Deeper into the dense forest, where unclimbable mountains covered with snow at the very top stopped the path, there were two suspicious pine trees that were larger than the rest, with a more robust trunk to pair with it.
Where chunks of the bark were scrapped, Lila Flowcreyst places the palm of her hand on the bare surface, making the halberdier by her side wonder what was happening.
To her question, she was answered with a finger pressing onto her lips to hush her worrying mind.
Not too long after, the stripped portions of the trunk start glowing as if fluorescent resin was painted on them. In reaction, the crimson haired beastwoman moves the hood of her cloak and exposes the hairpin to the glowing light.
"Where the wind howls."
Glowing particles emerge from the mud below their feet, flowing towards the bright sunny day that had become not too long ago after fighting the
Even then, as serious as this situation was, Jae-Hwa could not hold herself back from letting a giggle escape because of the secret passage hidden like in a child's story.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing... Oh god—goddess? I— Don't worry, I will be right behind you."
Even she could not understand why it was suddenly so funny, or if she should address to Phantasmagoria from now on or not, but perhaps the contrast between the serious events occuring and the goofiness of their hideout was enough to let her relax.
Of course, however, those emotions vanished along with her smile and tears of happiness when they entered the shady cavern.
As the trees outside returned to normal, effectively locking her inside, two bulky men with scars on their body, a gorgeous woman showing too much skin and a scrawny-looking fella all looked at her.
Covered by the dark cloak and only letting two large strands of her long white hair being shown on each side of her face, luckily those inside could not see much of her to remember if they ever passed her on the streets of Carsenia.
"I never saw you before in these parts missy, are you a friend of Lila?"
One of the bulky men that looked like a body builder, having a scar that spreads all the way from his chest to his hips and an impressive shiny bald head, started the conversation with a giggle.
"Well, yes... I met her just some moments ago."
Contrary to her disposition before, she had become more calm and composed, being more careful with her words, although that was caused due to stress. After all, the last thing she wanted was to have her new 'peaceful' life to be taken away because of some thugs.
"You met her some moments ago? How can we know that is true?"
"Calm down, will you, Baron? If she was lying, I wouldn't have brought her here."
With a follow-up to the beastwoman's words, Jae-Hwa moves her hands inside the cloak, carefully removing the hairpin to show it to them while only revealing portions of her green eyes.
"This is the proof. If you don't believe it, go ask your leader."
He shouldn't be much active around them from what I could gather, so this much should be fine.
The scrawny guy stepped forward, swaying around aimlessly like an old drunk as he scratched his messy black hair with a yawn. Bringing his eyes closer to Jae-Hwa's extended hand, he adjusts his round glasses to analyze the small hairpin.
For some reason, everyone looked tense as they waited for feedback from their partner, even Lila herself.
It was comprehensible, if the swordswoman had let a complete outsider into their secret hideout, there was bound to be some sort of punishment, even the Halberdier feared how she would escape in case something of the sort happened, causing her fingers to tremble.
"It's alright, it's a real one."
Everyone sighed in relief and relaxed back to their spots as if a bomb had just been disarmed.
The mature woman with raven-black hair in the back that somehow was holding a purple knife in her hands without anyone noticing approaches them, twirling the dagger around before sheathing it in her thigh strap.
"You gave us quite a scare, Lila. I thought I trained you better than that... Mind presenting the newcomer?"
The woman, wearing the same type of revealing armor as Lila, was towering over both girls, taller than the average south-korean lady and packing quite the assets as she held the beastwoman by the chin as if to show her superiority.
It was clear, after a thorough checkup, that everyone but Jae-Hwa were residents of the dungeon. A group of assassins, no less, with no ties to the common concept of humanity and an unmeasurable amount of members.
The risks being taken outweighed the benefits of being around them, even her mental was starting to suffer every minute that passed.
"This is—" Just before Lila presented her and the rest of the members, a thought surge through her mind. Wouldn't it be bad if they knew her real name?
