The man-bat was definitely dead.
The rats had retreated as well. The entryway of the ruined house was piled high with their corpses, all cut down by Veldon.
Blood seeped from shredded flesh, mixing with the sharp, musky stench of rodents. The combined smell was… indescribably rich.
Mia pinched her nose.
It didn't help.
The odor still slipped through, twisting her stomach into knots.
She'd barely eaten dinner—
"Ugh—!"
She couldn't hold it in.
Even without describing it, anyone could imagine how grotesque the remains of those oversized rats were.
They had to be cleaned up.
Fortunately, the floor was stone, and so were the walls. Only the roof beams were wooden.
Veldon carried the rat carcasses outside. Mia set them ablaze.
As for the bloodstains—
Fire again.
Once the flames licked across the stone, the reek of scorched flesh replaced the animal stench. It was still acrid, but at least it didn't make her want to vomit.
Kalé hadn't returned yet.
Mia felt a flicker of worry.
Then she reminded herself: Kalé had survived as a Nomadic Merchant in this world for years. He must have his own ways of staying alive.
She yawned.
The warmth of the bonfire made her drowsy.
"Why did that bat even attack us?" she muttered.
"Probably its territory," Veldon replied from the doorway. He glanced outside.
The pile of burning rat corpses was still smoldering. No more red eyes in sight.
After a moment, he withdrew his head. "That bat was once one of the Erdtree's people."
Mia looked at the Site of Grace glowing in the center of the house and nodded.
Everything traced back to the Shattering.
She yawned again.
Two nights without proper rest. Now, finally under a roof, exhaustion claimed her.
She had intended to wait for Kalé before sleeping.
But she'd overestimated herself.
With no phone, no distractions, waiting in the Lands Between was its own form of torture.
Curled up in the corner with her knees hugged to her chest, her vision gradually blurred.
—
Mia dreamed.
She dreamed of rats.
Huge rats.
Perhaps it was only natural—what one dwelled on by day surfaced at night.
The rats in her dream were even larger than the ones she had fought. They stood upright, wielding weapons, shrieking as they assembled into an army.
Not an ordinary army.
Torches flickered through underground strongholds as they flooded into human cities through sewers, transforming into a plague-ridden tide of corruption.
Mia couldn't tell from what perspective she was witnessing it.
It felt like watching a film.
A black tide of filth spreading endlessly.
Then—
She felt a sudden, violent sensation of falling.
Mia jolted awake.
Darkness.
Total darkness.
Instinctively, her hand flew to her eyes.
The blindfold that allowed her to see—
Was gone.
Like a nearsighted person waking to find their glasses missing—except far worse.
Without that strip of cloth, she saw nothing.
Nothing at all.
Panic surged.
She scrambled across the floor, hands searching blindly.
It wasn't there.
Nowhere within reach.
Fear and darkness swallowed her whole.
'Where did it go…?'
Her vision—
Where was her vision?
In the pitch black, a faint golden glow flickered.
A guiding light.
Just like the guidance of Grace{capitalized formal system}.
She stretched her hands forward, touching cold stone. Using the wall for support, she moved toward the light—the only thing she could see.
Two steps in—
She tripped.
Hard.
She hit the ground, heart racing.
Still nothing but blackness.
Her breathing grew shallow.
She crawled, hands sweeping across the ground, trying to determine what had tripped her.
Her nose caught a foul stench—
Sewage.
Her fingers brushed something cold.
Rough fur.
Skin stretched tight over bone.
Not human.
The slick grime coating it made her recoil instantly.
She was no longer in the ruined house.
Her hand snapped back.
Footsteps.
Light, quick.
Not Veldon.
She almost called his name—then stopped.
Those steps were wrong.
People liked to think the blind developed sharper senses.
That was a myth.
Mia wasn't blind.
When she wore the blindfold, she saw perfectly.
Now she was simply a normal person who had lost her sight without warning.
And she was terrified.
The footsteps came closer.
The stench of the sewer thickened.
They stopped near her.
"Human-thing!"
A wet, hissing voice erupted beside her.
"Yes-yes! Human-thing! Dead-dead! Fresh meat!"
"Fragrant meat~"
"Female human-thing. Yes-yes… hungry-hungry. I eat!"
The way they spoke—
It was familiar.
Mia clenched her left hand.
She swore that no matter where they touched her from, they would meet fire.
Strangely, the threat steadied her more than the darkness did.
"No! Stupid rat!" another voice screeched. "Fresh meat for Grey Seer! For Grey Seer Queek! We gain reward!"
"But if we eat-eat, Queek not know! He not see here, not see!"
"Hsss—yes-yes! Queek not see!"
"We eat female human-thing! Eat-eat!"
"Give leg! I want leg!"
"Belly best! Eat insides! Blood sweet-sweet!"
They shoved and argued.
"Silence! No fighting! I divide!"
"Why you divide?!"
A wet crunch.
A shriek cut short.
"I strongest! I divide! Complain—die-die!"
"Chitter-chitter… yes-yes, strongest rat, you divide."
The scuffling subsided.
One set of heavier steps approached.
Metal clinked.
Armor.
But—
That wasn't the rat.
Something else.
Fast.
A rush of wind.
Chaos erupted.
"Human-thing! Human-thing!"
Slash.
Warm liquid splattered across Mia's skin.
"Strong rat dead-dead! Big human-thing!"
Slash slash slash—
Flesh tearing in rapid succession.
Even blind, Mia could imagine the one-sided slaughter.
"Run-run!"
Shrill screams echoed as the creatures scattered in terror.
Boots.
Iron striking stone.
Right beside her.
"…Veldon?" she ventured.
"It's me."
His voice.
"Did you see my blindfold?"
She hadn't dared move.
"I'll look."
More sounds.
After a moment—
"Found it."
He pressed the cloth into her hands.
Relief flooded her.
At least it hadn't fallen into filth.
"Where was it?"
"Not far from you."
So she had simply dropped it.
She tied it tighter than before.
Sight returned.
She stood and turned.
Grotesque bodies littered the alley.
She realized she was growing numb to such scenes.
"Skaven…"
She murmured.
Of course.
That speech pattern.
These weren't of the Lands Between.
Which meant—
She had transmigrated again.
"…You know these things?" Veldon asked, blades still drawn. "Do you know where we are? I cannot feel the Erdtree."
Mia scanned their surroundings.
A narrow alley in a city of late medieval design.
Night.
But the darkness was stained by sickly green fire.
The city burned.
Screeches of ratmen and screams of humans echoed from unseen streets.
"You wouldn't feel it," Mia said grimly. "We're no longer in the Lands Between."
"What?"
"We need to find a way out of this world. Now."
Warhammer.
Compared to this place, even the Lands Between was paradise.
Mia deeply regretted her youthful arrogance.
Back then, she had thought, Maybe Warhammer wouldn't be so bad compared to Elden Ring.
What nonsense.
"Follow me!"
Deep down, she knew.
That golden guidance she had seen while blind—
That was their only way home.
Even now, when she closed her eyes, the faint golden thread still lingered.