It''s been quite some time ever since our group have been walking down the stairs, with Kuroyuki leading us at the front of the group.

    I can''t really see the end of the stairway aside from the darkness that lies beneath.

    As the last person behind the group, I inadvertently look behind— and was surprised to find that the staircase''s emergency door is nowhere to be seen aside from the light.

    "Kuroyuki— how exactly far down is it…?" I yelled.

    "…Probably a few more hundred steps." She replied calmly.

    "Eh… we still have to walk another few more hundred…?" Persia heaved a sigh of exasperation.

    It''s just as Kuroyuki described— there''s only one narrow staircase that could b?r?ly fit two people side by side.

    "By the way… is it my problem or is this place getting darker…?" Persia asked.

    "Now that you mention it… It really is getting darker." August murmured.

    "There''s electromagnetic pulse down there." Kronos retorted. "What do you expect? A backup light?"

    "The air also feels a little thin and stuffy here…" Persia added.

    "We are going straight down to a basement several hundred feet below ground." Kronos retorted. "What do you expect? A tank of free oxygen?"

    "Oh, I know." August then seems to come up with an idea.

    "I''m not really good at this… But at least it could exchange the air." August said to me.

    "Phew… thank goodness… I''m sweating all over." Persia murmured while flapping her blazer.

    Her shirt became slightly transparent that her light blue lingerie was showing, and she didn''t seem to notice.

    "Hey, Kuroyuki. Why don''t you make some cold air?" I asked.

    "Fu…"

    Kuroyuki then gathers a palm of cold air, then she blows— scattering it.

    "E-Eek!? It''s cold…!" Persia murmured. "Eek…! My clothes are freezing— they are getting hard for me to move…!"

    "………………"

    Hearing Persia''s remark, Kuroyuki then removes the frostings lingering on Persia''s clothes with her power. She then compresses them to an ice ball floating just right above her palm.

    "…Yes."

    """""Ewwww……" ””””

    Everyone immediately felt disgusted, including Persia herself.

    "Just throw that aside, Kuroyuki," I told her.

    Which, Kuroyuki tossed the ice ball downwards, where it continued to roll down to the darkness.

    "Kyaa…!?"

    Maybe it''s because the light intensity is getting lower— Persia suddenly tripped.

    "Gotcha," I said to her while grabbing her arm.

    "Ah, uh— thank you," Persia said to me. "My… My hero~!"

    "Erm, Persia— you do know this staircase is quite narrow, right?" I told her. "Could you stop trying to walk at my side?"

    "Eh… But it''s dark… I''m scared that I would trip by accident— KYAA!?"

    Once again, Persia tripped, which I stopped her from falling by pulling her.

    "…Th— Thank you…"

    "Be careful," I murmured. "Why don''t you just generate light with your power?"

    "Oh. I forgot I could do that."

    Which, Persia created a ball of white light on her palm, lighting up our passage— then it slowly floats in front of Kuroyuki, shining our way.

    "Man, you really should''ve done that from the beginning," August said to her.

    "It''s not like I don''t want to. It was too hot, stuffy and dark for me to concentrate, you know?"

    "Yup, she definitely is," I added.

    "That''s right! So you should escort me properly like a lady~!" Persia added.

    "Hey, August— I will take her right, and you take her left."

    "Ohhhhh." August seems excited. "I get what you mean."

    Realising what I was going to do, August took Persia''s left hand while I took her right hand.

    "W-Wait…!" Persia murmured. "I-It''s hard to walk like this…!"

    “No no not at all Persia.” I said to her while enduring my laughter.

    "Not at all," August added. "You look just like a crab princess— pfft hahahahahaha…!"

    While stating that remark, everyone laughed but Rumelia.

    She then storms her way to the front, where Kuroyuki is.

    "Comfort me, Kuroyuki— OW OW OW OW OW…!?"

    "…I could comfort you, but I''ve said not to come near me," Kuroyuki told her, with her demon''s grip clamping on her head.

    "H— HAND…! I''M TERRIBLY SORRY YOU ARE CRUSHING MY HEAD!!!"

    While struggling against Kuroyuki''s grip— Persia''s light ball flings around like candlelight getting blown by the wind.

    "My eyes…!" I screamed.

    The way the light flings around is making my eyes spin.

    I''m not the only one that was affected by the only light source that was flying around. Kronos, Blaze, and August had to cover their eyes from the light.

    "Kuroyuki!" I screamed. "Save the grip for later! The light…!"

    As soon as Kuroyuki released her, the light source became stable.

    "S-Soigner…!" (H-Heal…!)

    After Persia casts her healing magic for about two seconds— it was immediately dispelled.

    "…!?"

    "…I thought I told you," Kuroyuki said to Persia.

    "…I know," Persia murmured. "I just didn''t expect the interference to reach all the way up here."

    "…Did you see the mark over there?" Kuroyuki pointed at the wall, which was ten of several steps away.

    It''s an ''X'' mark.

    "…From that point onwards, you can''t rely on your magic, and any electronic device stops functioning." She told us.

    "…Wait a minute." Persia suddenly murmured.

    Then, she disperses our only light source now.

    Even with the light source coming from above the stairway, it''s near to complete darkness now.

    "It''s dark! And scary!" Persia complained. "How could you even see where you are going…!?"

    "… It''s fine for me…?" Kuroyuki murmured.

    "I had to agree with Persia," Kronos murmured. "I can''t even switch on my night vision goggles here."

    "Hmph. You humans are weak." Blaze retorted. "I could see just fine."

    "Dragons and phoenix had better eyesight compared to us humans," I said to Blaze. "Of course you could see perfectly well."

    "That''s right, that''s right!" Persia added. "It''s just unfair to compare your eyesight to us!"

    "Err… actually, I could see perfectly fine too," I murmured to Persia.

    "It''s just unfair to compare us to you special students…!" Persia refuted.

    "Whoops, leave me out of this, haha," August murmured.

    "Could you see because of your ''Presence Sensing''…?" I asked August.

    "Eh?" August inadvertently murmured as he faced me. "Luc— by chance, you knew the ''Force of Will'' as well…?"

    "Yeah, but I''m not really good at it, though," I replied.

    "Then you are just like me." August laughed. "I''m only an expert in ''Offensive Cladding''— ah."

    Behind August, Kuroyuki is making a sinister-looking smile. It seems she became like that when she knew August isn''t exactly an expert in ''Force of Will''.

    Because of the darkness, it seems no one realised Kuroyuki''s expression but for me, August and Blaze.

    Blaze inadvertently swallowed his saliva as soon as she witnessed that horrifying looking face.

    "Ehem, Persia— let''s just restore your light and keep moving, shall we?" I said.

    "Ah, sorry." She replied.

    We continued our journey down the stairways with Persia''s light guiding us.

    ……………………………