Chapter 12
The thirteen survivors stood before the mouth of the cavern’s deeper passage.
One by one, torches were lit.
Golden flames flickered to life, their glow dancing across the rough stone walls before being swallowed by the endless darkness ahead.
The air inside was colder than before.
It carried the scent of damp earth, ancient stone, and something else…
Something so old that none of them could identify it.
“We stay together,” one of the senior investigators ordered.
“No one wanders off.”
“If anyone notices anything unusual, speak immediately.”
The group silently nodded.
With weapons drawn and torches held high, they stepped into the darkness.
The passage was narrow.
In some places, only two people could walk side by side.
Jagged rocks protruded from the walls like broken teeth, forcing everyone to keep a careful distance as they advanced.
Water dripped steadily from the ceiling.
Every droplet echoed through the tunnel.
…Drip.
…Drip.
…Drip.
The sound seemed unnaturally loud.
No one spoke.
Even the smallest whisper traveled far into the darkness before slowly fading away.
Hours passed.
Or at least…
It felt like hours.
Time had become impossible to judge beneath the mountain.
Without sunlight…
Without the sky…
The world had shrunk to nothing more than flickering torchlight and endless stone.
The tunnel twisted endlessly.
Sometimes sloping downward.
Sometimes climbing upward.
Occasionally widening into broad chambers before narrowing once again into passages barely wide enough for a single person.
The silence never changed.
Not a single insect.
Not a single beast.
Not even the whisper of wind.
It was as though life itself had abandoned this place long ago.
Kyrth glanced toward one of the walls.
The stone felt strangely smooth beneath the dancing light.
Almost polished.
“…Does this look natural to anyone?”
Several investigators stopped.
One carefully ran his gloved hand across the surface.
“It shouldn’t be this smooth.”
“The forest cave looked natural.”
“This…”
He frowned.
“…doesn’t.”
Saeroyx quietly walked beside the wall.
His fingertips brushed the cold stone.
For a brief moment, he stopped.
“What is it?” Kyrth asked.
Saeroyx remained silent.
“I thought…”
He slowly withdrew his hand.
“…I felt something.”
“What kind of something?”
“I don’t know.”
He looked deeper into the tunnel.
“It disappeared.”
The group resumed walking.
The deeper they ventured…
The quieter the cave became.
Even the sound of dripping water eventually vanished.
Now…
Only footsteps echoed through the endless passage.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Every sound returned to them from somewhere ahead.
As though another group was walking in the darkness…
Keeping the exact same pace.
One investigator suddenly stopped at a sharp turn in the tunnel. When the others reached him and looked ahead, they found no proper path in front of them—only a broken stretch of rock and a narrow gap squeezed between the walls. Beyond it, the passage dropped into a very deep space below, so dark that even the torchlight could not reach the bottom. Several of them crouched to inspect the stones, and after a tense moment they realized the only way forward was to squeeze through the thin opening. The first few steps were careful, but the damp stone beneath their boots was slippery, forcing everyone to move with even greater caution.
“…Wait.”
Everyone froze.
“Did you hear that?”
Silence.
“I thought…”
He swallowed.
“…there was another pair of footsteps.”
No one answered.
Because…
They had all heard them.
For several long moments, nobody dared to move.
Then one of the team leaders took a cautious step forward.
Only his own footsteps echoed back.
Nothing else.
The uneasy silence lingered as the expedition continued.
No one realized that they had instinctively begun walking closer together.
The torches flickered violently for a moment before calming once again.
Kyrth adjusted his grip on his weapon.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that the darkness ahead wasn’t empty.
It simply hadn’t revealed what it was hiding yet.
And somewhere far beyond the reach of their torchlight…
Something ancient listened to the sound of thirteen beating hearts.
The passage narrowed even further.
The investigators moved one after another, their shoulders brushing against the cold stone as they carefully squeezed through the gap. To their right stood the cave wall.
To their left…
Nothing.
Only an endless abyss swallowed by darkness.
No one could see the bottom.
Even when one investigator tossed a loose stone into the chasm, they waited…
And waited…
No sound of impact ever returned.
“…Don’t look down,” someone whispered.
“As if we can see anything.”
The group advanced with painstaking care.
Each step had to be tested before their weight shifted forward.
The damp stone was treacherous beneath their boots.
Water continuously dripped from above, making the narrow ledge increasingly slippery.
The torchlight danced wildly against the walls, throwing distorted shadows into the abyss.
Kyrth walked only half a step behind Saeroyx.
“Careful.”
“I am.”
“You said that yesterday.”
“And I survived.”
“Barely.”
Saeroyx smiled over his shoulder.
“See? You’re worrying about me again.”
“I’m worrying about everyone.”
“Liar.”
Before Kyrth could respond—
Crack.
A sharp sound echoed beneath their feet.
Saeroyx’s smile vanished.
The stone beneath his right foot crumbled without warning.
His balance shifted.
For one terrifying second…
He remained suspended between falling and standing.
Then the ledge gave way.
“Saeroyx!”
His body disappeared over the edge.
Instinct took over.
Without thinking, Kyrth lunged forward.
His hand caught Saeroyx’s wrist.
The sudden force slammed Kyrth against the edge of the cliff.
For an instant…
They held.
Saeroyx dangled above the endless darkness while Kyrth desperately clung to the remaining rock with one hand.
“Hold on!” someone shouted.
Several investigators rushed toward them.
But the ledge…
Was collapsing.
Fresh cracks raced through the stone beneath Kyrth.
“Kyrth!”
“Let go of the edge!” Saeroyx shouted.
“I’m not letting go of you.”
More rock broke away.
The investigators reached out.
They were too far.
“Kyrth!”
The remaining stone shattered.
