The underground city stretched wide before me, its streets winding like veins beneath a sky that wasn't a sky at all. Above, galaxies swirled—stars pulsing, nebulas shifting, a vast, endless cosmos trapped beneath the earth. My boots struck the stone with each desperate step, my breath coming fast, heart pounding in my ears.
Ahead of me, she ran. The vampire. The woman I had encountered in the dungeon. Her tanned form weaved effortlessly through the narrow paths, her tattered clothing rustling with each step. While my chest burned with exertion, she moved with an unsettling amount of carelessness, practically skipping along the stone.
She glanced back. A wide grin split her face, fangs glinting, her blood-red eyes shimmering with amusement. My own face twisted in tension, but she looked as if this was all a game.
Shouts rang behind us. The guards were closing in.
We darted through the city, slipping between figures of residential Gloomtaurs, their hulking forms draped in layers of dark cloth and jagged armor. They watched us, their glowing eyes tracking our every move, but they did not interfere. The vampire twisted through the crowd like water flowing downhill, and I followed, barely keeping pace.
The stone streets soon broke into uneven ground, and suddenly, we were running through a patch of grass—lush, green, swaying in the faint wind of the underground world. A prairie, hidden beneath the surface.
I turned. The soldiers were still coming. A pack of Gloomtaur warriors, their weapons forming in their hands—blades, spears, axes, all born from writhing darkness. They did not slow. They would not stop.
Then, suddenly, the vampire did.
She spun on her heel, winked, and then the earth shifted beneath us.
The ground roared as it rose, lifting us higher, higher—toward the galaxy above. The stars and swirling lights split apart, revealing dirt, rock, roots. The city fell away below as the tunnel formed itself upward, the walls shifting and settling as we ascended.
Then—light.
We broke through to the surface.
Dense foliage surrounded us, trees packed so thick the sky above was nothing but slivers of blue through a canopy of green. I barely had time to catch my breath before I felt hands on me.
Fangs sank into my neck.
I flinched. A sharp sting, followed by warmth. However, I did not resist.
The vampire drank deeply. I felt it—the pull, the slow drain—but something else stirred within her.
With each swallow, something grew from her back.
Wings. Massive, leathery bat wings, unfolding, stretching outward like banners of shadow.
And then—movement.
Shapes flickered in the trees. Shadows came alive, forming into figures. They had features, but glowing dark red eyes. They stepped forward, conjuring weapons made of shadows in an instant.
The vampire lifted her head from my neck, blood on her lips, a smirk in place.
"Bye-bye."
She grabbed me under my arms, and then we were moving.
No—flying.
We shot upward, breaking through the branches, and bursting into the open air. The summer sky greeted us, bright and endless. The vampire inhaled deeply, savoring the wind, the sun, the freedom.
I made the mistake of looking down.
The world stretched far, far below. The trees had become nothing but a sea of green, the underground city lost beneath it. My stomach lurched.
The vampire placed her head on my shoulder, glancing at me from aside, her grin widening.
"Let's go, Miss Aubessec."
We shot forward, and I screamed with terror as we darted through the air.
…
(Present Day)
The morning light filtered through the trees, casting long shadows over the forest. Around a blazing bonfire, Ophelia sat with her usual composed expression, her sharp eyes scanning the gathered members of her group. The air carried the scent of damp earth and burning wood, smoke piling into the atmosphere, but all attention was on her as she spoke.
"We are not going to move from this place for a few days."
Murmurs immediately broke out. The decision was unexpected. They had been pressing forward with little rest, and staying in one place for too long was a risk. Voices rose in question—why stop now? What was the reasoning? Some voiced concerns about supplies, others about safety.
Ophelia let them speak before she continued, her tone unwavering.
"I need Tridra to explore our surroundings without heading farther south. Stay within the middle circle of this forest."
Tridra, standing with her arms crossed, furrowed her brows. "My Lady, how do I know where the boundaries are?"
Ophelia met her gaze. "You will not. The layers blend seamlessly, but if you feel as though the monsters you encounter are too weak, head back in the opposite direction. It is going to be a painstaking process, but you need to find a dense part of the forest. It must be so dense that you can hardly move around it without traversing through the branches. Once you find it, let me know."
Tridra gave a firm nod. No hesitation, no further questions. She understood the task. Without another word, she turned on her heel and strode toward her supplies, gathering a few rations before disappearing into the wilds.
But the others did not move as quickly. The lingering questions remained, their uncertainty thick in the air.
Ophelia, rather than retreating to her cart, exhaled slowly before addressing them.
"I need to find the base of the Gloomtaurs."
A shift in the atmosphere. The mention of the threats that had been stalking them the past couple of days sent a ripple of discomfort through the gathered knights and workers alike. A few exchanged wary glances, while others frowned outright.
