Now I, Historia, and Helena were standing in an industrial area of the Middle Province District, or which is also called the Central District. Right in front of us was a massive, rusted iron door of a closed old factory.
This factory was quite old and due to being closed for years, it had now turned into a scary ruin. Its high chimneys were raised toward the sky like the fingers of a skeleton, and the broken, dust-covered glass of the windows was scattering a faint glow in the sunlight. The moss settled on the walls and the peeling plaster were screaming and describing the desolation of this place.
But the question was, why had we come to this terrifying place?
Actually, some time ago when we leaped over that high wall taking the help of those wooden boxes and stepped out of the harbor, a completely silent and deserted road was spread before us. On that road, there was neither any human nor any movement. As soon as my feet landed on that paved road, that pendulum kept in my pocket suddenly became active again. It was now vibrating much faster than before, as if it had found a fresh and strong clue of that woman's energy.
Because the vibration of the pendulum had not stopped yet, which clearly meant that the woman was still far from our reach. But luckily, we got a carriage there. I told the coachman to move in the direction of my indication. Throughout the way, my eyes remained fixed on that pendulum, which like a compass pulled us to the rusted doors of this old factory in the Central District.
Now we three had entered inside that factory in its open ground. The silence all around was so deep that the sound of our own footsteps was echoing like a blast. Iron pillars and old machines were thrown in the open like scrap.
"So... now where will we find that woman?" Helena asked in a whisper while gripping her axe firmly. Impatience was clearly reflected in her voice.
I looked closely at that pendulum held in my hand. "Perhaps she will be hidden in the inner part of this factory," I replied.
"Oh, I see! Then why the wait? Let's go," saying this much, Helena moved her steps forward without any fear. Danger was not a new thing for her, but Historia and I had no other option than to go behind her, so we also followed behind her cautiously.
As we were moving toward the factory's main workshop warehouse, the air of the environment was becoming heavy and icy. A strange restlessness and sense of danger began to arise in my chest. Just then I noticed that the pendulum, which until now was moving forward with full power and direction, suddenly began to calm down. Its glow became dim and it became steady, as if it had found its target.
"Looks like we have arrived," I thought to myself.
But in the very next moment, what happened made my hair stand on end. That pendulum which was just completely calm, suddenly began to rotate anti-clockwise with a mad speed. Its speed was so fast that it was feeling like a cyclone in my hand. I understood immediately that this was not a signal showing direction, but a signal of some danger.
Helena stopped immediately and turned to look at me. "What happened Jona? Why did you stop? Is there any problem?"
Surprise was clear in my eyes. "I don't know Helena... the behavior of this pendulum has suddenly changed. It is behaving in a very strange way."
Just then Historia took a step forward, she wanted to tell me something. There was a seriousness in her voice. She said, "Stay cautious Master! I feel that this pendulum is now not showing us the way, but signaling some upcoming big danger." But the speed of the pendulum was increasing.
We were just trying to understand that weird movement of the pendulum when suddenly that massive and heavy iron main door of the factory workshop opened with a jerk of some intense internal force. That door was so big and heavy that the entire ground shook with the sound of its opening.
As soon as the door opened, a flood of such scary and freezing energy came out from inside, which made our hair stand on end. That energy was not like some ordinary magical attack; that energy was looking lethal like the touch of death. Before we could compose ourselves, piercing through the thick darkness of the factory workshop, those same familiar Shadow Tentacles lunged toward us with the speed of lightning.
"Watch out!" Helena shouted.
We three immediately jumped in different directions to save our lives. Those thin and long black tentacles were striking at us like a hungry python, piercing the air. We hadn't even got the chance yet to understand what exactly is going on here, but where was the time to think?
Helena was cutting those tentacles while swinging her axe in the air, while on the other side, Historia was cutting those black tentacles into pieces one by one with her precise agility with the help of a sword. I did not have any such weapon, so I was just avoiding those lethal strikes using my physical capacity.
Just then, a very fast tentacle came directly toward my chest. To avoid it, as soon as I moved back fast, the ground slipped from under my feet as soon as my foot landed on the ground.
"Ah!"
