Observing the room from the outside, Ruby's eyes sparkled with excitement. Just as she was about to leap into the room to inspect them, Julius grabbed her hand and stopped her.
"Wait." He said.
With a cold smile, she looked down at his hand holding hers before asking. "What?"
"Those runes, they'll activate if you step on them." Julius responded before letting go of Ruby's hand and sticking his head into the room. "If that happens, you'll be teleported."
He looked around the room. Except for the runes, there was nothing else to see there.
"The girl I'm after disappeared after stepping into a similar room. Chances are, she was teleported somewhere. The runes are probably the only way to escape this repetitive maze… the problem is where they might lead to." Julius explained.
'Judging by how Ava didn't return, it's one-way.'
"Ah… truly. As exciting as it sounds, it's risky. We have no way of knowing where we'll end up. We could get teleported into a void, or the inside of a wall and die painful deaths." Said Ruby as she glanced at him, still smiling. "It's a gamble, but that risk isn't going to stop you, is it?"
Julius averted his eyes before stepping into the room.
"If you already know the answer to it, don't ask."
Ruby leapt in immediately after, grabbing onto Julius as she did so.
"Wha-"
Before Julius could say anything, they disappeared without a trace.
-
-
-
Julius's eyes snapped open. A familiar sight greeted him. A small cubic well preserved room made out of stones.
"Oh~ looks like it worked perfectly." Said Ruby as she looked around..
Despite looking similar, this room was different from the previous one. There was no longer a teleportation runes beneath them, nor was there a hole that they had created in the wall.
Julius frowned at the beautiful black-haired girl smiling beside him.
"Weren't you the one that said it was a risk?" Julius asked. "Why risk your life to follow me?"
"Risk my life? Don't be silly. As if something like teleportation going wrong is enough to kill me."
"..."
Julius let out a sigh and looked away. When he did so, he noticed it.
Behind them, was a single doorway led to a staircase that descended downward. However, that wasn't what caught his attention.
It was the carving was on the wall beside the doorway. Two letters which read AV.
Julius approached it and inspected it from up close.
"Av, short for Ava… she was here."
His eyes glimmered, without wasting any time, he hurriedly walked through the doorway and descended down the staircase.
There was only enough room for two people at most side by side on the path with the staircase. Stone walls surrounded it.
Ruby watched as Julius rushed down the stairs whilst holding on tightly to Lyra.
'He's anxious… his heart rate is increasing. She must be someone really important to him.' She thought to herself as her ears twitched.
Vampires possessed far greater senses than humans. There was a lot she could tell from observing someone.
"Hey, can I ask you something?" Ruby asked while effortlessly maintaining the distance of a few steps behind him.
"What is it?" Julius responded, annoyed by how long it was taking them to reach the bottom of the staircase.
Despite his rapid descent, the bottom was nowhere in sight. Just how long was this staircase?
"Why go so far to save them? Risking your life and such."
Ruby's eyes remained glued to Julius, never drifting away. On the other hand, Julius remained silent for a few seconds before responding.
"...Because they saved me."
Her head cocked to the side.
"They saved you?"
"..Yeah."
-Memory.
"Damn it… damn it… why… why wont it let me die…!? Even after I came all the way here!"
Julius sat in the middle of a bloodbath surrounded by collapsed buildings, tears streamed down his face as he hung his head.
He was covered in blood, but it wasn't his. It belonged to the corpses of the many different monsters around him. Not a single one was able to injure him.
In fact, even the knife he held in his hand that he had tried to use on himself had been broken into smaller pieces.
"It won't stop killing me in the nightmares so why…!?"
-
On the way back, Julius's mind drifted. His feet were unsteady and he felt light-headed. The journey back was a blur.
Before he knew it, he had arrived home. Oddly enough, In spite of being covered in blood, he made it back without any injuries.
His appearance had obviously attracted unwanted attention, as those walking by stared at him but Julius didn't care.
'What's the point…? What's the point of living if every night I'll go through hell-'
The sound of the door opening interrupted his thoughts and he was startled by a sudden surprised yell.
"Eh!? Julius!? What happened to you!?" Lyra asked, as she hastily checked him for any injuries. "Ava! Bring the medkit!" Yelled Lyra as she hurried him inside.
When Ava heard Lyra's scream, she fled from her room holding her sword and medical kit. Her long midnight blue hair fluttered against the wind as she rushed towards them.
The two women checked Julius' body for injuries, and in response Julius slowly raised his head. The moment he saw their faces, his pupils dilated.
Worry and fear, such were the expressions that they harboured. Lyra was panicking, her hands trembled anxiously as she searched for Injuries
Even Ava, who usually kept a poker face and was expressionless, had a tense nervous expression as she helped.
It had never occurred to him, just how much it would hurt them if he were to die. Just how much they cared about him.
'I'm sure that taking care of someone like me has been nothing but trouble… so why…?'
Before he even realised it, tears started streaming down his face.
"A-Ava, he's crying! I don't see any injuries on him… But what's with all this blood?"
"The blood isn't his but he might have some internal injuries. L-Let's take him to a doctor."
Seeing the two freaking out over something so minor, shook his heart even more.
"Sorry… I'm sorry… Lyra… Ava… I'll never do it again…"
-Memory End.
"...'It was thanks to them that I found the strength to live, that I could make it through the torment and anguish… that's why no matter what happens, I'll save her."
Ruby was speechless.
Despite still smiling, she couldn't help but whisper with a sorrowful look on her face. "How nice…"
In his focus on what was ahead, Julius hadn't heard it. The light at the bottom of the staircase was finally becoming visible to him.
"We're almost there."
Ruby followed quietly behind Julius as he increased his pace. It wasn't long before they reached the bottom.
Upon stepping through the doorway at the bottom, Julius felt cold chills rush through him. It was freezing cold throughout the vast room before him.
The sight left them awestruck.
It was a ginormous cave-like room with an arena at the centre. A bridge connected the bottom of the staircase to the arena.
In addition, there was a second bridge connecting to an open gate leading outside on the other side of the arena.
'So that's the source of this cold…'
The area outside was covered in snow with even more snow falling through the open gate.
Julius crossed the bridge and Ruby followed after him. Despite swaying, it seemed to be stable. A large dark pit was below them however, so there was no telling what would happen if they fell.
While trembling from the cold, Julius glanced back at Ruby. Unlike him, she looked completely unaffected.
'Is it because she's a Vampire? Also, is it just me or has she gotten a little quiet?'
Something seemed to be bothering her, but now wasn't the time to lower their guards so he decided that he would ask later.
When they stepped onto the arena, they immediately noticed the bloodbath.
The arena's top was covered in blood, and chunks of flesh and organs were scattered around.
The monster's corpse was so badly cut up that it was unrecognizable. Aside from the fact that it was huge, it was impossible to tell what it was.
"I'm guessing this was this floor's boss… Looks like Ava was able to beat it." Julius muttered as he let out a sigh of relief while walking over the monsters organs as he crossed the arena.
Upon seeing a piece of the monster's corpse, Ruby stopped following Julius for a moment.
"This will do…" She whispered as she crouched down beside it, stretching her hand out towards it.
[Necromancy Manipulation: Undead Gather.]
Immediately, her shadow drew the corpse piece in. After that, she hurried over to Julius, who was already halfway across the second bridge.
By the time she caught up, they were near the Gate's entrance. Just before he crossed it, Julius froze.
Across the large patch of snow outside, there was a trail of red blood. The blood was completely different from that of the monster that was killed.
"Smells like the blood of a human… hasn't been too long since it happened either-"
A desperate expression adorned Julius' face as he dashed after the blood trail before Ruby could finish.