Now that they had cleared the chamber of any loot, Red’s group took the time to explore the paths available to them. There were six tunnels connected to this space, including the one Red and Reinhart had come from.

Red looked at Narcha and Eiwin. “Which one did you come from?”

“That one.” Narcha pointed to the rightmost exit. “We can’t go back that way, though. The path outside was infested with monsters and we were forced to seek shelter in this cave.”

Reinhart hummed to himself. “That seems to be a common pattern.”

The woman frowned. “What do you mean?”

“The way we came in from was also surrounded by hundreds of snake monsters.” Red said. “The bandit we interrogated also said they had to run past a Lesser Ring Realm monster to enter their tunnel.”

Narcha’s frown deepened as she understood their predicament. “Are you trying to say all exits to this place are surrounded by monsters?”

“Probably.” Red nodded. “We can check them one by one and look for a safe exit, but that would take a long time… Time we do not have.”

The warrior grunted. “Then how do you suggest we find our way out of here?”

“We should follow the path that the imperial was planning to retreat towards.” Reinhart said. “There were closer exits he could have run towards, but he chose that one. He probably knew it was safe.”

Narcha stared at the man. “And how can you be sure he wasn’t just panicking?”

The knight shrugged. “I can’t. It’s our best guess, though.”

The warrior was silent at his words and seemed to struggle for a decision, even though Reinhart’s train of thought was completely reasonable. She looked over at Eiwin as if looking for her approval.

The younger woman nodded. “We’ll do as you say, Mister Reinhart. Do you mind leading the way?”

The man smiled. “As long as you have my back.”

Unlike the chamber, which was lit up with bright lanterns, the tunnels were pitch black, and Narcha had to light up a torch to illuminate the path ahead. She noticed that Reinhart, who was leading the way, didn’t intend to carry anything to light the way.

The man shook his head and laughed. “It’s alright. I can see in the dark.”

Narcha frowned. “Are you trying to tell a joke right now?”

“He’s speaking the truth.” Red said. “We ate a fruit that allows us to see in the dark.”

“Really?” the woman seemed surprised. “Something like that exists?”

The boy nodded. “I was surprised too when I noticed it opened a hidden acupoint.”

“What do you mean you were surprised?” Eiwin, who was also listening to the conversation, frowned at his words. “Didn’t you know what the fruit’s effects were before you ate it?”

Red shook his head. “Reinhart tric-”

Reinhart interrupted the boy. “Look, there’s something there!”

Narcha looked over in alarm. “… There’s nothing there!”

“No, I definitely saw something! Come on, let’s hurry.”

The knight hurried his steps, and the rest of the group had no choice but to follow behind him as Narcha insulted the man under her breath.

…

The tunnel seemed similar to the other paths they had taken on the way over - its stone surface too smooth and too straight to be natural. There was also a slight inclination on the passage, but this time it was leading them back up ever so slightly.

They walked for over ten minutes before Red noticed something. “I have been counting our steps. This is about the distance where we found that other chamber the bandits were waiting at.”

Eiwin nodded. “We also came across such a chamber around this distance, too.”

“And yet, unlike the paths we came from, this one continues to be a straight passage.” Reinhart looked over at Narcha with a smug expression. “Looks like I was right about the exit, huh?”

“That could mean anything!” Narcha shot back. “Just keep walking ahead before I throw my saber into your back!”

The man laughed but did as he was told. They walked for almost half-an-hour before they started hearing the muffled rumbling of thunder and saw the faint flashes of lightning from up ahead.

Reinhart looked back at Narcha with a smile.

The woman grunted in annoyance. “We still need to see if it’s safe!”

The group approached until they were only a few dozen meters away from the exit, which seemed to lead them back into the trenches. They stopped moving at this juncture to observe the outside for any signs of monsters.

“I can’t see very well in this darkness.” Eiwin shook her head. “But if there are any monsters out there, they aren’t waiting for us at the entrance.”

Narcha frowned. “They could just be waiting in ambush. A lot of monsters we came across were hiding and waiting for prey to pass by.”

“There’s an easy way to see if that’s true.” Reinhart looked at Red. “Can you sense anything, kid?”

The boy shook his head. “Nothing close by.”

The knight nodded. “See? It’s safe. Let’s go.”

Narcha interrupted him. “Wait! We can’t just do that!”

Reinhart looked at her in confusion. “Why not? Don’t you trust your own companion?”

“I didn’t say that!” she looked over at Red. “Are you sure about this, kid? Don’t you need to like, double-check it or something?”

Red shook his head. “I’m certain about it. If I feel anything I will warn you.”

