Chapter 64: Dark Spire
For a moment, she seemed suspended between this world and another, and then the glow around her dimmed, though her eyes did not return to their natural hue. White fire lingered in them, shifting faintly with each passing second.
Adela drew in the air through her teeth and held her gaze on the scenery. Her body tensed, then loosened with a slight tremor as she blinked. Her hands reached out in front of her, not blindly but with certainty, as though tracing lines across an invisible page.
’So she can see hidden paths and illusions? That’s her Element’s aspect? Well, not entirely useless.’ Kyle caught on at once, his attention drawn to her movements as she traced the unseen lines.
Na-Ri stepped forward, laid a hand on her shoulder, and asked flatly:
"...Are you okay?"
Adela’s lips parted, but no clear answer came. Her gaze swept across the ridges where the island rose into towering hills.
Slowly, she lifted her arm and pointed towards a fold in the mist.
With a hoarse voice, she explained:
"It is not only clouds. I am certain there is a way through. I can see it."
Orion gave a dry snort, shifting his stance as he gestured towards the distance.
"Of course there is. Next you will say there is a welcome mat and refreshments waiting on the other side."
Na-Ri shot him a sharp glance and replied in a flat tone:
"Sarcasm will not help us decide."
He answered with a crooked smile:
"No, but it keeps me sane with what I am seeing right now."
’Hm. It keeps me insane as well, because I do not think we are about to start walking on clouds.’
Kyle remained silent after the thought, his head tilted slightly as he fixed his gaze on the clouds. He edged nearer to the brink and narrowed his eyes at the wall of vapour.
"She is not wrong. Look at how the mist clings to the slope; it does not shift with the air. The lines within it... yes, it is unnatural. If she claims there is a path, then I trust her sight." Orion spoke with measured calm as he studied the same detail Kyle had fixed upon.
Adela turned towards him with a tense expression, though relief flickered across her face at his affirmation. He had not truly doubted her earlier, only teased. Now her Pharos Element, granting her foresight, proved invaluable.
"It sharpens with every moment. The ground folds forward, but only for those who know where to place their step. Thankfully, Ad will lead us through." The handsome youth finished with a bright smile at the grey-haired beauty.
Na-Ri’s gaze lingered on her before she sighed.
"Very well. Let us move."
"...She should go first, since she alone sees the path," Kyle remarked, leaning against a rock with a grin that failed to reach his eyes.
Adela shot him a look, half scowl and half weary concession. He caught it, then turned his eyes away without another word.
’I am only suggesting the most logical course.’
The grey-haired beauty steadied herself with a breath and set one foot forward. The ground beneath her held firm, though the stone lay shrouded in mist that rendered it almost insubstantial. She placed another step and her balance did not falter.
Her eyes remained fixed ahead as she spoke in a low, steady voice:
"The path lies here. You must stay close to me. If you drift, I cannot guarantee your safety — especially you, Orion."
Na-Ri’s gaze flicked briefly towards Kyle and Orion before she looked away in silence. She summoned her sword and followed behind the grey-haired girl, ready to catch her should a misstep occur.
Kyle pushed himself away from the rock and joined the line with feigned reluctance.
Orion followed last, stepping in behind Kyle while casting a glance at the mist that closed over them with consuming speed.
Within its folds, all sound dulled. The ground beneath them no longer felt like sharp stone but a smooth, polished surface.
Adela slowed her pace as she guided the others deeper into the veil.
Na-Ri kept her blade at her side, her eyes sweeping what little she could see. From her vantage point, she knew mutated creatures could lurk anywhere, particularly the aerial types, so it was sensible to remain alert and the others understood that.
Orion chuckled softly.
"You know, Lee, I appreciate you staying vigilant about beasts, but they need lungs. I can barely breathe in here, and I am far more handsome than any of them."
Na-Ri’s expression tightened, though she kept her gaze on the path.
With a cold edge to her voice, she said, "One day you will choke on your own words."
"Then I will die entertained, my lady," he replied with a laugh.
’I suppose the two of them will never get along,’ Kyle reflected inwardly.
Adela ignored them both and locked her focus on the faint glimmer that only she could perceive. Sweat gathered on her brow as the effort strained her beyond ordinary concentration.
From time to time, she clenched her fists to steady herself as the path narrowed once more.
The climb dragged on longer than any of them anticipated, the mist clinging to their hair and clothes, leaving their skin cool and clammy.
At last, when the fog began to ease, Adela raised a hand to slow their pace and said quietly, "It opens here. Be ready."
The white glow in her eyes faltered as she stepped onto firmer ground. The mist peeled away like curtains, revealing a plateau that stretched farther than sight allowed.
Kyle exhaled a breath he had not realised he was holding.
"At least we did not fall. That counts as success."
But his words soon died as the sight ahead fixed all of their gazes.
Across the plateau, dark spires jutted from the ground in countless numbers. They rose in uneven clusters like pillars of stone with an austere presence. The rock was black, yet it faintly glistened, swallowing the light from the sky and giving back only fragments of it. The spires stretched on until they blurred into the horizon.
Orion brushed a damp strand of hair from his eyes and spoke in a measured tone:
"This is not the same island we entered, right? It looked like some little mass on the sea, but right now... this is something else, like a whole new world."
Na-Ri exhaled and rested her blade against her shoulder before asking:
"Do you remember that fragment of light we saw before crossing the sea?"
Orion lifted a brow.
"Yeah?"
"I think the island is a large shifting mass, and that fragment of light came from here. When I moved in this direction earlier, unaware of the floating stones, I came across this same light."
"Oh... that explains quite a lot." Kyle frowned, both hands resting on his hips as he shook his head. Everything confirmed that they were trapped inside a Trial Zone, and now, even worse, on a shifting island filled with dangerous beasts and some group of zealots.
Adela stood between them, the glow in her eyes beginning to fade. Her voice was strained as she said:
"The path led us here for a reason. I cannot see why, but it is no accident, because I was following one and this was not the line I saw extending forward."
"Fantastic. We came here searching for a way out and instead discovered someone’s private collection of oversized tombstones," Kyle remarked with a hint of exasperation.