The crimson eye rotated in its socket as it peered through the crack. Then, it looked at the humans-- pausing at each of them. The owner of the eye retracted its gaze and stuck its hands through the crack again to try to widen the gap. However, the edges of the crack did not budge.
Fulton was waiting eagerly for the arrival of the new lord. However, he was confused when he saw that the crack in space could not accommodate the lord's entrance.
The spell was supposed to create a dimensional rift that connected Earth to the Zetearoph homeworld. The lords of the other world will arrive in this world through the dimensional rift. In addition, the Crimson Gloom-- crimson light from the Crimson Abyss was an important goal to achieve from the opening of dimensional rifts.
Fulton grabbed his head and moaned when he realized the reason for the incomplete spell. It was supposed to be cast at night when the moon was out. Instead, the spell was cast in the day.
'Damn it!' Fulton cursed.
The incomplete rift will eventually collapse if it was left the way it was. The writings in the scroll were too complicated and it did not tell him much. Scribbles in the common language were all over the scroll, describing the ritual. Annotations above and beside the written passages detailed the pronunciations of the Old Language.
Unfortunately, none of the scribbles and annotations held any clue to fix his current problem.
Fulton ran his fingers through his hair and glanced around his surroundings. It was then that he noticed the strange stillness in the air and the people around him.
Then, a thought struck him: he would restart the ritual with the blood from other humans. He just had to find a way to draw their blood.
Fulton grinned malevolently and hurried back into the shack.
A low and deep growl escaped the creature from inside the dimensional rift. Although it was merely a crack, the Crimson Gloom leaked out and shone over the forest inhabitants within a twenty feet radius. Living things that were sensitive to magic energy were affected by the light.
Yu stared at the spectacle in front of him, dazed. His eyes were locked with the crimson eye from inside the rift. Crimson light reflected off his dark, grey eyes. He walked forward slowly towards the source of the light like how a moth was attracted to light. His consciousness was sucked into an unknown place and he did not have any control over his body.
Almost all living creatures were affected by the light and were dazed. However, there were exceptions. People who had lower magic energy sensitivity and those who had the training to protect themselves against such intense magical fluctuations were generally unaffected.
Among the people who had such training was Edward. However, he was oblivious to the fluctuations and had his full attention on Elise, frantically reviving her. Even after many resuscitations, he could not get his daughter to start breathing again. He blew air repeatedly through her mouth and pleaded for her to wake up.
'No… no… no!' This one word repeated over and over again in his head while his heart sank further.
Edward could not afford to lose Elise, not after his wife. The image of his dying wife from thirteen years ago overlapped with his daughter. The feeling of helplessness from back then gripped him once more.
After attempting to revive Elise for the umpteenth time, he sat slumped on the ground. His chest felt tight and a lump formed in the back of his throat. Tears threatened to spill out from the base of his eyes. His trembling hand gently caressed her cheek while the other held her limp hand.
"No," Edward whispered.
"Not this time," he said, his words fueled with mettle. There was a slim chance, but still a chance, nevertheless.
Edward gripped Elise's hand and closed his eyes. He focused on his breath and the minuscule magic energy within him.
'Ytrea, please help me once more,' he pleaded in his heart.
He combed through his entire being to search for the almost non-existent magic energy inside him. His eyebrows furrowed in frustration as he strained his mental strength to collect the remaining energy accumulated from over the years.
It was difficult to collect his magic energy since he had used the majority of it on Yu the other day.
Finally, the scarce magic energy within him converged together and formed a thin stream. It flowed from him into Elise through their connected hands. As more of the energy left Edward and flowed into Elise, his face turned paler while Elise's face slowly returned to its rosy color.
Edward shook from the exertion when Elise finally gasped and coughed as her lungs sucked in the air greedily. Her eyes snapped open. The first thing that she saw was her father's pale and teary face.
Edward pulled her into a tight embrace and rejoiced-- his tears streamed down his face.
"Oh, thank you, Ytrea!" Edward exclaimed tearfully as the weight from worry and despair left his shoulders.
Elise, still dazed, wondered why her father looked the way he was. She had never seen her father with that expression. She blinked her eyes a few times and returned her father's embrace.
Edward released his daughter and cupped Elise's face in his hands. His eyes were wrought with concern.
"Are you alright? Are you hurting anywhere?" he asked.
