Chapter 94: Whispers of the Wind

"It’s clear..."

After that little mishap, a semblance of order returned to the group.

Everyone fell silent once more, waiting for Peace to direct them where to go.

’Man, I feel like some luxury item.’

Dita had even said she was taking ’it’ when she’d feigned running away with Peace.

’I noticed that!’

However, Peace was simply in too much pain to care much about what anyone said. At most, he would chime in when necessary or respond when asked a question.

As the winds picked up and the air grew chilly, Peace’s nerves skyrocketed.

One screwup and it would be game over.

The dungeon already wasn’t favorable to well-equipped, prepared Divers; it certainly wasn’t going to curry favor with a group knowingly marching into an area far beyond their capabilities.

???

Name: [Pax Garnier]

Tier: [9]

Rank: [D] - (EXP: 42/51)

Class: [Terror]

Traits: [???] [Devotion to Light]

Resonance: N/A

Item Level: 12

???

’My Item Level is getting lower and lower.’

But that wasn’t what Peace had summoned his status to check.

’Nine... Nine more EXP.’

Then he’d find out whether ranking up would heal his body. And even if it didn’t, there was still the rank-up itself to look forward to. The increase in strength wasn’t exactly massive, but it was certainly noticeable.

Looking ahead through a massive marble-lined threshold and into the gray world of wind, he saw white beings with miniature tornadoes swirling inside them drifting about.

"We’re here."

Maura stopped for a moment, then reached into her subspace bag and pulled out a rather large lantern. She used the torch to light its wick, then extinguished the torch and tossed it aside.

With the flame enclosed, the light was concentrated within a smaller area, reducing the others’ overall visibility. But that was a small trade-off for having light at all.

The wind would have blown the torch out eventually.

It had already nearly done so, and they hadn’t even entered the zone.

Ralph peered into the darkness, braving the winds ahead.

Taking his place at the front, he began to rattle off orders.

Despite his displeasure, Ralph even went so far as to include Dita in his plans. Her primary responsibility was to protect Peace and ’not stab us in the back.’ Her secondary role was to rotate with Maura, relieving her whenever things got dicey, and vice versa.

Finally, after one last check, Ralph ordered them forward.

’If we can get to the bottom floor... it becomes easy from there.’

Peace’s ability to see in the dark effectively negated the basement floor’s entire gimmick. He’d be able to find the altar room among the pillars in no time.

Pushing aside thoughts of what came next, Peace jerked his head from left to right as a raging wind slammed into him head-on.

’It would appear we are coming in from the West!’

Braving the headwind at its absolute worst!

’This fuuu-ucking hurts!’

It wasn’t as if he were being carried away, but the wind exerted a constant, not-so-subtle force on his injured ankle.

People rarely noticed the countless, involuntary muscular adjustments their bodies made to maintain balance and posture... at least until they lost the ability to make them or making them became painful.

And every postural correction Peace made, however subconsciously, sent pain through his body.

Quietly, they made their way into the open, then stopped. Speaking just loud enough for Peace to hear over the roaring wind, Ralph asked:

"Alright, Pariah, what do you see?"

Peace scanned from left to right.

’Hmmm...’

With nothing to obscure his view except the monsters themselves, he was able to make out two exits.

Wincing, Peace forced himself to speak over the wind:

"I see two paths. One in that direction, quite close. But there are quite a few bastards there... The other’s far off in that direction, but we could hug the wall to get there."

Ralph and the others exchanged glances, silently debating which way to go through a series of hand gestures.

It was only after Dita’s fervent insistence that the path to the left, the closer but more dangerous one, was chosen.

Well...

Dita’s insistence and her threat to walk off in that direction with Peace.

Especially given their new location, any attempt to stop her would have been borderline suicidal. They were practically forced to indulge her whims.

’From here on out... we have to be silent.’

The creatures of wind couldn’t hear them, but they could sense disturbances in the airflow.

Peace didn’t exactly understand how it worked, but moving too fast or making too much noise would draw the aggression of nearby monsters.

