Under the dim yellow light, two grotesque figures, as if formed from pitch-black sludge, slowly emerged from the sewage.
Abyssal Beasts?
Why are they appearing here?
Yuuri stared in surprise at the two figures materializing before her. By all rights, the power of the Abyss shouldn’t manifest directly inside the city.
Normally, the Abyss would press from the outside in, breaking through the outer defenses to enter the city and begin corroding every inch of land, every living creature.
If the shadow of the Abyss has appeared within the city, it means that a breach has formed in the protective barrier set up around the town. The power of the Abyss is now pouring in through that gap, seeping into Anvil City.
When did a breach occur?
Could it be… Remembering what the coachman told her before entering the city—that there had been recent searches organized by the City Lord’s estate—Yuuri had at first thought it was aimed at the Cursed One. But now, it seemed far less simple.
With traces of the Abyss now inside the city, Yuuri could also guess the cause of death for that corpse she had seen earlier.
Perhaps he discovered signs of the Abyss in the sewers, but before he could pass on the message, he was attacked by the Abyss and died in this dark sewer.
Now, these things have set their sights on her as well, wanting to kill her down here in the sewers.
Dream on.
She gripped the dagger in her hand tightly. The narrow passage here was not suitable for battle, and besides, who knew what else was lurking in the sewage, already trying to entangle her legs.
She needed to get out of here first.
As the thought surfaced, one of the monsters in front of her moved.
Like an arrow released from a bow, it shot up from the sewage, lunging straight for Yuuri’s face.
Yuuri twisted her body to dodge, but her legs seemed to be bound by something beneath the sewage. Her upper body moved, but her lower body didn’t. She instantly lost her balance. Although she avoided the Abyssal Beast’s lunge, she nearly fell into the sewage herself.
Before she could steady herself, the other beast leapt at her.
Gritting her teeth, Yuuri let herself fall into the sewage to dodge the attack.
Being soaked felt awful; this outfit was as good as ruined.
She’d have to replace everything she was wearing. How much would that cost?
Her heart ached, but the danger was far from over.
Yuuri clutched her dagger and stabbed forcefully at the back of her own legs. With a squeal of pain, whatever was binding her legs instantly let go.
She was free. She had to move fast.
Getting up, before she tumbled into the sewage, her other hand managed to steady the lantern, preventing it from smashing.
But the monsters seemed to notice. As soon as she rose, one of them lunged at her left arm, the one holding the lantern.
Too late to dodge. Yuuri felt a sharp, fishy wind brush past her side, and the lantern slipped from her grasp with a clatter, plunging into the sewage.
The dim light went out.
Darkness devoured everything. In the pitch black, she couldn’t see either of the pitch-dark beasts, only hear them moving.
Relying on her memory of the way in, Yuuri quickly left the sewage pool. At least she no longer had to worry about her legs being entangled. But in utter darkness, things had only gone from bad to worse.
She couldn’t see where the monsters were at all.
Stay calm…
If she listened carefully, she might be able to judge the direction of their attacks.
Steadying her mind, faint specks of light appeared before her eyes.
They looked like a blurry human shape. Though faint, Yuuri could just barely make out the outlines of the two monsters. It was enough.
“Iris?”
The glow came from Iris’s body. Maybe she hadn’t noticed last night because of the campfire—did Iris’s projection always give off a faint glow?
It was weak, but it would do.
She dodged two more lunges from the beasts, swinging her dagger as she went, though it met only air.
Compared to those she’d encountered in the mountains, these sewer-dwelling creatures were much harder to deal with.
Maybe the environment played a role.
If only she still had her grappling hook, things would be much better right now.
For now, she could only grip her backup dagger tightly.
Dodging another attack, her blade finally scraped across a beast’s body. It felt like slicing into a block of butter that hadn’t quite set.
But the wound quickly healed. Not enough damage.
Looks like she’d have to cut them several times.
As she prepared to dodge another monster’s lunge, the faint glow was snuffed out.
The beasts instantly melted into the darkness. Yuuri only felt a rush of cold, foul wind toward her face. She could only rely on memory to guess their direction, barely slipping past another attack.
“Iris?”
“I thought about it, Yuuri-chan. I don’t really have any obligation to help you, do I?”
This girl…
She should have known better than to let her guard down, just because Iris had helped her before.
Besides these Abyssal beasts, Iris was probably the one who wanted to see her dead the most.
“Of course, Yuuri-chan~ If you want me to light things up for you, it’s very, very simple.”
In the darkness came the Little Evil God’s malicious giggle, “Just lend me your body for a while, and I’ll light up the way.
Just a little while, just a short while in exchange for light. What do you think? It’s a fair trade, isn’t it? Hehehe~”
Taking the chance to threaten her, huh.
Lend her body? Not a chance.
Focusing intently on the sounds in the darkness, Yuuri barely managed to dodge each attack, but her cloak wasn’t so lucky.
The sound of tearing kept reminding her—the cloak she’d worn for so long might not hold up much longer.
It was the cloak now, but what would it be next?
In the dark, Yuuri swung her dagger again and again, but it kept missing. Even when she hit by luck, a single strike wasn’t enough to kill them.
If this dragged on, her fate would be the same as the corpse she’d seen earlier… No, she wouldn’t let that happen.
There had to be another way.
Aside from relying on Iris, there had to be another way to create light.
Magic… fire…
Right, how could she have forgotten?
Yuuri stopped moving, recalling the steps Iris had taught her before.
She focused, trying to grasp the “stream” that surged deep within her body. She tried to feel it, grab hold of it…
There!
Maybe because her life was on the line, it all went much more smoothly this time.
She seized that unfamiliar energy, yanking it toward her dagger hand.
Fire… fire…
She pictured that blazing, raging flame.
With a whoosh, burning light suddenly drove away the darkness.
Blazing fire burst from her palm, swiftly winding around the blade, turning night into day.
“Did I… do it?”
She was holding a dagger on fire, but it didn’t feel hot at all.
The fire lit up the darkness—and the monsters’ forms.
They could no longer melt into the shadows. Yuuri strode forward. The flaming blade sliced across a beast.
The wound tried to heal, but fire climbed across its body, burning with speed and intensity. The creature howled, unwilling, but was quickly reduced to ash by the flames.
One down. The other tried to retaliate, but Yuuri dodged, swinging her flaming dagger like she was slicing butter. The monster’s body split open.
The same thing happened—a blaze, a scream, then it turned to ashes and vanished.
Just like that, both were dealt with.
“Huff…”
Staring at the burning dagger in her hand, Yuuri thought, Using magic actually felt pretty good.
“Well? Magic is handy, isn’t it?”
Iris’s familiar figure appeared before her, the Little Evil God smirking, wearing the look of a teacher expecting praise.
Since magic had indeed been useful, Yuuri didn’t bother arguing about her sudden disappearance.
Alright, now there was only Kaf left to deal with.
She waded back into the sewage, making her way to Kaf. He was still huddled in the corner, repeating the same words as before.
Yuuri frowned. Something felt off, but she still moved a little closer.
“Mr. Kaf, the danger is over. You’re safe now.”
“Safe… safe…”
Kaf seemed to finally calm down and looked up at her.
Suddenly, everything changed!
Kaf’s right hand had somehow become a sharp claw, which he thrust at Yuuri’s chest at blinding speed.
The terror on his face vanished, replaced by a vicious, triumphant grin.
But Yuuri was faster.
Her flaming dagger pierced his wrist with precision, pinning the clawed hand to the wall.
Yuuri raised her brows. Ever since she’d met him, something had felt off. She’d been on guard just in case, and sure enough, he bared his fangs at her at last.