Chapter 278 – Looming Darkness

Chapter 278 – Looming Darkness

“What is this?” Kai scrunched his nose at the slimy substance coating his finger. He rubbed his index and thumb, before using Water Magic to wash it away.

It’s almost like…

The clues clicked into place, and one of the mysteries unveiled.

“It looks like a clutch of eggs of some kind,” Rain voiced his thoughts, prodding them with his nail. “You were attacked by a swarm of creatures in the mist, right?”

“Yeah…”

Guess we know why the fairies were so angry.

With every answer more questions arose. The enchantments must have stopped the cloud creatures from approaching and retrieving their offspring. Either by mistake or compromise, it also kept the last floor of the tower safe from the mist.

“Hmm, Mat…” The siren pulled his attention back gesturing to the casket. “I think we’re out of time.”

The decay must have quickened when they opened the lid. The inky runes sizzled, wispy plumes of Darkness rising from the jagged symbols. Hallowed Intuition’s silence told him the runes meant to consume themselves without any explosion.

Dammit!

He scoured the ring for his dad’s pen and a leather notebook, and furiously scribbled down the fading arrays on a blank page. His eyes darted between the casket and paper, strained between the desire for accuracy and the need to jot down before it was too late. Approximation wasn’t a word known to enchanters, every broken curl and sharp angle had to be precisely copied, otherwise the runes would be no better than doodles.

The foreign language of power was vaguely reminiscent of the runes used by the invaders of the Hidden Sanctuary, though it could be due to the bias for their grim aspect. Most of his knowledge came from wracking his brains with Runic Scholar and educated guesses; he lacked the pillars of a formal education.

There isn’t enough time.

The sizzling had turned into a muffled cracking, the inky web symbols flaked and burned with enough heat to warm his fingers.

“It’s about to shatter,” Rain warned. “Shouldn’t we do something?”

Before Kai could ask what he meant, the siren grabbed the clutch of pearlescent eggs with both hands. In one flare of Darkness, the glossy wood charred into a pile of ash, destroying their only lead.

Hmm… it’s more than we had earlier.

Kai had managed to sketch down one side of the casket and wouldn’t trust the accuracy of more than a tenth of it. He glanced at Rain. “What do you mean to do with those things?”

The siren looked like a child who found an injured bird in the garden. Only, instead of a cute sparrow, he was holding a slimy glob of bubbles with the tiny opaque form of horror fairies floating inside. “I couldn’t let the decaying enchantments kill them.”

You sure would have if their bloodthirsty parents had chased you.

From their glow, the clutch was equivalent to an orange-grade ingredient. While Kai preferred working with herbs, the novelty might net him an extra level. It was worth getting over his squeamishness.

I could dry them first…

“No!” Rain held the eggs closer to his chest, narrowing his eyes. “We’re not killing them. They’re babies.”

Did he have to grow fond of a bunch of alien eggs?

“We can’t walk back to Limgrell with them in hand. Unless…” Adventurers probably sold infused material.

They might also fetch a good price.

“And we’re not selling them either.” The siren broke his dreams. “I’ve got enough money.”

“If you keep spending with no income, your coins are going to eventually run out.” From the stubborn look the boy leveled at him, he wasn’t swayed. Kai raised his hands in surrender. “Fine. But we’re not keeping them.”

“I wasn’t intending to. I don’t know how to hatch them.”

Spirits be blessed.

There was nothing left in the stone chamber aside from ash and earth. The dampening power in the ground persisted, likely powered by some other buried array. Judging by how fast it waned, it would crumble long before they had any shot of finding it.

Kai pushed the dirt back into the hole and compacted it till it was indistinguishable from how he had found it. If whoever set the trap came to check, they wouldn’t suspect anything.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The idea of waiting in an ambush floated in his mind. According to the wisdom of detective TV shows, culprits often return to the scene of the crime. Though that might take days, and he had no idea how strong this mastermind was.

No reckless actions. This still feels off…

“We should go back before they close the gates,” Kai said. Tired of climbing up and down, he was tempted to cut a hole in the side of the tower. It was almost certain the walls contained no enchantments, though the old building might collapse on their heads. He turned to see the siren whisper to the creepy clutch of eggs.

“Uh, yes. I’m coming.”

They took the stairs one final time. Upon reaching the windows on the third floor, Rain stepped through the stone opening and smoothly floated to the ground on a bubble of water, still cooing at the gooey eggs.

While Kai could also easily do the same, his reserves were strained by the battle. With the strangeness going on, he opted to spare his mana and climb down like a lowly human. A veil of feathery mist hung around the green slopes where the tower was located, cloaking the sky in white.

Rain looked at the eggs in his hands with a furrow in his pale brows.

“Have you decided what to do?”