Overlord And The Blue Citadel 27 『Legions Of Shadow』

"...You can say that again, Niisan." Another whisper echoed the last, it was just like before, with a similar but distinct voice belonging to another being that was hidden completely from view.

The Darkness that surrounded the twins reverberated with voices that came from no direction, no origin. The torches that lit their path flickered between life and death, watching Tia and Tina as they guardedly made their way down the corridor. The damp air did them no favors.

"Who was that...?" Tia caressed her upper arms with her bare hands, an emotionless scowl across her lips, and her sharp eyes tracing over the never-ending sea of bricks that made up the maze.

"Likely the two shadows that followed us in here over an hour ago," sighed Tina as her gaze picked apart their surroundings. The traps were well hidden, hardly capable of being detected by normal means. This place was specially prepared for them or at least that is what it seemed.

"Haha, Niisan, she sees us as shadows!" A golden s.h.i.+ne from a cat-like eye peered out from behind right hand turn several meters ahead.

A tingling sensation ran through Tia's body as if she was being sized up by a predator, and although she had felt things similar to it before, this was the first time it actually bothered her.

Whoever was ahead of them was far stronger than anyone they had ever encountered before.

"We can't fight them head-on," Tia said with a straight face as she pulled out a handful of kunai from her attire, getting ready to start running. As if mapping their pa.s.sage ahead, she could see that this maze doesn't change as one moves forward. The only problem was the low light and as she felt the breeze coming from all directions, she couldn't tell which way lead to the end.

"We just have to compete, no need to finish the challenge," Tina responded with a nod of her head, her gaze looking to her sister before raising a brow.

There was a pair of golden eyes peering at them from the solid wall beside her twin. It was a strange sight to behold as the glow made it appear as if the wall itself was not there, to begin with. Smelling the air as she breathed in an ambient fas.h.i.+on, the found the bitter scent of the mold was becoming sweet.

Her senses were becoming confused, but at the same time, her eyesight sharpened and those eyes that were peering at her from the wall were now gone. "They're using some sort of illusions."

"Are you sure?" Tia trusted her sister with her life, but if they were using illusions, then they were slightly in their element. The question was, however, was how much of this place was real.

"I can't see any traps ahead, let alone sense them. They're using far more advanced techniques than our detection abilities. What I can sense though, is their mischievous nature... It causes s.h.i.+vers to go down my spine," Tina spoke plainly as they shared glances before looking forward once more.

"How uncanny..." Tia nodded as they abruptly darted forward, lunging without warning, Tina doing the same with near-identical movements. "But no matter what, we have to stick together."

There were many generic traps they had sighted in this maze, especially after spending over an hour advancing through it without an aim of where to go next. Each step they made trickled into their ears, resonating only after a few milliseconds after their movements had already been made. It gave an eerily and lonely feeling to what they were doing despite standing beside one another.

Hardened Ninjas didn't whimper, a.s.sa.s.sins didn't back down from a challenge, and these rogues weren't going to let down their Evil Boss. They came here with the purpose of learning this man's true intentions and yet, all they've come across was a man who was interested in a two hundred fifty-year-old vampire and his quirky following of unique angels.

From the corner of her eye, Tia could see something creeping along the wall, matching their speed. "What is that...?"

"What are you talking about! Keep your eyes forward," Tina turned her gaze towards her sister, just in time to feel something brush across her cheek. "OH s.h.i.+--" Cut off from what she was about to say, the twins were thrown aside as the entire pa.s.sageway lost its mind.

Like a bridge solely made of rope, the bricks twisted and turned, screaming from the broken physics that tried to keep them in place. Was this illusion or was this reality? The girls couldn't put two and two together.

Tia's right foot got caught with Tina's left, quickly the two of them fell over and face planted upon the ground. That wasn't all as the ground around them split apart, Tia was immediately swallowed by very floor she laid upon. Like the mouth of a living being, the breaks spread open and closed down around her. In a matter of seconds, she had vanished from sight and not even a scream could be heard from the other side.

"Tia~!" Tina cried out, her heart trembling at her sister's absence only for her to pause. The excitement had already ended, the corridor was as it was... As if it had never moved an inch before as if its movements hadn't given stress to the brick formation that surrounded her.

"Oh? So one of them fell through the floor, out splendid!" One of the voices giggled, but the one that had been accompanying it earlier was nowhere to be heard.

"Where are you?" Tina pulled herself to her feet, coming in close to the wall. She doubted her sister had been done in so quickly, there was no feasible way she died just like that.

On top of that, she knew that the creature that owned this tower, the wolf that had been described in the note wouldn't have wanted them dead.

"Kekeke... If you knew where I was, what would you do?" Peering out from behind a number of pa.s.sageways were a handful of golden eyes. They were all watching them a calm eery manner, but they all looked the same.

