The situation only seemed to continuously spiral more and more out of control.
Without any direction, Aina continued traveling down the path of least resistance. What point was there in battling many Invalids if she was no longer on the right path anymore to begin with? All she could do was try to head in the general direction she had aimed for in the very beginning, but without a map, compass, or strong sensory abilities, Aina was practically flying blind.
Though she felt like she was headed in the right direction, for all she knew, by now, she was already headed in the complete opposite.
The headpiece Aina wore that almost took the shape of a loose crown on her head did have a strong boost to her abilities. But, it was multiplicative, not additive. Since Aina’s senses were weak to begin with, the effect of the treasure wasn’t as great as it would be to someone with true sensory abilities.
However, it was still very helpful in clearing Aina’s mind. Despite the situation, she managed to remain calm, brandishing her sword toward her enemies and maintaining a steady control over her heart rate and stamina.
She didn’t know how long she would have to run and hide. But, what she did know was that since the density of Invalids could so quickly increase, it could very likely decrease back to what it once had been.
She just had to keep running toward where the least of them appeared. As long as she ran for long enough, she felt she could finally break out of this encirclement.
From her interactions with the Invalids, their lack of intelligence was clear. She didn’t believe that they would know to expand their encirclement to find her.
Still, the situation just seemed off.
Why did that Invalid scream? Why were they acting so weirdly? In fact, to now, none of the Invalids had even used their abilities. One of the most dangerous things about Invalids should have been the unpredictable methods by which they made use of their powers. Yet, not a single one had taken advantage of this.
Also, now that Aina thought about it, another hallmark of Invalids, especially low level ones, were failed mutations. They often had extra body parts or an odd assortment of a normal number of limbs.
But, all of these Invalids looked… normal?
It was a silly thing to say considering their odd disjointedness. But, compared to ‘normal’ Invalids, these ones looked almost too human. They had no odd mutations to speak of in the slightest if one wasn’t thinking about their double jointedness.
Aina had no choice but to continue running for her life. But, the situation only seemed to become more odd even as the density of Force continued to skyrocket.
Soon, Aina even felt as though the air quality was increasing and the quantity of oxygen was rising.
Immediately, she understood what this meant.
Aina had entered the network of tunnels from a mountain peak she had climbed to. Obviously, so high up, the oxygen density had plummeted. The only reason oxygen would be increasing was if… she was headed down!
It was at that moment that Aina realized she truly was lost. She thought she had been heading in the general direction of her exit all this time, hoping that she would run back into a path where she could find her drawn arrows again. But, reality was cruel. She had ended up going in the complete opposite direction.
Aina steeled her jaw, her gaze becoming icy.
It no longer mattered. This wouldn’t be the place she died.
With a swing of her blade, another two Invalids had their heads pierced through.
She had too many things she needed to do, she had no intention of earning herself a nameless grave.
With a flip in her mindset, this endless maze of tunnels and Invalids became nothing more than another challenge Aina needed to cross. Every time her footsteps faltered or her arms grew tired, her resolve would be the light that burned brighter than everything else.
Aina severed the arm of another Invalid, her breathing ragged. She sidestepped its uncoordinated attempt to swipe at her, lopping off another head.
‘A light?’
Aina rounded another corner, only to find a faint red light ahead. It spilled out from several diverging paths, making it difficult to tell just where the source of it was or if there were multiple different sources to begin with.
Aina’s chest heaved as she stepped over the corpse of the Invalid before her. Though she wasn’t sure if this would lead to more danger or not, in these monotonous tunnels, such a change was welcome. Even if there was more danger, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Aina felt that unlike the Invalids she had come across before, these ones in particular seemed to share a purpose outside of devouring humans. If that was the case, then something had to be controlling them. If Aina could find and kill this person or thing, she may very well have an easier time finding a path out of here.
With resolute steps, she made her way toward the brightest of the red lights, hoping this pathway carried the main source.
She rounded another corner, cautiously making her way forward.
‘A new Invalid hasn’t appeared in a while…’
Aina’s chest grew tighter. In the past, she hadn’t been able to travel even 50 meters without coming across another Invalid. But now she had travelled several hundred without even hearing a single one…
Aina’s steps subconsciously slowed, her grip around her sword growing tighter as the red lights around her grew stronger. The crimson hue rebounded across the dark walled cave, making some of the moisture clinging to it look no different from dripping blood.
Aina stepped through another corridor, finding herself facing an opening to an open space. But, it was difficult to see clearly through the bright red light. After so long in perpetual darkness, the sudden increase in intensity blinded her for a moment.
However, before Aina could even care to about her blurred vision, her hair stood on end, her instincts screaming at her to run.
Without hesitation, she spun on her heel, looking to charge out. But, it was at that moment that a lazy voice speaking in a language she couldn’t understand drifted to her ear.
At least, that should have been the case. She wouldn’t have understood had it not been for the added functionality of her jeweled headpiece coming into effect.
“… You’ve come such a long way, why leave now?”
A shiver crawled up Aina’s back. The voice was so soothing, it felt as though a devil was lingering over her shoulder, whispering sweet temptations to her.
As though something was compelling her, Aina’s body slowly turned back. Against her will, her feet moved, shuffling forward.
She grit her teeth so hard that blood began to leak from her gums. But, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to make a difference.
Aina crossed through the opening, her eyes finally adjusting to the scene before her. However, what she saw left her feeling so disgusted she almost dry heaved.
It was a dinner table that extended dozens of meters. It was completely out of place in such a location. But, it was what was on this dinner table that turned Aina’s stomach inside out.
Everywhere she looked, bits and pieces of human flesh could be found. Some were bones, some were beating hearts and trembling organs, there were even corpses that were only torso or others that were headless.
At the helm of this table, a man sat with an indifferent expression, a head on the plate before him and a fork and knife in hand. With a single motion of his wrist, his knife slid through the head’s skull as though it was no tougher than butter.
“Did you have fun playing with my creations?”