"Uwaaah!"
A guttural, animalistic roar reverberated through the rooms and hallway.
It was enough to wake Shiro instantly.
Before he could process where it had come from, an indescribable stench of blood slammed into his nostrils.
Blood.
His senses were damaged during the raid in his original world, leaving them hypersensitive, especially to blood. He usually wore a heavy musk to dull his sense of smell, but he didn't have it here.
His nostrils burned from the metallic reek, forcing him to rise quickly.
The moment he stepped outside, the dim corridor revealed a scene bathed in a faint, bloody hue.
Not far ahead, a body lay slumped face down on the floor.
As he drew closer, the silhouette became unmistakable.
Elara.
Beside her, a spellbook lay submerged in a dark, widening puddle of crimson.
Elara's body was sprawled across the floor, a puncture wound through her left wrist and another through the center of her back.
Shiro crouched beside her motionless body and pressed two fingers firmly against her neck.
Nothing.
"She's gone," Shiro muttered.
He narrowed his eyes as he studied the wounds.
Looking at these wounds, something must have punctured her wrist and back before she even had enough time to cast a spell.
He stared at the clean, terrifying holes.
Just what kind of anomaly kills like this? It's almost as if it was toying with her.
A blood-curdling scream erupted from the dark corner of the corridor.
Shiro slowly stood.
I guess I'll find out.
He hurried toward where the sound had originated.
Turning the corner, he took a heavy step forward.
Crunch.
He glanced down.
A green, needle-like spike lay beneath his boot, barely smaller than its width.
"..."
At the sound, the brown-haired figure turned. Her red-rimmed eyes locked onto him.
At first glance, she looked as though she were crying.
But the tears were neither sorrowful nor joyful. They were the empty tears of someone who had been completely hollowed out.
"Casia..."
Shiro's gaze flicked toward the floor beside her.
It wasn't an anomaly lying there.
It was Daren.
Casia knelt over Daren's motionless body.
Her hands trembled violently, and her breath came in ragged gasps.
Yet she was smiling.
"Casia... what did you do?" Shiro asked.
"I am... free."
Her grin stretched unsettlingly wide.
"Finally... I'm free."
Free? Shiro stared at her. His mind raced through possibilities. Free from what?
She laughed, a hollow, cracking sound that echoed through the narrow corridor, growing louder by the second.
"Just like you said! I'm free!"
She slowly raised her head.
"They thought they owned every thought in my head! They dictated where I walked, how I breathed, who I was allowed to be!"
Her smile widened as she spread her arms wide.
"Well, look at me now! I am free!"
Her pupils dilated.
"I smashed the mirror you made me look into, and I am finally, finally free of your strings!"
Casia slowly turned toward Shiro.
The expression she had desperately hoped to see, relief, concern, or reassurance, was not there. Instead, Shiro stared back at her in stunned, cold disbelief.
To her, it made no difference. She was familiar with the expression people wore before turning away from her suffering and pretending it never existed.
"I'm free... aren't I?"
Her voice cracked, descending into a desperate whimper.
"Then why do you have that look on your face? Is it because I poisoned you all?"
Shiro froze, his eyes widening in a sudden, sharp betrayal before being masked beneath his usual face, as he pushed his spiraling thoughts away.
"Tell me, Shiro... does a person like me deserve forgiveness? Why do I still feel tied up?!"
Vwoooosh!
A sudden burst of green mana exploded outward. Then a violent wave of atmospheric pressure slammed into Shiro's shoulders.
'Did I see that right?'
Shiro's eyes remained fixed on Casia as unnatural energy radiated from her body, visibly twisting the air around her.
'An Elemental? No.'
This was completely different.
The energy pouring from her felt far denser and infinitely more volatile than ordinary elemental energy. With every passing second, its presence swelled, crushing the surrounding structure.
"Casia, please calm yourself."
Shiro kept his voice steady as he took a subtle half-step backward.
His thoughts raced, desperately piecing together every detail he had overlooked.
The subtle injury Casia had tried to hide when he caught her. The faint, red glowing symbol etched onto her neck...
His eyes widened.
The ring.
Everything fell into place with terrifying clarity. And it all pointed back to Daren.
Shiro's expression hardened.
"Casia, you're—"
Before he could finish, Casia swung her hand downward in a sharp, ruthless arc.
Crash!
The floor beneath her gave way.
The structure buckled inward, caving directly into the floor below.
Shiro and Casia plummeted through the floor, crashing heavily into the dimly lit lower level amidst a shower of splintered wood and choking dust.
After a moment, Shiro groaned as he dragged himself upright, his left shoulder throbbing with white-hot pain as his arm dangled uselessly. Nearby, Casia remained motionless, her breathing shallow and uneven.
He wedged his elbow against the wall, took a sharp breath, and slammed his weight sideways.
Snap! His shoulder fell back into place.
Shiro sucked in a breath, only to hear hurried footsteps approaching, their echoes racing across the marble floor.
Brenn rushed forward, his eyes wide with panic. "Are you alright?! Where... where are the others?"
"They're dead," Shiro rasped, his voice raw. Why are you here?
"We don't have much time, we have to get out of here."
A low gasp rasped from the floor between them.
Casia stirred, her eyelids fluttering open. Blood soaked through her clothes, and when she tried to move, one of her arms hung at an unnatural angle.
She winced.
Brenn hurried over and knelt beside her, pulling out a roll of gauze. He tore a strip of fabric from her already damaged clothes and held it out to her.
"Bite down on this."
Casia looked at him, confused, after a moment she bit on it.
"This is going to hurt, so hold it."
She barely had time to react before Brenn gripped her arm and carefully pulled it back into place.
Pain exploded through her.
Casia's eyes widened as a strangled cry escaped through the fabric clenched between her teeth. Her vision blurred, darkness creeping into the edges of her sight as the pain nearly drove her unconscious.
"Stay with me."
Brenn quickly wrapped the gauze around her arm, securing it against her body.
"Help me lift her."
Shiro had remained frozen, still processing what Casia had said moments earlier. The words echoed through his mind, refusing to settle.
Then he snapped back to reality.
He rushed to Casia's side and helped Brenn pull her to her feet, slinging her arm over his shoulder to support her weight.
As they began making their way out of the manor, Casia's gaze fell on the ring lying nearby.
Her expression changed.
A wand materialized in her hand and shot down on the ring, shattering it into fragments.
With nothing left behind, they continued toward the courtyard exit.
Heavy, clanking footsteps resonated from the courtyard, an entire squad of armored men moving with grim unison.
"Most of the guards are sweeping through the western side. We'll take the eastern side. Once we reach the district, the patriarch will have no influence. You'll be safe."
"They went that way." A guard yelled.