At first, the trip together was a bit awkward for Kiyeri, he mentally chided himself for not being able to talk to Ashiya about anything, as he had been up until now. Wondering if Ashiya felt the same way, he finally decided that it was better to say something, even if the topic wasn't quite appropriate at the moment, "About our conversation after the meeting... Why didn't you express your thoughts earlier? You seem to have poured out your soul today, but why now? Maybe I would have acted differently..."
Ashiya almost giggled, "Kiye, are you serious? I did. It didn't help."
Kiyeri was surprised, "I don't remember such conversations."
As they walked next to each other, Ashiya leaned his shoulder against Kiyeri’s and whispered, “You don’t remember, because you didn’t listen. “Then after a short silence, he spoke again in a normal tone, “Words mean nothing to deaf ears. Only when a person decides that he wants something beyond those established limits, he truly begin to understand everything differently. He begins to see with his own eyes, and not through someone else’s prism.” He began to ugh uncontrolbly.
Kiyeri had already processed their conversation and wanted to know more of Ashiya’s thoughts, but that ughter made him feel even more uncomfortable, “Do you find my naivety so funny?”
Ashiya gave the widest and sincerest smile Kiyeri had ever seen. “Absolutely not. I’m just incredibly happy I finally got through to you.”
Then he immediately picked up his pace and met the Voidborne running towards him. Kiyeri watched him from behind, the view seemed enchanting to him, every leap, every swing of the sword precise, graceful, and calcuted. Kiyeri suddenly remembered that he had heard Ashiya talking about not being able to get his point across. Trying to remember the fragments of those conversations, he joined in that enchanting dance, lifting his weapons.
A long time had passed since they all split up. Even though injuries could now be treated, Kiyeri remained cautious, haunted by the thought of what might happen if he died. He kept reminding Ashiya not to rush, and when he felt that his reserves were running low at least a little, he would immediately rush to replenish them both. In this space, mana did not accumute naturally, like in the physical world, so the reserves dried faster than usual. Eventually, Ashiya couldn’t take it anymore, "Kiye, rex a little, do you no longer trust our strength?"
"I trust you, but you never know what might happen. The territory is unknown to us; we have to be fully prepared." Kiyeri expined with a serious face.
"We’ve been here a while. If there were traps, we’d have triggered them already," Ashiya objected.
Kiyeri rubbed his forehead, trying to understand who was right. Maybe he was imagining things? But that feeling, as if something not right hadn't gone away, “Maybe, but it's better to be safe than sorry ter." He didn't give up.
Suddenly, Kiyeri's steps were stopped by a hand spped against his chest. Looking at that hand, he turned his head towards Ashiya, not understanding what was happening, but the tter was staring at something in front of him, quietly saying, "I have to apologize, you're right, and I was wrong."
Kiyeri's heart sank as he turned in the direction Ashiya was looking. In the distance, behind the pile of lined-up bck Voidbornes, stood three white ones twice their height and build. If a normal Voidborne towered three times over a human, then these three white ones were simply gigantic. From afar, they were completely invisible against the white background, but now that they were closer, their eyes could tell the difference.
Kiyeri tried to look into their faces, "Are their eyes closed?"
“Hard to say - maybe their eyes are white too” Ashiya pondered. “Should we try to get closer or should we go around?”
“It’s not clear from what distance they react, maybe we’re already dangerously close. I think it’s better to go around. Let’s count how many bck rows there are to them and go around them, leaving the same distance.”
“And we need to spread out, if the others don’t notice them while clearing the paths towards the middle, they’ll get into trouble. We need to leave noticeable empty spaces,” Ashiya added.
After counting and consulting, they spread out to the sides, forming paths and leaving one bck circle in the middle. Kiyeri pushed through the crowd, keeping one eye on those towering figures. He didn’t need to face them to know a single blow could send someone flying into the next month. If they decide to fight them, they’ll all have to do it together.
The circle quickly closed and they met again. But worried that this might not be enough to warn others, they decided to run a few more times and spread that empty space. After a few turns of cutting and stabbing, a wide white circle remained, in the middle of which stood nine rows of bck silhouettes and three white towers in the center.
"Do you think it’s those three soldiers from the legend?" Ashiya asked, looking towards the towers.
"Probably. Let’s keep going."
The two headed in the original direction. Kiyeri kept checking and replenishing Ashiya’s mana, and this time there were no more compints. They made their way for a while longer until at one point noticed a path that had already been crossed.
Kiyeri thought that he had probably left this one himself when he first looked for the nearest wall. Realizing that the direction he had chosen then was both right and wrong, he couldn't help but smile.
"What's so funny?" Ashiya noticed it.
"Nothing funny, we just crossed my first path. Then I just turned in any direction and went straight. I traveled for so long that I almost gave up, if I had chosen the opposite direction I would have reached a completely different wall very quickly." Kiyeri expined.
