CHAPTER 53: DARKNESS

The fall was abrupt. Eun-woo felt his breath catch in his throat as his body hit the ground. The impact left him stunned for a few seconds. All around him was silence.

He blinked several times, but couldn’t see anything. It was completely dark. He couldn’t make out the ceiling, the floor, or his own hands. Just absolute blackness that left no shape or form visible.

He crept cautiously until his fingers brushed Rhys’s arm.

"Rhys..." he whispered, trying to locate his face. He touched it gently. He was unconscious, but still breathing.

Eun-woo stood still for a few seconds, trying to understand where they were. He knew they were no longer in the cave. The air was different. It was damp, cold, and didn’t smell of earth or minerals. It smelled more stagnant. As if the place had been closed up for a long time.

Even though he couldn’t see anything, he felt like something wasn’t right. He struggled to get his bearings. Even when he moved his arm, he wasn’t sure how much space there was around him. As if the distance were infinite.

He felt like something was watching him. Not from a fixed point, but from all around. From above, from the sides, from behind his neck. His heart began to beat faster. He couldn’t tell if there was anything alive there, because he couldn’t hear its breathing or heartbeat, but something was definitely stalking them.

Eun-woo crouched beside Rhys, shielding him with his body. He didn’t want to move any more than necessary. Any misstep could separate them.

Several seconds passed.

Then Eun-woo reached out to the side, feeling the ground. His palm hit something other than stone. It was as if the air had grown thicker. He tried again, this time upward. The same thing. It wasn’t a wall. It wasn’t a solid barrier. But something was there. Something pushing back against his skin.

Darkness began to close in around them. Eun-woo at first thought it was an illusion brought on by fear, but then he noticed he was having trouble breathing. The air grew thicker, and the space became narrower.

His lungs contracted with effort and a slight dizziness clouded his head.

His first impulse was to get up and look for a way out. But as soon as he tried to stand, something forced him to stop. The darkness was so thick it pushed against his body, as if he were trapped in a thick liquid.

He struggled to sit up, but couldn’t fully stretch out; moving upright was nearly impossible. He tried hunching forward, feeling his way with his arms, but the resistance remained the same.

With no other choice, Eun-woo returned to his place beside Rhys, closed his eyes, and tried to summon the energy that vibrated within him when he lost control. He remembered how he had called upon it to heal Rhys, out of love, not fear, but nothing happened.

There was not even a flash.

Frustration burned in his throat. He felt panic begin to creep up his spine. He was running out of air, Rhys was still unconscious, and they were trapped. No way out.

And he, as usual, seemed incapable of doing anything useful.

His breathing became uneven. His heartbeat quickened. A tremor ran through his fingers. He couldn’t think straight anymore. It felt like everything was closing in.

"Eun-woo..." Rhys whispered.

Eun-woo opened his eyes and, noticing a slight movement beside him, immediately leaned in. He couldn’t see him, but he could feel Rhys sitting up.

Eun-woo approached urgently, speaking in a low but agitated voice.

"Rhys? Are you okay? Does anything hurt?"

Rhys let out a stifled groan before answering.

"Just my butt... If I had known it would help me land, I would have worked it more."

Eun-woo let out a small laugh.

"You should be grateful to your butt."

"I appreciate it, but not so much... it could’ve done a better job."

They both let out a low laugh, as if for a second they’d forgotten where they were. The sound was quickly lost in the density that surrounded them.

Then there was silence, and Eun-woo felt the weight of reality fall back on his shoulders. The darkness was still there.

"Rhys... this darkness isn’t normal," Eun-woo said. "I can’t explain it well, but... it’s alive. It feels thick, like it’s crushing us. I tried using my powers, but nothing happened. I’m... I’m sure if we don’t do something, it’s going to kill us."

Rhys took a second to respond, as if processing what he had just heard.

"If we fell from the heights and didn’t hit bottom immediately..." he paused. "Then this thing has a beginning and an end."

"And what does that mean?"

"It means you can go through it. If it has edges, then it has a way out."

