The Author's POV

"I don't see anything. The mist is far too thick."

Ryan muttered as he extended his hand, where a small device gently floated back into the palm of his hand. The device was compact, roughly the size of a rubric's cube, and it featured complex circuitry all around its body.

"I've tried using the heat sensor in the drone, but that also doesn't seem to work. The fog seems to be hiding everything that is inside."

"What about sounds?"

An older voice echoed. It belonged to Leopold, who was standing beside him with a pack of gum in his hands.

Bringing his hand toward his mouth, he started chewing on the gums.

"Hav..mhm.. the drones look for any sounds that are coming from beneath…munch… that would probably do the trick."

"I've tried."

Ryan shook his head.

"It blocks everything. From sunlight to all electromagnetic waves and sounds. We're on our own."

"Well… that sucks."

Leopold muttered, leaning back against one of the rocks behind him. He wasn't in a very good mood at the moment. Suddenly transported in such a world, he was lucky to have found Ryan close to him, but the same thing couldn't be said for his daughter, for whom he had no idea where she was.

'…I hope she's okay.'

Such thoughts crossed his mind as he gazed ahead, where he saw a young girl standing, waving her hand at him.

She looked exactly like his daughter but was merely an illusion.

"Dad, what are you doing over there? Hurry up."

She sounded just like her, too.

'I'm glad Ryan's with me.'

He could only shudder at the thought of what would've happened had Ryan not been here with him.

It was thanks to him that he was able to realize that it was all an illusion, and if not for him, he would've probably fallen into whatever trap was being laid out.

Right now, he could only hope that she was fine, even if he knew that the situation they were in was rather dire.

"So… what do we do now?"

Leopold asked, raising his head slightly to look at Ryan, who seemed to be in deep thought. And indeed, he was, as he looked through his devices and eventually settled for a small flag.

"What's that?"

"Wait."

Moving around the flag, Ryan touched the pole, and it suddenly started to flutter. Almost immediately after that, the mist that had been surrounding them began to recede, even if only very slightly.

"I guess that works."

A smile finally appeared on Ryan's face as he picked up the flag. Moving toward Leopold, he waved it at him.

"Come closer to me. So long as you're close to the flag, you won't have to worry about the fog around us. This should make our lives a lot easier."

"You're right."

Leopold sighed in relief and moved toward where Ryan was. As soon as he came within range of the flag, the image of his daughter vanished, and he let out a sigh of relief.

It was starting to get to him.

"It looks like you were right."

"Of course I am."

Ryan rolled his eyes.

"Who do you think I am?"

"Cocky, aren't we?"

"And rightfully so."

"Fair enough―"

Just then, Leopold stopped speaking, and so did Ryan, whose smile disappeared from his face. The two of them sharply looked around them, and it wasn't long before they heard faint rustling sounds coming from the area around them.

Rustle―! Rustle―!

Immediately, over ten black figures appeared around them and surrounded them. Both Ryan and Leopold's faces fell in response to what they saw, and Leopold spit out the gums that he had been chewing on.

Pu!

"Well… fuck."

***

Her vision was obscured, and the only thing she could hear was the rhythmical sound of her footsteps crunching against the soul beneath her feet.

"What's going on?"

Emma wondered, looking around her and spotting the large, crooked trees around her.

She had a very difficult time seeing because of the mist that blanketed everything around her, and she could only see a couple of meters in front of her at most.

It had been quite a while since she appeared here, and despite the time she spent, she still hadn't figured out what was going on.

'Where am I supposed to go?'

Before continuing forward, she slashed with her short sword, leaving a faint mark on one of the trees beside her.

"I'm back…"

It wasn't until she realized that she had returned to the same spot as before that she finally came to a stop. The most convincing piece of evidence for that was the cut on the tree that was beside her.

Frustrated, she stomped her foot on the ground.

"Damn it! What is this plac—!"

She never got to finish that sentence. Just as she was about to finish it, her pupils constricted, and her back bent backward

Swoosh—!

