel any hard surface like the water body, Allie slowly opening her eyes and discovering herself flying in mid-air.
Before eventually levitating to a nearby surface of the hole, she felt puzzled by the scene, indeed.
But the puzzlement did not stop there, her eyes suddenly pierced by a few dim of gold light.
Allie discovered a vast, imposing network of life that lived underground. Houses and their inhabitants seemed untouched by the fearsome invaders beyond the Undying World.
Lanterns, houses attached to the stonewall of the giant cave, and stairs connected to each house were impressive.
Gean soon declared…
"Welcome to Aorus City! A city that survives from the Black Star!"