Numbers x Casket-Chapter 12: Purple

Efraim scanned around the area as soon as they landed on the ground. It was dark, but there were glowing crystals scattered around the place.

'Purple hue,' he thought, remembering a part of his memory that he wanted to forget.

He stepped closer and was about to touch the crystal, but Kendra's voice echoing in the place prevented him from doing so.

"Don't touch anything at the moment; who knows what effects they have?" she conveyed.

"Just let him; even an idiot knows that during an expedition," Enrick said, adding fuel to the fire.

Efraim ignored their remark; he crouched down and touched the crystal. Then he activated his right eye, and a number ten written in gold color emerged at the top of it.

This sudden discovery made Efraim gasp in astonishment.

"A gold one," he uttered.

Then he looked at the other ores; all of them had golden figures ranging from one to ten.

Afterward, Efraim pulled back his hand, clenching it during the process. As energy covered his fist all the way to his arm, he threw out a punch, aiming at the crystal's surface.

'Seems durable enough,' Efraim thought upon seeing not a single bit of scratch present on the glowing rock.

"What's the matter?" Lindsay asked as she moved closer towards the appraiser, curiosity blooming in her eyes.

With a wide smile on his lips, Efraim answered. "These crystals are usable, I think; they will be pretty good weapon material. I definitely need to bring one—"

However, his statement was cut off as he turned around to look at Lindsay; after all, her face was only inches away from him, causing him to freeze and fall onto his butt the next second.

"Are you alright?" Lindsay asked, her expression laced with worry.

She extended her hand towards the appraiser, and Efraim grabbed it, nodding.

A smile blossomed on Lindsay's face while the captain's words resonated inside Efraim's mind. He stared at the mage, her eyes dazzling like a morning sun, and her beauty was attractive enough to start a war between nations, yet he couldn't picture himself having an intimate relationship with her at the moment.

"Efraim," Lindsay uttered his name, dragging him away in his series of thoughts.

"Let's move," she added without waiting for his reply.

The group marched forward, and they noticed a large passageway several distances away from them. It was wide enough for them to fit even if they all went at the same time.

Without any information on what was waiting for them inside, they prepared themselves, their hands holding the hilt of their respective weapons.

They entered the cave with the archer leading in front while the assassin guarded the rear. Aside from their footsteps echoing, not a single unusual sound could be heard.

A few minutes later, Lindsay deployed another orb of light to be their guide due to the reason that the crystals started to become scarce and the surroundings turned even darker.

Then, upon reaching a certain area, Lindsay bumped into the archer's back.

"Ouch, why did you halt?" she asked, caressing the tip of her nose.

This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.

However, Kendra didn't respond, which made Lindsay look ahead. Her eyebrows furrowed as she covered her mouth.

A pile of bones was blocking their path, almost high enough to reach the ceiling.

Efraim took the initiative to move closer. He examined the skeletons, trying to decipher what they were. A ribcage larger than a human body and broken skulls several times bigger than an adult person's head.

'Not a single stench. The cracks and the darkened color of the bones signified that they were already old,' he pondered.

"I wonder what kind of beast could eat this much," Lindsay stated as she stepped forward, but Efraim just shrugged his shoulders as a reply.

Captain Zed came closer towards the archer's side. He looked at her and asked with a serious tone. "Should we keep going?"

No matter how much he thought, this pile of skeletons spoke nothing but danger. It was definitely a warning for them not to continue ahead. However, the decision this time was not for him to make.

Kendra contemplated and took several seconds before words managed to slip from her lips.

"We'll continue!" she exclaimed with a strong resolve.

Then, she grabbed an arrow from her quiver and aimed at the stack of bones. As soon as she pulled back the string, a small orb of green energy began to form at the arrow's tip.

"Stay away from it," she ordered before releasing the nock.

The arrow was launched, causing a destructive windblast that knocked away the pile of bones, opening a path ahead.

"Let's move," Kendra said.

