Previously: Left alone, Liz heads to the second floor of the treatment center to search for a secret entrance.
“Okay, I need to hurry and search the second floor.”
Liz, left alone in the ruler’s mansion, placed her foot on the stairs and looked up.
She couldn’t find an entrance to the basement on the first floor.
That means, if there is something, it must be on the second floor.
With each step she took, the stairs creaked with a kiiii sound. It was as if no one had set foot here in years.
“I don’t think that’s possible, but…”
If that were the case, what was the woman Gaion said he saw on the second floor?
One step. One step. For some reason, the chills grew stronger with each step she ascended.
She felt like she was being pushed back by a freezing, cold pressure.
“You’re saying, don’t underestimate me.”
Liz continued to lift her feet, resisting the heavy, cold air.
And finally, she reached the second floor.
“What the heck is this?”
Liz looked around and was speechless.
Pitch black.
The space on the second floor was as dark as concentrated ink, and she couldn’t see anything.
The chills were strong, and her back teeth chattered.
She felt no sign of people, or even living things.
It was just a space dominated by a freezing, cold darkness and a silence close to nothingness.
“Ugh…”
She felt her breathing getting faster.
A primal sense of aversion.
An overwhelming sense of fear.
The scent of death clung to her body.
A black miasma, even stronger than the abyss in the basement, was swirling here.
“Just what happened here…?”
Liz groaned.
She was scared.
Her instincts were telling her to turn back immediately.
Even so, Liz desperately straightened her knees, which were about to buckle.
In the underworld, appearances are everything. If she retreated in fear, she would lose everything.
Her vision was still blocked by darkness, but she seemed to be in a hallway. She slowly moved forward, placing her hand on the cold wall.
It seemed there were several rooms along the hallway.
“Is anyone there?”
Of course, there was no reply.
Liz pushed open the door of the nearest room.
It was even darker inside. A somewhat musty smell rose up.
She moved forward, touching the wall, but tripped over something. When she touched it, it felt like a rough, cane-shaped object.
There seemed to be various other things scattered around.
A storage room, perhaps?
As she proceeded carefully, she found something on the back wall that felt like a frame. From the feel of it, it seemed to be a picture.
However, because it was so dark, she couldn’t see what was depicted.
“…”
Liz hesitated for a moment, then decided to take the picture down. It might be a portrait of the ruler. Knowing the opponent’s face in advance could give her a slight advantage.
Since it was dark and she couldn’t see anything, she decided to leave the room and head for the stairs. There should be some light there.
“This is…”
Her eyes were still blurry from the sudden exposure to light. However, the picture didn’t seem to be a portrait, but rather depicted multiple people. It was also quite old.
She squinted at it, but couldn’t tell which one was the ruler. On the far right, there was a beautiful, languid woman in black robes—
“Don’t touch that.”
“Huh?”
A chilling, cold voice echoed from behind.
When she turned around, something like a white human figure grazed the edge of her vision.
“Who!”
Could it be the woman Gaion saw on the second floor?
Liz placed the picture on the floor and chased after the shadow.
The shadow disappeared into a room at the end of the hallway. She immediately followed and jumped in, but it was pitch black here too.
And, for some reason, there was no sign of anyone.
“What the heck is going on…!”
Liz raised her voice in a show of bravado towards the freezing darkness.
But—
Pichon.
“…Huh?”
There was a sound.
Pichon.
Pichon.
It was as if something was dripping—
“W-wait a minute…”
Hesitantly, Liz lifted her gaze.
Slowly, she looked up, and there it was.
In the eternal darkness, a pure white face was peering down upside down from the ceiling. A red liquid dripped from the corner of its mouth, falling to the floor with a potari sound.
Its eyes suddenly opened wide.
“Sho-uld-I-Not-A-ven-ge-Thi-s-Gru-d-ge?”
“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaah—!”
Meanwhile, Lily and Zenos, who had joined up, were heading to the treatment center at a brisk pace.
“So, what’s the condition of the person Ringa brought in who collapsed?”
“It’s a young woman. I imitated Zenos and did a simple examination, but her breathing and pulse seem fine. Her pupillary reflex seemed normal too.”
“And yet she’s not regaining consciousness?”
“Yeah…”
Zenos gently patted Lily’s shoulder as she nodded anxiously.
“Let’s take a look. The treatment center is just over there.”
The two arrived at their home and pushed open the door.
“This is the person…”
Following Lily, he saw a woman with purple hair lying on the bed in the examination room. Her long bangs covered her face, but her white eyes were visible through the gaps.
“Huh, were her eyes rolled back like that…?”
As Lily tilted her head, Zenos did a quick examination.
“This is…!”
“Huh, is it serious after all?”
Zenos said calmly to the anxious Lily.
“No… she just fainted.”
A/N: “Thi-s-Gru-d-ge”