Reincarnated as the Weakest Shadow Queen in the Academy-Chapter 52: Red Light, Green Light

Current briefly scraped by their skins as they descended, till their feet landed firmly on a flat plane.

Ciel raised a brow. What stretched on in her vision was endless darkness, reminiscent of the Moon’s shadow when she ’arrived’ at the moon.

Her eyes should have adjusted, but simply didn’t. A coldness prickled her senses, and she realised something was wrong.

"A magic was placed here."

Shire, with her astute magical sense and uncanny precision in controlling her flames, observed. "It was almost certainly a fog, but we need to find its source to be sure."

Ciel turned behind her, frowning.

She couldn’t even see Shire. And the voice just now echoed all across the room, as if multiple Shires were speaking.

Quia was the first to realise this. "And... there seems to be sound disruption magic. Great great... as if this isn’t scary enough..."

Ciel allowed herself a hearty chuckle, before-

"Hic!" Quia’s yelp boomed like a violin’s screech. "Oh-oh... It’s just Ciel. Jeez, why did you sound so scary? Have you been infected by the crazy-bitch virus?"

What is a crazy-bitch virus? Ciel’s smiling expression was forced, but she simply commanded.

"We don’t know how large this space was. I don’t even know where you two were, and..."

Worst, where any of their enemies were as well.

A deep breath afterwards, and Ciel risked it. "Shire. Try and hold up the lantern."

The worst-case scenario would be that space itself was distorted the moment they entered this area, causing them to be teleported far apart.

Unfortunately, Ciel’s guess was correct.

With the ability to repel and detect shadows, Ciel caught a flicker of green light flashing by.

It sizzled as dragonflies huddled together, their wings flapping with unease.

Footsteps emerged from the side. Judging by the hurried yet steady rhythm, Ciel determined it was from Quia.

But Ciel didn’t move. Something was off.

’If there was space distortion and endless darkness here, our enemies should have attacked the moment we landed.’

Because that was when Shire, Quia and Ciel became the most disoriented, taking a moment to adapt to the fog.

So why didn’t they? Was Ciel’s guess about the Queen’s clue wrong, after all?

Her brows furrowed together, and then-

A System screen flashed by. It was the only thing that lit up against the darkness.

The simple string of texts sent chills down Ciel’s spine.

[ Do not walk when the fireflies turn red. ]

Ciel blinked, completely dazed.

But she couldn’t afford to hesitate. Quia’s steps from the side grew faster, and even as the lantern approached the elf’s direction, its glow was held by Shire.

"Don’t move!" Ciel shouted, and all footsteps ceased.

"What’s wrong, Ciel?" Quia asked from across.

The lantern dangled and stopped moving, too. It briefly swayed in the air as Shire turned her direction.

And without a warning, the fireflies flashed red.

A growl, trembling with a ferocious fury, drummed against the space.

Ciel thought it was an illusion, but she briefly observed the fog recede. The darkness subsided for faint light, and even the coldness didn’t sting much anymore.

Instead, tension spread through her features as she gritted her teeth.

She glanced up.

A single eye, as large as four times her size, stared right above her.

The System panel was no longer the only thing glowing. The dark orange iris, as it surrounded a bottomless abyss, accompanied Ciel as if it wanted to comfort.

Ciel gulped, but she didn’t move a single muscle, the motion as natural as breathing.

Her companions stayed silent, too. They also spotted the eye towering over Ciel.

It was only then that Ciel realised. No, this room’s fog and darkness were not here to attack them, but rather to trap whatever this thing was.

Yet curiously, the orange iris just stared. It twitched, subtle without a hint of malice, as if trying to scan Ciel’s movement.

The System was right. This eyeball, or whatever possessed it, could only ’see’ when sensing movement.

Or perhaps, it could ’hear’ too, but Ciel was not willing to test her theory.

Seconds dragged on and on. The growl drifted into a low purr, deluding them into a false sense of safety.

The eyeball, eventually, pivoted away and ’floated’ towards elsewhere.

Once the lantern turned green, it completely flickered out of her sight, disappearing into darkness.

Ciel couldn’t sense a tremor as it moved. Was the eyeball really floating? Or was it a large creature possessing it, and the space just merely muffled its large, trembling footsteps?

Either way-

’That must be the clue to the Queen of Theatric.’

Because Ciel’s head finally collected all the information together. Shadebeasts were only linked by their intense kinship, unable to let their kin die in vain.