The group traversed the tunnel, and after a while, they heard a soothing sound coming from water droplets. It started as faint, but as they continued their steps, it began to become clearer and more distinct.

Then, after a few more strides, they saw light coming from the end of the tunnel. Without wasting any more time, they sprinted towards it, and a scenery they never expected appeared right before their eyes.

A calm lake with stalactites hanging like icicles above, and on one of its tips, a droplet kept on falling, causing a ripple that destroyed the lake's serene tranquility.

"What is this place? It's beautiful," Lindsay stated, her eyes gleaming with curiosity and adoration.

Meanwhile, being enticed by its beauty, Kendra moved towards the edge of the lake where water was almost touching the toe cap of her boots.

She sat down and looked at her reflection on the water, then she touched it, and her eyes widened in surprise upon sensing how warm it was.

She turned around and gestured for the others to come.

"It feels good," she said.

Upon hearing her, the rest of the group moved towards her; however, Efraim's voice echoed in the place all of a sudden.

"Get away from there!" he yelled and sprinted in the woman's direction.

His left eye gleamed in a cyan-colored hexagram. He pulled out his black sword, but he was a second late.

Blood splattered like a fountain on the lake surface as Kendra's body snapped into two; its lower half fell on the water while the upper part disappeared as a creature emerged underneath and chomped the woman's body.

Efraim clicked his tongue and was forced to leap backward to dodge when a long, enormous tail swept towards his location.

Lindsay and the rest remained frozen at their positions, especially Enrick. The archer's sudden death made his mind blank.

"Kendra," he uttered. Her name escaped like a choked whisper.

The stunned look on his face turned into a sudden rage, veins bulging on the temple of his head.

"Kendra!" he called out her name one more time.

His hands pulled the pair of daggers on his back, and he dashed towards the beast that killed his companion.

"No! Don't come near it!" Efraim shouted.

However, Enrick ignored his warning. He continued his charge, leaving only a silhouette as his movements became faster. The next second, the beast swung its long tail towards the assassin, but Enrick dodged it with ease. He tumbled upward and threw his dagger at the monster's left eye, but it didn't connect as a curtain of water blocked the blade's trajectory.

Enrick's eyes squinted upon seeing that his attack failed; he created a platform of energy and stepped on it before hurling himself towards the monster.

However, he stopped midair all of a sudden, his eyes widening as he moved his gaze downward. A scale-like trident was piercing his chest. He felt his eyebrows become heavier, and his vision started to dim.

Before his eyes closed, he saw the monster's head moving towards him, a mouth prisoned with hundreds of razor-sharp teeth.

A second before Enrick's imminent death, a flash of white zipped towards his direction.

. . . . .

A little while ago, while Enrick was busy charging at the monster, Efraim glanced at Lindsay.

"Can you use teleportation magic?" he asked, yelling.

"Only a short distance; do you have a plan?" Lindsay answered without averting his eyes from the beast.

"That will do!" Efraim replied.

Afterward, he sheathed the black sword and pulled the Seventeenth Shard from its scabbard.

"Fou—No! Cast it in three seconds!" Efraim yelled.

Without waiting for Lindsay's reply, he bent his knees and propelled himself towards the monster's direction.

With the glass blade in his right hand, he cut the tail that pierced the assassin's body. Then, he grabbed him and pulled him towards the middle of the lake.

The next moment, before they fell into the water, a magic circle appeared beneath them, and as soon as the symbols and its outline radiated a white hue, they vanished and reappeared next to Lindsay.

Efraim laid the assassin down, and Lindsay started to treat his wounds. Meanwhile, Captain Zed and Efraim prepared themselves to face the beast's wrath.

A snout and scales similar to a dragon, a blue serpentine body with two short claws, and hundreds of spikes protruding on its back.

"That's an aquatic lindworm," Captain Zed stated.

"And not a simple one," Efraim added, his left eye glowing with a cyan hexagram pattern.

Number eighty-nine was floating above the monster's head, and its color was a shade he was not familiar with.

'Purple,' he thought.

. . . . .