Chapter 90: Elyssia B IV.
"My friend and I climbed onto the ceiling when we heard the knocking, then watched from up there. We saw a boy run inside and go to the room next to where you guys were."
"Then the man ran in searching for that boy, reaching the last room where the boy hid. We all suddenly suppressed him, but having no power, we could do nothing."
"We were then forced to flee through to the man's house, but because the path ended, we ran outside and lost sight of each other."
Elyssia B: "Why does this house have a tunnel leading to that man's house you spoke of?"
Elyssia A: "Actually, at the end of the tunnel is a large stone block; on it sits a quite small brown head, candles, and drawings like an array."
"Then there is a flight of stairs leading up to the man's house. It seems to be his basement. The passage was hidden by some wooden crates."
Elyssia B: "It is his house yet he does not know?"
Elyssia A shook her head.
"I do not know, but I have told you the gist of it. Let me go with you, while running over there, I saw three rooms."
Airi: "I think we should believe her; let her go first to lead the way and examine the other side as well."
Elyssia B: "I will say this: though still suspicious, I believe you for now."
Elyssia A nodded in understanding.
"I know."
Elyssia B stood up, took paper and pen from her shoe, and began recording the new information, speaking while writing:
"Then let us search now; we currently do not know what else to do anyway."
Takeshi went to the stairs and took three sticks with glowing stones on top.
"Understood."
Elyssia A knew what she had to do; she stepped forward and entered the small gap.
Takeshi handed Ayaka a stick with a glowing stone. He stepped up to hand one to Elyssia A, but she shook her head.
"My eyes can see in the dark, no need."
Takeshi stared blankly, not understanding.
Elyssia B: "Basically, an angel can see in the dark, that is all."
…
Beneath the tunnel, they walked while remaining alert. But Elyssia A kept walking, not even turning her head back.
Elyssia A: - "Must be fast."
Stepping to the door, the four people following behind prepared their spirits. But Elyssia A quickly opened the door and stepped forward.
The four behind were quite bewildered but stepped up one by one.
In front of them now was a large stone block with a brown head placed in the center, candles burning around the edges of the block, and strange red drawings, like some kind of seal. The sight made all five of them extremely bewildered.
Elyssia A spoke softly and carefully:
"We also do not yet know what this thing is used for."
Having spoken, Elyssia A pointed to the corner of the room, where a small part of a staircase could be seen.
"And over there is the way up."
The four behind turned their eyes to follow.
Airi: "Then should we see what this seal is like, or go up to check? What do you all think?"
Takeshi pointed at the stone block.
"Check it; it feels safer down here."
Ayaka nodded.
"That is right; if there is an emergency, we turn around and run straight back home."
Elyssia B nodded.
"Hmm, that works too. Regardless, everything must be examined; this will be our turn sooner or later."
Airi nodded.
"Fine, then it is decided."
Elyssia A, currently standing the furthest away to give them a sense of safety, stood near the stairs to the upper path, silent and observing.
Elyssia B took out her paper and pen, preparing to record the next information.
Takeshi, Ayaka, and Airi stepped toward the stone block simultaneously, wanting to examine what the stone held.
Airi: "Perhaps this is the thing that takes us outside and now we need to find the items to activate it."
Suddenly, a red light flared, illuminating the entire room. The brown head shook violently; the tiny burning candles abruptly erupted into large flames.
All five people were bewildered, squinting against the blinding light.
Takeshi, Ayaka, and Airi immediately disappeared before they could do anything, then that red light faded away, returning the room to its original lighting.
Both Elyssias stood frozen, their aghast eyes not leaving the cold stone block.
Suddenly, a loud laugh rang out from behind Elyssia A, a laugh profoundly satisfied and frenzied:
"HAHAHA..."
Elyssia A spun around instantly with a bewildered look, backing away in fear.
Elyssia B turned and looked, not understanding what was happening, then looked at Elyssia A backing away; one could clearly see that body trembling.
The man, with a delighted face, slowly drew his sword from its scabbard; the sound of metal friction rang out in the quiet, cold basement, extremely sharp. On the blade, fresh red blood of someone still lingered.
"Stupid monsters, it is good you knew to approach the seal only to be sealed yourselves, saving me the effort of killing; chasing that other monster earlier was truly tiring."