Think of something! This is bad, just think of a name! A name! Come on, a name—! That's it!
"—Phantom. I hope you do not mind aliases, this is too much for me right now, so I can't exactly trust you all just yet."
Embarrassment flooded her cheeks red, although no one could see, from the fact she had to borrow the fake name her contracted goddess had first used to talk with in a dream.
This surprised the crimson haired woman, on various levels. Although the excuse was believable enough for this situation, the risk still persisted as she was the only to know her real name with the leverage of revealing it to her partners in crime.
The mature woman approaches the halberdie slowly, opening her arms to give a long, very uncomfortable hug as she takes a whiff of her scent through the clothes. In return, a dangerous smell and vibe lurked in her body.
"I am Rosina, I deal in information gathering and poisons. The two muscle heads over there are Baron and Tobias, as you can imagine, they do anything with their strength. The scrawny man is Elijah, our intelligence and lock hacking one-man department."
Baron and Tobias, with scars on the same place, smiled amicably, while the Elijah simply ignored the conversation and secluded himself in his own corner.
At first glance they seem like good people that one would be comfortable to pass their time, but it was sure to have a hidden face in them, especially Rosina that seemed to be the most dangerous out of everyone.
Shortly after, the swordswoman steps forward, letting the poison master glue to her passionately, although Lila's annoyed eye twitches said otherwise.
"Even though you already know my name, I feel like a proper introduction is needed. I am Lila Flowcreyst, I also specialize in gathering information and as you've seen through my skills before, I fight on the current mid-level frontlines. For those that are tackling the third domain and beyond, I am known as Lila, the Blade Dancer."
"So you disguise yourself as a normal fighter when you're out in the wild... By the way, if the third domain is the mid-level, what domain did the high-level frontlines reach?"
Something in the crimson wolf woman's expression said with clear intent that she was not only annoyed with Rosina but also with her words.
"The fifth domain is the highest anyone has achieved for now, although they seem to be having some kind of problems. Now, come sit, I'm tired and we're not all going to be standing still having a conversation."
The women pointed to some seats carved from stone, in which they sit as comfortable as it is allowed.
Cho Jae-Hwa's chances of escaping alive and well dwindled as time progressed and she became further away from what could be an entrance.
After some minutes of chit-chat accompanied by dubious tea brewed by the poisonous lady, Jae-Hwa obtained more information, although she nearly passed out from wondering whether the tea was safe or not. Thankfully, everyone drank it, so it should be somewhat okay to ingest it.
From the information obtained, Lila Flowcreyst's curse is somewhat different from the rest of her family.
Unlike her mother's
If anyone, man or woman, dared to gaze at her eyes for even more second than the curse allows, they would become charmed and obey any and all orders she gave, but since she did not have any control over it, her golden eyes had become rose from the effects and her life was filled with darkness as she had to close them.
When the leader of the Howling Den found her on the streets, shortly after leaving her mother with the nobleman, somehow he was able to get away from her grasp and cover her eyes with the black cloth.
Even though she could not see clearly, he took her in with sweet words and trained her into seeing with more than her eyes, which caused her to obtain the skill
The other information she could harness was the most important about their group.
No one seems to know the leader's appearance, nor his age, level or skills. All they knew was that it was a hooded man that seemed very wise and knowledgeable.
From what he told his members, the clan has existed for centuries and all of the past members had died of old age. From the way they worded it, it was as if rhis mysterious man has been alive all this time, even though none believed it.
Most of the members seem random, but they were most likely hand picked as he teached each of them something particular until they mastered, even then, no one was able to take a glance at his face, much less his eyes.
Even then, they all follow his orders blindly and so far they have killed a lot of people, be it residents of the dungeon or players. Most of their assassinations were done as a job, being paid as a mercenary, while others were done by their leader's order.
"By the way, Cho— Phantom... Do you mind giving me the rare drop? It is still my mission to obtain it, so it is quite a problem if you don't give me it." Lila asks, choking on her words to accomodate the fake name.
