I took a step back as the enormous creature detached from the ceiling of the cavern and landed on its legs with a resounding noise that sent shockwaves through the ground, violently shaking the environment around us. Glowing red with malice, its ten eyes stared into me, and its mandibles appeared to be angling at my throat.

In the current state I was in, fighting this thing would essentially be a death sentence.

Without hesitation, I dashed backward into the darkness and began my escape.

The creature let out a hiss, and suddenly, the cavern floor ahead erupted into a fiery pit of lava, causing me to have to change course mid-run. Its mandibles were now glowing with flames, and it spat a torrent of fire in my direction, forcing me to leap and roll over the molten ground, scorching the bottom of my boots.

As if that wasn't enough, a blast of icy wind shot from its mouth, freezing the air and the ground beneath my feet and causing me to slip and slide. The spider, seeing an opportunity, charged, and I barely had time to block the blow from its sharp jaws, feeling the force of its charge rattle my bones.

I slid backward and regained my balance, watching the spider's eyes glow a bright yellow.

Without waiting to see what it'd shoot at me next, I leaped into an opening and began to slide downward even further into the dungeon. The waft of electrified air running into my nose warned me to spin my body around, barely avoiding a streak of lightning that had my name on it. Sliding and stumbling into an open area, I thought I had shaken it off my tail when it burst through the ceiling above and landed on the opposite end of the clearing, all of its eyes filled with bloodlust.

"You don't quit, do you!?" I yelled in frustration. I swiped my sword up from the ground and angled it towards the beast. "Come on, then!"

The creature spat a jet of fire, and I dodged left, narrowly avoiding the blast. As if it knew where I was headed, it launched a stream of icicles from its mouth, forcing me to dodge back in the opposite direction.

Charging toward me, it slashed at me with its razor-sharp mandibles. I countered by ducking and rolling out of the way, feeling the air rush over my head. My boots skidded on the rocky ground as I attempted to get some distance between us, but the creature was relentless in its pursuit.

Its eyes glowed red, and I dove out of the way as a blast of scorching fire shot from its mouth, heating the air and leaving a burnt smell in its wake. As I struggled to regain my footing, the beast reared up and slammed its front legs down, creating a tremor and causing me to drop on my back. Rolling sideways, I avoided its enormous legs that rained down on me, each one striking and piercing through the spot where I had just been.

I sprung myself upward from the ground, and with a twist on my heels, I turned and struck at one of its legs with all of my remaining strength, only for the blow to glance off without leaving a dent and instead leave my arm violently vibrating with recoil. Its eyes flickered with a green glow, and a treacherous gust of wind followed, sending me crashing through the ridge walls of the cavern.

My body ached, and my head throbbed as I lay against the cool ground. My muscles burned with fatigue, and my arms trembled from the exertion of the fight. As I lay there, panting and staring up at the cavern ceiling, I heard the beast's footsteps approaching. Staggering, I forced myself upwards and tried to angle my sword in front of me, fighting to hold it straight before dropping to one knee out of exhaustion. Feeling a burning sensation, I examined my side only to find that I had a gashing wound labeled on me. I smashed my hand against it and gritted my teeth, facing the monster, barely able to make him out in my blurred vision.

"Is this…"

I quickly shook the thought out of my head. I was not dying here. I couldn't, not for my sake but for Yukina's own. Dying and leaving her alone under this dome was unthinkable.

As its eyes gleamed violently and it rushed towards me, I gripped my blade as tightly as I could, preparing to do something—anything—until, out of nowhere, a small boulder flew into the face of the monster, not enough to cause any significant damage but enough to momentarily stun it and catch me off guard as well. We both looked off to the side where it came from, and my eyes widened in disbelief.

"Sylas!?"

There he was, his hands raised, faintly emanating magic traces. He clearly didn't think his actions through as his trembling body froze when the gigantic spider let out a murderous noise and fixed its sets of eyes on him. Bearing its fangs, it charged with cruel intent.

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"Get out of the way!" I yelled, but to no effect. Sylas was petrified entirely. Ignoring my fatigue, I cast 『Tempo』 at about five percent of its regular output, just enough to make it to Sylas before the monster did. In one motion, I swooped him up along with me, placed my hand onto the wall, and cast 『Manipulation』, tunneling a slope that led deeper into the dungeon. We flew into it, barely avoiding getting pierced by a mandible. I twisted my hands against the sides of the tunnel, fusing the entrance ahead shut, before grabbing Sylas and tucking him inwards, bearing most of the violent spill downwards. Before we hit the bottom, I slammed my fist against the earth beneath us, creating a hole wide enough for us to get spat out of. We shot out of the tunnel and into a small pocket of the cavern. I tried to hold onto Sylas as long as I could during our crash landing, but my hands lost their strength halfway through, causing us both to take a rough tumble onto the ground and land some ways apart.