Elise frowned as she recalled what had happened before she lost consciousness. She remembered the suffocating feeling as her chest was slowly crushed. After taking a few deep breaths, Elise decided that she was unhurt albeit some aches in her chest.
Elised smiled weakly and shook her head. She did not want to worry her father.
"You're not feeling alright?" Edward was alarmed.
Elise shook her head quickly. It seemed that her father had misunderstood her.
"I'm alright, father. I don't feel hurt," she said, her voice slightly coarse. Her body was still weak although she was alert.
Edward sighed with relief again. He reexamined his daughter to make sure that she was really fine. Only then did he look around their surroundings.
The hairs on the back of his neck tingled when he realized that the area was bathed in a crimson light. He clutched Elise closer to his chest.
Edward could feel that the ominous energy from the crimson light was interfering with the living things in the forest. The energy permeated through his body and swirled in its depths, agitating his mind. If not for his experience in regulating his own senses, he would have succumbed to the effects.
"Father, what's wrong?" Elise asked after seeing her father's sudden change in expression.
Edward breathed heavily and did not respond to Elise's question immediately. He tried recalling any instances of similar energies from his memory.
"Father, what is that thing?" Gino dragged a huge greatsword and limped over to Edward's side. He pointed towards the crack in space.
Gino had coincidently fallen near Greysen's greatsword when the liana monster had let go of them. He then picked it up and dragged it along like it was the most natural thing to do.
He plopped down beside Elise and looked at her meaningfully. Gino had witnessed the whole scene where Edward was frantically reviving his sister. He had a terrible scare, but seeing her up and alert, he was visibly relieved.
However, their current condition was far from ideal. They were stuck in an unstable situation. Gino hoped that his father may provide them with an explanation and lead them towards safety.
Edward, who had his back facing the dimensional rift, turned around when he heard Gino. What he saw was something mentioned only in history. He recognized the significance of the rifts from his previous occupation although this was his first time seeing it.
A chill went down his spine as he was struck with fear and uncertainty. He knew that the rift had to be closed. However, he did not know how. Edward currently was only a regular village healer, unlike the former mage that he was years ago. Furthermore, he did not have the knowledge to close the rift.
Edward sat there with his children, pondering over their options. He decided that they had no other choice but to leave. In the corner of his heart, however, he felt that he was missing something. He started to get up when he saw a figure walking directly towards the rift in space.
"Wait, is that Yu? What's he doing?" Gino wondered. He noticed Yu almost the same time as Edward.
"Yu?" Elise peered past her father and squinted against the crimson light.
'What's happening?' Edward thought and looked around.
He was preoccupied with the dimensional rift before that he failed to realize the situation of the others.
Edward saw that the huge liana monster was still-- its branches on the ground as if prostrating towards the being from the other side of the rift.
Cenric was frozen in spot. He was struggling against the energy intruding his body. Greysen laid unconscious on the ground from the bad fall.
Meanwhile, Fulton rummaged through his stash of ancient scrolls. He was looking for a spell that utilized Wood Element to control the giant liana monster. If the plan succeeded, he would be able to collect the blood needed to extend the dimensional rift.
During this time, the monster behind the dimensional rift did not sit still. It was trying very hard to squeeze through the small rift. It growled and snarled as it got increasingly frustrated. Finally, it could not hold back its anger anymore and unleashed a dense wave of its energy.
Alarm bells went off in Edward's mind. He rushed towards Yu.
"Father!" Elise called out in surprise.
"Eugene, take Elise and get away from here! I'll get Yu!"
Gino nodded and helped Elise up.
Yu, who was in a blank state, was suddenly assaulted by the dense energy. His vision suddenly turned crimson as ethereal wailings pierced his head. He clutched his head and screamed in pain. He felt that the insides of his head were slowly twisted apart.
With his teeth tightly clenched, Yu knelt on the ground as he shook in pain. The energy from the Crimson Gloom permeated through him and was slowly changing the composition of his body. Unbeknownst to him, the leather collar he wore was tightening around his neck.
"Yu! Hey, can you hear me? Snap out of it!" Edward grabbed Yu by his shoulders and shook him hard.
Edward slapped Yu hard in the face as the latter did not hear him the first time. If the first slap did not do the trick, then the third slap did.
Yu felt his cheeks stinging and blinked his bleary eyes to clear the haze in his mind. The energy from the other dimension that oppressed him lifted when he broke eye contact with the crimson eye.