"Ah sure... Sorry about that, I completely forgot."
Now that I think about it, it's been a while, so didn't see the loot I obtained.
Some seconds after thinking about opening her inventory and a panel basically overfilled with items appeared.
—INVENTORY————————————
Fractural Explosive x1
Slime Mucus x4
Chunk of Metal x2
Little Valkyrie Pass x1
Nanite Pickaxe x1
Bone x19
Bone Shell x6
Raw Nanite Ore x7
Raw Metal Ore x5
Skull x3
Charred Pelt x 5
Silver Pelt x2
Crest of Rage x1
———————————————————
Uwah... There's so much stuff now...
"I suppose it's this crest of rage thing, right?"
"Yes, exactly."
As she materializes the crest, a dark red brooch with a gold outline that you place on top of your clothes, Rosina whistles in surprise.
"Wow, so you were the one to take down that big wolf with anger issues. Here I thought my dear, cute student would be able to do it alone though!"
She sends flying kisses to Lila, also being her teacher in information gathering and the one who suggested her fighting style, smooching in the distance as her face is being held away by some soon-to-be annoyed claws to come out.
"Her weapon has the sacred element, so I got her help to finish it earlier, that's why, okay?" Lila retorts in frustration of her actions.
"Hmm, now I'm curious, what kind of weapon do you have?" Rosina asked, reluctantly.
"If possible, I would like to not show it."
"Oh come on, don't be so stingy! You're one of us right now, so it's fine!"
The time had come. Through their talk, she was able to understand a lot, just like their reputation that was misleading and the band of wrongdoers were just new recruits that think they have power. But that needed to come to an end... She couldn't become a criminal, she couldn't become a killer, the misunderstanding has to end before it reached a point of no return.
"What if I do not want to?" Jae-Hwa gulped her foolishness down in order to mistake herself for being brave.
"What do you mean, missy?" Tobias talks this time, apparently he and Baron are twins, not that it isn't obvious.
"In my world, being in the Howling Den would mean the same as being a criminal... And apart from everything that I could list... I don't want to kill people!"
"Pfft..!" Rosina, followed by everyone, starts laughing. "That sure is beautiful, but you are already one of us, so there isn't a way for you to leave the clan."
"Just before—" This time, Lila talks, rising the worry in the halberdier. "—You were also against us, even though you are one of us... What are you hiding?"
"I am hiding nothing... I just don't want to kill people, is it really that hard to understand!?"
As she raised her voice ever so slightly, Lila approached her face with hers, locking her in place as the beastwoman's free hand reached for the black cloth.
Seconds pass, Jae-Hwa struggling to get away from her grasp as the voluptuous woman removed her eye cover, revealing her stunning eyes that resembled rose quartz.
"Let go of me!"
"Don't worry, I will after you look at my eyes."
Even then, she was careful enough to not remove the hood and keep her identity hidden, although her hands forced the girl's eyes to open and gaze at the hypnotic charm of a curse.
As she sank deeper into it, Jae-Hwa's body relaxed until there's no more movement and her gaze remains in a trance.
Her eyes wandered aimlessly with no objective in them, dead like a fish that could only obey certain commands.
Why did I let it happen!?
Her mind, however, remained intact.
"Speak the truth. Are you really one of our allies?"
From looking to the ground, her head raised up as if she was possessed. Her lips moved with a mind of their own and her voice sounded to their ears with words she did not want to hear.
"No... I found the hairpin and... Took advantage of the situation."
As soulless as her words were, it was the truth, nicely said or not.
"You said it was real, Elijah!" Rosina shouts with fury while throwing her teacup onto the scrawny man's head. Somehow he didn't faint.
"And it is real! She must've gotten it from someone! I— I remember someone said that they lost their symbol somewhere in Carsenia, it must've been from there!"
In frustration, the beastwoman kept asking question after question to obtain more information.
"Who do you work for!? Dragonspine?"
"No. I work for myself."
