"Number seven is dead."
I watched with widened eyes as the corpse of the Nihileth slumped on the ground, dragged by Zeke.
'Number seven…'
Wasn't that one of the retainers of Lord Tanmi? The one Zeke's duplicate hyped up? I didn't even get to witness it, but he just….died. Just like that.
Isabella let out a sigh of relief.
"Finally! Look, even Morgan is back."
Zeke stared at me in surprise, as he slowly took off his broken mask and dismissed it— confirming that the mask is actually some type of equipment.
"Where did you go, Morgan?"
Even Nico was staring at me expectantly, curious. I was still frozen, staring at the corpse with surprise. Was I worrying about the outside for nothing? They had things fully under control here. Maybe a little too under control.
Scratching the back of my head, I looked up and met his gaze, responding casually.
"Oh, number one sort of dragged me into a pocket dimension. I fought my duplicate there and killed him."
Isabella grinned.
"This means they have even less allies now!"
Nico nodded his head, looking pleased as well.
"Now, number seven, number four, number six and number two are dead. They only have number one, number three and number five left now."
Isabella rolled her eyes, clutching her head in mock annoyance.
"This is so annoying. Can't we just give them names? Calling them by numbers is gonna give me a headache."
I stifled a laugh, but it turned serious as I considered the ambush. Curiosity piqued, I asked them.
"How did you guys handle the ambush?"
Zeke leaned against the wall and sighed, as he responded nonchalantly.
"I fought the two retainers. Number three didn't attack much, after showing herself, she just left, abandoning number seven. I was able to kill him because of that."
I raised an eyebrow. Intrigued by this information. Picking up where Zeke left off, Isabella continued.
"Both me and Nico fought number one. Well, it wasn't actually a fight. Number one just kept running around and talking to himself like a maniac. Anyways, some time before you woke up, number one ran off."
Nico nodded his head at what she said.
"We really should of been able to kill him with ease, if it wasn't for his strange ability that let's him travel short distances in an instant."
I hummed in thought, contemplating this information. So, the fight was mostly carried by Zeke. That's to be expected, but that didn't mean Isabella and Nico didn't do much. They likely kept number one at bay from disturbing the fight between Zeke and number seven, otherwise, Number one would of been able to save that Retainer, making things much more difficult for us in the long run.
I turned towards Zeke.
"Did you learn anything about the reason number three ran away? Or about her abilities?"
Zeke sighed in defeat, looking back to meet my gaze, as he shook his head.
"Nothing. She didn't participate in the fight at all. She was acting like a spectator, it creeped me out. Seriously."
Nico exchanged looks between me, Isabella and Nico.
"Now that we handled their ambush while dealing a heavy blow to their forces, what do we do? Should we go for the Abyssal Heart straight up?"
Isabella nodded her head.
"I say we do it. There won't be a better time."
I looked towards her, holding out a hand.
"Hold on, do we even know how to get to the Abyssal Heart?"
Nico turned towards me and explained, his gaze distant, almost focused on something in front of him that I couldn't see— his Screen.
"I managed to plant a tracker on number one when he attempted to escape. It's an equipment that let's me see exactly where he is."
My eyebrows shot up into my hairline, as I asked, curious.
"How did you even come across this equipment?"
Nico dismissed his Screen and turned towards me with a coy smile.
"Secret."
I slumped my shoulders in defeat, rolling my eyes. Before I could open my mouth and retort, however, Nico spoke again.
"And I agree with Isabella here. I also think it's best if we strike the Abyssal Heart now, before it's too late."
Zeke hummed in thought, his hand coming to rub his chin. It made me curious. The burnt marks on his face— why couldn't he heal them? He could clearly heal himself from the wounds, I knew because of the way he healed himself when we were being attacked by the mysterious bow-user. Could the healing be his blessing ability, though? Or perhaps it's some other function?
I wanted to learn more about my companion who was shrouded in layers of mysteries.
After contemplating the choices made by Isabella and Nico, Zeke nodded.
"I agree. I think it's best we strike while the iron is hot. There won't be another opportunity like this, the longer we wait, the more chance they will have to prepare or even inform Lord Tanmi about this."
I shrugged.
"I'm on boat with this decision, as well. Let's head out."
Everyone nodded. Nico opended up his Screen, his gaze on it, checking exactly where number one had gone.
"It doesn't seem like he has realized he's been tracked yet."
Nico mused, as he turned around and faced us.
"Follow me."
Without another word, he started heading noth, through the tunnels. I cautiously followed closely behind Nico, with Isabella beside me. Zeke was nearby Nico, keeping a close eye on the boy.
Matching my pace, I heard Isabella speak, keeping her voice low.
"You look a little down."
I was surprised by her question, I spared her a brief look from the corner of my eye and replied.
"Do I?"
Isabella scoffed, keeping up with me at ease.
"It's not hard to see."
I was honestly a bit embarrassed by her attention to detail. It was true, I have been a bit down ever since commiting suicide to escape from the pocket dimension. The very thought just made me shudder, the sensation of the blade piercing through my neck still burning at the back of my head.
