“Don’t look.” Mila pulled Isabel further down the abandoned branch of the tunnel system. She had scouted ahead, feeling comfortable slinking in the darkness. If she ignored the horrors left by the owners of the place.

It was now apparent why the place smelled of rot and decay. Not all crates of bodies had been disposed of. This particular area was used to store everything hazardous or uncomfortable.

Piles upon piles of trash, excrement, spoiled foodstuff, limbs and dirt were everywhere. Somehow, it was worse than the simple corpses they had walked over moments before. They only had a narrow path to take if they didn’t want to step into the waste. Even then, it wasn’t always possible.

And it spoke volumes about Mila’s luck that this wasn’t the worst surface she had walked on since arriving in this world. Ocheon was still holding on to that title.

“I already did.” Isabel’s whisper came soon after Mila’s words.

It was so praiseworthy how Isabel held herself together. Mila was proud of her girl. She pressed her fingers into Isabel’s palm. “For now, look only at me.”

“Okay.” Isabel returned the gentle touch by squeezing Mila’s fingers.

If not for the disgusting, claustrophobic environment, it could be called almost romantic. Of course, Mortimer chose this moment to relieve his stress by adding to the mess by puking.

“Why is he here?” Virr raised the question as they stopped momentarily to let the thief finish.

“Did you want to leave him out there to die?” Agata returned. “He hasn’t been a problem. So leave him be.”

“...He hasn’t been thus far,” Virr grumbled.

“Mortimer is under our protection,” Mila added. Only a moment later she realised it was a mistake.

“And why should we care?” Virr’s grumble turned hostile. “You killed our friends.”

Luckily, Laura didn’t let the situation devolve any further. “Not now, Virr. We are here to find a way through the mess.”

And that was it. Mila looked at the Iron Sword’s leader through the darkness. The implications of the woman’s words didn’t escape her. They were another potential enemy. Not that it changed much for the future with actual Inquisitors on their tail.

Laura wasn’t as scary, and Agata’s senses could be fooled. The rest weren’t much of a threat. Mila was confident in escaping the bunch if need be. The Iron Swords's sense of duty was strong. Even now, when they had learned enough to deduce Viola was a spy, they didn’t break their contract.

A sound of shouting, trembling of ground and suffocating pressure overcame them all at once.

Mila looked up while Raran began to reinforce the walls of the tunnel. A few pebbles and dust continued to fall on their heads. And it didn’t stop.

“I guess the cavalry have arrived.” Viola’s voice barely carried over the tumult.

“The defenders won’t break easily.” The Messanger’s voice didn’t have the same problem as Viola’s. Despite all the noise, his words carried evenly to everyone. “If at all.”

It felt like the mysterious figure was showing off. “Then we must move faster.” Mila began pulling Isabel forward again. She couldn’t do it for long, having the duty to scout, but for now, Mila wanted to hold her love’s hand. “The defender forces will be distracted. It is our chance to strike.”

As they moved deeper into the tunnels, it became apparent how vast the system truly was. The downward slant continued without ending. From time to time, Mila and Agata checked the smaller, connecting paths that appeared occasionally.

While Viola usually helped with scouting, her nose was almost useless in this environment. She also was comparably weak when looking at the group as a whole.

But not for long. As the group moved deeper, the fights above became a distant thrum. And the air began to clear up. Viola’s nose became an asset once more.

“There are people ahead.” Viola stopped the party.

Hearing these words, Mila halted her advance. “How far?” She also glanced at the Messanger, who stood behind Viola.

The annoying figure was clearly teaching Viola. Mila didn’t doubt the Messanger was better informed than any of them. He just chose to not speak. Weren’t they in a rush?

Perhaps not… Mila bit the side of her cheek. After a short discussion, she began moving forward to see what they were dealing with and if she could get rid of them.

Mila had been thinking about it wrongly. It wasn’t the nightfall that signified the end of the ritual. After all, everyone would be rushing more. Sacrificing more… Yet, they didn’t.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

And the ritual had been running for hours now. Mila had assumed the sun had been an important aspect, but… In the end, she didn’t know. But at the very least, she knew they still had time. Maybe.

Refusing to let out a curse, Mila made spirited steps towards the voices she now heard. The whole situation was shit. What else was new?

But it was the wrong mindset. Mila let her emotions still. There were people to kill. And this time, there was no need to examine her reaction to the death. These were useless trash, not worth her time.

There was now a light ahead. Mila was still walking down a tunnel not used by anyone. But not for long. Her dagger caught a glint of a stray lightray as two people rounded a corner and began walking towards her.