One of the Holy Knights, the man with the battle axe, narrowed his eyes. "My apologies, My Lady, if this comes off as rude, but, why would we need to do that?"
Ophelia clasped her hands together. "Over the past few days, I have been thinking. We struggled against the weakest bandit troupe in these mountains. The weakest." Her gaze swept across them. "If we could barely handle them, then we have no chance against the remaining bandit groups without more manpower."
Another knight, arms folded, asked, "Why even take them out? We could just avoid them. This seems like an unnecessary risk."
Ophelia didn't hesitate. "If I want to rule over the southern border, I cannot have pests threatening me from behind. That alone is reason enough." Her tone remained calm, but there was no room for argument. "And besides, I have no doubt that the remaining bandit troupes are already aware of our presence. They see us as a threat. They will attempt to eradicate us. That is inevitable. We need to fight them while we still have the chance."
Silence followed her words. Some of the knights looked at each other, giving each other wary glances before their expression sank into one of understanding. The workers, on the other hand, were not as quick to accept it.
"Can't we just talk to them first?" one of them asked, adjusting the strap of his belt. "You have a way with words, Duchess Aubessec. Maybe there's a diplomatic way to settle this before we start killing each other."
Before Ophelia could answer, Edwin—one of the few who had already heard her reasoning—spoke up. "It's not possible." He leaned forward, resting his arms on his knees. "Not in this situation. You have to understand—these bandits don't work like a single army. They serve under their so-called 'Bandit Kings,' and those kings are always looking for the first excuse to stab each other in the back. They're untrustworthy, and if we tried to keep them around, all we'd be doing is inviting a war inside our own ranks. There's bound to be inner conflict if they don't stab us in the back first."
A few of the workers grimaced at the bluntness of his words, but none of them had a real argument against it.
Ophelia nodded in agreement. "This is not a situation where diplomacy will succeed. If we leave them be, we give them time to strike first."
No one spoke after that. Even those who had doubts seemed to understand that the decision had already been made.
Ophelia scanned the faces around her, then gave a simple nod. "That is all. You know what to do. Meeting dismissed."
With that, she turned and walked away, stepping back into her cart and closing the door behind her.
As night soon came, a fire crackled in the center of camp, casting flickering shadows across the gathered group. The scent of roasted meat and simmering broth lingered in the air as the Holy Knights and workers enjoyed their evening meal, voices rising in friendly banter and lighthearted conversation. Laughter occasionally broke through the chatter, the tension of the past few days easing, if only for the moment.
When Ophelia finally stepped out of her cart, heads turned. Everybody stood up and greeted her with a bow before returning to their conversations. Slowly, she walked, settling down beside Alexandra, who gave her a small peck on the cheek before letting her join the circle naturally.
The fire crackled in the center of camp, casting flickering shadows across the gathered group. The scent of spiced stew lingered in the cool night air as the workers and Holy Knights relaxed after a long day.
One of the knights, a broad-shouldered man wielding a battle axe, leaned forward, gesturing animatedly as he recounted a close call from earlier in the week. "I swear, that beast nearly took my arm clean off. If Edwin hadn't stepped in when he did—"
"Yeah, yeah," Edwin interrupted with a smirk, leaning back against a log, arms crossed behind his head. "You'd be feeding it instead of eating this stew. A little gratitude wouldn't hurt, you know."
The axe-wielding knight scoffed. "I'll be grateful when you stop boasting about it. Might actually lose my arm just from hearing you talk so much."
A few of the knights chuckled, while one of the workers nearby, a wiry man with a scar across his cheek, grinned. "If we're talking about close calls, you should've seen Harnes the other day. A snake the size of my arm slithered into his tent, and he screamed like a dying pig."
The worker groaned, rubbing his wrinkled forehead as the others burst into laughter. "I thought it was a demon, alright? Forgive me for not wanting to be eaten in my sleep."
"By a snake?" another worker teased, nudging him with an elbow. "What, did you think it was going to sprout wings and drag you off into the abyss?"
"Could have!" The man huffed, crossing his arms. "For all I knew, it was some cursed beast from the south!"
The laughter carried on, a mix of lighthearted jabs and exaggerated retellings of past scares. Even the more serious knights cracked a few smiles, some shaking their heads at the workers' dramatics.
Amidst the noise, Ophelia remained quiet, sitting beside Alexandra, her expression unreadable. When the laughter died down for a brief moment, she placed her empty wooden bowl on the grass in front of her before asking…
"Have any of you ever encountered a demon?"
Silence.
For just a beat, the only sounds were the crackling fire and the distant chirping of insects. Then, murmurs spread through the group.
The Holy Knights were the first to respond. One, a man sharpening his longsword, scoffed without looking up. "No, but if I did, I'd kill it without a second thought. There's no reason to let something like that walk free."
