Rosa's crimson eyes widen as she scans up and down. Her mouth falls open.
The entrance is half-destroyed—rubble from the collapsed horizontal support beam buries the corridor mouth, crushed ore hermits beneath it.
Scuttling sounds still add to her shivers. More and more hermits keep pouring in.
The hermits on Frieda's side are already too many for two weakened mages. Especially considering how persistent they are.
She has to act fast.
Her gaze goes up.
She examines the pillar structure.
The main vertical beams start right at the corridor's mouth, extending outward toward both sides of the chamber wall. Each spaced equally. Cracks spider across the stone ceiling, supported by horizontal wooden beams.
The cracks stretch directly above her.
Cold sweat runs down her skin. She feels it most on her back as she calculates the risks.
"Frieda…"
She calls softly to the other struggling mage.
"What is it?"
Frieda doesn't glance back. She keeps her focus on her staff and the barrier holding the hermits from advancing—extending it bit by bit at each edge.
"I'll collapse the whole entrance. The horizontal beams weren't enough."
More scuttling fills the silence.
Frieda's shoulders rise briefly, then slump as she takes a long exhale.
"One second."
She strides toward Lennard and props him onto her shoulder, barrier still shimmering from her staff.
He grunts in protest. Frieda ignores it.
"Ready."
This time, she glances back with a nod.
Rosa nods in return. Her gaze sharpens toward the corridor.
Sparks form and fade around the three lightning birds hovering above her. Bigger. Stronger.
The sparks struggle to stabilize against the constant drain seeping through her feet.
"Haaaaaah!"
She channels more and more mana until finally the sparks envelop the birds.
Three of them glow brilliant blue. Larger than before.
The air rumbles around them.
Her gaze locks forward as she points the jade staff at the pillar right at the entrance.
Zzzzt!
The first bird launches and strikes the vertical support on the left.
The second follows, hitting the vertical support on the right.
The third launches upward as two new birds begin forming above her.
It strikes squarely on the cracked stone.
CRAAACK
The ugliest sound she's heard since arriving at this place.
The ground begins to rumble.
KKRRRKK! CRACK
An avalanche of rubble crushes and collapses the entire entrance.
The ceiling partially caves in, remaining debris barely held by the surviving beams.
The pouring hermits let out satisfying shrieks as they're crushed beneath.
Dust begins to settle around her.
Cough. Cough.
Dust stings her nose as she presses her face into her sleeve.
The corridor is now completely sealed—piles of rubble mixed with crushed shell and carapace.
Krrrk.
Rosa snaps her gaze toward the sound. Frieda clicks her tongue.
The barrier separating them from the hermits already inside begins to crack.
Three. Five. Seven. Nine.
Nine hermits and two probably-almost-exhausted mages.
Rosa feels the warmth in her reserve dimming. At best, one or two strikes left. Weakened ones.
The hermits can't pinch through—the cracks must be from mana thinning.
Frieda is burning the mana she needs for the bind.
Rosa's palm presses against her satchel. Two green vials.
Frieda probably needs both.
"Rosa!" Frieda calls. Her voice wavers.
"A little help? I can't maintain it much longer!"
"I'm thinking!"
Help? How?
Nine hermits. Two barriers only prolong the inevitable.
"Hyaaah!"
A shriek comes from the other side of the cave. A loud slam follows.
The centipede moves. No—blurs. Torches lie scattered on the ground.
Lilia slumps against the cracked wall, her arm twisted at an unnatural angle.
"Lilia!"
The sound escapes Rosa's throat before she realizes it.
Her foot is already planted forward.
"Rosa!"
Frieda calls again.
Rosa freezes. Her heart drums beneath her chest.
Her breath comes short.
Calm. Calm.
Win condition: bind the centipede. Requirement: Frieda's spell.
"Frieda…"
Rosa calls, forcing her voice steady. The barrier's cracks spider further.
"What is it?"
The reply comes fast. Panicked.
Rosa rushes to her and presses both vials into her hands.
"Drink them and help the others. They need you more."
"But the hermits—"
"I'll handle them somehow!"
Rosa takes Lennard's arm and props him onto her back.
"Go! I'll take care of him!"
Frieda's eyes sharpen. She nods.
"Be careful."
"Likewise."
Frieda turns and rushes toward the other side of the cave.
The barrier shatters as she releases it.
"Any… plan?"
Lennard whispers weakly.
"Plan… I'll crush them. Somehow."
"…So none."
"I'm thinking of one."
One or two strikes.
She thinks to herself, then glances upward toward the remaining support beams.
The right beam. She has to calculate which one buries the hermits and leaves her untouched.
The scuttling draws closer. She has no time.
A silhouette appears in her mind, surprising even her.
It doesn't carry the usual regality. The composed grace she always reaches for.
Instead, a warm smile greets her—from a pink-haired girl.
A small curve forms on her lips as she sighs.
"...What are you doing?"