Mila didn’t feel any danger from them but chose to slip behind a stack of planks anyway. Her mana moved smoothly as her presence thinned.

“They will know.” The man hissed.

“That’s why we are going through here.” The woman returned. “We will smash the stone at the end and escape. We just have to leave the city.”

“What if they win? Sir Basalt will chase me down. You know how he is. Ever since he caught his wife…”

Basalt? That rang a bell in Mila’s head. After a bit of thinking, she recalled from where. Wasn’t that the noble who supported Brandy’s gang? She was sure of it. So the evil bastard was here as well.

Although, Mila supposed most nobles were. But hearing one she had some connection to was a throwback.

Not that it saved the two deserters. They walked past Mila, oblivious to their soon demise. She waited a moment longer to see if there were more coming.

Seeing the air was clear, Mila brandished her dagger. With the woman walking in front and holding the torch, the first casualty was the man.

Mila’s dagger found the man’s throat without issues. The cold steel took away his breath and voice. The body went still, yet to realise that life was fleeting. But she was already moving to the next target.

The woman was just an easy kill. Mila’s deft hands reaped the life with ease. She let the body collapse while taking the torch out of the woman’s hands.

The flickering light illuminated the moment the dying woman realised what had happened. And together with the two lives, the torch was snuffed out as well.

With the silence returning to the tunnels, Mila scouted ahead. She caught another person searching their way through the darkness. It was a simple kill. She suspected there would be more people like these seeking a way out.

And it was not hard to guess why. With the fight heating up above, Mila knew the weaker fighters were killed in droves. That was how battles were fought.

Good commanders, or those who cared for their underlings, usually directed the less powerful ones to where they would avoid death. After all, protecting the weaker fighters made the more important fights harder. Mila doubted the nobles did care enough. Perhaps the deaths even fuelled the ritual.

That was a scary possibility…

While pondering the situation, Mila returned to her group. She signalled for them to follow, then returned to scouting. There wasn’t much to discuss, but she made sure to leave a few encouraging words to Isabel before leaving.

The dark path through the tunnels continued. Sometimes, when Mila returned to report her findings, the Messanger gave them a direction to go to. But even if he hadn’t, it wasn’t hard to find the correct path.

For one, it was down. And for two, Mila could feel the surging mana heading up through the pathways.

When they happened to walk past a tunnel shaft that provided air for the system. It was likely one of many. Mila looked down into the darkness. With squinting, she felt like there was light at the end of it.

The mana had been the wildest here. Not that there was any physical pressure to the mystical energy. But the feeling of mana brushing past the group's souls was there.

Soon, the assumption of there being multiple such shafts proved to be true. They encountered another one after just a few minutes of silent walking.

“Do we jump down?” Amy suggested while looking down.

The light at the bottom was now more visible. Mila shook her head. “No. We don’t know what is down there.”

“It would be faster,” Ugum muttered. While his brother felt in his element, the healer wasn’t as keen on the claustrophobic experience.

But those were just idle thoughts. Mila doubted anyone considered the idea seriously.

The oppressive darkness, the many pathways, the occasional weak enemy and the expectation for more wore on their vigilance.

From time to time, a rumbling sound travelled down the tunnels, reminding them of the fierce fight on the surface. It was hard to tell who was winning. For their sake, it had to be the Military, but only by a margin.

Mila ran her fingers over the damp rock that constituted the walls. She wondered how much time and effort it had taken for the Nobles to prepare this place. How much they had paid in other people's blood to do it so cleanly.

Of course, Mila was running on assumptions again. Maybe it took them decades. Perhaps they had a powerful earth-centred mage on their side. That could be devastating. Burying them all would be a child's play for such a person.

“More people are coming,” Viola warned. She was looking at one of the tunnels that came from above. “They smell like surface and battle. Should we grab them?”

That was a good idea. After a short discussion, the group found a more remote spot, where a room full of digging equipment was. They freed the space and then returned to where they could ambush the incoming sources of information.

Mila did the due diligence and checked the surroundings. Agata joined her, and they both crept close to the soldiers heading down. They needed to know how dangerous the arriving party was. From Viola’s words, there were five people.

Soon, voices reached their ears - whispers, really. Scared and desperate. Not at all how someone with a task would talk. Nor would a victor be so cautious.

Those were good news. Mila chose a particularly lengthy section and waited at the end of it. Not long after, indeed, a group of five appeared.

Tired and tattered. Their equipment was damaged, and all five had injuries covering them. Their steps were faltering and slow. It gave Mila plenty of time to see their prowess, and she found them lacking.

Mila gave a sign to Agata, and they both skulked back. After relying on the information, they would act.

The group of five was an easy prey. They needed to know what was happening.