In the next moment, I fell into a massive and deep pit made on the raw soil ground of the factory. As soon as I fell, I understood that this is not an ordinary pit, but a trap laid by that cunning woman. That pit was so deep and wide that its walls were completely smooth. Due to such depth, it was almost impossible for me to come out of that slippery soil without any external help.
From above, the sounds of Helena and Historia fighting were coming, but I was now stuck alone in that trench.
The atmosphere of this place had now turned into a slaughterhouse. Up on the ground, Helena and Historia were surrounded by those black shadows, which were coming out from the main door and corners of the factory workshop like a hungry snake.
Helena kept her heavy axe in a defensive posture near her chest. A long Shadow Tentacle lunged from her left with speed. Helena blocked that strike with the blade of the axe with a jerk of her wrist. The sound of their collision came and the tentacle moved back after hitting the axe. Without stopping, Helena took a step forward and swung the axe downward with full strength, due to which that tentacle was cut into two pieces from the middle. And as soon as the tentacle was cut, it disappeared in mid-air. "Is that all?" she growled and forced the second tentacle to change its path in the air with the handle of her axe.
Meanwhile, Historia's fight was like a practiced hunter. Her grip on the hilt of her sword was strong. As soon as three tentacles attacked her together, she moved just a few inches back from her place. And the glow of her sword looked like a line and in just one strike, the ends of two tentacles were cut and mixed in the air. Historia immediately used her sword like a shield and blocked the strike of the third tentacle and immediately calmed it there with her strike. Both of them, without any noise, were failing every strike of those shadows just with their physical strength and agility.
While a dangerous fight was going on above, I was down in that 15-foot deep pit. My back was still groaning from the shock of falling. I tried to get up, just then I saw five shadows moving in that dark corner.
Initially I thought that perhaps my eyes are not able to see in the dark, but when they began moving toward me with the smell of rot, my hair stood on end. Seeing those shadows, I shouted in fear, "Undead!" Yes, there was nothing else there but those were five Undead—piles of walking corpses without souls. Their eyes were white and lifeless, and the rotten wheezing coming from their throats was returning after hitting the walls of that pit.
"Move! Move back!" I shouted, but they did not stop. My hand was shaking due to fear and nervousness.
Out of them, the first Undead reached near me and extended its rotten claw toward my neck. I immediately took out my paper knife from my coat pocket. As soon as its hand came near me, I struck the joints of its hand with the knife with my full strength. The knife did go inside the flesh, but it did not feel pain. It pushed me and I fell into the soil again. My mind was numb. I have read in fantasy novels in my world that Undead are exactly like zombies but they are more disgusting and dead than them and killing them is also more difficult than zombies. I thought, but then I remembered that striking their brain is the only way.
I took out playing cards from my pocket. I stuck four cards between my fingers and made them stiff like a metal blade with the help of my paper hardening ability. I threw the card with full strength toward the closest Undead. The card went piercing the air and got stuck right in the middle of the Undead's forehead.
That Undead stopped for a moment, its body began to shake and in the next moment fell on the ground. I thought why exactly did it fall on the ground? Perhaps the hand of the electricity trapped inside the card is behind it, perhaps because of that this Undead became paralyzed and then fell on the ground. I said whatever happened, let it be, I took a breath of relief.
But the remaining four now pounced toward me even faster. I took out three paper shurikens with my other hand. These folded stars of paper were no less than a magical weapon for me. I waved them in the air like a fan and targeted the eyes of three Undead at once. Two shurikens hit the exact target, and two more Undead fell in a heap on the ground.
Now only two were left. One of them, showing agility, caught my leg and began dragging me in the soil. I lost my balance. In nervousness, I tried to stab my paper knife into its skull, but it extended its other hand and blocked my strike. Its strength was not like a dead human—it was stiff like stone.
Then finally I took out my gun and fired a bullet at its skull, and that bullet hit it directly on its head, it also became quiet for some time. "Leave me!" I shouted and freed my leg.
Now the fifth Undead was in front of me. It was ready to jump on me like a wild animal. I gripped the gun tightly in my fist. The sounds of Helena and Historia fighting were still coming from the walls of the pit, but here below, my own separate fight was going on.