After listening, Ashiya said nothing, just smiled, looking straight ahead. Watching him, Kiyeri remembered what had happened when they met and with a pounding heart, he also looked away. They were already at the third wall. After a brief discussion, they decided to turn left first and find a corner that Ashiya had cleared when he first appeared.
"Judging by how long it took us to get here, those three whites were probably right in the middle of the dagger," Kiyeri commented.
"Mhm. I wonder how the distribution works, you and I were alone when appeared, but the others appeared by two, probably because they died one after the other. “Ashiya pondered.
"Dali and Ruki appeared at the very corner of the spike. You were at the bottom corner. Mia, Sonanta, and I were at different edges," having said this, Kiyeri stopped. Already lured by their steps, two Voidborne rushed from the front, but he was deep in thought and did not react to them.
Of course, Kiyeri could have raised his daggers when they got close, two Voidborne were not enough for him to feel threatened by, they would not touch a hair on his head, so he did not rush to get into a fighting position, still busy thinking.
Ashiya must have thought differently, seeing that Kiyeri was not moving, he stepped in front of him and cut both Voidborne through with one broad stroke. Turning around, he asked anxiously, "What’s wrong?"
Kiyeri thought for a few more seconds before saying, "Zeni. He could be in the other corner."
They exchanged gnces and set off in that direction. This time they hurried, no longer being so careful. They shot forward and cut without wasting time on conversations. Zeni had indeed been stabbed with the same dagger and even though he was nothing more than an ordinary person before he died, they couldn't take any chances. That character is too devious, no one knows what he could have brought here or what pns he had, and most importantly, he knows a lot, probably more than all of them.
If everyone had walked straight at the same speed, it was natural that he and Ashiya would reach the wall the fastest, but not only were they not in a hurry and kept stopping, but they also took their time circling around the white guards, then turned the other way. Sonanta and Ruki would reach him first, that was guaranteed.
As they ran like this, the two of them could already see the corner in the distance and increased their speed even more. Cutting through the bck silhouettes, they gradually began to see what was between them, until finally, when the path opened up, they found three people and slowed down to a walk, breathing heavily.
Sonanta and Ruki stood facing them, sharing their mana. When the girls saw Kiyeri and Ashiya, they both gnced at the corner where Zeni was sitting. Taking a breath, Kiyeri quickened his pace again, rushing forward "Is everything ok?"
He wanted to give Sonanta the medallion but thought it would be better not to show it to Zeni. "You have enough?"
"Yes, nothing is needed for now, we have enough for a few more paths," Sonanta answered, understanding the idea. Meanwhile, Ashiya was already standing next to Zeni with his arms crossed.
Zeni was sitting with his back to the corner as if huddled, his knees pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped around his waist. He stared at everyone silent, as if he didn't understand what was happening, one cheek swollen, blood dripping from the corner of his lip, a sharp contrast on his paper-white face. Ashiya leaned slightly to look closer, then kicked Zeni's side, not too strongly, as if moving a dead animal. The tter immediately jumped in fright and covered his head with his hands, even squealing.
Ashiya, eyes wide, slowly turned to Kiyeri. His face practically said: "Did you see that?" joy was written all over it.
Kiyeri shook his head and turned to the girls, "What happened?"
"Nothing really," Sonanta answered. “We found him sitting here, when I saw that face I was a little...unable to hold back. But I quickly realized that something was wrong. He doesn't say anything and I don't know if he recognizes us."
"It's still possible that he's pretending," Ruki added.
Kiyeri looked around, "How many Voidborne were near him?"
"There weren't any, but the distance to the nearest ones is small, if he went out of the corner, he would be caught," Sonanta answered.
Ashiya left the man curled up and trembling like a leaf alone and joined the conversation, coming closer, "It's possible that he couldn't resist and was being torn apart until he forgot who he was."
Kiyeri found Ashiya's comment very insensitive with Sonanta standing next to them, he wanted to pretend he hadn't heard, so he thought for a moment, rubbed his cheek, and walked towards the trembling man, "Ruki might be right, it's better not to take any chances. Despite his condition, he’s still a Master. "
Kiyeri stripped the old man’s coat, cut it into long pieces, and fashioned crude restraints, tying Zeni’s hands and feet. Meanwhile, Ashiya cleared out a considerable number of the Voidborne around them, thus expanding the safe zone.
When the team gathered again, Kiyeri expined, "We'll leave him here for now, it's too dangerous to drag him along. When you clear the st line, take him together, we'll all meet in the center.
In the middle, Ashi and I left a rge circle of Voidborne, in the center of that circle there's something very dangerous, I think you'll understand when you see it yourself, but I'm still warning you - don't come any closer than our made clearing." Kiyeri said the st words strictly and clearly, his gaze serious. The girls nodded.