"Shadow clones..." Tina was now convinced that she was pitted against these people on purpose. Ninjas versus ninjas, it was far too convenient. Pulling sticks from that cup gave them the illusion of change, and she was fully convinced of that even though it hadn't been up for debate earlier.

"Where, oh where, could I be?" Giggled Moki playful with glee as all of the yellow eyes shrank into their respected corridors, vanis.h.i.+ng from sight much like how Tia had just moments ago.

With the voice of the being coming from all different directions, Tina remained calm and composed. Now was not the time to panic, she needed to find her sister. Having a Kunai in one hand she began moving ahead again. The idea of her sister dying here was in the far back of her mind, all the same as her eyes s.h.i.+fted from one pathway to the next as she went pa.s.sed them at a steady pace, she determined to find her sister.

Nothing was going to deter her, nor was she going to let a pair of golden eyes get in her way.

"Ooooh~ Such persistence," Moki's voice for some unidentified reason sent s.h.i.+vers down Tina's spine. Was it a killing intent? No, that wasn't quite right. There was a strange sense that if a killing intent from the guardian here were focused on her, there was no probable outcome where she came out alive.

Coming to the fifth corridor on the right, her entire body involuntarily buckled forward at the same time of feeling something warm and fuzzy shove her in the back. "Eh?"

One dart flew pa.s.sed her head, the other just crazy by her back and the other just missing her throat. Her entire body stiffened as an entire barrage pa.s.sed her by as if she had been pushed out of immediate danger.

"Why didn't I sense these...?" Tina muttered to herself and stared down the corridor. It was a dead-end, several holes in the wall at the very end. She then glanced down at the floor, seeking a trigger mechanism or pressure plate.

"If you're searching for a pressure plate, you're not going to find one... Hehee..." Moki emitted from behind the Ninja, causing her to turn on her heel, ready to strike only to find pitch darkness.

The torches behind her had gone out, and although she had trained to see in low-light, she could tell it was far too risky to venture back into her previous steps. It was as if her entire body was warning her that more dangers now existed beyond the veil.

Creeping backward, continuing into the light, she watched the torches the farther she went the more torches went out. The darkness, the darkness was following her... Was this to stop her from doubling back!? She had no idea where to go next. All of her choices were finite, if she went one direction, she reasoned that she couldn't go back to try another.

"What kind of maze is this?" Tina clenched her jaw, remaining stern in expression.

"You want to find your sister?" The voice was no longer distant, nor was it coming from all different directions. Half expecting the being standing right beside her to be a lithe cat folk with gold glowing hues was not what she imagined, "Choose a path."

Tina turned her head to the side, expecting to see a lithe cat-like being like those she had seen peering at her, her eyes widened at what she now saw.

A woman with fragile doll-like features with radiating purple hues for eyes and white hair stood before her. Though their presence alone was hard to make sense of, let alone sense, she could tell that this female was very much real.

"I am Moki," the 'girl' reached forward as they extended a hand towards the fellow Ninja. "Your challenge has just begun." A pa.s.sionate smile appeared across the female form's face.

"Where is my sister?" There was no rush to the tone Tina used, but her eyes were sharp.

"Kekeke~ Now what fun would it be if I told you where to find her? What kind of game would that be?" Moki's eyes gleamed as the torchlit corridor dimmed lightly in response to their words, a breeze was.h.i.+ng through the halls like a cold flowing river of ice.

"Hm..." Tina's gaze dropped down to the hand which had been offered to her, then back up to the gleaming eyes that had been shared with her. The thing that stood before her, she knew wasn't their real form, but it was cute.

"Kek... Now as the Gingerman once said, catch me if you can~!" Without warning, the being with silver hair and a feminine build darted around the Ninja and made its way down the corridor.

Tina gave chase, there was no holding back here. Digging her toes into the stone bricks beneath, she soared forth through the growing darkness that raged behind her. Torch after torch blew out with a quick and precise breeze. It was like everything was being consumed.

No matter how much ground was gained, it felt like the floor was moving beneath her and the cat who dared her to give chase was unnaturally slipping away from her.

Her face turned red with irritation as she continued to run for over half an hour. She was moving just fast enough to keep the woman within her sights. No matter how many times she thought she was pa.s.sing the same area, she told herself she wasn't. It felt different every time.

Lunging forward as the cat began to slow down, she went right through the silvery-white hair that decorated its back. Shadows dispersing in all directions and into the cracks of the wall, like monsters retreating from the light. Catching herself before she fell forward, Tina whipped her head side to side, not seeing a single hint of the creature she had been chasing. "Where did you go!?"

"Did you think it was going to be that easy?" Once more the darkness was filled with gleaming golden eyes, but this time from behind her as Moki's voice reverberating off the walls.

Following the sound of a loud thud, the entire maze around her began to tremble. Something was coming, something ma.s.sive. Gradually her jaw began to slacken and hang open ever so slightly, her eyes locking onto something moving within the darkness.

At first, she only thought it was her mind playing tricks on her in the dark, but the trembling got louder. Loose pebbles began to lift from the ground from the reverberating presence alone.

