Syras and Edward walked through the narrowing stone path that led into the heart of the village. The deeper they went, the quieter everything became, until Edward finally spoke again.
"When they scanned your Neba earlier… it wasn't just to remember you," he said.
Syras glanced over, brow raised. "Then what for?"
Edward exhaled, his voice low. "To check if you were healthy. Completely healthy."
"I don't get it."
Edward stopped walking. "The labyrinth isn't just filled with Hollows. There's something else. A disease. The people here call it Morvain." He looked around before continuing, almost as if the word itself carried weight.
"It's not really a disease, it's a creature. A parasite. It consumes everything it touches. A single drop of it… could wipe this entire village out. That's why they're so heavily guarded. They can't afford a single mistake."
Syras opened his mouth to ask another
question But then they heard something. Thudding footsteps and shouts.
A group of guards rushed toward them from the far end of the path.
"Go hide!" one of them barked. "Code Black! Code Black!"
Syras stiffened. "What the hell is Code Black?!"
Edward's expression turned grim. "Shit… It means the Morvain's inside the village. And it's spreading."
Suddenly, something crashed into a building ahead of them. Stone and dust erupted into the air as a massive support pillar shattered with a deafening groan. Screams followed, echoing, overlapping, as villagers scattered like ants.
Geroes' body lay twisted in the rubble. His eyes. gone. Hollow sockets bled black as mushroom like growths pulsed from his chest and shoulders. Dozens of tiny mouths gnashed and chewed at his own flesh, consuming him while he still twitched.
Edward stepped back, his face pale. "Geroe…"
Syras couldn't speak. Couldn't breathe. They both began to back away, slowly, because something else was coming through the smoke
Morvain lunged through the dust-choked air, its many arms writhing with unnatural speed. Human hands, misshapen and jointed in all the wrong places, clawed at the ground.
Legs, some large, some child-sized—stomped and skittered in every direction. Mouths lined with rotting teeth gnashed wildly, and half-formed heads screamed in voices that no longer belonged to anyone.
The Morvain slammed into a fleeing villager. The man didn't even have time to scream. The moment he touched the creature's skin, his body sank in, bones crushed, limbs shredded and sucked into the mass.
Blood sprayed as bits of spine and fingers flung through the air like broken twigs.
Syras stumbled back, eyes wide, gagging at the sheer gore.
"W-What the hell is that?!"
Edward grabbed his arm, dragging him down a side corridor as more screams echoed behind them. "You can't touch it," he said, voice tight.
"How can we even fight that thing if we can't even touch it?!"
"Only fire can destroy it."
"Fire?"
"Yeah, Fire type of Neba. It's the only thing that works."
They ducked beneath a stone archway as the Morvain roared behind them, flesh dragging across stone, still hungry.
"But there's a problem," Edward continued, panting. "In this trial… we're not allowed to use Neba outside our own bodies. So the only way to kill it…"
Syras looked at him. "Shit."
Edward nodded grimly. "The fire type neba user has to touch it. They have to push the fire inside it. Burn it from within. It'll hurt them, sometimes kill them if we are lucky, but that's the only way."
"Damn it…" Syras muttered.
"Come on. We need to get to the Black Pillar. That's where the Explorers are based, and there's someone there with a fire-type Neba."
They ran past shuttering doors and locked iron grates. Only the fighters remained in the streets now, swords drawn, hands glowing with flickers of desperate Neba.
"As you know, there are many Neba natures in the world, fire, water, ice, earth, lightning, and more. Each one reflects the user's soul."
"Even though fire type of neba is most common…"
He glanced over his shoulder.
"The trial only allows one fire-type to exist here at a time. Makes it harder for us to survive. Makes sure we stay desperate."
They turned a corner, And the Black Pillar came into view, looming like a grave marker in the middle of the village.
The Morvain let out a shriek, a hundred voices overlapping, human and inhuman, as it slammed through another support pillar.
The stone cracked and crashed down, crushing people as they fled. One massive chunk of debris shot through the air like a boulder.
"Look out!" Edward shouted.
Syras threw himself aside just in time. The rock slammed into the ground where he'd stood, sending sharp stone shards in every direction.
The creature didn't stop. It was growing, more limbs, more mouths, more size, every time it absorbed someone, its body expanded in hideous, twitching waves.
Edward gritted his teeth. "Damn it… my Neba's useless like this."
"I can make neba portals," Edward said, pulling Syras forward. "But i have to spread neba for it. In other words, my ability is completely useless here."
They reached the base of the Black Pillar, where the Explorers were already preparing.
Their bodies were fully covered, faces masked, eyes behind tinted lenses. Thick cloaks, gloves, even scarves, they were dressed like people braving a plague.
"Quick, take this." Edward and Syras grabbed spare gear from a supply rack, suiting up.
Omen burst through the door, his long coat trailing behind him. Without a word, he grabbed the black mask, wrapped himself in the same layered gear, and joined them.
Syras looked at him, confused. "Who the hell is he?"
Edward answered while strapping on armor. "Omen. He got here two days ago. Killed the last village leader, Retyu, and took command."
"What?!"
"He was simply luckier, too lucky."
"Where is she?" Omen growled.
One of the masked Explorers replied, "Not here sir. She hasn't returned."
Omen cursed beneath his breath. "Search the whole village. Take three people with you."
Three masked figures darted off instantly.
Omen turned to the others. "Everyone else with me. We hold the monster back until she arrives."
Syras hesitated for only a moment as Omen led the charge out into the street, and the Morvain turned its gaze.
The beast lunged, a sprawl of hands and faces, mouth wide, flailing.
The Explorers scattered, each moving with precise steps to dodge. The Morvain smashed down, crushing a stone house in one swipe, but the Explorers moved like shadows, cloaks flaring, weapons raised but unused.
They didn't fight. It's not like they could damage the monster.
"Stay back!" Edward shouted to Syras. "It's too risky until she shows up!"
Another massive blow from the Morvain cracked the ground open. Its body now bigger than a house, pulsating, twitching, full of wet, fused bodies and shrieking mouths. Still growing.
Suddenly, a sonic crack echoed across the village, followed by a violent shockwave that knocked dust into the air.
The Morvain staggered, its massive, blighted form smashed down into the ground, a crater forming beneath it. Rubble flew in all directions as even the Explorers were forced to brace themselves.
Standing above the creature, smoke curling around her silhouette. A woman.
Clad in black, her armor layered like a flame-wrapped shadow. Her face was completely hidden, just like the others, but her presence was unmistakable.
She held a long black sword, glowing faintly at the edges, and lowered it slowly toward the twitching remains of the creature's body.
Edward grinned beneath his mask.
"There she is," he said.