-Swish!-

Once again, Adammus raised his sword high up into the air and swung, ready to execute Connor...

And again, just like before, Connor tried desperately to parry the blow, raising his sword to weather the strike just enough to think up a solution. Sadly though, the same set of actions repeated itself, with his sword right back into its sheath while his opponents' was ever closer...

Twenty-five centimetres...

Fifteen...

Ten...

five...

He stared hopelessly at the double-edged blade, its shiny sheen an omen of his death... 'Is this how it's going to end? A blade in my throat and my grave in this godforsaken place?' He closed his eyes, ready for the fate that would await him...

But right as the sword was a mere centimetre away from him, a determined shout rang out that echoed throughout the cave, "Not on my watch!"

-Thuk!-

Eyes wide open, he was shocked to see the sorry figures of Adammus and Itagaki hurtling through the air and Malkov standing in front of him: stance wide and figure hunched, ready to continue the fight. He did spare a moment to speak to the shocked Connor behind him.

"Connor, use power distortion on him!" The panicked, almost urgent tone of his voice shocked Connor, though he did manage to retrieve the Book of Fate and activate it.

"Power Distortion!" The Book of Fate immediately glowed a golden hue, like a dandelion, before covering itself on Adammus.

"Haaah!!"

Not a second sooner, there was a loud, pain-filled scream coming from him, all the while a purple goo slowly sludged its way out of his pores. It was disgusting, as along with the purple goo was a copious amount of blood leaving his seven orifices. Still, both his screaming and the goo eventually ceased, though it did take another minute or so for the blood to stop as well.

Mariya checked his pulse, and after confirming his status, she gave both Malkov and him a thumbs up.

He sighed in relief before turning to glare at Itagaki, who had already gotten up. She was injured from the fall, a large bloody gash on her forearm and a few scrapes and bruises on her legs.

"Give up! You're nothing without him!" Connor said, his words both simultaneously convincing and a foreshadowing of what's to come...

But she just grinned at his words, silently mocking him, "Do you think this is all I can do? Aite-sama would've wasted his power for nothing if I was!"

Raising her hands, she began to mutter unintelligibly. In response to her whispers, the goo began to move: a shiver here, a shake there; it was only after Connor could hear her chant louder did the goo finally begin to seriously move about. Eyeing the goo warily, he could see it pulsate around Adammus, as if deciding whether or not to repossess its previous host. Fortunately, it decided to slither away, uninterested.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"I have to thank you; it would've been really hard to remove the Ahlawahl without killing him, even more of a nuisance than getting back on dry land without his crew's help," She rambled on in a tone full of annoyance, but it was quickly switched for a more cheerful tone, "But enough talking, want to play a game?"

The moment he heard her, Connor's eyes narrowed. But as he was about to speak, he was interrupted, "*Cough!* Don't say anything! *Cough!* she'll do something to you as she did to me!"

Everyone's brow began to furrow; if she could turn people into slaves, then what else could she do? Their vigilance spiked at the thought.

"Aw, you're no fun at all! But don't worry, if you won't be controlled, others will!"

-Click! Click! Click!-

As if on cue, they heard soft, almost gentle scuttling from the ceiling, like it was afraid to disturb their conversation, but not enough to keep them from noticing. Turning to the noise, Connor's countenance changed greatly: he could see it, slightly jutting out from the pitch-black darkness, was a pincer-esque object.

'Oh no...' He turned to look fearfully at Itagaki, a large smile still plastered on her face.

"Say hello to my little friend!"

<>

A monstrous shriek came from above, undoubtedly from the 'thing' he had seen.

'I don't want to alarm you, but you should probably run,' It was the Book of Fate, and just like before, his advice is... stunted. Connor knew this, so he just rolled his eyes and responded with:

'No shit Sherlock!'

'Your welcome... by the way, that thing's a millenipede, its soul is absolutely massive, so don't even try...'

<>

Outraged by how little Connor gave a fuck, the monster shrieked again, intent on catching his attention this time. Sadly, its roars would serve to do the opposite, and all four of them started running away in an instant! Heading deeper into the cave system and leaving their adversaries in the dust...

<>

"Eh?!"

Both Itagaki and the monster were struck dumb by the four's actions...

"The audacity!"

<>

Again, on sync, the two were furious! And it didn't take long for both the millenipede and Itagaki to give chase...

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

Malkov seriously regretted it: staying with these two were never going to be good for his heart, he knew that much... but this? This was just too much for him!

'Maybe being in that prison would've been better than this...' He grumbled to himself as he ran for his life. Behind him? Certain death. In front? Those ghosts that were... debatable in how they treated them.

"What is that thing?" Malkov directed his question to no one in particular, but to his surprise, he received an answer:

"A millenipede! Apparently, it's called that because all the currently alive ones are at least a thousand years old!" He sighed helplessly— he really wished he hadn't ask...

Running for an undetermined amount of time, they could finally see the light at the end of the tunnel, literally.

Stopping at the mouth of the pathway, they were met with the same band of ghosts from before, but there was something about them... Something different. It didn't take long for him to figure out what: organization. If you were to compare them, it would be akin to an orchestra with a conductor and one without. And in this case, the conductor was a particularly large phantom in the middle of the giant troupe. It took the shape of a kingly looking man, with a crown on his head and a giant sword on his waist.

"My people have told me of intruders," The ghost suddenly spoke, its tone heavy and inlaid with pride, "I wonder... Why come here, a place at the far reaches of the world, hm?"