Both of them plunged into the darkness.
“NO!”
The cry echoed endlessly through the cavern.
Torchlight quickly disappeared above them.
The surviving investigators rushed to the edge.
Nothing.
Only an unfathomable black void.
One investigator dropped another stone.
Again…
No sound returned.
A heavy silence settled over the group.
“…They’re gone.”
“No…”
Another investigator clenched his fists.
“We can’t even climb down.”
“There isn’t a path.”
“There isn’t a bottom.”
The team leader stared into the abyss for several long moments before closing his eyes.
“…We move forward.”
Someone looked at him in disbelief.
“We’re leaving them?”
“If we stay here…”
His voice grew heavy.
“We’ll lose more people.”
No one argued.
With grief weighing on every step, the remaining investigators reluctantly continued into the darkness, leaving the endless chasm behind.
Cold wind howled past them.
Kyrth tightened his grip around Saeroyx’s arm as they continued to fall.
The darkness swallowed everything.
There was no ground.
No walls.
Only the terrifying sensation of endless descent.
“…Damn it…”
Kyrth reached beneath his cloak with his free hand.
His fingers found a small object hanging from a chain around his neck.
A Star Door Relic.
One of the rarest treasures ever created.
His master had once told him…
“Never use this unless your life leaves you no other choice.”
Without hesitation…
Kyrth crushed the relic in his palm.
A brilliant silver light erupted around them.
Ancient symbols unfolded in the air like countless glowing doors opening one after another.
The falling wind vanished.
The light wrapped itself around both of them.
For a heartbeat…
Time itself seemed to slow.
Then—
The two were violently pulled away from the endless abyss.
The light shattered into thousands of glittering fragments before hurling them toward solid ground somewhere deep beneath the mountain.
They struck the stone floor hard, rolling several meters before finally coming to a stop.
Silence.
The relic had protected them from certain death…
But its price was immense.
The silver light faded from Kyrth’s body.
His vision blurred.
Every ounce of strength left him at once.
He turned his head slightly toward Saeroyx, just enough to see that he was alive.
A faint smile crossed his lips.
“…Good…”
The word barely escaped him.
Then darkness claimed his consciousness.
And the ancient cavern fell silent once more.
The silence that followed was almost unbearable.
Saeroyx lay motionless for several long seconds, his ears still ringing from the impact.
A dull ache spread through his body, but compared to the fall they had survived…
He considered himself fortunate.
He slowly opened his eyes.
The cavern around him was enormous.
Towering pillars of black stone disappeared into darkness overhead, while strange blue crystals embedded within the walls cast a faint glow across the chamber.
There was no sign of the endless abyss.
No sign of the investigators above.
Only silence.
“…Kyrth.”
He immediately pushed himself upright.
A sharp pain shot through his shoulder, but he ignored it.
Several steps away…
Kyrth lay unconscious on the cold stone floor.
His sword had landed nearby.
His cloak was torn almost beyond recognition.
Blood stained several places across his clothing where jagged rocks had scraped him during the fall.
Saeroyx hurried to his side and carefully knelt beside him.
“Kyrth.”
No response.
He gently rested two fingers against Kyrth’s neck.
A steady pulse.
He quietly exhaled.
“Good…”
Only then did he begin examining the injuries properly.
Most of the wounds were shallow cuts along his arms and back.
Bruises had already begun darkening beneath his clothes.
One shoulder had taken the worst of the impact.
His breathing remained steady, but his body was burning through its remaining strength trying to recover.
Saeroyx reached into Kyrth’s travel bag.
Thankfully…
The medical supplies had survived the fall.
“I’m sorry.”
His voice was barely above a whisper.
“This might hurt later.”
Working as carefully as he could, Saeroyx loosened the damaged outer layers of Kyrth’s clothing to reach the injuries hidden beneath. Torn fabric had become stuck to several cuts, and peeling it away without care would only reopen the wounds.
He patiently cleaned each injury with fresh water before applying crushed medicinal herbs and wrapping clean bandages around the deeper cuts.
His movements were slow.
Careful.
Surprisingly practiced.
Whenever Kyrth instinctively flinched despite being unconscious, Saeroyx paused for a moment before continuing more gently.
After nearly half an hour…
The worst injuries had finally been treated.
Saeroyx draped a clean cloak over Kyrth to keep him warm before quietly standing.
Only then did he truly look around.
The chamber was far larger than he had first realized.
Ancient stone columns stretched into darkness.
Fragments of broken statues lay scattered across the floor beneath centuries of dust.
The walls bore countless strange carvings worn almost smooth by time.
None resembled any language he had ever seen.
“…Where are we?”
His voice echoed through the chamber.
No answer came.
He walked a careful circle around the area where Kyrth rested.
No footprints.
No bones.
No signs that anyone had entered this place for countless years.
A narrow stream flowed silently along one side of the chamber.
Fresh water.
Nearby, dry pieces of ancient wood—perhaps carried here long ago—still remained usable enough for a small fire.
Saeroyx gathered what he could.
He built a modest camp near the stone wall, where the wind was weakest.
A small fire crackled to life, pushing back the cold that lingered within the chamber.
He filled a waterskin from the underground stream.
Then he returned to Kyrth’s side.
The unconscious investigator hadn’t moved.
Saeroyx quietly adjusted the folded cloak beneath Kyrth’s head to make him more comfortable before sitting beside him.
“I suppose…”
He looked into the endless darkness surrounding their tiny camp.
“…it’s just the two of us now.”
The fire crackled softly.
Its warm light illuminated only a small circle around them.
Everything beyond remained hidden beneath ancient darkness.
Somewhere far beyond the reach of the flames…
Something watched the lonely camp.
Patiently.
Silently.
Without revealing its presence.
