The shadow creature, which Thomas kept insisting on calling a shadowloper, attacked several times as they got closer to their goal, but they managed to break free from the assault each time.
The trio eventually reached a dark cavernous opening in a cliff face that had been partially obscured by large boulders to prevent it from being seen from a distance, but it was simply too big to be hidden.
Thomas looked down at the pair of compasses and paced left and right, watching the needle points move in unison.
“Not only is the source of the rift inside this cave, but so is our missing student~”
“He may no longer be alive. His was missing for over a month now, and his location hasn’t moved at all on our way here, unlike the source.” Captain Reeves shook his head with a sorrowful expression. “We should prepare for the fact he is no longer alive.”
“Be a bit more optimistic~ Time does not flow statically within these kinds of realms, especially before the gate opened and the two worlds synchronized.”
“What do you know about the intricacies of such a realm, huh?”
“I can feel it~”
“…”
“Stop bickering and let’s just go in,” Senna spoke icily and led the way into the den, eating a few shortbread biscuits with cream on them as if she was on a casual stroll.
Inside the cavern was a stunning array blue and white luminescent moss that grew in long endless rivers along the walls and ceiling. Tiny crimson flowers that were beautiful to look at also out of the sharp nooks of the rocks along the floor and lower section of the wall. They gave a strange sensation however, as if they were watching the group and following them with their gazes.
Whilst the cave was formed naturally, it could still be seen that it had been expanded in size unnaturally if the gouges out of the walls were anything to go by.
“Watch your step~” Thomas joked as he carefully stepped to avoid the flowers, as if damaging them would cause a disastrous outcome.
Senna didn’t really care for the environment, but she easily avoided them with her steps while Anthony Reeves took the easy method of standing on his sword and flying above the ground altogether.
After a couple twists in the passage, ignoring the smaller branches that broke off into other areas, the trio reached a large cavern with a crystal clear body of water off to the side.
Large stalagmites hung from the ceiling which had the luminescent moss growing over it, even displaying the third, green colored moss that released speckled of motes of luminescent dust that floated about the cavern and would drive above the water before eventually hitting the surface and sinking into the unknown depths.
The fresh water and moss did little to cover the foul stench that pervaded every corner of the cavern. It was a stench of rot, bodily fluids and filth that defiled the nostrils and filled one with a sense nausea that couldn’t be ignored.
Among the rocky, dry side of the cavern, old cracked bones and beast pelts were strewn about. There was even old and rotten meat lingering around what could only be described as old blood stains. This waste that was discarded and never cleaned was half the cause of the stench
In the center of that mess was a boy around 13 or 14 years old. His clothes were torn and blood stained, and there was clear bite wounds and puncture holes in his dirty skin. His cheeks had sunken in and his limbs appeared shriveled, but he was definitely still alive.
“Great! I told you he would still be alive! Trust in the instincts of a detective.”
“Your instincts are defective,” Senna rolled her eyes and begun scanning the cavern. “Where is the source of the rift? Don’t tell me it is the boy himself.”
“Nope~ It’s nearby, but not in the same location as the boy.”
Thomas followed the compass given by his ‘supervisor’, Captain Reeves, as he strolled through the cavern without any sense of danger, simply making sure he didn’t step on any of the crimson flowers.
“It should be around here, the compass is just spinning in circles…” He stated whilst circling the spot and inspecting the ground. “Perhaps it’s buried here?”
“Idiot! Above you!”
Senna shouted just as a black silhouette launched itself from the ceiling directly above Thomas in ambush. The demi-fallen fae didn’t stand and wait though, instead launching herself through the air and intercepting the attacker with a violent palm thrust.
The creature managed to bring its arms before it and absorb some of the force behind the fae girl’s attack, but it was still blown away, bouncing off the ground several times before crashing into the wall of the cavern and sending a vibration the released a large plume of green light-producing dust from the moss on the stalagmites.
“A human?” Anthony Reeves commented in confusion as he watched what appeared to be human standing up from the ground after taking seemingly no damage from Senna’s attack.
He covered the girl with his spiritual sense and furrowed his brow in thought.”
The girl had the appearance that could be anywhere from her late teens to early twenties, she wore beast skins to cover her body, but it did little to conceal her explosive figure that most men would desire.
She stood bare foot, with unblemished skin that didn’t look like she had ever been in a fight before.
Thomas and Senna recognized her instantly as Laurie Hudson, the girl who went missing and was supposedly killed by a former teacher of the school three decades ago. She was also the girl who appeared on the other side of the rift and seemingly activated it with a touch.
Also, the compass tuned to the power source of the rift was pointing directly at her.
“Human?” Thomas rose his brow at the cultivator’s question. “She is only partially human, or she was. She is a-”
“SKRIIIIIEEEE!!!!!”
Laurie opened her mouth, revealing razor sharp and clearly inhuman teeth meant for tearing meat, and released a threatening screech so loud everyone’s ears rang. Even Adrian Nikolic, lying unconscious off to the side, instinctively released a whimpering groan.
She leaned forward before dashing towards Senna in a zig-zagged pattern with such a terrifying speed that she appeared to be only a shadow. Anthony tried to pin her down with his flying swords, but she moved faster than the swords and was agile enough to dodge them.