"And what about Dali and Mia?" Ruki asked.
"We'll probably meet them on the way, if not, we'll find them at the tip. I trust they won't touch those creatures alone." Replied Kiyeri.
Having invited Sonanta a little further, he discreetly gave her the medallion to use. After getting it back, they wished the girls good luck, despite the fact that he did not believe in such wishes. After everyone dispersed, only a trembling old man with big eyes was left sitting in the corner.
While making their way parallel to the third wall, back and forth, they still managed to meet Dali and Mia. After exchanging information and replenishing their mana, they all returned to work until finally meeting at the center.
Kiyeri and Ashiya appeared first, soon after Dali and Mia, Ruki and Sonanta came st, dragging the tied-up Zeni by color across the ground. Normally, Kiyeri would have said that the girls were being too rough on an exhausted, old person, but in this situation, that statement didn't quite fit. Kiyeri naturally didn't feel sorry for him. The girls put Zeni away from the group and joined the waiting ones.
"These are the st ones?" Mia asked.
“Yes.”
“Yeah.”
“The st ones.” - everyone confirmed that they had done their job.
"Then there's no need to wait if everyone is ready..." Mia wanted to start but was quickly stopped.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT." Kiyeri raised his hands, jumping in front of the group, “I know it's not for me to talk, but where's the pn?! Look at them! We can't just attack head-on!"
"Why not?" Ashiya asked with a serious face, “There are many of us."- he was already taking steps forward along with Mia until he was stopped again.
"You hotheads will drive me to my grave," thought Kiyeri, sighing, "Let's just talk. Okay?"
Although Kiyeri received a few eye rolls in return, he managed to talk them through. Everyone was on pins and needles and in a hurry, maybe because they had mana again, or maybe because of the inertia of fighting, everyone felt brave.
The group managed to agree that only one of them would lure the Voidborne away from the center, while the others stayed behind ready. But when an argument broke out about who that one would be, Kiyeri began to lose hope.
Somehow, Dali finally became that one, but Kiyeri stopped everyone yet again.
"Now the main question. Those three are not simple Voidborne and I don't know how they rete to this space, but if there is at least one chance in a million that the dagger will let us out after killing them, we must be ready."
"Seyre" - participants realized in unison.
"Yes," Kiyeri continued, "the way we got in here, we'll probably come out, we'll find ourselves next to the dagger. There's no guaranteed pn against someone like him, I don't even know if we'll be able to at least retreat and regroup, we don't even know what he's doing now and where he is, with so much power he could be rising entire continent to the ground."
"We won't come up with anything by sitting here anyway, so I suggest we all work as a team and attack at once,” Ashiya said and looked at Dali and Ruki. “As I understand, this time, you're with us?"
There was no contempt or sarcasm in Ashiya's voice, just a clear and firm question. Ruki and Dali sent back the same firm "Yes" and "We are" without even blinking, determination was visible in their eyes.
"Okay." Ashiya said and looked at the Voidborne, “A perfect pce to practice teamwork!"
When the group was ready, Dali stepped forward until his presence woke up the three closest Voidborne. Immediately retreating, he waited for them to approach, and with a few strikes, he got rid of them. Then he repeated the same thing again.
Kiyeri, who was standing with the others in a row behind Dali, quickly gnced at Zeni, the old man looked scared to death.
Repeating the same movements, they scraped the entire side of the Voidborne. Realizing that the big ones still didn’t react, they went around several times, changing the bait from Dali to Ashiya, then to Mia.
Finally, only a group of people with drawn weapons and three gigantic white statues with multiple closed eyes remained standing in the space. The group surrounded those towers and approached until they could reach out and touch them, but nothing happened.
Mia warned everyone to get ready and stretched out her hand forward. Only after cautiously touching one with her fingers, she instantly retreated, but the statues still did not move. Once again, a little braver, Mia put her whole palm on it, and still nothing happened. Soon, everyone rexed and started talking.
"So much caution about nothing..." Dali commented. Kiyeri shot him a look.
"Keep thinking like that and one day you'll lose your head," Sonanta said. “Their texture is very strange, the bck ones were slimy, and these are dry and smooth, like marble."
She exchanged gnces with the others, deciding to try the sword. She sshed one of them across the leg. Sparks flew, and the recoil knocked the weapon from her hands. Sonanta grabbed her wrist with frowning eyebrows, "Like a stone!"
Kiyeri gnced imperceptibly at Zeni again, but this time the expression on old man's face made Kiyeri’s hair stand on end and anger welled up.
"YOU!” Kiyeri shouted, storming forward and yanking Zeni up by the colr. “You know what’s going on here – SPEAK!"
Not understanding what was happening, everyone rushed over and crowded around. Kiyeri heard Ruki’s voice behind him, "That's what I thought."
