The scream came before the sun.
Thin.
Sharp.. most importantly terrified.
Limbo's eyes snapped open, from a deep sleep.
For a moment, he didn't move. The forest was still wrapped in early dawn silence, mist drifting low across the ground.
Last night fire had burned down until the embers remain, faint but warm clinging to the air, enough to keep him warm in chilly environment.
Then—
"HELP —! PLEASE —!"
The voice broke.
Young.. too young.
Maybe a child or maybe not.
Limbo was already on his feet.
No time for hesitation.
The direction wasn't clear by sound alone but the ground told him everything.
Something ahead was wrong.
This might be a trap...
...this thought not came to him, even for fraction...only he cared about someone needs him.
He moved fast.
Light steps over roots and stone, sliping through the mist like a shadow. The deeper he went, the More the forest reacted.
Birds had gone silent.
Leaves didn't move.
Even the air felt...like it was held.
But no time for distraction, another cry.
Weaker this time, as if...
"Someone... please..."
Limbo pushed forward , and stopped...
The ground ahead had collapsed.
Not like a landslide.
It doesn't looked like act of nature.
The soil had sun inwards, forming a wide patch of thick, darj mud. It churned slowly, like something beneath it was breathing...
And in the centre...
Was someone.
A child..
Wait... a child!!!
Huh...
She couldn't have been more than ten.
Small.
Fragile.
Her body was already buried to the waist, trembling as she struggled.
Each movement dragged her deeper.
"P-please—! I don't want to —!"
Her voice broke into sobs.
Limbo stepped forward, and the ground cracked beneath his foot.
He stopped instantly, before he could also fall.
Somehow he managed to stable.
His gaze sharpened.
The mud wasn't just mud.
It was collapsing inward, as we moved.
Being pulled, Limbo thought.
"Stop moving." He shout.
The girl didn't hear him.
Outof fear she thrashed even harder.
"I'm sinking —! Please —!"
"Stop.."
She turned toward him.
This time, his voice manage to cut through her fear and panic.
Firm.
Unshaken.
She froze.
Barely.
Her breathing was ragged, body was trembling, but her movements was slowed.
But the problem wasn't resolved, the sinking didn't stop—
...but luckily it was slowed.
Limbo crouched at the edge.
Watching.
Reading.
Gathering thoughts, running his horses of idea.
Suddenly he noticed.
The surface flowed inward in slow spirals.
Not random.
But as if directed.
Below there's, something was pulling.
He closed his eyes to scam the area.
Use AreaScan.
Focus.
The nature answered first.
A clam, steady current flowed through him, sinking into the unstable ground.
To his mana the mud reacted.
A rippled spread outward.
Then...
It slowed.
The sinking slightly weakened.
The girl grasped.
"I....i stopped —!.....it stopped!"
Light of hope returned to her face.
The thought of escaping from this which was nowhere to be found, image of loveones scattered across the mind, with tears.
"Don't move," Limbo Said quietly.
This wasn't over yet.
The corruption was deeper.
Damage and environment was most altered due to influence.
He opened his eyes.
Adjusted the thought, observing the current and next best case scenario.
"Listen," he said, meeting her gaze.
She was scared but now she show patience and listen carefully.
"If you move suddenly, it will pull you faster."
Tears streamed down her face.
"O-okay...." She said.
Limbo shifted slightly.
This time...
Lightning flickered along his fingers, as he gathered mana.
Controlled.
Narrow, not the usual one he used to destroy enemy.
He didn't strike the surface, he aimed below something beyond, which he noticed earlier as cause of problem.
A thin arc snapped into the mud.
A sharp crack echoed beneath the ground.
The mud convulsed violently.
For a split second...
Something beneath shifted.
Then—
The tight pull was weakened.
Limbo moved instantly as he gasped the opportunity.
He stepped along the edge—carefully, precisely —where the forest energy had stabilized the soil, and avoided the possibilities of trap areas where he can also get stuck.
By reaching nearest, he extended his hand towards her.
"Give me your hand."
The girl with her all might and remaining height tried to reach.
But, missed.
Try again, one more time quick...
Aahhhh...
Then, this timehis wrist caught tightly.
With all her might she didn't let it losed and slowly strengthen the grip.
For a moment,
They both sank.
Out of balance the ground tried to take him too.
Limbo's eyes narrowed.
He prepared and—
Lightning surged —not outward — but rather inward in the ground.
His body steadied.
He quickly tightened the grip again.
"Hold strong."
I'm pulling out.
He pulled with his might.
The mud resisted as if refusing to let her go.
But then...
Gave up.
With a precise sharp motion, he dragged her free out of the mud.
Baammmm...
Both of them fell back into the solid ground.
Silence.
Only heavy breathing can be heard.
The mud behind them shifted once.
The. Finally settled.
As if nothing had happened, as went dormant until next pray falls.
For a while the girl didn't move, he just breath.
She clung to his arm with both hands, shaking uncontrollably, something like this will happen that she never thought before leaving house early.
Her breath came in broken sobs finally burst again, as she cracked.
"I—I thought I was going to die..."
Limbo didn't pull her away immediately.
For the time being he just sat there for a moment still.
Letting her hold on, little longer untill she's calm down.
Finally he spoke.
"You're safe," he said.
She didn't respond.
She just cried...harder and harder.
After a while, her grip slightly loosened.
Though still trembling, and she was still afraid.
"Are you hurt?" He asked.
This time....
She shook her head quickly.
"N-no.... I just... I was walking..."
Her voice broke.
"The ground opened...it pulled me..."
Limbo's gaze shifted .
Back to mud.
Opened.
Not collapsed.
There were no signs of natural break.
No cracks leading outward.
It had formed instantly.
A faint pulse moved beneath the soil.
So subtle —
But there.
Limbo felt it.
"... it's not random," he murmured.
The girl looked at him, confused.
"What...?"
He didn't answer.
His eyes remained on the ground.
The same pull, on that same direction.
Downward.
Somewhere far below, something which was feeding.
He stood slowly, then extended his hand again.
"Can you walk?"
She hesitated.
Then nodded.
As she stood, she didn't let go of his hand.
"Y-you won't leave me here... Right?"
A small voice.
Still shaking, it reminds him certain someone.
Limbo looked at her.
Then —
"No."
Simple.
But enough to assured.
Not because she asked.
Because now— he understood.
This wasn't just his path anymore.
It was reaching others.
He turned one last time towards the mud.
It didn't move.
Didn't react.
But beneath it, something shifted again.
Watching...
....waiting....
Limbo's gaze hardened slightly.
"I see you." As if he was warning.
A faint tremor passed under their feet.
The girl flinched.
"D-did you feel that...?"
Limbo didn't answer.
He already knew.
They weren't the only ones aware anymore.
Far below, the coil tightened.