Sho was the one who quickly recovered. He ran over to the two bodies lying in the ground. His heart tightened as he knew that the two were already dead. He inspected and sure enough, they weren't breathing and there was no more Energy in their Soul Avatar.
It was empty.
"What happened? Why did Evan and Zhuang die?"
Upon realizing this, his Hobbies skill passively activated, dispelling any discomfort he was feeling. Their death looks weird. They didn't have any wounds, but it looks like they also didn't die from any natural cause, not heart attack or anything. The more he inspected the body, the more he realized how weird the cause of death is.
He was not a doctor, even so, he felt the death was extremely unnatural.
*What is it?* He tried to think, but he couldn't really pinpoint the cause. He kept thinking that it might be just the case of Soul Avatar's death. But his instinct kept pointing him to something else.
"L-let's go. W-we don't know if the others w-would end up like this."
He blinked and looked at Rahmath. She was visibly scared. *Well, it's normal. Good thing she didn't throw up with this scenario. But then again, we already saw the massacre caused by Ros'Lous. Also, does Soul Avatar know how to throw up?*
"Let's go." He nodded to the woman. He was feeling that something was amiss, but he thought it could wait until they regrouped. So far, four of the nine in the group are already known to him. But five are still missing. They could suffer the same fate as Evan and Zhuang, but until they see them, he wouldn't just give up on anyone.
While walking, his mind kept drifting with the death and the feeling that something was really amiss. But Rahmath was a good companion and tried to keep both of them entertained.
He felt like she was doing that to keep them together.
"What…?" Sho blurted out after a while.
He wasn't sure what happened. The giant tree surrounding vanished. Next thing he knew, he was inside some kind of Labyrinth. Unlike the Misdirection Maze, this place was built in stone. It was a classic example of a real Maze out of the games he knew.
"Rahmath!" He looked around and heaved a sigh of relief when he saw her still near him. "I'm glad we didn't get separated."
"Naive boy." Rahmath suddenly let out an eerie smile.
Sho heart pounded. He felt that he finally connected the thing that was amiss since earlier, things his instinct kept on pointing out. However, he didn't want to accept it, that's why he unconsciously denied the fact. Something was wrong with Rahmath. Although she acted scared earlier, it made him think that it was so weird. Act. Yes. She acted too scared and unrestrained. Before, Rahmath wasn't like that. Although she gets scared, she still tries her best to prove herself useful. She didn't freely show that she's scared, afraid that people would throw her out.
And when they saw Evan and Zhuang's body, he caught a glimpse of her grim. Not because of their death, but her situation. That aside, there was another crucial piece of information, she knew that they were dead even without inspecting them. Sho only confirmed their death after inspection.
"W-what happened to you?" he tried to ask. But he felt weak. It was as if something was draining him.
"You're really weird. You're somehow matured, but also naive. What a weird combination."
As Rahmath talked, her voice was laced with a sinister tone.
Sho ignored it. He knew she was distracting him. He felt something else in his soul as his life was getting drained. Something was invading his Soul Avatar. He instead focused on himself. Soon enough, he discovered that what was getting drained out of him was his Life Force.
What is Life Force?
It was his life span. Human lives are short, at most, they could live a hundred years. One could be considered lucky if he or she reached that age. But the real average human life is around sixty to eighty. Beyond that, there would be a decline of people who could live that long.
Feeling his Life Force being drained, he felt weak. Although he didn't age as he expected, he felt his end was coming near. It was a peculiar feeling as the light of everything slowly faded away, just how his life was.
*Not good! Hobbies!* Without thinking any further, he activated the only skill he knew that might be useful right now.
Immediately after casting it, he felt the burden in his life lifted up.
Rahmath grunted in pain."Y-you!" She hissed. A surge of strong killing intent arose on her. "What did you do?!" She madly shouted as she spat out blood.
Sho immediately noticed the backlash she experienced. Soon, her human form became overshadowed by something else. It was a figure of half-human, half-bull.
"Asterion!" He blurted out. As he came to realize, every piece fit the puzzle.
It was Asterion, the one that got locked in the Labyrinth. It was the one who took over Rahmath's Soul Avatar. It also was the one who drained the life force out of Evan and Zhuang. It seems Asterion has the ability to control anyone who it fancy. While taking Rahmath's life force, it also took over Rahmath's Soul Avatar. This is the source of invasion he was feeling earlier. That's why his Hobbies skill was very effective. His Hobbies not only protects his mental fortitude, it also helps his Soul.
"Interesting. You just saw my shadow but you know me already? You humans amazes me. A being that knows everything but also doesn't know anything." The half-human, half-bull overlapped with Rahmath snickered.
Sho was immediately puzzled as to how Asterion saw human, but then he pushed that at the back of his mind not knowing if the half-man, half-bull was distracting him.
The unknown creature who was in Rahmath's body slowly walked to Sho. "His" every step was confident, as if what Sho did was nothing to him.
Sho's confidence quivered at the same time. He still felt weak from the draining of his life force. And he knew, he didn't get back any of his life force at all.
*I'm too weak… I need to get stronger…* With that thought, his resolve strengthened. If he wanted to be stronger, then he needed to overcome this huge wall in front of him. He felt all he did since the Super Phenomena started was to strive to get stronger but with little progress.
*If I can't climb the wall, then I have to make a hole to go through it!*
He didn't know where the thought came from. But he immediately thought of something.
Seeing this, Asterion stopped, frowning at Sho.
*Damn it!*