My hand instinctively went up to touch my throat, as I replied after a short pause.
"Well, im just a little traumatized, that's all."
Isabella seemed curious and ever so slightly concerned, eyeing me with interest. However, she didn't say anything in consideration, which I appreciated.
"Must have been quite the story."
I gave a shallow nod, then didn't say anything else, my gaze focused back on Nico, as he was leading us to where the Abyssal Heart was.
There is still a mission to complete, even though I may still be traumatized by the act I committed, it had to be done. It was necessary for my own survival. That's the only thing that really kept me from collapsing.
After a lengthy pause, Isabella said softly.
"You don't have to keep you're thoughts closed up. If you feel comfortable, you can….share what you went through with me."
I was taken aback by her offer, giving her a suspicious look from the corner of my eye. These days, Isabella has been trying to get close to me. Perhaps a little too much. Im starting to get suspicious of her intentions. No matter how unassuming she may seem, Isabella is a deceptive witch. I knew that fact well enough.
"I'll think about it."
That's all I said, before picking up the pace and matching Zeke's leaving her behind. I couldn't quite see her expression, but I felt her hurt radiating from her.
"How far are we?"
Zeke finally broke the silence, asking Nico. He looked up from the Screen, back towards Zeke, then looked back down at his Screen before responding.
"Not far. We are getting close. Get rid of the torches and be quiet. We have to be as stealthy as possible."
At the instructions, all of us nodded and put out our torches with the help of Isabella manipulating strong winds, putting them out with ease. Then, all of them dismissed their weapons, in case they might make a sound— this was risky, walking defenseless, but it was the only way we could be as stealthy as possible.
The element of surprise can be very useful, when done right. The Nihileth's did it in the worst way possible and suffered as a result from it. So, we will have to learn from their mistakes and do it right.
With the preparations ready, all of us shared looks and nods, then continued the walk. Making sure our steps are as light as possible, as we walked down the narrow tunnel, filled with nothing but darkness our eyes couldn't penetrate through.
Zeke had a hand on Nico's shoulder, to guide him. While, I had one on Zeke's shoulder and Isabella had one on mine. The walk through the tunnels was relatively quiet.
Until, Zeke suddenly halted. When Zeke stops, it meant Nico did too. Then, I heard Nico's boyish voice from the front.
"We are here."
The words came out as a whisper. I could barely hear from where I was, Zeke had to relay it back to me and I, in turn, relayed it back to Isabella.
By being here, Nico obviously meant that we have caught up with number one. Not that we have reached the Abyssal Heart, unless number one was directly where the Abyssal Heart was. Which is unlikely.
I continued waiting and waiting. I could feel Isabella's hand on my shoulder trembling, not from anxiety or fear, but impatience. Zeke was still in front of me, I could feel my hand resting on hie shoulder. This meant that Nico was deliberately not saying anything for some reason.
Which was getting on my nerves. However, I kept myself silent and calm, knowing Nico wouldn't do anything without a reason. This includes being silent for some reason. Unless, of course…
Having a sudden urge, my curiosity building at the weight, I activated [Probability Pryer].
"A stab from the darkness towards the left side of my chest, 100%…."
My eyes widened. Moving on instinct, I side-stepped out of the way, my hands reaching behind me and wrapping around Isabella, pulling her away from the attack.
"Morgan?! What happend?"
I heard her exclaim from the darkness, leaning in closer to me, i can feel her muscles becoming tense, ready to attack at a moments notice.
"There is an attacker!"
I yelled out towards Zeke and Nico. Were they fighting? I wasn't sure, since I couldn't see anything. Perhaps it was a bad idea going for stealth, after all. These Nihileth's can see in the darkness.
However, I heard nothing. Despite this, I kept [Probability Pryer] active, with Isabella close to me. I knew she was still here when she spoke.
"There is an attacker?"
I nodded my head, even though she wouldn't have seen me nodding.
"There is."
Isabella didn't say anything else. However, she kept me close to her, as in the darkness, the only way we can confirm the presence of each other was through physical touch. For some reason, so when I lost contact with Zeke, I couldn't be sure if he was fine now.
Nah, it's Zeke. He's fine. He may be unlucky, but he is fine. I was sure of it.
Just as that thought entered my mind though, the tunnel suddenly lit up. No, it wasn't sudden. From the corner, a torch was thrown to the ground. Like a light was suddenly switched on, the brightness inside the tunnel made me squint my eyes, beside me, I heard Isabella moan in irriation.
Slowly opening my eyes, I finally saw the sight that made my heart sink.
Zeke was on the floor, limp, a pool of blood beneath him. His head was a distance away from him, his grey eyes lifeless and his expression stuck in one of fear, for the rest of eternity.
Beside him was Nico, with a gaping hole in his chest, his internal organs spilling out in an disgusting manner. One of his legs was missing, both his arms detached and his head was rolled off a few distance away from his corpse.
Both of them were dead.