Collapsed backside, I tried to sit up but immediately felt a strong pulse blitz through my body, and I dropped back to the ground. The adrenaline I had earlier had nearly dissipated, and the pain I had cast aside had begun to resurface. Even though I had kept 『Tempo』 and 『Manipulation』 to their bare minimum, I was using mana that I didn't have anymore, the energy instead being siphoned from my wellbeing. The feeling in my legs and arms vanished, and my vision blurred. Stiffly, I looked at my side where my wound was, and, not to my surprise, it had gotten worse. It had opened up in size from all of the movement. Sylas' voice trailed in my ear as my sight darkened and my consciousness slipped entirely.

The second I came to, I spiked upward and reached for my hip, only to find my scabbard missing. I examined where my injury was. Mysteriously, it had been closed up, and I felt only a fragment of the pain that I had been hampered with before.

"Akantha!" Sylas exclaimed from the other side of the space before rushing to my side. "Are you okay?" He noticed I was staring intently at my sword casing, which he was holding tightly to his chest, and handed it back. "Sorry, it was in the way. I tried my best to heal your injury, but I'm not as good as my sister. And with how deep underground we are, our magic doesn't work that well."

I stood and returned my scabbard to its place. "You shouldn't be here."

"I know..." He admitted, while staring at his feet and gripping the edges of his shirt. "After Ylva saved my sister and you left, I just felt...powerless. I couldn't even save her myself; I got kicked in the face trying to. And knowing that I brought you guys to Everleaf, I couldn't take it. So, I left."

"And you followed me."

"Yeah... I headed in the direction you did after leaving. It wasn't too hard, with the help of the forest." He met my gaze. "Please, let me help you get Ylva back. After you guys saved both me and my sister, it's the least I can do."

"This kid..."

I sighed. "Look, I'm...appreciative of what you did. But go home, Sylas. I don't have the time to babysit you."

"You won't be! Trust me, I can hold my own."

"Yeah," I retorted. "Like you did back then." I paused. "Sylas, how long has it been since?"

He tilted his head. "Maybe...about six hours? You were injured but really tired too."

I cursed. Time was of the essence, and six hours or anything near it was too long to not be making progress. I slung my pack around my shoulders and readied myself. I looked over at Sylas, and he mirrored me, energetically doing the same. There was no time to take him back to the village, and leaving him here by his lonesome to fend for himself...bothered me slightly. I headed over to a wall and blasted it open using 『Manipulation』

"Don't slow me down, Sylas."

-------------------------------

We headed upward, returning to the path that I was on before. As we ventured, I periodically gave a quick glance over my shoulder, ensuring that Sylas was keeping pace, and for the most part he was. He was hiding his exertion, keeping his pants to a whisper, hoping I wouldn't hear them. I still bore mixed feelings about him and Seraphina, the two reasons why things are as they are, but knowing that Sylas recognized that and is even trying to make up for it was worth acknowledging.

"So," Sylas started as we trekked. "That sword—I didn't see it before. It's really cool! I didn't know you were a fighter. Where did you learn?"

"It's not important."

"Oh...can you teach me?"

"No."

"Can I at least hold it?"

"No."

"Well, can I at least-"

I turned and clasped my hand over his mouth, ending whatever request he had loaded up, a surprised set of eyes the only part of his face visible. I drew my blade and with a decisive motion, stuck it in the spot right next to his ear, skewering a small spider against the wall.

"It's still looking for us." I determined, sheathing my sword and continuing forward. "No more questions. We journey in silence." I warned, to which he nodded his head.

We pressed onward for hours, the only sounds surrounding us being the dripping of water from the leaky ceiling above and our boots trekking on the slick ground beneath us. Periodically, we stopped and rested, just enough to keep Sylas on his feet, before beginning forward again. I still couldn't believe that he managed to get here on his own, considering when I first met him, he almost managed to drown himself in a river. He even managed to patch me up, my injury being near nonexistent now. Begrudgingly as it is to admit it, if he hadn't come when he did, I had no idea what would have happened.

We walked until we came to the end of the rugged path, which turned into a small cliff standing tall over the next section of the cave. I peered down below, eyeing what came next. Large crystalized structures protruding from the earth were what came into view, along with the narrow paths between them, twisting and turning in every direction.

"A Labyrinth." I surmised.

I turned and warned Sylas to stay close before casting 『Manipulation』and turning the cliff front into a smooth decent, sinking us into the maze's clutches.