Rana strolled toward horizons of nowhere. Her steps lifted the white-hot sand and scattered them into the scorching wind. The grains of ground rocks found themselves slipping into the cracks of her bandages and latched onto her chilled skin.
The heat did not bother her, or rather, she could not feel it. Her undead state made her unable to feel warmth, and although technically a corpse, her status as a monster and her cursed jacket made the high temperature a non-issue for her body. However, it was a different kind of discomfort, like if thousands of needles were pricking her without touching her. It was a torrent of phantom pressure just wandering around her skin. She wondered if she was willing to trade the sizzling of sand and the stick of sweat with what she was feeling now.
Rana stole a glance at the group of marked ones behind her. There were a dozen of them, every one of them part of the duke’s force. They were all drenched in sweat that rained down from the tip of their brow and slid down their chin. The ones wearing heavy armor had steam rising from their metal protection, and ones with lighter armor did not fare any better. They were being baked by the sun and who knew how they smelled right now.
Jin was still standing beside her charge, no doubt as a means of positioning better to restrain her target if the order was given. However, she did not look prepared. She was slouched forward and let her arms hang, swinging with each step she took. Her mouth was half open and a continuous groan was heard droning out of it. It seemed like the heat had stifled her tendency to complain, but there was no mistaking the glare in her eyes and who they were directed at.
No thanks. Rana decided that she enjoyed the bath of chilled sand.
She returned her sights to the landscape around her. It was the same plain field of white sand stretching beyond the horizon and a veil of shimmer that guarded them against the glow of the setting sun that dyed the other side red.
The more she walked the more she was sure of her initial observation. The land she was walking on and the one she saw in the distance was not the Dungeon. They were an illusion, a mirage that prevented intruders from getting closer. She was reminded of the Dungeon in Aodh, specifically the wall of windy torrents. She and Alpheia had to break through the wall to get into the Tree of Ashen Falls. This was no different. This was the entrance she needed to navigate in order to reach the Dungeon.
It was truly odd. The Dungeons created by Mara seemed to prioritize self-preservation than the enactment of their vengeance against humanity. Even then, Rana felt that Sunset Spears took it a step further.
Rana turned her sights once again to the group following her. Jin shot her a glare in the process. She could hear the sound of grinding teeth and the restrained complaints that threatened to fly out, but she decided to ignore the woman next to her.
It was odd, or rather, it would’ve been odd for no one to voice their concern. She could tell that the other marked ones were getting impatient and wondering why the order to eliminate her had not been issued. However, she knew the truth of the matter. Her hypotheses were correct. Her way to enter the Dungeon was not a mistake, and there was someone in that group who knew how.
They were the ones entrusted by the duke to conquer the Dungeon, and they were the ones she needed to be wary of.
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Rana did not wander aimlessly. The steps and direction she took were not random. She did so for two purposes. Her first goal was obviously to solve the riddle behind the entrance, and the second one was to see if she could probe the enemy from making themselves known, to give away something. Her first goal was affirmed by the lack of lethal action taken against her, but the second one was something she still could not grasp. There were signs of hostility directed against her, the smell could not be mistaken, but they were quickly silenced. Someone was obviously controlling the group and was their leader, but they were hiding well.
The only one Rana was sure of not being the person of interest was Jin. She met Jin for only a few days, but she understood the only restraint the liaison agent had was the one Jin desperately tried to pretend to have. Rana knew that the woman was as subtle as a bucket of water to the face when waking someone up. In fact, Jin looked exactly like someone being doused with a bucket of water.
“I feel like you are thinking of something unpleasant,” Jin said when she saw Rana’s faint smirk. When Rana did not respond, Jin began to mutter under her breath. “I’ll show you.”
Rana decided that there was no point in probing further. She had enough information for now and the picture in her head was slowly taking shape. She had already exhausted all the information she could gather for now. The remaining would need to be obtained within the Dungeon itself.
“Follow,” Rana said and picked up her pace. The other marked ones did not question and simply did as they were told. Their leader was smart and the group was well trained. None of them made an indication of who their commander was.
The answer to the entrance of Sunset Spears was simple. It was simply a case of hiding in plain sight, but under the cover of a misdirection. The key to the door lied in the mirage. The distance towards the land beyond the veil never shortened. No mattered if they ran or if they walked, the distance remained the same. It pulled away when they marched towards it, and pushed towards them when they walked away from it.
That was where the misdirection was. The distance was a trap, to fool intruders into believing that the core was preventing them from entering the land beyond the veil. The distance was a lie and inconsequential. Like the Tree of Ashen Falls, there was a path that would lead them in, and this time, the torrent was not their guide. Their guide was the sun.
The mirage was a picture, unreal and unmoved. The landscape remained unchanged, so that was why the minute movement of the setting sun was so important. If Rana did not know of the Ruby Ring’s property, it might’ve taken her some time before she figured it out. She too would be distracted by the giant landscape before her.
The setting sun moved, but not always. It was only when she walked towards the correct direction that the sun changed minimally. The only thing she now needed to figure it out was how did the other marked one came to this answer.
Rana and the group of marked ones continued to run, and the further they went, the light of the sky noticeable dimmed. The sun in the distance was setting. They picked up their pace, their energy reinvigorated by the new discovery. They then turned towards the veil, and when they almost neared it, Rana made a sharp turn and ran alongside it. There were several, three in fact, that could not keep up and accidentally touched the veil. They disappeared, no doubt now wandering inside the mirage.
Rana clicked her tongue. She hoped more would fall for it.
“Take care, don’t get too close to the veil,” Rana said. She could tell some were wondering if she intentionally allowed their allies to make the misstep. They guessed correctly, but she was not about to admit it openly. “I did not expect the trap there, but I guess the loss was minimal. They will return soon enough.”
She could tell many of them were annoyed, but none of them openly objected. They were either professional dedicated to their duties, or loyal to something else that was not their comrades. Regardless, they all had the good sense to remain silent. However, none of them knew the outsider leading them was attuned to their emotion, and one of them was annoyed before the three marked ones hit the veil.
Rana smiled. She had him.
“Turn now!”
Rana was their leader of the group and they smashed into the veil, shattering the shimmering light.
They breached the gates and were now in Sunset Spears.