He shook Zeni again, "Speak, I say. If we don't escape from here, then you won’t too. You can imagine what everyone here would like to do to you. Trust me, there won't be anyone to stop them!"
Kiyeri's voice sounded extremely cruel, probably because every time he saw Zeni's face, he remembered that nightmare in the dungeon, which was the icing on the cake for all the humiliations he had to endure until then.
Zeni apparently realized that it would be impossible to pretend any longer, or perhaps even more risky, and finally began to speak.
"You are all fools, thinking you can just leave... Your heads are full of shit!" He looked at Kiyeri as if from above, although in reality, he was hanging by the pels under Kiyeri’s nose. “What on earth can a cockroach like you give to that stone so it would let you go?! You, me, everyone here is owned by it! You are a victim, what can you sacrifice?!"
Kiyeri understood that much himself from the theory, but to fall down and cry while waiting for something? There must be a way.
"When a door closes, a window opens," Kiyeri said calmly.
Zeni started ughing, "This attitude of yours is what brought you to where you are. You could have lived peacefully, feeding some pigs in a barn, but no... A bastard like you wanted to see the light, where butterflies fly! You dirty the earth I walk with your shity shoes!"
“Shut your filthy mouth!” Ashiya stomped his feet getting closer, but didn’t make it. Not wishing to listen anymore, Kiyeri threw Zeni sideways to the ground.
Still bound by his hands and feet, Zeni dragged himself upright like a worm, that same cruel glint still in his eye, "I'll give you a window. Damn me, I'll give you a window!" He made an ugly expression as if he were ughing cruelly at someone dying. Slowly, he began to speak, "For one to leave, one must stay. That stone you hide in your belt has no pce here, it is not a part of you and acts for itself. If you sacrifice another to that stone, you will become reborn and the dagger itself will reject you, unable to hold."
Ashiya immediately shouted, " Expin yourself! Do you mean that if I kill another person using the medallion, the medallion will take their soul and blood, giving me power? And the dagger will reject me itself?"
“No, idiot,” Zeni said mockingly. “Not you. Only they can do that.” He looked at the three Sorians. “Only those cockroaches can make contracts with stones, and they will offer YOU as a sacrifice.”
Kiyeri’s feet unconsciously led him to stand between Ashiya and Zeni, “Even if we believed you, you would be the first victim.”
Zeni snorted, “I know! That’s why you know there’s no point in me lying, I know I would be the first, but it doesn’t matter who comes first. Two of the three stinking traitors will be sacrificed, and one will be stuck here forever!” Leaning to the side, he looked contemptuously at Dali, Ruki, and Ashiya behind Kiyeri. “In any case, it suits me.”
Kiyeri had had enough. He knocked Zeni out of the conversation with one blow to the jaw.
Turning to face everyone, he raised his palms, "Don't panic. Let's try everything else first."
The situation was really tense. Apart from the three who stood there as if they had been spped in the face, chewing on the thought of being trapped or dying, the other two participants were not happy either.
If there is a way out, how can you not use it? Every minute spent here cost the lives of their people on the other side, who knows what Seyre is doing now? While everyone was looking for an exit together, there was no way to hurry, because no one knew how, but now that they heard such an option, the frozen time felt like it was moving at the speed of light. Sonanta and Mia looked at each other.
"Okay," Mia spoke. “Let's go back to the statues. It would be strange if they were pced here with no reason."
The two potential victims didn't need a reminder, Dali and Ruki quickly walked toward the statues, and Sonanta followed behind them. Ashiya had another idea, he squatted down next to the unconscious Zeni and began to shake his pockets, pels, and belt, looking for something useful to fall out.
Meanwhile, Mia approached Kiyeri and put her face so close that her lips almost touched his ear. At the words "prepare for the worst" Kiyeri's body went numb. He unconsciously grabbed the medallion tucked into his belt, but Mia immediately disappeared behind Kiyeri, following the others.
Kiyeri didn't know if Ashiya heard those words and stared at his back while Ashiya was moving things. If he had, he didn't show it, or maybe the fact that he didn't turn around showed that he had heard? Kiyeri felt that he had to say something.
“I won’t leave you here.” Kiyeri himself heard his voice break in mid-sentence and Ashiya’s hands stopped working, but he still didn’t turn around.
After a short pause, Ashiya replied, “I know you think so. But if you promise out loud, it might be too hard to accept what will happen ter. It’s better not to say anything and do everything we can. Don’t forget that I can take care of myself.”
Kiyeri had no choice but to turn around helplessly and join the others, but after taking a few steps, he was stopped by a “But” said behind his back, so he froze and waited.
“But, if we have to spend eternity here together, remember that I’m not against it.”
Kiyeri clenched his fists, grit his teeth, and walked away.