Encouraged by Rhys’s logic, Eun-woo suggested they give it a try. If the darkness was like a substance, then perhaps they could break through.

They struggled to their feet. As they stretched out their arms, their hands sank into the blackness with a viscous resistance, as if they were pushing through a very thick gel. On the count of three, they began to move in the same direction, and as they did, they realized it was like swimming blindly through a very thick liquid.

They also realized they couldn’t breathe. he moment they moved away from the starting point, they were almost instantly out of breath.

So they were forced to retreat.

When he returned to the starting point, they were coughing and their eyes were burning.

Eun-woo dropped to his knees.

"It doesn’t work... I don’t know what else we can try. We have nothing. Not even a flashlight."

Rhys, still catching his breath, sat down next to him.

"We’ll come up with something else, don’t lose your cool."

A few seconds passed in silence.

"That’s weird," Rhys murmured. "I feel like I’m having more trouble breathing sitting down... than when I was lying on the floor."

Eun-woo raised his head.

"What did you say?"

"That before, when I was lying down, I wasn’t so short of breath."

Eun-woo immediately crouched down, resting his torso against the ground, and as he did so, he felt a very faint draft. It was barely perceptible, but it was there.

He extended one arm forward, level with the ground, and noticed the dense mass was gone. His fingers moved freely, as if that area were clear.

He sat up straight with a start.

"Rhys, you’re a genius!"

Rhys frowned, confused.

"What?"

"We can cross. But not standing or swimming. We have to slide... face down. Like reptiles. Maybe that’s the only part the darkness hasn’t completely filled."

Rhys snorted.

"Of course I’m a genius. If you’re brilliant, your Guide can’t be any less."

Eun-woo rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but smile.

"Let’s go before your ego gets any bigger."

"Too late," Rhys said.

Eun-woo crept along cautiously, sensing the air thinning. Rhys trailed behind, wordless, but breathing heavily.

Little by little, the darkness began to dissolve. There wasn’t really a light source, but the black began to give way to a dirty gray that allowed them to make out the outlines of their own bodies. First, their arms. Then, further away, vague silhouettes of what might have been rocks.

Finally, the pressure on his shoulders was completely gone. Eun-woo stopped, raised his head, and carefully straightened himself. Rhys did the same.

They were out.

It was still dark, but they could already make out the shapes of their bodies, the movements of their hands, and the lines of their faces.

They were still processing what they’d just been through when something passed by them. It was a white blur, tall and agile, as if gliding along the walls.

Eun-woo immediately tensed up.

"Get behind me!" he said, reaching out to block Rhys’s path.

"What? No!" Rhys moved to his side without hesitation. "If that thing’s going to attack us, then we’ll both fight."

"It’s dangerous, Rhys," Eun-woo murmured, staring into the darkness. "It’s an interdimensional creature, I can feel it."

"Then let the creature attack us both," Rhys muttered, just as a high, mocking laugh sounded from above.

"Are they really getting romantic right before they die? How touching."

Both of them looked up at once.

"Did it speak?" Eun-woo whispered, incredulous. He couldn’t understand how the creature could even utter human words.

"Where is it?" Rhys asked, spinning around. Then his foot brushed against something. He looked down and bent down without thinking.

It was a flashlight.

The same one he had lost when they fell.

"I offered them a slow, but painless death," the voice continued, now clearer, creeping along the walls. "Although... I’m glad they didn’t take it. It’s been many years since I’ve fed on an Esper and its Guide."

Rhys picked up the flashlight and instinctively switched it on.

A beam of light shot upward. For a second, there were only long shadows. And then he saw it.

The creature was descending from above, straight towards them.

Its body was humanoid, but its skin was white, so white it seemed to glow in the light. It had no eyes, only a huge mouth stretching from ear to ear, replete with small, needle-sharp fangs. Its ears were like large white feathers, vibrating with every movement. Its hands were elongated, with claws curved like sickles. Its feet were also long, and didn’t seem to touch the ground, but instead dangled with eerie elegance.

And it was coming straight for Eun-woo.