Elyssia A continued backing slowly toward the passage. Seeing this, Elyssia B also understood.
Immediately, Elyssia A turned and fled back into the small gap of the wooden crates and ran into the tunnel.
The man, seeing this, also acted immediately.
Elyssia A ran without daring to look back. Those hurried and fear-filled strides echoed in the tunnel, mixing with gasping breaths like a chaotic piece of music.
Her head was a tangled mess of thoughts, but she did not dare think, because currently the only thing she needed was to escape at all costs.
Elyssia was running up the stairs; she felt the surrounding space warp; she knew it seemed that other Elyssia B had been killed.
Flinging the door open, she knew she needed to run outside. But then she stiffened, as if remembering something.
"Wait, if so, the man would also disappear, wouldn't he?"
Standing before the door, she turned and looked down the stairs with worry... But after standing for a short moment, no man appeared, which made her a bit more at ease with her thought.
* "So that means only Elyssia is left in this house?"
She slowed her breath gradually and calmed down.
"So now I can see what those three rooms have; everything was just reset."
She turned and immediately ran back once more, thinking while running.
"I understand, that stone block is a seal, not an exit."
She remembered the bloodstain on the man's sword. Running, her eyes widened with disbelief.
"He was hunting the boy, and that bloodstain..."
She began connecting the events and the most important information.
"All four are monsters; that boy is actually a monster too. That man is only hunting."
"Could this be the secret of the trial?"
She ran past the large stone block but did not care, continuing to run up into the man's house. Without thinking, she ran up the stairs.
Running to the first room, she flung the door open and ran inside. The smell of alcohol slammed into her face, but she did not care, scanning the cluttered room once.
* "So many bookshelves."
She reached down and picked up a book, flipping through many pages quickly before throwing it away.
"Is there a secret place here?"
…
She searched all the bookshelves, opening every book to examine them, but still nothing.
She continued taking four books in a row, but unexpectedly they crashed to the floor.
She bent down with irritation after searching without success. Suddenly, there was a book lying under the desk; it seemed to have fallen there.
She stood up, stepped over, and bent down to pick up the book. The book was very dusty, causing the dust to cling to her pale skin, changing its color.
She opened the book and read.
…
Elyssia read very fast, her eyes darting across the lines of text quickly, then dropping to the next line, as if she read without pause. Her gaze showed clear surprise.
Closing the book, she was bewildered but also more encouraged because of the useful clue.
Glancing over the books she hadn't read on the shelf.
"This must be the only clue in this room."
She did not stay, immediately turning and running outside to the next room. She knew time was very urgent.
Opening the door, she ran inside. Scanning the room, the most notable point was a large drawing on the floor in blood red.
"Why do I keep feeling this image is identical to the seal image in the basement? I did not dare approach to observe closely so I do not remember."
"If so, is this circle the same as the one below?"
She did not dare step inside, only circling the large ring.
Bending down and brushing aside some multi-colored stones, she picked up a book and opened it, looking inside but she did not understand what was in it…
She searched continuously; for books further away, she tried to reach. Finally, there was one book with useful information…
She finished reading, then picked up the last book in the room to read, but there was nothing.
She turned and ran outside, heading to the final room. But while running, her eyes caught a familiar silhouette.
The man stood at the tunnel exit; he was quite surprised that someone had broken into his house.
Elyssia already knew that; she immediately jumped from the second floor down.
Thud!
The man broadened his shoulders and took a stance to lunge with his sword, laughing loudly:
"Hahaha... die!"
But Elyssia immediately opened the door and successfully ran outside, evading death.
Running outside, she stood in the heavy rain and sighed in relief after escaping death.
"A bit more and I would have died; fortunately that distance was far, and it seems his mind is no longer stable, otherwise I would be dead."
Before her eyes now was emptiness; there was no Elyssia walking and passing through each other, only rain.
Elyssia did not appear too surprised; she remained very calm as if she knew for sure.
"I knew it would be like this. So the issue is whether I go out or stay inside."
"Then there must be a rule for it to operate, right?"
Glancing around and looking at herself, she immediately ran in the downpour, wanting to find another house then deduce further.
She ran to a house; the door was the same, no changes. Looking back at her clothes, not yet fully soaked but quite uncomfortable.