A black claw appeared in the area she previously was in, and in one swift movement, Emma juggled her short swords in her hand and crossed them right on the demon's head that had appeared out of nowhere.

"I got you."

A smile crept up on her face as she looked at the demon above her.

Finally, after who knows how long, she managed to trick the demon into coming out.

Ever since she arrived at the spot, she had the distinct impression that someone was following her around and watching her every movement. It was faint, but she believed that her hunch was correct.

Since she wasn't certain of where they were because of the fog, she decided to play along and lure them to her. It was a risky move, but one that paid out massively.

"If you answer my questions, I won't kill you."

Her words were so icy that they sent shivers down the back of the demon, which slowly nodded its head in response.

"Good."

Emma brought the short swords closer to the demon's neck. A faint pulse indicated that the core was right next to the blade of her short sword. One movement from her, and the demon would die.

"Where am I? What is this Pillar of Greed? How do I get out?"

"Get out?"

The demon all of a sudden froze before turning its head toward Emma.

"You want to get out?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

Frowning, Emma brought the ends of her short swords even closer to the demon's neck, and a faint black line appeared on the demon's neck.

"Ku…"

Emma was taken aback when, all of a sudden, the demon's body began to tremble and it broke out in an uncontrollable fit of laughter.

"You want to get out? …kuahahahha."

"What's so funny."

She pressed her short swords even more deeply into the demon's neck, but it did not stop laughing; in fact, the demon found the situation to be even more amusing.

Just as Emma was about to kill the demon, the demon stopped and turned to look at Emma.

"There is no escaping from the Pillar of Greed. From the moment you stepped in, you've become our prey. The only escape for you… is through dea—!"

Spurt—!

A head rolled under Emma's feet, and the body soon disappeared into thin air. Having dealt with the core, the demon died instantly.

"That was a waste of time."

It was disappointing to know that her efforts to bait the demon were for naught. Well, not entirely.

"A hunting ground for demons, huh?"

That was the only thing she managed to make out of the conservation. Wasn't very much, but she understood a bit more about the situation.

"It looks like I'm not the only one here."

That was great news for her. She had originally thought she was alone, but from the looks of things, it wasn't the case.

'Good, if I can find someone that I know, then the chances of surviving are higher.'

Two was always better than one—or at least for her.

Turning her head to look left and right, she pressed her foot against the ground and darted off into the distance.

With a goal in mind, she knew exactly what she needed to do.

*

The world within the Pillar of Greed was vast.

Emma didn't know for how long she ran, but as she moved around the fog, in hopes of finding a clearer patch of land, she ended up stumbling into what seemed to be a large waterfall.

Splash—! Splash—!

With the fog covering her vision, she couldn't see it properly, but she could hear it all right.

It was unquestionably a waterfall due to the extremely loud sound of water being thrown back and forth in the distance. From the sound, it didn't seem too far from her.

Without a second thought, she headed for it.

'The waterfall can serve as a good checking point given the fog.'

With no sight, the only thing they could rely on was hearing, and the waterfall was the perfect stop.

Therefore, she didn't hesitate and just ran for the waterfall.

"What the…"

However, what she saw when she was close to the waterfall astounded her.

An enormous skull was carved into the rock face of a mountain of considerable size. Its mouth was wide open, displaying its numerous large teeth, and murky red water dripped from its exposed mouth, heading toward what appeared to be a bottomless pit.

"What in the…"

The sight left Emma utterly speechless, as she didn't know what to do at the moment.

'What is this place?'

She truly couldn't fathom what it was, and just as she was having second thoughts, a hand pressed against her shoulder, and a voice that felt familiar to her echoed in her ears.

"Go."

"Huh?"

Emma's head slowly turned, and her gaze interlocked with a man with black hair and crimson-red eyes. He looked incredibly handsome, and when her gaze met his, she felt her heart stop for a reason.

For some reason... he seemed familiar to her, strangely so, and yet, her mind blanked whenever she tried to recall his face.

She couldn't. No matter how hard she tried.

Her mouth trembled.

"W-who are you?"