“Is that so?” Narcha seemed reluctant, even with the boy’s reassurances. “Are you sure there won’t be delay or something when you-”

“Miss Valt.” Eiwin interjected with a firm tone. “Please trust in Red’s words. If he said he’s certain about it, there’s no need to doubt him.”

Narcha gritted her teeth, but still nodded. “You’re right. I’m just not used to his power, that’s all.”

“Right then, so that’s settled.” Reinhart said.

With no more interruptions, the man walked ahead, with the rest of them following from behind. Red focused on his crimson sense like he promised, but even as they were just about to exit the tunnel, he still felt nothing.

After hearing no warning from the boy, Reinhart crossed the threshold back into the trenches.

The man examined his surroundings. “Doesn’t look like there're any traps in here. You can come out.”

Narcha was the next to walk out, while Eiwin followed alongside Red, a habit the young woman had since he first met her. Sure enough, they were back in another one of the endless gorges that extended in both directions as far as the eye could see.

What was supposed to be relief from having exited the tunnels safely, though, turned into puzzlement as they examined their surroundings.

“So that’s it?” Narcha frowned. “Just more aimless walking through this damn place?”

“Were you expecting something else?” Reinhart asked.

The warrior seemed frustrated. “I was hoping this would lead us towards another part of the trial or something… The spirit told us this was a race, but how are we supposed to know we are advancing if everything in this place looks the same?!”

“There are tracks.” Red said.

“Huh?” Narcha looked over in surprise. “Really?”

The boy nodded. “Yes, and there are a lot of them. They’re all leading out from the tunnel we came from.”

“That’s great!” the woman seemed excited at the discovery. “That must be Rickard and the other imperials, right?!”

“Probably, but…” Red trailed off with a frown.

“What is it?” Narcha noticed his odd expression.

She looked at the others and noticed they also had contemplating expressions. It took her a few seconds to notice the issue.

“Wait, you said they came from the same tunnel we just exited from?” Narcha frowned.

Red nodded. “That’s right.”

“But that’s not possible… Is it?”

Of course, the issue was that the tunnel they had just come from was a straight passage leading from the chamber with the snake to the outside. There were no branches in the path, which meant that if Rickard and the imperials took the same passage, they would have run across that same giant monster and probably killed it already. Not to mention, Red would have noticed their tracks before exiting the tunnel, too.

Yet that clearly hadn’t happened.

“There’s no point in trying to make sense of this land, Miss Valt.” Eiwin shook her head. “At the very least, we can use the same strategy and follow in their footsteps. Although it might be dangerous, it’s our safest bet in making our way out of this place.”

Narcha nodded with a resolute expression. “You’re right. At least now we know we’re on the right track to finding those bastards.”

Reinhart laughed at her words. “And what exactly are you going to do when you find them? Two imperials were almost enough to kill us. Now imagine more of that, plus Rickard and his subordinates - do you really think we stand a chance?”

Narcha glared daggers at the man and clenched her fists. She looked on the verge of attacking him, but Eiwin put a hand on her shoulder.

The younger woman looked at Reinhart with a serene gaze. “If the time comes when we meet them, you need not feel obliged to fight alongside us, Mister Reinhart. We will be fine on our own.”

The knight smiled at her, but didn’t respond.

Red interjected. “We should move. There are still monsters moving in the trenches.”

Although what Reinhart said was true, it was clear he wanted to provoke Narcha with his words, much more so considering this was a soft spot for the woman. Thankfully, Reinhart didn’t argue back.

“Fine.” he nodded. “Let’s move.”

The group began moving again, following behind the tracks Red had pointed out. The gorge seemed unchanged even after almost an hour of walking, though. No caves, no monsters - nothing abnormal at all other than the constant lightning overhead.

“This is strange.” Narcha said with a frown. “Are you sure we are on the right path, kid?”

Red nodded. “Their tracks are still here. This is the only way they could have gone.”

Reinhart laughed. “Maybe they killed all the mons…”

The man trailed off, freezing on the spot. The others were quick to notice the strangeness of his actions.

“What is it?” Narcha asked in alarm, her hand wandering to her saber.

Reinhart shushed her. “Shut up. Don’t you see it?”

“You…” the woman gritted her teeth. “See what? You know I can’t see shit in this darkness.”

The knight looked over at Red. “You, kid. Look over there.”

Reinhart pointed ahead at something in the distance.

The boy’s eyes narrowed, trying to spot what he was talking about. At first, all he saw was the rock wall of the canyon in the distance, but a few seconds later, a shape started to become clear to him. It took Red a few seconds more for his brain to process the distance and the size of the thing he was looking at.

It was a gigantic tail hanging off the side of the cliff. A snake’s tail.

Red shivered, as a feeling of recognition came to him.