If so, that giant thing must be a shadebeast too, and the Shadeknights were just now trying to eliminate us, to prevent us from finding and killing it.

The issue, however, was now extremely complicated.

’How do we find the exit?’

They could not defeat that thing. Even Quia and Shire sensed it should be at least Tenebra IV, if generous.

Orion and Selvara, upstairs, must come down to either team up or at least cooperate to kill this thing together.

Ciel’s head went turbo. Then, she came up with a solution.

A deadly and risky one, but better than nothing.

She glanced ahead. The fireflies had turned into a safe green again.

They must first gather. Ciel whispered. "Now."

Her own voice couldn’t have sounded louder than her own heartbeat. But now Ciel was sure: that monster couldn’t ’hear’, at least not this darkness like them.

Their steps crossed the distance between each other again. Lantern closed in, but it still seemed so, so far away.

And then it flickered red again. The iris from earlier twisted into being and glared. Ciel just halted, her toes barely touching the floor.

Her smile quivered uneasily, but she didn’t dare even to stretch, afraid its movement would be detected. This was a little, just a little childish.

If only this ’game’ were half as enjoyable as it was fatal.

The cycle continued afterwards.

Lanturn turned green, and they strode. Lantern turned red, and they stopped.

Ciel wondered if that shadebeast would ever be annoyed. Yet as the fireflies went red for a bloody sixth time, she assumed maybe the inner child inside it never died.

’This just never ends.’

She almost choked on her breathing. Her shoulders strained not to hunch, and her knees stilled not to buckle, as every muscle of her body screamed for help.

But at the eighth time, when the green lantern finally drew close right at her face-

A hand clasped over hers, comforting and safe.

Warmth crept up her cheek. She realised this sensation, even more when the slender fingers coiled, afraid her painted nails would scrape her skin.

Quia, who held onto Ciel’s hand, signalled with a few taps. Both’s sight remained impaired, yet they were undeniably connected.

’Mm-mm?’

Afraid even a slight twitch of her lips would alert that eyeball, Quia made a few muffled, albeit awkward noises with her pursed lips.

A casual snicker came from Shire. It seemed only the mad noble found this funny.

Ciel already had an answer.

The fog and the darkness, two spells in this room, impaired all their vision.

But why could they ’see’ that eyeball? In every bit of its details?

’The shadebeast-eye was affected by this space too, but not as much as us.’

If lucky, it could also break the spell in this space, too, allowing a momentary clearance.

To do so, Ciel would have to anger it.

She had the perfect tool, then.

A regretful hum escaped her. She responded with a few firm, ’trust-me’ taps on Quia’s hand, then stretched out her own arm.

Another hand reciprocated, slow and steady, without the impulsiveness that would’ve been a crazy’s trademark.

It gave Ciel’s hand a little shake. Shire also affirmed and trusted Ciel’s choice.

The former shadebeast was once again grateful. These two companions were the only ones they entrusted their lives to her.

Perhaps Miss Dragon would be the same?

She allowed herself a light chuckle, then she searched a pocket as her skin tickled.

Ciel grasped the straws. Her hand slipped away from the fabric before aiming at where the eye had been earlier.

The lantern still flashed green, and the eyeball was nowhere in sight.

This confirmed Ciel’s last guess: when the monster was agitated or alerted, only then could it bend the space and show itself to them.

What if, perhaps, its agitation reached its peak yet?

Could it break the spell?

Ciel opened, revealing a broom in her palm.

It stretched in size till becoming as tall as her, its straws wailing in excitement for her master’s order.

She patted it, smiling.

Then the lantern turned red, and the eyeball stared across from a long, long distance again.

The broom froze, its wooden tail pulsing with absolute fear.

It was just enjoying its new master’s pat just a short while ago. Why was there a gigantic, scary eyeball glaring their direction?!

Of course, the broom’s thought didn’t reach its master, as Ciel merely pointed.

It shuddered. It tried to protest with a few sways of its wooden tip.

Ciel merely shook her head, then pumped a fist with a frown of resolve touching her lips.

Alas, the broom’s protest didn’t matter. It hung its wooden tip like a head, then hovered away from Ciel’s palm.

Without sparing another moment, it darted forth to its first enemy.

The red fireflies’ wings thrashed and thundered, banging against the lantern’s glass walls, trying to escape in fear.

And as the broom finally closed in-

A howl tore through the air. This time, they needed no echoes to know its force.