Arsh suddenly found himself among the bookshelves. But the library was very different than before. Books were scattered throughout the corridors, their covers buried beneath dry leaves. Tree branches sprouted from where the books should have been, curling upward as if they had grown from the shelves. It was as though the library had been untouched by human hands for years and left to the rule of nature.
Although he had already expected that Bera wouldn't be with him, he looked around to be certain. There was no sign of him, or any of the others, anywhere nearby. If Apeirolimos had drawn Walter, Mes, and Mr. Herman into its trap so quickly, Arsh was almost certain that Bera would end up in the same situation soon.
'Aperirolimos… lives in the forests and captures its prey by luring them into various traps… Now it taken us into its trap. I need to find the others first,' he thought.
He closed his eyes and imagined the faces of Walter, Mes, Herman and Bera. One by one, four golden threads began to drift through the air, with a lingering darkness between them.
He first began to follow the golden thread leading to Mes. He was the weakest among them. If there was a hunter here, its first prey would be the weakest. Even if Mes wasn't the target, he was still the one who needed protection the most.
Yet no matter how much he followed the golden thread, Mes seemed to get farther away than he should have been. Arsh knew the library was large, but it wasn't this large. It felt as if he were passing through the same places over and over again.
After walking for a long time, he finally realized that Mes was close. As he moved a little closer, he saw the golden thread leading beneath a desk. Without getting too close, he bent down and looked under it.
Mes was sitting there, curled up behind a chair, his arms wrapped around his knees, his face buried between them.
Arsh called out to him in a low voice.
"Mes, look here."
At the sound of his voice, Arsh saw a shiver run through Mes's body. Then he slowly lifted his head, and the moment he saw Arsh, relief washed over his face. Arsh stepped closer, gently pulled the chair aside, and helped Mes crawl out from under the desk.
As soon as he get out from under the desk, Mes began to speak. "Arsh, this place is like a labyrinth. Do you remember the bronze chest we saw? Apeirolimos… it—"
Arsh quickly covered Mes's mouth with his hand and whispered, "Be quiet."
When Mes nodded in agreement, Arsh pulled his hand away. Mes continued in a low whisper.
"This is a labyrinth. In the legends, Apeirolimos is said to trap its prey. Right now, we're in a library, surrounded by books and shelves. You saw the branches growing out of the bookshelves, didn't you? If I understand correctly, it was imprisoned inside that chest. But after spending centuries at the bottom of the sea, it had no way to escape. Now, think about it… once it somehow managed to escape the bronze chest, it found itself in a place where everything is made of wood… You see what I mean, right? This entire building has become its forest—the place where it sets its trap. Does what I'm saying make sense?"
Arsh nodded to show that he understood. Although he hadn't thought it through as thoroughly as Mes, similar ideas had crossed his mind when he saw the branches. But hearing it explained like this made more sense.
"You're right. It's probably just as you said... Okay, do you have any idea what we should do now?" Arsh asked. He was hopeful, certain that Mes would have a better solution to their problem than he did.
But when Mes shook his head, that hope vanished. After a brief silence, Arsh spoke again.
"For now, move as quietly as possible. If it created this labyrinth, there must be a way for it to track us inside. Let's move silently and avoid drawing attention."
For someone who had lived in the desert, sound was the most important sign of an enemy's presence or a prey's presence. If a hunter couldn't see you, it would follow sound and scent instead. There wasn't much they could do about their scent right now, but at least they could be careful to stay quiet.
"First, let's find the others. Follow me."
Arsh decided that the next person he should find was Bera. As far as he knew, Bera was physically the strongest among them.
Arsh focused his mind on Bera and found where he was. The golden thread was leading the way toward the upper floors. Until they found a staircase, he and Mes continued to move silently between the bookshelves.
But their plan changed the moment they heard a scream. The sound was so piercing that the hair on Arsh's and Mes's arms stood on end. Instinctively, they covered their ears and dropped to the ground.
Then another voice followed—one that was relatively familiar.
"Ahhh… get away from me, you slimy twig!"
It was Walter. He was screaming at the top of his lungs. For a moment, Arsh hesitated, unsure whether to help him or not.
