"Little Girl, do you want to live?"
A cold yet gentle voice snapped Ayane from her stupor. Calmly collected herself, Ayane began processing whatever happened before her eyes.
First thing, she, who is supposed to be dead, wake up alone in a cold and damp chamber, chained to the rocky wall behind her. The room is very cramped and suffocating, with one or two torches lighten up only a little corner of the room. Ayane assumed this is not the only room due to several cries, and she could faintly hear a wailing sound. She was never the type who believe in supernatural entities like ghosts or apparition, but the situation she was in made her reconsider her view of things.
In front of her stood a woman with straight and long platinum hair that hung to her waist neatly tied up in a ponytail. The flickering light of the torches that touch upon her head made her platinum hair shine brightly exuded a cold and lofty aura that seemed as if she were demanding all others stay at least a thousand miles away.
Her eyes were even more captivating. A crimson-colored pupil that glint slightly like cat eyes in the dark made it look like the moon was dyed red by her enemies' blood. Her gaze was sharp like a sword that can slice you into thousand pieces, yet gentle like a mother who happily embraces all of her children. There was also a shade of sadness and grieved contained in those eyes, make it feel mysterious.
Her face was round and smooth without any wrinkle on her skin. Her pinky lips accentuated her beauty even without any trace of a smile on her expressionless face. For a brief second, her beloved Kotone's face seems to overlap with the woman's face made it hard for Ayane to stare hard.
Her body can only be described as a masterpiece sculpture with a well-proportionate buxom and bottom, adding a perfect curve to her small waist. Ayane's previous life might not have the biggest breast out there, but it cannot be said small. And yet, when compared to the woman stood in front of her, she might be lost 10 in 10 occasions.
'Sure, heaven is unfair.' Kotone honestly thought. Even Kotone, who rarely cares about her appearance, can't help feel envy for the woman's beauty.
Satisfied by her observation, Ayane thought back to the crux of the problem she now faced. The last thing she remembers before she opened her eyes was she was supposed to be dead. But, here she is, still alive and kicking, and the woman in front of her was very much real. Although, her body seems to shrink back to the size of a child.
Akane back to her previous thought about ending up in Hell but quickly disposed of the thought. There's no way such a heavenly beauty lives in Hell, right?
So, if this was not Hell, where on earth is this place?
Akane's brain began to speed up think of an answer.
Suddenly, a clear voice interrupts her thoughts.
"Do you want to live?"
The woman asked the same question once again with a more pressing tone. Akane felt she should reply to the question and asked the woman several things to clear up her confusion.
However, before she could give a reply, her consciousness suddenly weaken. The only way she can answer the question was to give a little nod before duly passed out.
…
..
.
Selena POV:
This is the third base of Dark Syndicate that I discovered this month. Their activity has been increased recently, more and more people suffer due to their actions.
Their act of robbery, slavery and illegal smuggler really make me sick.
They are nothing but bandits that need to be erased so the world can get a little bit safer; that's what I think.
But, sadly, not everyone agrees with my view.
Most of the noble secretly think of their existence as if it natural for the Dark Syndicate is a necessary evil, not they openly said so. One that exists to be a just cause that unifies people to prevent internal fighting among the human race.
Aria's Church inaction makes it more frustrating. There was even some rumor out there that higher-ups of the church were involved behind the scene.
The Church, of course, denies this accusation and firmly stated that the one who spread the rumor was a criminal or demon who wanted to break up the human race.
This overreaction itself is kind of strange. If they did no wrong, there is no need to be so aggressive, isn't it?
I shake my head. Maybe, I am overthinking a little bit. Aria's church has always promoted peace and security to the continent. There's no way that such a just institution is involved in this shady organization.
After my head clears up a bit, I shift my focus to the entrance of a cave, 200 m in front of me.
There are only two black-robed men guard the cave. Rather lackluster, considering I had attacked at least two of their base in just a month.
Is this bait or a diversion? I need to increase my guard up.
From their physic, I can tell both of them are Dark Mage, a mage that excels in Dark Magic, like curse and poison.
They are not a threat if you face them head-on, especially for me, a Sword Saint, who has a bigger advantage in close combat. But they can be very troublesome if given initiative in battle.
So I quickly dashed to their position and gave them no chance to react. With two swift slashes, I disabled them before they even see my face.
Done with the two-guard, I continue to move inside the cave.
Against my expectation, there is no other guard inside the cave.
There I've found some corpse with disfigure body and there are some people whose in their death door.
I can feel the horror in their eyes that begged me to end their suffering.
I grit my teeth and give them the peace they deserved.
Continue exploring the cave, hoping to find survivors, I slowly walked from one cell to another.
Further inside, I found that the victim here was the result of some kind of experiment. The body laid here looks abnormally deformed.
One body of a man had a horn-like protruded from its forehead. Other corpses had their nail elongated and sharp like a claw.
One of the beastmen corpses is so gruesomely patched like a broken doll. It looks like whoever did this sick thing tried to patch several limbs of another race to its body.
'What is the name of Aria they tried to do here?!!'
'What did they do to deserve this?!'
'Had I arrive earlier, can they still be saved?!'
I feel my mood worsen and spiraling into self-blame.
I tried to force myself to calm down and continued to search another cell.
Not long, I reached the deepest part of the cave.
My body was shocked a bit when I see a little girl's body chained to the wall. Her skin was pale, but I couldn't find any wound on them.
Seeing the little girl opened her eyes, I couldn't keep my composure and hastily approached her to free her from her chain shackled her limb.
Suddenly, I stopped after my eyes lock into her dead fish eyes. It looks like her soul has already left long ago.
But, I can't shake my feeling that there was still stubbornness radiating from those very same eyes and heard her murmur a little. It can't help to keep my hope up for successfully save this little girl.
"Little girl, do you want to live?"
I decided to ask. I don't know why but my voice seems a little bit too cold, hopefully, its not give her the wrong impression.
The little girl then looks at me like she is observing precious art. From my hair to my eyes, then my lips. From my head to my toe.
'What the hell is this girl doing?!'
'Is there something wrong with my body? or is there something wrong with her head?'
'Maybe they do something to her head!!'
I screamed inwardly and kept my face straight so it won't show up even if I am a little panicky.
Her gaze wandering on my body like she was determined to explore my body nook and crannies with those dead eye fish.
My body felt giddy, and a little bit of blood rush into my ear made it redden. It's a bit uncomfortable, but I decided to let it go. She might not trust me just yet, and maybe she can finally relax when she realized that I was not a threat.
When I saw the little girl once more falling into her thoughts, I asked the same question again.
"Do you want to live?"
The little girl looks at me. From her expression, I knew she has come to a decision.
Before I heard any answer from her, the little girl's body suddenly went limp looks like she was going to pass out.
While I'm still shocked by the sudden reaction, I saw her nodding her head and finally fell unconscious. Harden my resolve, I pick her up and bring her out of the cave.
Finally reaching the outside, I realized that the guard's dead bodies were gone, and only traces of blood remain.
Immediately felt something wrong, my awareness alerts me to keep looking around for potential threats. But how many times I try to search there was no sign of presence nearby.
I cannot make any sense of this situation.
First, a lack of guard in this base. The second, a proof that several people were abducted for some kind of experiment. Last, this little girl was kept in the cave without any wound found on her body.
There's more going on here. Something more insidious and terrifying.
Lacking any concrete information, I decided to ignore it for now and departed to where my little apprentice and I live.