“Die.”
Senna stated one word coldly as she infused her body with such an amount of mana that the motes of luminescent dust in the air burnt up as blue sparks arced between them. The fae girl charged forth even faster than Laurie was moving, shattering the ground beneath her feet and sending the nearby Thomas tumbling from losing his balance.
Laurie was cunning.
She never intended to compete against Senna in terms of brute strength. Before they could even clash, a deadly spike made from shadows erupted from the ground and caught the Fae girl in the chest.
“She’s the shadowloper!” Thomas cried out in surprise, but his tone was filled with excitement.
This shadow spike was countless times faster and sturdier than the ones that had attacked them up until now. The force from the Senna colliding with it at breakneck speed was so enormous that the cavern shook violently.
It managed to pierce through her arachne thread shirt and even managed to pierce her skin. It stopped there however, unable to dig deeper.
Senna’s face was still distorted in pain as she was short of breath. It was also the first time someone had managed to break her skin and draw blood in years, further enraging her.
Laurie had a puzzled expression as she watched, unable to comprehend how that attack didn’t fully pierce through the fae girl and take her life. It was a fatal attack she had used many times that would use a monster’s absurd speed and strength against themselves.
The girl couldn’t stand still though, as a flurry of flying swords attacked her from every direction. She flipped around and dodged them, kicking aside or jumping off those that she couldn’t dodge with her bare feet. She rapidly closed the distance between herself and the cultivator and attacked with her bare fists and razor sharp nails.
“You want to compete against a cultivator in martial arts? Are you stupid?”
Captain Reeve’s fists were like mountains. Laurie stucks towards his eyes, neck and chest, but he diverted her attacks so she struck empty air before planting his first strike in her sternum. She tried to use her feet and teeth, fighting like an animal purely on instinct, but it proved pointless in the face of his martial arts.
“Try my Eight-Mountains Fist Art.”
A cold and merciless statement, before his fists struck her jaw, neck and countless times on her torso, each strike leaving a deep fist imprint on her body.
“KIII!!!!!!!”
Laurie cried out and retreated, but Anthony pointed two fingers and shot out a bolt of lightning that drained almost half of his qi reserve, sending her tumbling as smoke rose from her body. He then dodged as his own shadow came alive and attacked him from behind, an attack surely timed for when someone drops their guard the most.
‘She is like rubber… Despite all that, her internals are still undamaged and she has actually taken very little damage. How annoying. Speaking of which, what is that arsehole doing? Where is he?’ Anthony Reeves thought to himself before scanning the cavern looking for Thomas.
The ‘arsehole’ was quickly found sitting on a rock off to the side holding up a score card he pulled out from who knows where. Just beside him was the unconscious Adrian Nikolic who had been unceremoniously laid face down on a large boulder.
[ 7.5/10 ]
If the scorecard wasn’t enough, he even gave a thumbs up as soon as Captain Reeves looked in his direction, resulting in the latter’s expression darkening dangerously in irritation.
Senna had regained her breath and her crimson pupils glowed like a pair of hot coals at night. She attacked Laurie with animalistic brutality.
The shadows came more and more alive, attacking both Senna and Anthony with increasing frequency. Laurie herself fought hand to hand with Senna, but couldn’t hold a candle to the latter’s strength and was constantly on the defensive. She also had to constantly dodge the attacks from Captain Reeves, but he did not fight well in sync with Senna, so it limited the amount of attacks the girl had to deal with.
Laurie was far from being out of tricks though.
She allowed Senna to get closer and land a blow on her shoulder, shattering the joint and sending her arm flying.
“^~~~~~~~!!!!”
In exchange for an arm, she opened her mouth and released a high pitch ultrasonic sound burst that shook the air. Senna already had extremely heightened senses, and this attack was launched directly in her face.
The beautiful demi-fallen fae girl’s vision span as her senses screamed in her head. She also couldn’t control of her mana and lost her sense of balance. Laurie wasn’t done there, spraying a burst of highly corrosive acid from her mouth directly into Senna’s face before kicking her away.
Senna, with all her senses disoriented, and a head covered in highly corrosive acid, flew directly into the center of the lake in the cavern before sinking into the depths.
[ 2/10 ]
Off to the side, Thomas updated his score board and shook his head in disappointment.
Captain Reeves was still an the assault, constantly causing the now one-armed girl to freeze with his spiritual qi and trying to decapitate her with his sword. She seemed to have an endless stamina however, constantly breaking free from his imprisonment and dodging within a hair’s breadth.
Just as he was dodging his own shadow and swung his sword across at her neck from hear armless side, this time certain of his strike landing, he felt as if a hammer hit him in the side of the waist.
From beneath Laurie’s animal skin clothing, a long scaly tail unravelled and stabbed the cultivator in his side. To make matters worse, it also released a rather peculiar neurotoxin.
‘Indeed, she really is a succubus,’ Thomas thought to himself with a wry grin on his face.
He also changed the score for the cultivator to a [ 4/10 ] for letting such an attack hit and incapacitate him.
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