'This guy can pass through walls and turn invisible, right? He doesn't need me. It's more important to find Bera and stay with Mes,' he thought.
But if Walter kept screaming like this, Arsh wasn't sure how much of a chance he would have even with his abilities. If, as Arsh suspected, Apeirolimos tracked its prey by sound, Walter wouldn't stand a chance.
"Mes, do you think Walter realizes he needs to stay quiet?"
Mes hesitated for a moment. Walter's screams were still echoing through the space.
"I don't think he's that sharp... most of the time," Mes replied hopelessly.
Arsh let out a deep breath and thought for a few seconds. Even though he didn't want to leave Mes alone, taking him along to find Walter would only increase the danger for both of them. For now, since Apeirolimos was distracted by Walter, leaving Mes here seemed like the safest option.
"Got it… Mes, hide again. I'll go get Walter and come back. Since Apeirolimos is focused on him right now, I don't think it will find you before I do."
"Don't worry," Mes said with his usual smile, though this time it was clearly tense.
Arsh helped him crawl back under a desk. As he moved away, he saw Mes curling up once again, his face buried between his knees, clinging to himself tightly.
Arsh helped him crawl back under a desk. As he moved away, he saw Mes once again curling up, his face buried between his knees, holding himself tightly.
…
In truth, Arsh didn't even need to follow the golden threads to find Walter. He was shouting so loudly that it wouldn't have been difficult to locate him even without them. Apeirolimos's horrifying shrieks just made it even easier.
'Really… even if the monster were deaf, it would still find you with all that noise,' Arsh thought as he hurried forward.
When he went down the stairs, he felt the sounds growing more distant. The distance between him and Walter had changed. He could no longer hear his shouts. He was sure now—the layout of the library was shifting at regular intervals. He didn't know how to explain it, but there was no other explanation for these sudden changes in distance.
Still, the only thing he could do was move forward. He went down one more floor and quickly began following the golden threads again, moving silently among the scattered piles of books.
After a while, he found Walter. He was hiding behind a bookshelf, breathing heavily, looking scared and tired.
Apeirolimos was probably nearby. Arsh wasn't sure what he would encounter, and if possible, he would have preferred not to encounter it at all. He slowly approached Walter, who still hadn't sensed Arsh's presence.
'Zero awareness of his surroundings,' Arsh silently judged him.
When he finally came face to face with Walter, the reaction was entirely predictable.
"Sh*t!" Walter shouted, disappearing right in front of Arsh's eyes. A second later, he reappeared.
"Why do you suddenly show up like that? You scared the hell out of me!" He was still speaking as loudly as he could.
"Shut up," Arsh muttered through his clenched teeth.
But it was too late. He could see the strange creature approaching them through the gap between the bookshelves. It was only a few meters away, moving toward them slowly.
Arsh could see the resemblance between the figure carved on the bronze chest and the real Apeirolimos before him.
The creature was over three meters tall, with a hunched body that made it look even more horrifying. Its body and limbs were thin and long, its arms hanging from its sides like tree branches. Its head was relatively small, and where eyes should have been, there were only two black hollows. From the top of its head dangled dry, straw-like strands that he assumed were hair. From the slit in the middle of its face—presumably its mouth—a black, mucus-like liquid dripped slowly onto the floor and across its body.
At that moment, he began to question everything in his life. Facing this strange creature made him wonder whether the rest of his days would be spent encountering horrors like this—terrifying, grotesque beings he never imagined could exist.
But the most important thing right now was that he was sure it was impossible to deal with this thing on their own. Even though he didn't know how powerful it was, it was obvious it wasn't something he or Walter could fight or kill. He couldn't take the risk of being brave out of nowhere. It was obvious that Walter wasn't that brave, either.
They had to try to be as silent as possible and get far away for now. Once they found Herman and Bera, they would figure out how to escape from here.
While he was trying to figure out how to get them out of this situation, Walter tripped over a book on the ground. Instantly, the creature's entire body tensed, and it snapped its head in their direction.
Arsh could have sworn the creature was looking directly at him through those black hollows.