Chapter 75

My brain went on strike for a moment, unable to accept reality.

But that didn’t last long.

If we stayed quietly trapped here, we might never get out.

Drip, drip.

I heard drops of water falling somewhere.

There must be a water source nearby.

Because the air was hot and humid, my clothes felt suffocating.

Hard, cold surfaces. Damp, stifling air…

“Hmm. It seems we’re—”

Cedric’s voice overlapped mine, as if he had judged the situation too.

“Inside a cave.”

“It looks like a cave.”

I lowered my head and held it with both hands.

“Why is life so tough…”

“You really did cause trouble. I only said it as a joke.”

Even now, Cedric teased my temper. The soft, gentle mood from earlier was gone.

The bigger problem: we couldn’t see anything at all.

“We need some light—”

Flash!

Cedric instantly made a small globe of light appear.

He’s specialized in wind, but he could use other elemental magic at a basic level too.

I can’t do things like that with my aether.

“This is unfair.”

Jealousy made me tremble.

Thanks to the soft glow spreading around us, I could tell:

…We were really trapped!

Cedric gave a troubled smile.

I was troubled too… I had no idea how this even happened.

“Just like Werner said, there really is space behind the rock wall.”

“I’ll have to give him a bigger bonus.”

I could almost hear Werner’s quality of life improving. I was jealous.

Carefully, I planted my feet and stood up.

What kind of place was this? I looked around.

Unlike the clumsy “secret passage” that Fabion’s group supposedly dug, this looked like a truly natural cave. A very narrow one.

A long, narrow corridor stretched deeper inside.

A bad feeling rose in me. This was a flag. Anyone could tell this place was suspicious.

“Looks like things are going well for us. We even found a place like this.”

Cedric made a clueless comment.

“They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. This feels about the same.”

“That’s the road to hell?”

“That’s what it looks like.”

“Sadly, we don’t have a choice.”

My eyes went to the cave wall that had swallowed us and then closed.

I sent out aether again, but nothing changed.

Aether control wasn’t easy. Maybe that’s why I was already sweating down my back just from that small effort.

So my heart had been racing like crazy for a reason. It wasn’t because of Cedric—there was another cause.

“Rita, stop.”

“Ha… Cedric, are you okay?”

“Fortunately. Your treatment potion is doing its job.”

That was a relief, at least.

I took a deep breath and put my aether away. It kept wanting to rush out somewhere, and calming it down already drained me.

Cedric took a handkerchief from his pocket and lightly tapped my face.

“Should we try going in?”

“And what do you think is inside?”

“…No idea. But it’s the only way.”

I decided to take back what I used to say.

I had believed that the gods held no special like or dislike for individuals. I was wrong. A god clearly held a grudge against me right now. Otherwise, how do you explain this?

Cedric quietly held out his hand.

“Shall we hold hands?”

“There’s only the two of us here. It would be bad if we lost each other.”

“That’s true.”

I couldn’t argue, so I obediently took his hand.

His big hand wrapped mine completely and pulled me gently. Strangely, that warmth gave me strength.

“Alright. Let’s go. We’re not going to die, right?”

And soon after, I learned one more important lesson in life.

There are a few things you must be careful about in this world: fire, people, and—most of all—your mouth…

XX!

What does the road to the afterlife look like?

Even though I’d died once, I never found the answer. But now, I finally could.

“Wow… I’m going crazy.”

“Skeletons.”

The path leading us to the underworld was covered with traps, mechanisms, and even a lich. Damn it.

“Are you alright?”

“I—I think so, maybe.”

I hadn’t seen my face, but it was probably pale white. A prickling sensation spread through my whole body like the blood was draining from my head.

But I knew I couldn’t lose my mind in a situation like this.

I didn’t have much fighting ability, but I couldn’t just become a burden. Though I already felt like one.

Clack, clack!

The skeletons’ bones clattered loudly. It was enough to drive me insane.

“Cedric… are you o-okay?”

“…For now.”

We had already passed so many traps. I quickly realized why there was only one path: the owner of this place was confident that anyone entering would never reach the destination alive.

I clenched my teeth. I hadn’t known it would feel this miserable to lack combat power.

The ability to protect my own body? That was never allowed to me.

I trained my stamina and basic strength countless times, but I didn’t get to learn any attack skills.

While training in the Kingdom, I had to spend all my spare time improving my own unique ability.

In short, I made potions like crazy.

Now it felt unfair.

Why didn’t I realize back then how ridiculous and unjust that was?

Why am I only now realizing that my life was in those people’s hands?

And I realized it here, of all places—surrounded by a skeleton army in some cave.

“Rita. Step back. You should stay inside the shield.”

“This is the last shield.”

Cedric nodded like he understood.

I grew more anxious. Cedric’s words and voice from before we came in, and even my own resolve—

Everything we said just before entering mixed together and made my head spin.

Inside my body, the aether roared. Since I had lost control once, even small triggers made it jump out again and again.

While I watched in every direction, a blue shield spread and wavered. Seeing that, Cedric showed a quick, relieved smile.

I felt a sharp pain in my lip, which I had bitten out of habit. I let out a breath and clenched my fists tightly.

Clack-clack-clatter-clack!

Screee… screeeeech…

Things that shouldn’t even have voice boxes made creepy sounds together.

How many were there? I couldn’t even guess.

I could feel that Cedric’s body was near its limit. His movements were clearly slower than before.

Of course they were. Cedric couldn’t use even half of his power right now.

Swoosh—bang!

Kwoooooom!

After testing us, they suddenly rushed in fiercely.

Black, sticky mana poured toward Cedric.

Skeletons can use magic too? What is this place?

I bit the inside of my cheek hard to stay focused. A bloody taste spread.

My head spun.

“Ugh…”

“Cedric!”

“I’m… fine.”

He was not fine at all. Blood showed in several places on his body.

You can’t beat enemies that don’t fear death. The only way is to kill them all.

But skeletons were already dead.

Every living thing is allowed only one death—so even if we “killed” them, they didn’t die.

They reattached arms, put legs back on, crawled forward, and kept biting and scratching.

“Please, dodge!”