To that end, Peace raised his hand and pointed forward.

The group was to march in that direction, slowly. They were to stop only when Peace balled his hand into a fist and move again only once he pointed the way or if a fight broke out.

There was one glaring issue...

’This scraping against the ground... isn’t too good.’

The sled stretcher scraped noisily against the ground, even after they secured a blanket beneath it to muffle the sound.

’Am I fat or something?! Surely I’m not that heavy!’

Peace’s crimson eyes widened. Without delay, he clenched his hand into a fist, causing all five to jerk to a stop.

’...’

Right next to them on their left, just beyond the lantern’s illumination, a ball of wind was forming midair. White strands curled and coalesced around a gray core. Two tendrils of wind began to take shape at its base; it was becoming something Peace recognized from the game.

A Tier 8 E-Class Wind Whipper.

’Go, go, go!’

Frantically, Peace pointed to the right, thrusting his finger forward.

Getting the message, the group sprang into action, following Peace’s pointed finger.

’What the fuck is this?!’

Another gray ball suddenly materialized from thin air, wind curling around it.

Peace altered the direction he was pointing in and thrust his entire arm forward. The adrenaline made his injuries feel as if they’d miraculously healed.

’Turn, turn!’

Just as another Wind Whipper finished forming, they managed to put a comfortable distance between themselves and it.

’Phew...’

Pulling his arm back, Peace breathed a sigh of relief.

Then blood suddenly splattered across his face, some of it slipping into his mouth.

"Gack!"

Tilting his head to the side, he watched as Maura dropped to one knee, her right arm covered in blood from her bicep down.

’What in the world is going on?!’

Ralph spun and began to open his mouth to say something, but Peace pressed a finger to his lips with one hand and drew the other across his throat.

Maura... had been attacked by nothing.

Spinning around, Peace confirmed it.

No creatures of the wind were chasing them. None above or beside them. Nothing...

Everyone but Dita seemed prepared for a fight that wasn’t coming. All were frantically searching the darkness while Maura stifled her screams, biting down on a cloth and dousing her arm with a potion.

It was only when Peace tentatively pointed forward again that they awkwardly resumed moving.

However...

’What... is this feeling?’

Peace swallowed, and his eyes began to glint in the darkness, though he hadn’t switched forms at all.

It wasn’t that his injuries were healing unusually fast or that his strength had increased. Rather, he felt an almost... ’euphoric?’ sensation.

Licking Maura’s blood from his lips, he felt it again.

Shaking his head, Peace jabbed his finger to the side.

’Tch! Focus up!’

He’d almost led them straight into a Wind Wisp.

A Wind Wisp was only an F-Class, sure, but it was still Tier 8.

’Okay... what is happening?!’

Just as they safely circumvented the Wind Wisp, yet another Wind Whipper began forming directly in their path.

Seeing Peace’s panicked face, the group picked up their pace once again.

"Ack!"

Another spray of blood flew through the air.

Maura had been sliced across her side, leaving a large gash in her abdomen. She immediately pressed a hand to the wound and began healing herself. Everyone else, aside from Dita, looked towards Peace.

Once again... nothing was the culprit.

Peace’s eyes snapped towards Dita.

’Is this her doing?!’

Unable to find any other explanation, Peace’s suspicions naturally fell on the one person who had barely reacted to Maura’s inexplicable injuries.

The others, too, regarded Dita with even more suspicion than before.

With all eyes on her, Dita merely shook her head.

Peace’s eyes widened.

"Behind you!"

It happened in an instant.

A Wind Wisp had rammed into Dita’s back, sending her flying out of the lantern light and into the darkness.

Peace scanned their surroundings, noting that this single Wind Wisp was the only mob they had attracted.

’This is all getting so out of hand!’

And it was a one-track monster, capable only of ramming its body into opponents. It had no slashing attack.

The Wind Wisp began charging toward Dita, who was struggling to get back on her feet, her entire back exposed where the churning winds had shredded her clothes.

Before it reached her, a man with a hoarse voice spoke quietly over the wind.

"At me, rubbish."