I woke up quietly, feeling Elena's body hugging me.
I looked at her as she slept peacefully, her drool running onto me.
I slowly slipped out from under the blanket, trying not to wake her.
I looked toward Ronan, who was still asleep.
I glanced at the opening in the ceiling, trying to figure out the current time.
'Is it morning, I guess?'
I stared at the sky, wondering what I should do.
'I think I'll try to figure out how to cross to the other side.'
I said as I sat on the ground and wrote a note saying that I'd leave — I didn't want the others to panic over my disappearance.
As soon as I finished, I approached the pillar and climbed it slowly.
I came out of the opening and turned my eyes toward the mountains.
"What the fu*k?"
I said in astonishment at the sight before me.
The mountains had returned to the ground naturally, hiding the Sea of Darkness beneath them.
'Wait, yesterday we were almost in night. Does this mean the mountains flip at night? Are we supposed to cross them only during the day?'
I thought, trying to interpret the strange mountains before me.
'But it's impossible to cover this distance in a single day. We need at least three days.'
I complained in my head as I ruffled my hair in annoyance at the short time given to us.
"It seems we have no other choice. I must go back and wake the others — every second counts now."
I said with a serious face, then turned and jumped back into the cave.
The sound of my landing was loud enough to wake the others from their sleep.
"What's wrong?"
Elena said as she yawned and opened her eyes with difficulty.
"The mountains have returned to their normal state — let's leave quickly."
I called to them, urging them to get up fast.
"What do you mean?"
Ronan looked at me in confusion.
"It seems that at night the mountains flip and then return to normal in the day. We must take advantage of this and leave now."
I explained clearly, which made the others fully wake up and rush out to see for themselves.
"What!! How does this even happen?"
Ronan shouted in shock when he saw the mountains back to normal.
"Who cares? Shut your mouth and move — we have to cross as much distance as possible before night falls."
I scolded Ronan for stalling and moved toward the mountains without delay.
'Why does he only yell at me? I mean, Elena wasted time too. Sure, she's your girlfriend, but you should treat me fairly.'
Ronan complained internally as he quickly followed Nox.
As soon as I reached the base of the first mountain, I set my foot on it slowly to make sure it was safe.
'Thank God it's a normal mountain.'
I thought in relief as I began climbing the mountain.
"Listen, if night falls we'll hold on to the ground with everything we've got — falling would mean a fate worse than death."
I informed the others of the plan in case night came.
The mountain's ground was gray like the rest of the world, rough soil with extremely hard rocks beneath.
The mountain's slope increased; as we all climbed higher, I had to create chains of darkness to help me climb easily, while Ronan lifted himself and floated a little.
Elena couldn't fly or create chains — after all, chains are a concept of Restriction and denial of freedom This is contrary to the light that symbolizes freedom and hope. — so I wrapped a chain around her and carried her with me.
It took about fifteen minutes to reach the peak, which almost pierced the clouds.
Before us appeared the sight of mountains covering the horizon — thousands of mountains lined up close to each other, forming a natural barrier.
"I don't see any enemies. Do they fall because of the mountains flipping at night?"
I wondered as I tried to analyze the situation, but I didn't slack off.
I descended the mountain with the others, ready to climb the next one.
This repeated for six hours — we were supposed to be at midday now. We had climbed about 15 mountains.
'This is way too slow. After another six hours night will fall. If we climb another 15 mountains, that's 30 mountains in a day. If the mountain range is 100 mountains wide, that means we'll need about three and a half days.'
I did quick calculations in my head.
'That's far too long. It's hard to stay alive for three nights. What if we encounter monsters on the way? We'd be delayed a lot.'
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn't find a way to cross faster.
"Hey guys, talk. We've been walking in silence for too long. I get that Nox is the quiet type, but what about you, Ronan?"
Elena said as she played with her hair out of boredom.
"Me?!! Well, talking will only make us more tired, so I prefer silence."
Ronan spoke awkwardly at Elena's question.
"Elena, you're not doing anything. I'm carrying you the whole way, so be considerate and keep quiet. You can sleep if you want."
I scolded Elena for her behavior — we were in a dangerous situation and she wanted to chat.
"How can I sleep? You're tying chains around me and carrying me like someone sitting on a chair. I don't know how to sleep sitting up. I want to lie down."
Elena puffed her cheeks in annoyance.
"Ahh fine, how about this."
I sighed as I changed the shape of the chain. I created a dark board with a blanket around Elena to keep her from falling. Four chains extended from the corners of the board, joining at a single point connected to me. The board wouldn't move because I manipulated the chains to keep a stable shape while walking.
'It's hard to manipulate with such precision, especially without something to devour and regain my strength, but if she likes it, I don't mind.'
"Oh Nox, this is amazing!"
Elena shouted with excitement as she rolled around on the bed of darkness.
"Now that I think about it, why don't you make a moving vehicle?"
Elena suggested suddenly, making me curious about what she meant.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, just make a big board and give it legs of chains to move us from mountain to mountain. You can also cancel the chains when going down and make the board slide down the mountain."
Elena explained her idea, which left me amazed.
"Elena, that's brilliant. It's exactly what I needed."
I praised her with a happy smile, which made her blush.
I started executing her plan — creating the board, bending its front upward to help with sliding, and making six chains, three on each side.
As soon as I finished the primitive vehicle, I got on it and sat in the middle. Elena was on my right, and Ronan on my left.
Then the vehicle began to move, cutting across the mountain quickly.
"Amazing, it's like an AT-ST from Star Wars or Aladdin's carpet."
Elena smiled with delight as she watched the vehicle move.
'This is good. We can now finish a mountain in ten minutes — that's 36 mountains every six hours. Damn, that's more than I planned to cover in a day.'
I thought happily after finding a chance to escape these mysterious mountains.
'But this is exhausting. I need to rest every three hours for at least an hour. Hmmm?'
My thoughts were interrupted by a light weight on my lap.
I looked down and found Elena resting her head on my thigh.
"What? I want to sleep, so don't move."
She said simply before closing her eyes and falling asleep without waiting for my response.
'This girl… how many times do I have to remind her to restrain herself in front of others? What's next, will she kiss me in front of Ronan? Hmmm now that I think about it, didn't she promise me a kiss? What a tricky girl.'
I thought in frustration, but I had no other choice — Elena was stubborn and wouldn't care about my opinion in these situations.
Ronan looked at Elena strangely — perhaps envy? But he quickly turned his gaze forward.
Time passed quickly. I had already rested once, and now night would come in an hour. So I chose a suitable place to hide.
We were sitting between two mountains while Elena prepared food. As soon as I ate, I regained part of my endurance.
I rested for an hour, then ordered the others to lie on the ground.
As soon as they did, I created a cover of darkness over us completely, pegging it deep into the ground with black stakes.
I made openings so we could breathe without worry and also to monitor the situation.
"As soon as I get tired, we'll switch — Elena can make the same thing. As for you, Ronan, you're the last option. The winds aren't suitable for clinging."
I explained my plan to them as we waited for darkness.
Switch!
Nothing strange happened — no shaking, no movement, not even a sound — but suddenly we were in the sky, upside down.
Our bodies fell downward, but the cover held us in place.
We were looking at the Sea of Darkness beneath us as voices slowly seeped into our minds.
"Don't look at the darkness. Avoid it completely."
I shouted, gritting my teeth — who would have expected it to affect us from this distance?
'So, you cursed rose, where are you? I doubt you'll watch silently.'
I watched the surroundings carefully, trying to detect the smallest details — after all, I was the only one who could see in the dark.
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