Another knight, adjusting the straps of his pants, nodded in agreement. "They're pure evil. No exceptions. Everyone knows that."
Another one hesitated before adding, "I've heard stories, though. About knights who went looking for demons but never came back. Not because they were killed, but because they… changed. Became something else. Looked as if they had lost their souls, I heard."
Edwin beside him snorted. "Don't start with the ghost stories, man. You sound like the workers."
One of the workers, a lanky man with a patchy beard, leaned back and shook his head. "Never seen one, and I hope I never do. If I did, I'd be running so fast I'd leave my boots behind."
"Forget running," another worker chimed in with a grin. "I'd probably piss my pants first." That earned a round of chuckles from his companions, some nodding in agreement.
"I don't know," a burly woman, arms folded over her chest, said thoughtfully. "If a demon showed up, I'd like to think I'd go down swinging. No way I'd let some monster take me out without a fight."
"You?" another worker snickered. "You screamed at a giant moth last week."
"That thing flew at my face," she shot back. "Completely different situation."
The banter continued, voices overlapping as the knights and workers argued over who would fight and who would flee, trading exaggerated bravado and self-deprecating jokes. And through it all, Ophelia remained still, her face a mask of neutrality as she listened to them react to one another.
Then, in the middle of the chatter, Alexandra turned to her, her voice cutting through the laughter like a blade.
"Have you?"
The fire crackled. The voices faded. All eyes turned to Ophelia.
She didn't move, didn't flinch. That same expressionless mask remained, betraying nothing. Then, without a word, she stood up and walked away, her steps quiet against the grass.
A lingering silence hung over the camp as glances were exchanged. Some workers whispered, asking each other if they had said something wrong. The Holy Knights looked more perplexed than concerned, though a few seemed to reconsider their words.
Alexandra sighed, rubbing the back of her neck before settling the whispers with an easy shift in tone. "Hey, anyways. Good work today, guys."
Just like that, the tension eased, however, Edwin and Alexandra couldn't help but glance at each other, feeling something was off with that question.
As the camp settled into a quiet lull, four Holy Knights took their positions for the night watch, their armor faintly glinting in the moonlight. The rest of the group had retreated into their tents and carts, the air thick with the remnants of burned wood and distant chirps of nocturnal creatures.
Alexandra stepped into Ophelia's cart, the familiar scent of parchment and aged wood greeting her. She expected to find Ophelia sitting on her couch, lost in her endless planning. Instead, she was lying on that same couch, one arm draped over her stomach, her eyes staring at nothing in particular.
That was unusual.
Alexandra hesitated for a moment before taking a seat on the very edge of the couch beside her. "You okay? What was up with that question earlier?"
Ophelia let out a slow sigh, her gaze still fixed on the ceiling. "There are many constants in this world. Pi. The Golden Ratio. Runes. However, there are also opinionated constants among species. One of them is the belief that demons are evil and the gods are good. Correct?"
Alexandra's brow furrowed slightly before she smirked. "Golden… ratio? I'm not very good with math, sorry," she chuckled, her tone lighthearted.
Ophelia turned her head slightly, her voice level. "But you do believe that demons are evil and the gods are good, right?"
Alexandra barely gave it a thought, the same easygoing smile still on her face. "Of course. I mean, why wouldn't I? Doesn't everybody believe that?"
Ophelia studied her for a moment before replying, "What if I were to tell you there is no evil, nor is there good? That both demons and gods are equal amongst each other in terms of an unbiased perspective?"
Alexandra chuckled again, shaking her head. "Okay, that's enough, babe. Get some rest."
Ophelia exhaled softly, sinking further into the couch. Without hesitation, Alexandra curled up beside her, resting her head against Ophelia's shoulder.
As the quiet settled in around them, Ophelia's thoughts drifted.
'It is incredible how deeply ingrained this common belief is. They did an incredible job at brainwashing the world even till now,' she sighed once more, closing her eyes. 'This is going to be troublesome.'
However, things weren't going to be as troublesome as she had initially believed… unfortunately.
The next morning, a single panel appeared in front of her, causing her to frown so much that she couldn't help but grit her teeth.
.
[A few stats have changed]
[Interpersonal Intelligence: 12 → 11]
.
'So this is what it meant by me losing my emotional connections over time…'
She glanced downward at the still-sleeping Alexandra. Her eyes stopped. She placed her hand over her heart and gritted her teeth once more.
"Just as I thought. It knows what I am planning... and this system is not here to help me…" Ophelia muttered, glancing across the room, and seeing a shadow of her old self standing there, unmoving. "... it wants me to return to my old self."
She soon exited the cart and as she stared outside, watching all of the Workers and Holy Knights rise from their slumbers, she thought to herself.
'However... it is about time we start preparing for a siege.'