"You have got to be kidding me..."

Coming out of the darkness, fading into view, was a ma.s.sive spherical object made of pure stone. As if this had been bad, what appeared to be the entire maze began to s.h.i.+ft downward.

Without any other choice, Tina didn't even wipe the sweat from her brow as she turned on her heel and ran. She no longer heard the s.h.i.+fting of her pants as the sphere roared over the brick-like floor.

There was still a breeze up ahead, she could tell there was no dead end. It just kept going, but this also meant there were more likelihoods of additional traps. She absolutely distrusted the idea that this particular corridor had the ability to drive her all the way to the very end of the maze. As she kept going, this was becoming clearer and clearer, still as she had no time to stop and catch her breath.

With burning lungs, she kept going even if it meant going blindly.

Moki grinned from the shadows, watching her from an indiscriminate place as if he were one amongst the ma.s.s of darkness that was closing in around her. However, that wide grin that glimmered in the black behind her slowly faded.

Tina took a sharp left, kicking off the wall as she vaulted over a stone that was elevated a centimeter higher than all the rest. As her feet came slamming back down to the ground, she didn't dare pause, there was no time for it. The rumbling hadn't stopped even after she had turned to change course, the giant sphere was following her!

She kept running, pus.h.i.+ng off wall after wall as she made several turns, but she couldn't shake the ma.s.sive stone construct off. If one wasn't watching closely, it would appear as if she was randomly touching certain places and jumping over or avoiding others.

Had she seen a pattern? Moki couldn't quite certain what she was doing either, but it appeared as if the Ninja was taking note of everything and learning very quickly. "I shouldn't underestimate this human…" A grin filled with needle-like fangs took shape upon Moki's lips.

Moki then narrowed his gaze forward, curious, and cautious of what was ahead of them. Tina wasn't evading triggers for traps, those things were too easy to see and identify, and he knew this. Even when she failed to circ.u.mvent false traps, she still narrowly escaped true ones that she couldn't feasibly detect with her meager level compared to theirs.

'There has to be a way out of here that that bolder can't follow…' Was one of the few things that stayed constant in Tina's mind. So far every turn she made, so did the sphere. So even as her gaze watched the walls, the traps that sprung out at her, she didn't see an escape right away.

Slowing to a jog, the Ninja glanced over her shoulder towards the bolder that was closing in on her. Even the form that she could just barely make out the hidden movement within the dim shadow it cast on the ground it had contact with.

The instant she went to turn forward to pick up the pace once more, she caught a glimpse of something in the corner of her eye. Almost cracking a smile, she bounced on her feet as she ran for the wall to the left.

Within the moss-covered grey stone brick was a small opening, just large enough for her to crawl through. "A crawl s.p.a.ce!" She exclaimed to herself, throwing herself to the ground in a fas.h.i.+on that she would slide right into it.

Briefly having the wind knocked out of her, the Ninja held back a smug grin as she heard the sphere slow down right outside the hole. "Can't squash me in here… Now can you?"

With her arms in front of her, she pulled herself along the damp floor, grasping at the cracks between bricks. She moved slowly and carefully, but the further she went the darker it got.

By the time Tina glanced behind her she found the lights had all gone out, the entrance was lost. Letting out a light sigh, she turned her gaze forward. The walls had a faint glow, accompanied by a strange translucent blue moss.

"What is this stuff…" She uttered quietly to herself, sc.r.a.ping her fingernail against the stuff. Staring at her finger, she found it was now giving a faint glow. "Liquid?" Rubbing the nail of her index finger against her thumb, she smeared the stuff and raised a brow. A sigh escaped her lips as she exclaimed, "This isn't all that useful in this situation."

"Is that so?" Suddenly a handful of the moss splattered in her face, coating the side of her cheek. Moki was laying p.r.o.ne directly in front of her with a devious look on their face, still holding the human form they had used prior.

"How did you…" The Ninja glanced over her shoulder, before looking to the creature in front of her as she abruptly felt the water rising in the crawls.p.a.ce. "Where did…" Clenching her jaw, Tina looked to the cat folk who's tail rubbed against the ceiling of the crawls.p.a.ce.

"Kekeke~ To think you made it farther than any other contestant, you should be proud," Moki announced her defeat, as she had failed to complete the maze, but still broke an unknowingly existing record.

Tina's eyes widened, peering over the cat's shoulder into the eternal darkness that would greet her eye. She then turned her attention to Moki once more, "You're not going to let me pa.s.s?"

"You were only to partic.i.p.ate in a challenge, not complete the challenge, though that is one and the same… Is it not? Keke..." The cat giggled as it reached over and grasped her wrist, "Congratulations."

In an instant there was a magic circle rapidly forming beneath them, illuminating the rising water with a turquoise glow that was reaching just under her shoulders.

"Eh?" Tina blinked as she soon found herself engulfed by the light.