After the text flooded her mind, Mithra gained a unique miracle.
["Remnant Night": An Eternal Night miracle. A special Godly miracle fixed in the eyes. Upon activation, it reveals hidden rifts in the darkness, allowing passage to the world you seek.]
She silently moved to a secluded area and activated the miracle.
Since her eyes hadn't achieved Unified Sense, she couldn't normally activate miracles, but Anderet seemed to have directly imprinted this miracle onto her eyes, allowing her to bypass that requirement.
In her dark, unlit eyes, tiny sparks flickered, eventually forming a black hole pattern that tore apart the sun, moon, and star symbols.
Was this a Darkness Faith Totem?
No, not quite.
In Gross Town, Mithra had seen Darkness patterns used by the Night Hunters church, but those patterns were against a backdrop of "stars," not a "black hole," and the sun, moon, and star symbols weren't torn apart.
The information also indicated this wasn't a "Darkness miracle," but an "Eternal Night miracle," hinting at possible differences.
As she pondered, her vision changed, as if a twilight filter had been placed over her eyes. Everything seemed dim; the sunlight was muted.
After adjusting to this new vision, she looked around.
It seemed to be just a filter. Normally, it would just adjust the atmosphere. She didn't see any unusual effects yet.
But its true effect manifested when Mithra looked towards the back of the Xyrin energy point. A dark blue rift appeared in her vision.
Mithra blinked, then deactivated "Remnant Night."
With the twilight filter gone, the rift vanished as well.
Mithra approached the back of the pillar. There was nothing where she had seen the rift, and she couldn't touch anything.
After a moment's thought, Mithra grabbed a nearby guard. "Do you see anything here?"
The guard looked at her suspiciously, then at the area she indicated. "What are you talking about?"
"Sorry to bother you," Mithra said, shaking her head and ignoring him.
The guard, confused, left.
He'd heard from his colleagues that this Enchanting Land citizen was a bit strange. It seemed they weren't wrong.
Mithra reactivated "Remnant Night." When the rift reappeared, she reached towards it without hesitation. As her hand touched it, the rift widened slightly, pulling her in.
Before she could react, darkness enveloped her.
...
She opened her eyes, but it was still dark.
So dark that she could only make out vague shapes, almost as if she were blind.
After trying to use her vision, she gave up and tried using her other senses. Although Lebaance's regeneration had enhanced her senses, she lacked professional training in non-visual perception.
Basic usage was fine, but prolonged, detailed perception proved challenging.
Eternal Night was even darker than she had anticipated.
She looked up but could see nothing above her.
She explored her surroundings but couldn't find anything.
A light breeze touched her skin. She smelled a faint, clean scent, something other than the stench of decay and blood. Then she heard various noises.
Although she couldn't see, her other senses told her that the world was bustling.
She activated Stabilize.
Ding.
Mithra noticed that the light from her miracle activation was also obscured in Eternal Night.
Suddenly, a loud sound approached.
"Oh, welcome. You're quick," Mithra said flatly.
A dull thud. Then she raised her left hand and unleashed Burning, creating a ball of flame that illuminated the area.
In the light, she saw a faceless creature, similar to the cursed creatures in Gross Town, but without eye sockets, only a gaping maw.
She grabbed the creature by the neck and slammed it to the ground. After using Burning to incinerate it, before she could do anything else…
A series of growls and shrieks echoed from the surroundings.
A cacophony of sounds—a stampede—washed over her as countless creatures charged towards her!
The light had attracted them!
Although Mithra had anticipated that any light source would stand out in the near-total darkness, she hadn't initially considered using a light source.
But that didn't mean she would avoid all risks; she still instinctively wanted to see what she was dealing with.
The light's effect in this world seemed far greater than she had predicted!
Swish!
Activating Reinforce Body, she twisted the incinerated creature's neck, leaving the torch behind and extinguishing the flame on her hand. She turned and ran.
Thud!
An obstacle...
After activating Stabilize, Mithra cautiously felt her way along the wall.
Quickly, a large mass of indistinct creatures swarmed the remains of the incinerated monster, frenziedly attacking the embers, tearing it to shreds.
They didn't calm down even after the flames died out. The cacophony of sounds made Mithra's ears ache.
Thud!
She bumped into something again.
This time, however, she didn't hit a cold wall, but something warm and fleshy – a living creature.
"Roar!" A growl echoed nearby, accompanied by a stench.
Bang!
Another thud, but this time it was Mithra swinging her hammer. Although she couldn't see, the sound was loud enough to locate her target.
After a single blow, the growling stopped.
Suddenly, a tentacle-like tongue emerged from beneath Mithra's clothing and probed forward.
"Hungry... eat..." a heavy voice echoed in Mithra's mind.
"It seems this is your automatic feeding mechanism," Mithra touched the gash that had opened in her chest.
More tongues emerged, gathering food.
Suddenly, something approached.
Mithra felt a sharp pain.
It seemed the feeding tongues were under attack!
"Ugh... hungry... hurt..."
"Hunger trumps pain," Mithra forcefully retracted the tongues.
The maw's senses were largely connected to Mithra's own, including hunger and pain.
Unseen creatures charged towards her.
Mithra, still focused on her maw, was caught off guard and swarmed by what looked like many small, long limbs—some kind of insect.
The creatures pinned Mithra, and a sharp object pierced her abdomen.
An excruciating pain shot through her stomach. It felt like her intestines were being violently churned in a washing machine.
Rip!
Then she felt her abdomen empty, something being pulled from within.
"You really want my intestines," Mithra said, cold sweat dripping down her face, a twisted smile on her lips.
Four swords quickly pierced the creature pinning her.
The creature shrieked and fell. Mithra kicked it away, stood up, and searched for her intestines.
She found some fleshy material, presumably her intestines. She stuffed it back inside. If it was impure, her maw would deal with it.
"Huh? Why did you steal my intestines?"
"...Hungry..."
Rip!
"Ugh...tongues..."
"Next time, don't eat my food without permission. I'll eat your tongue in return, understand?"
"...Understand...hungry..."