Lennard's voice carries his unease. She can feel his gaze widening from the waver alone.
Her brain hasn't finished calculating. She doesn't know what happens if she breaks that beam.
Yet she somehow knows. She'll survive this. Somehow.
"I've got one now."
"I don't like this one…"
Zzzzt!
Three birds launch forward at once.
They strike the pillar beam at full force. The wood shatters.
What follows is a cracking even uglier than before.
The sound spreads—overlapping, multiplying—until the wall begins to tremble.
This is bad, isn't it?
Rosa curses the stupid decision she just made. Curses herself. Curses that airhead for infecting her.
"We're going to die…"
The scuttling grows closer and closer.
"No, we're not!"
Rosa pulls herself forward, dragging Lennard toward the other side of the cave as fast as she can.
The rumbling intensifies.
Rosa's head perks up as she hears scuttling faster than usual.
She leaps to the side.
A large ore hermit swipes past her.
Then a massive chunk of debris falls—right in front of her eyes.
Time slows. Her hand moves upward on its own.
She points her staff up.
"Schweuven!"
I'm dead! We're dead! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!
She closes her eyes as rumbling drums all around her, mixing with crushing stone and shrieking hermits.
The rumbling settles shortly after. No scuttling. No hermits in sight. Only a cloud of dust.
Then the sensation hits her. Nauseating cold in her reserve as her knees weaken.
Above her floats a pile of rubble. Suspended.
She immediately flicks her staff, launching the debris away.
Her knees give out. She slumps to the floor with heavy pants.
"Haah… haaah… We… survived…"
Lennard clings to her shoulder like a lifeline, his legs draped across the ground.
"I… I thought we were going to die…"
He mutters, clearly terrified.
She barely holds back the urge to tell him to get off—his reaction reminds her of someone.
A sigh escapes her as she gazes down. Her brows twitch.
A satchel. Her satchel lies on the ground, empty vials spilled around it.
Beside it rests an opened scroll, painted with layer upon layer of runic circles.
It pulses faintly. Barely glowing. Weak as it is.
…
This is bad.
Lilia leaps sideways. The black blur grazes her shoulder, striking the wall behind her yet again.
Her body leans right, her right arm reflexively shielding her fall.
"Nnngh!"
A sharp pain radiates from her arm to her spine. Her body rolls over.
This is the strongest pain she's ever felt. Three days straight of hammering wasn't even close.
The throbs worsen. Her already-twisted arm bends even more awkwardly.
The centipede is already hurtling toward her. Crawling on the walls, it blurs black as it leaps.
No. Not yet. I have to hold out.
She rolls and kicks herself out of the way.
Throb. Throb. Throb.
"NNNGKH… Haaah… Haaah…"
Her head aches. She swears she sees stars while the cave ceiling spins above her.
Her ears ring. Her left eye stings from whatever warmth flows from her temple.
She hears rapid crawling, hurtling toward her again. The floor trembles against her fingertips.
It can't end like this.
She forces her body to push up.
Krrk.
"Ha… khh…"
She grits her teeth. A metallic taste spreads across her tongue.
Her vision blurs. She's not sure where the centipede is. Probably in front of her.
Kick. Roll over. Anything.
She gasps for air as the trembling intensifies. She can only breathe.
"Haaaaargh!"
CLANK
A loud impact—metal against metal—echoes in her ears after Eihard's scream.
His silhouette stands before her, outlined by the blue glow of his reinforcement magic, holding a defensive stance.
This man shouldn't be standing. Not after being trampled, thrown, slammed, and trampled again and again.
Yet he is.
"Gaaakh!"
As expected, the creature shoves him aside like nothing. Another thud against the wall as the tremors close in on her.
Lilia slams her left gauntlet into the floor, propelling herself to the right.
A sharp pain tears through her leg—one of its legs pierces her as it passes.
Then.
BOOM!
KSHIIII!
An explosion, then a shriek—from the spot where she'd just been lying.
The detonation enchantment. The only retaliation she could think of.
Another slam. The creature probably hits another wall.
She stretches her left palm toward her head.
"Heilen…"
The effect comes late. Slower than it should be.
But the lightheadedness begins to fade and her vision clears as warmth spreads across her scalp.
By the time the details sharpen enough, the centipede is already coming at her again.
KRRK!
It slams into something invisible. No—something transparent, floating in the air.
A barrier. Honeycomb panels joined together.
Rapid footsteps from her left.
A woman—golden hair, dressed in black—scoops Lilia up and drags her away.
CRACK
The barrier shatters. Its attack misses once more.
Frieda points her staff. White light begins to gather around her.
Then she stops.
"It's too quick…"
The black blur slithers across the cave wall, the ceiling—then stops at a corner.
And simply watches them.
It doesn't move. Doesn't attack.
Lilia glances left and right, searching for the familiar petite figure.
She's not around.
"Rosa… where is she? Is she okay?"