This is bad, this is extremely bad... Forget fake lying skill or whatever, now that the cat's out of the bag, I need to run away! But my body won't listen...!
Please, something...
Thankfully, her real name and appearance hasn't been unconvered yet, their worries lie in other matters, but the concern is greater when she could not move even a millimeter.
"What do we now!? Master is gonna skewer us if he finds out about this!" The poison master exclaimed, to which Baron then replied.
"Then let's kill her first! If there's no body to track, then boss will definitely never find out!"
No..! Please, something has to happen, something that could save me!
In times the bullying was greater, when she was but a child, young Jae-Hwa used to pray. There wasn't any deity or religion in specific, but she prayed for a solution to come, for a miracle to happen.
Please, Goddess... Phantasmagoria, please, help me in this moment. When I am at my weakest, unable to move... Please help me!
Amidst her struggles until now, she thought she was stronger, that no matter what happened, she had learned to survive and be strong, but it seemed to exist more in the world than she had anticipated.
In her frustration, there were no tears to spare, the halberdier was just angry with herself for the mistake of pushing it further.
Although the desire to be the boss of yourself is great in normal conditions, in a world where there is death at every corner, it becomes harder to keep your ideals intact.
Even if it was to survive, she acknowledged that she should have lied and just shown her weapon or maybe even join them for a brief time before escaping from their grasp.
The difficulty of asking for help to someone who has suffered and had no need to bother with her, that was too much for her, but there was no other alternative but to hope that her prayers were heard.
Fair enough, a jingle echos in her head and a panel appears in front. Her body, that did not react to whatever she tried to do, started tearing up despite having no reason to besides happiness for her salvation.
—BLESSING—————————————
In a moment of dire need, the Eternal Widow exerts her authority in response to your heartfelt prayer.
The effect will be removed and you will not be affected for five minutes.
ADDITIONAL MESSAGE: Please do not think of it as a weakness, but as an inevitable event. Now, run.
———————————————————
With a gentle smile forming in the corners of her controlled mouth, Lila attempted one last order before resorting to kill.
"Wait a moment... Cho, join us. Become one of us."
"No."
Emotion returned to her face and life to her eyes, not long after her limbs start moving per her commands once again.
In response, Lila attempts to charm her again, resulting in the halberdier to slap her hand and make her fall to the rocky ground before materializing a cube, a
"Sorry Lila. Since you were Marni's sister, I thought that maybe we could be friends, maybe I could help you out of this life, but I guess that's not the case anymore."
Eyeing her down in a sense of superiority with her cold pale green eyes, Jae-Hwa throws the explosive cube to the trees blocking the entrance of the cave, activating on contact.
In the midst of the dust and smoke caused by the destruction, she activates
To her surprise, a group of twenty or so people dressed as knights in blue and silver were waiting outside, weapons and shields in hand. All of them looked korean in one aspect or another, so the best guess is that they were all players.
From inside, Jae-Hwa can hear Elijah shouting as she runs away. The space between the trees feels tight, the branches look sharper and more contorted, and the muddy ground was nearly endless from her vision. If she stopped, she felt like it was possible to sink in it.
"It's Dragonspine! Everyone, scatter!"
That was the last of them she could hear. Even after leaving the forest, only occasional shouts coming from what should be the knights echo from time to time.
Still filled with adrenaline and worry, Cho Jae-Hwa slowly walks to the portal, ignoring any enemy that passes around her.
—CURRENT STATS——————————
PLAYER NAME: CHO JAE-HWA // LEVEL: 6 <0/210 EXP>
BLESSING: Phantasmagoria
TITLE: Giant Slayer
HEALTH: 137/160
DAMAGE: 45 (+28) // DEFENSE: 37 (+15) // ENERGY: 11/45
WEAPON: Ceremonial Nanite Halberd
ARMOR: Reinforced Hunter's Garb
ACTIVE SKILLS:
PASSIVE SKILLS:
CREDITS: 56