Myora lands on the second floor, her boots crunching against the debris. The room is a wreck—walls shattered, furniture overturned, and blood smeared across the floor. She follows the trail of destruction, her anger still simmering beneath her icy exterior.

Erley lies on the ground, his body battered and bleeding. He mutters to himself, his voice weak.

"I have to move... before i bleed out."

Footsteps echo through the room, growing louder. Erley looks up and sees Myora approaching, her face still etched with anger. He flinches, instinctively trying to stand, but his body betrays him, and he collapses back to the floor.

'What the hell? is she mad at me?'

Myora’s expression softens slightly, though her voice remains cold.

"I’m sorry. I just had a bad dream."

She scans him, her eyes lingering on his wounds. Her hands are stained with blood, but she doesn’t seem to notice.

Erley grimaces.

"Alright, can you help me up?"

She steps forward, grabbing his arm and draping it over her shoulder. Their faces are close, and for a moment, Erley feels a flicker of embarrassment.

Myora asks, her tone dry.

"Not even a thanks?"

Erley glares at her. A spark of irritation flaring in his chest. But says nothing, Myora shrugs and begins walking toward the hole in the floor.

"Alright."

She continues walking towards the hole in the floor.

"We’ll make camp downstairs and rest for a couple of days. We cut a lot of time by taking different routes, so we should be fine."

Erley glances at her. confused.

"I thought you’d never been here before."

She meets his gaze.

"I haven’t. But Selth has. He used to live here before he joined us."

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They reach the hole, and Myora picks Erley up without hesitation. He stiffens, his face reddening.

"This is... a little embarrassing, you know."

Myora raises an eyebrow.

"Why? You're hurt. Would you prefer to jump down yourself?"

Erley sighs, covering his face with his hand.

"Whatever. Just jump already."

She leaps down, landing gracefully on the first floor. She sets Erley down near the unconscious members of the group and grabs a nearby chair, placing it beside him.

She says simply before turning to search for their supplies.

"Rest,"

Erley watches her go, then glances at the chair.

'She's surprisingly nice when we are out of combat'

He struggles to sit, his body protesting every movement. As he settles, his gaze falls on the headless body nearby, its neck a mangled mess.

'What the hell happened here?'

The room is quiet, save for the faint groans of the unconscious. Erley’s mind races, replaying the fight with the sergeant.

'I almost died.'

He thinks about what he could’ve done differently, about the sergeant’s relentless attacks, about how close he came to losing everything.

'Why am i even here? Maybe surviving alone would've been better. I mean if Selth could do it, why can't i?'

Minutes pass in silence before Myora returns, the backpack slung over her shoulder and their weapons in hand. Erley stands, wincing as he offers to help.

"Alright give me that i'll help you carry it."

Myora shakes her head.

"No need. I'm not leaving them far."

She sets the weapons down and begins organizing their supplies. Erley watches her, his frustration bubbling to the surface.

"It's getting cold, aren't we gonna make a campfire?"

Myora pauses, her expression unreadable.

"No. We don’t have enough supplies. Just water and a few essentials. No food."

Erley sighs, grabbing a roll of bandages from the backpack. He sits down again and starts wrapping his wounds, his movements slow and deliberate. Myora sits across from him, her sword resting across her lap. She runs her fingers over the blade, tracing the words engraved on its surface.

Erley glances at the sword.

"That’s a nice sword. Where’d you get it?"

Myora doesn’t look up.

"I woke up with it. I don’t know what happened to the handle."

She pauses, her gaze distant.

"It reminds me of something... but I’m not sure what."

Erley smirks.

"Is that why you’re inspecting it so thoroughly?"

Myora’s eyes flicker to him, then back to the sword.

"When I fainted, I saw this sword. I ended up stabbing myself with it."

Erley’s smirk fades.

"Wait, what? You stabbed yourself?"

"Yes. It was the end of the dream. By then, I realized I wasn’t in control."

She looks at him, her expression unreadable.

"What did you dream about when you fainted?"

Erley hesitates.

"I don't think i dreamed about anything, i heard a voice at the end and that's about it."

Myora’s lips twitch, almost like a smile.

"Boring..."

The tower shakes, a low rumble reverberating through the walls. Myora looks up, her voice steady.

"We’ll go up in a few days. I don’t know why no Imps come near this place, but that tremor is probably part of the reason."

Erley’s eyes widen as he remembers something.

"Oh, right. The sergeant mentioned something about the upper floors. And a ‘little guy.’"

Myora’s expression hardens.

"If that’s true, then whatever’s up there is too dangerous for us. We’ll have to sneak past it. As for the ‘little guy,’ it’s probably Selth. We need to hurry before something happens to him."

She stands, her tone final.

"We’ll rest tonight and move tomorrow."

Erley groans.

'Why did I tell her?'