After leaving the burial chamber, the tremors beneath her feet grew even stronger.
Yuri had no idea what was happening, but these intense vibrations were a clear sign—the tomb was about to collapse.
She quickened her pace, rushing toward the exit of the tomb. Behind her, the rumble of falling rocks echoed relentlessly.
The cave-in was happening even faster than she’d expected. She had to hurry.
If she got buried underground, she’d most likely die here, letting that white-haired loli eyeing her body have her way.
She made it out of the tomb. Up ahead was the same winding, shadowy tunnel she’d come through. Now, rocks were starting to fall there as well.
It seemed not only the underground tomb was collapsing, but even the path leading down was being affected. Damn… She could only hope the exit wasn’t blocked yet.
Following the same route back, Yuri sped up again and again. Behind her, the booming of collapsing stone was like the footsteps of Death, drawing ever closer.
She couldn’t tell if it was just her nerves, or if it was true, but as a girl now, she seemed to be even faster than before.
But now wasn’t the time to think. She could only force herself to go faster, until finally, a glimmer of light appeared ahead.
It was the exit!
Before Yuri could even breathe a sigh of relief, a massive boulder crashed down, blocking most of the opening.
Not good… If it had fallen just a little differently, the entire entrance would have been sealed.
It seemed the outside was caving in too. More rocks must be rolling down from the top of the mountain.
Damn… She still had a ways to go before reaching the exit, and nobody could say when the next falling rock would seal it completely.
The only lucky part was that, with her new, petite figure, she could still squeeze through what remained of the opening.
Judging the distance, Yuri’s eyes flashed, and she flung her left arm forward.
With a crisp “click,” a glint of cold steel shot out from the mechanical device on her left wrist. A sharp grappling hook latched precisely onto the entrance.
The cable went taut in an instant, and with its pull, she flew forward like an arrow released from the bowstring.
The remaining gap was just enough for her to slip through. With that, Yuri managed to get through before the entrance was completely blocked by falling stones.
She landed and quickly steadied herself. Looking back, the crisis wasn’t over yet.
Before her eyes, the earth and mountain shook violently. Massive boulders tumbled down from the summit, as if the whole mountain was on the verge of collapse.
Not good… This wasn’t a place to linger. With no time to rest, Yuri kept running down the mountainside.
The rumble coming from the depths of the mountain behind her filled her with dread, but leaving here was the most important thing for now.
Suppressing her curiosity to go investigate, Yuri only stopped to catch her breath when she reached a wide, open area far from Black Stone Mountain.
Huff…
Her stamina actually seemed a bit better than before. Had this happened previously, she’d have already collapsed from exhaustion, but now she only needed a moment to catch her breath.
She wondered how Iris was doing. But she was just a projection; even if she got buried under the mountain, nothing would happen to her.
The only question was how she’d catch up—would she float over, or…?
In the very next moment, a white figure slowly appeared before her eyes.
“My, you sure run fast, Yuri-chan.”
As she spoke, Iris made a gesture as if looking into the distance—even though she was facing entirely the wrong direction.
No telling how long she’d been sealed away; her sense of direction was ridiculously off now that she was out.
Still, this was pretty much what Yuri had expected.
“What’s wrong? You’re not surprised at all?”
Iris sounded a bit miffed at Yuri’s calm reaction.
She probably wanted to see some surprise on Yuri’s face.
But too bad—Yuri already knew her soul was attached to her body, and that this Iris was just a projection. There was nothing strange about her popping up in front of her at any time.
If she wanted, she could show up right in front of her face.
An annoying tagalong she couldn’t get rid of.
Yuri frowned slightly as Iris’s chatter droned in her ear. But besides Iris’s voice, there seemed to be another sound.
Her heart raced—a warning. The collapse must have attracted something.
Unluckily for her, whatever it was had noticed her presence, and was now lurking nearby.
Drawing her dagger, Yuri’s eyes swept the area warily. In the wind, a dangerous scent began to spread.
“Hey hey, didn’t I say it’s pointless to struggle?”
“Quiet.”
“Huh?”
Being shushed by a human made Iris instantly indignant. Just as she was about to get mad, she saw Yuri gesture as if to cover her mouth.
Was she an idiot?
Didn’t she know she was a projection—covering her mouth wouldn’t work.
Still, if Yuri made that motion, maybe she really did want Iris to be quiet?
Well, let’s see if there’s anything worth worrying about. Listening closely to her surroundings, aside from the distant sounds of falling rocks, the wind carried a restless, agitated note.
“Looks like there’s something out there. Don’t even think about asking me for help though.”
If only she didn’t make things worse.
At that instant, a wolf-like howl tore through the atmosphere.
They were here!
From the shadows of a pile of rocks at the edge of her vision, a cloud of black mist surged out, and a pitch-black, wolf-shaped beast leaped forth.
Yuri only needed a glance to know what it was. Though its shape was wolf-like, it was definitely no wolf.
More black mist surged behind it, and more creatures of the same kind crawled out. Their bodies weren’t made of flesh and blood, but were formed from black mist and a strange, oily substance oozing from the ground, just like the black sludge Iris had summoned.
These were Deep Abyss Beasts, the very manifestation of Deep Abyss power.
No one knew where the Deep Abyss first came from. Since the power first welled up from underground hundreds of years ago, it had been gnawing away at the world ever since.
They had no preference for their victims—anything alive would become their prey.
The curse Yuri bore was said to come from the Curse of the Abyss.
Those cursed would attract the attention of the Deep Abyss.
Just like now, the power of the Deep Abyss would come looking for her—and try to kill her.
Gripping her dagger tight, Yuri knew a fierce fight was inevitable.
The question was, how much of her old fighting strength did she still have in this girl’s body?
Her eyes locked on the first Deep Abyss Beast lunging at her. It moved fast—its jaws, dripping black slime, snapped at her the instant it closed in.
Yuri sidestepped in a smooth glide, her own agility surprising her. As she slipped past, her dagger flashed, cutting precisely across its neck.
There was no feeling of slicing through flesh—more like slicing through thick glue, a sensation that made her skin crawl.
A strike like that shouldn’t be enough to kill one.
Or so Yuri thought. Normally, it would take several blows to kill a Deep Abyss Beast. Yet this one let out a shrill shriek, then crumbled to ash, scattered by the wind.
That’s not right…
No time to think—several more Deep Abyss Beasts closed in, surrounding her.
Yuri had to focus on fighting them off first, and think about it all later.
Just then, a familiar, exasperated voice called out from not far away.
“Hey! You bunch of idiots, go bite her, not me!”