"She's handling the hermits on the other side. She asked me to—"
A deafening rumble crashes through Lilia's eardrums from the far end of the cave.
Rosa.
She twists her head toward the sound.
Only a cloud of dust, masked by the darkness.
Her jaw slackens.
"She… did she just…"
Frieda's voice trembles.
Fear. Her throat bobs as her stomach begins to sink.
A face flashes in her mind.
Garnet eyes looking at her. The determination in that face makes them seem to glow.
Then the nod. A silent exchange between them.
The fear doesn't disappear. Doesn't lessen. Not even as she takes a deep breath.
The knot in her stomach doesn't ease.
Trust. I trusted her to handle the other side. She will find a way.
She is a sharp, smart girl. She would have had everything figured out.
In fact, that mess is probably her thinking steps ahead.
She will be fine.
A smile curves across her lips. Her emerald eyes begin to sharpen.
She will come out on top. That is enough.
"I trust her. She will be back soon. So… let's hold out. Or defeat it before she comes!"
Frieda lets out a long exhale.
"...You're just like her."
Yet her voice wavers—not with mirth, but something heavier.
"Hm? You mean Rosie?"
"No."
A pause. Frieda's gaze drifts somewhere far away.
"Never mind me."
Then a sniffle.
…
"Nnnnngh! Haah… haah…"
"Khhh… Ugh…"
Rosa's grunts overlap with Lennard's.
Their bodies press against each other.
Rosa takes another step.
Then the pressure on her feet lightens as Lennard takes another step forward.
Their arms wrap around each other's shoulders.
"You don't… have to do this… I told her I'd take care of you."
Rosa pants between her words.
She takes another step.
"With those… wobbly knees of yours? We won't get anywhere like that."
Then her feet lighten again as Lennard moves forward.
"Besides… haaah… haah… You're way lighter than I thought."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
The reply comes in an instant, sharper than she intends.
Lennard averts his glance as he keeps alternating his steps with Rosa's.
She catches a glimpse of movement in his throat.
Good choice.
They keep shifting forward, now in silence.
Until she hears a crash.
The centipede pressing its open mandibles against a barrier.
Behind the barrier—Eihard and Lilia, pushing their shoulders against it to hold back the creature.
Behind them—Frieda, face tense as she points her staff. Maintaining the barrier.
"Rosa! We have to do something! The runic scroll! It can still be used, right!?"
Lennard's arm tightens around Rosa's shoulder.
"I don't have any potions left. We can infuse it directly into our bodies, but…"
Rosa's gaze drops.
"Right… you mentioned something about mana poisoning."
Rosa goes silent. Clenching her jaw once more.
It's her again. That smug grin that annoys her.
"Arrrgh! Fine! I'll just have to do it and find out, right!?"
Rosa calls out to the air.
"What are you even—"
"Doing it. Right now."
She reaches into her satchel and unfurls the scroll.
The circles glow faint and weak, barely pulsating.
Her arm unwraps from Lennard's shoulder.
He immediately stumbles against her side.
She feels his grip tighten and his weight shift away.
"I'm taking the gamble. Are you in?"
Krrk
The sound of the barrier cracking reaches her ears.
Lennard flinches. His gaze snaps toward the centipede. Then back to Rosa.
He nods.
"On three, then."
He follows.
Rosa takes a breath.
"One."
Moments later, Lennard.
"Two."
"Three!"
Both of them extend their hands to the paper.
…
"Hnnnnngh! Hold on… just a little longeeer!"
Krrk
The cracks on the barrier web wider and wider.
Lilia's muscles are screaming.
Her right arm is beating her to stop moving, to stop pressing.
Instead, she plants her feet deeper into the ground and pushes harder.
Her body punishes her. She gasps as the pain reaches a new level.
"Lilia!"
Eihard screams her name despite the streaks of blood trailing from his nostrils.
"I am… fi— Khhh!"
Sharp pain cuts through her with a throb that radiates throughout her body.
"Nope! Definitely not fine! But don't worry about me!"
Rosa… Please come soon!
"Frieda! Release! Prepare!"
The high-pitched shout she knows too well.
Another layer of barrier forms in front of the other.
A new, stronger barrier.
She slowly turns her gaze toward the source.
Rosa and Lennard, standing shoulder to shoulder as Rosa raises her glowing jade staff.
"Hehe… hahaha… I knew you made it!"
Her lips tremble.
"On it!"
Frieda's body immediately glows white, pointing her staff forward.
The innermost layer of the barrier shatters against her palm.
Yet the weight is almost nonexistent.
The centipede curls toward the opposite direction.
"As if I'd let you!"
The bald man beside Rosa steps forward with sharp eyes she has never seen before.
He limps forward. Two steps.
Then he performs some kind of dance—his movements both fast and fluid.
A man with wounds like his shouldn't be able to move like that.
"Wind Form Martial Art: Windkanone!"
The air begins to shift from his direction. Then stronger. And stronger.
FWOOOOSH