While Mes and Herman were also looking around, Walter was standing a little distance away from the skeletons. There wasn't anything repulsive, there is no blood or decayed bodies but Walter still found this sight disturbing. When he heard that the missing people they were looking for were also there, he turned his eyes in that direction for the first time.
"Is the student dead too?" he asked.
"No, she isn't. She is in there. Inside that thing," Arsh said, pointing toward the enormous globe surrounded by trees.
"Let's look at it," Bera said, and together they moved in that direction, passing over the tree roots and jumping over the information desk.
Arsh went under the globe. There was a metal pipe extending inward there, holding the globe up above. Arsh bent down and looked into the hole, but it was too narrow for him to enter. He moved closer to the hole and began to speak.
"Hey Mary Lowe, are you there? Can you come out? Don't worry, there's nothing to be afraid of here right now."
"W-who are you? D-did you come to help?"
"Yes, we came to help. We came here to take you home… can you come out of there?"
After a few sniffing sounds, Arsh saw a head hanging down from the hole.
"Let me help you."
While Arsh was helping the girl out of the globe, the others gathered around them. The girl looked as if she was about to cry. She was only around fifteen, a short-haired, petite girl. She looked extremely scared and was as pale as the skeletons behind them.
She slowly looked at the others. When she saw the piles of skeletons, she turned her head to the other side. Arsh saw a few tears falling from her eyes.
"Did you kill that thing?" she asked in a trembling voice.
"No, we didn't. But we will. Can you tell us what happened to you? How did you escape from the creature?" Herman asked in a gentle voice. He looked at her with kindness, trying to calm her down and make her feel safe.
"I came to the library for an assignment. It was close to closing time, and I was getting ready to pack up and leave. It was already dark, and I was alone inside. Then I heard a strange scream. I was scared, so I quickly left the study hall and tried to go toward the exit. But I found myself in the inner parts of the library. No matter what I did, no matter which way I turned, I couldn't get out."
Then, without looking in that direction, she pointed at the pile of skeletons.
"I met Mr. Heather. We looked for an exit together, but no matter what we did, we couldn't find the way out. Then we saw a woman; Mr. Heather called her Mrs. Davies. She was running away from the beast... We couldn't help her. The beast was too fast. Then… then, after it caught her, her flesh was suddenly shredded and pulled toward the creature's mouth. Only her skeleton was left. It was... it was horrifying."
The girl was about to cry again.
Herman held the girl by her shoulders and tried to calm her down.
"Mr. Heather said the beast was sensitive to sound. So... we followed it quietly from a distance. It came and threw what was left of the woman here. When the beast left, we tried to open the door... but when we did, the only thing we saw was another part of the library. Everything in the library keeps changing... but the restrooms are right there. There was nowhere else for us to find water, so we stayed here."
She pulled the bag she was tightly holding a little closer to herself.
"Mr. Heather… I'm not sure, but I think about a day ago he left here to look around. He told me to hide here, because since we came here, the monster never came back. Thanks to him, I survived. But he didn't come back… until the monster came here again and threw his…."
This time, she couldn't hold back her sobs anymore. She continued speaking through her tears.
"How long have I been here?"
"One week," Mr. Herman replied.
She didn't say much after that.
They sat under the trees and started making a plan again. This time they said that Mary, Mes, and Arsh should stay here, but Walter's condition didn't look very good either.
"I am sorry. I haven't had any chance to rest for hours. I used all my strength when I faced that creature," he said.
"How long can your strength last?"
Walter looked at Mes and Mary beside him.
"I think I can pass through the walls one more time with both of them. But it would be best if you take Arsh with you. He can sense if we are in danger and understand where we are. Besides, Herman's ability is not useful right now; he is only relatively strong physically. And Bera is also only slightly better than Herman when he is in his human form."
Mary did not fully understand what was being discussed, but she silently agreed with what Walter said.
Bera and Mr. Herman reluctantly agreed this time. Walter was right. Arsh, however, thought this plan was meaningless. He still did not believe they could kill the creature.
"If there were a way to kill it, wouldn't that be easier than capturing and imprisoning it?" Arsh said again.
"I think Arsh is right. In case we can't kill it, we need to be prepared. We should go back to the exhibition hall and find the bronze chest. We need to understand how it escaped and how we can seal it back inside," Mes agreed.
"Then let's go to the exhibition hall first and get the chest… Arsh," Herman said.
Arsh knew what he had to do. He closed his eyes and focused on the bronze chest. When he opened them again, the golden threads led to somewhere near them.
"There," he said. At that, everyone turned their eyes back toward the pile of skeletons.
"Right underneath."
Except for Walter and Mary, the others helped move the skeletons. Since the remains barely weighed anything, it didn't take long to clear them aside. Soon, they found the bronze chest beneath, lying there with its lid open. Bera picked up the box and carried it over to Mes.
"How do you think it escaped from this?"
Mes tried to take the box, but it was too heavy. They put it on the floor. Mes closed the lid and examined it carefully for a while. Then, he pointed at the seams where the parts joined together.
"Look at these symbols at the edges. I think they were used to seal the chest, but the seal has somehow worn away. Bronze is durable, but compared to other materials, it wears down relatively easily... The information plaque said it was found in a shipwreck. My guess is that they wanted to get rid of this box and threw it into the sea. But during the voyage, the chest was probably damaged, and Apeirolimos escaped. Since the ship was made of wood, it became a suitable hunting ground for it."
He walked over to the skeletons and picked up a necklace.
"This is a symbol used by Yulos sailors. It was believed to help protect them from storms at sea. Most likely, the reason the ship sank was that everyone on board was hunted by Apeirolimos . When it was retrieved from the wreck and brought here again, it found a new habitat for itself… At least, that's how I see it."
"Then how on earth are we supposed to shove that thing back in?" Mr. Herman asked.
"I don't know. The seals are too worn. Otherwise, a simple repair might have been enough," Mes said.
Just then, Arsh noticed that the golden threads wavering in the air suddenly began to shudder. The library reshaped itself once again. Apeirolimos was rapidly approaching their position.
"It's coming this way," Arsh said anxiously.
"Walter, take Mes and the girl and hide! While we distract it, retreat further into the library and stay hidden. Arsh, which way is it coming from?" Mr. Herman shouted.
Arsh pointed to one of the corridors on the opposite side.
"How close is it?"
"Not far. It'll be here in just a couple of seconds."
Everyone spread out, each taking cover behind a different tree. Mes and the others ran in the opposite direction, heading down a corridor.
Arsh began counting down in his head.
'4…3…2…1'
A horrifying shriek echoed through the hall as Apeirolimos burst in. At that moment, Bera and Herman opened fire from both sides. Arsh, however, held Mes's pocket pistol in his hand but chose to watch instead of shooting.
Just as he had expected, the bullets did not harm the creature. They only made it step back for a second or two before it lunged again toward the source of the sound. Once they ran out of bullets, there would be nothing left they could do.
At that moment, an idea came to his mind. He grabbed the bronze chest from the ground and started running toward the information desk.
Unfortunately, his timing was terrible. In the silence left behind by the empty guns of Herman and Bera, the only sound was the echo of his own footsteps. He had drawn all of Limos's attention to himself. He saw the creature lunge toward him with terrifying speed.
'I can't escape this… Am I going to die like this?' he thought, forcing himself to run as fast as he could.
At that moment, a deep, muffled roar echoed through the space. The threatening sound triggered an instinctive fear in Arsh, freezing him in place. Then he saw it—a massive black shadow leaping right over him.