"Is something wrong?" asks Kyrie.
"Not that something is wrong! You guys left without telling anyone! Don't you understand that the dungeon is dangerous if you separate yourself from the group!" Phanes starts to lecture them.
Erebus touches her arm, but Phanes turns her head to face him with a deep frown.
"Erebus, you are not stopping me too! These kids could get lost and split apart from the group! They can die if they encounter the monsters inside this dungeon!"
"Phanes, calm down."
Looking at Erebus's concerned eyes, she pauses. Her eyes soften.
She relaxes back her shoulders and looks away from Erebus, slightly blushing.
"Sorry… We just wanted to reconcile with each other by having a conversation amongst ourselves," says Ian while standing back up from the rows of rocks.
Phanes lets out a sigh and puts her hands on her hips.
"Forget it! So… Did you guys reconcile?"
Ian looks at Kyrie and says, "We need to talk more, but for now, we are good."
Kyrie breaks out a nervous smile.
"Geez, kid… You sometimes just need to talk stuff out. People who are truthful to you will try to embrace your weaknesses too!" Phanes tousles Kyrie's hair.
Kyrie pouts and sighs.
"Plus, it was just for a loaf of bread!" Phanes chuckles.
With the two gods in front of him, an idea flashes across Kyrie's mind. There is something that has been bothering him for all this time.
He wonders if the gods can really read his thoughts because that would be a disaster if they can.
[Hi, Phanes.]
Kyrie tests if Phanes can read his thoughts, but it seems that Phanes does not respond at all.
[You will die in the future.]
Phanes does not respond once again.
[Seems like they both can't listen to our thoughts in this illusion.]
Erebus grabs Kyrie's arm all a sudden and lifts him. Kyrie is startled and looks at Erebus's expression turning cold. Kyrie flinches on the pressure that Erebus is putting on him. Their eyes meet for a couple of long seconds.
[A warning? Can he listen to my thoughts?]
However, his expression turns back to his usual calm and collected manner.
The ground shakes for a couple of seconds, violently, and stops.
"Kid, the dungeon is changing right now. We need to run back to our group!" yells Phanes.
Kyrie puts his hand on Ian's back and then gently pushes him to run. Phanes takes Ian's arm while Erebus takes Kyrie under his arm. They all run towards the group, but the ground starts shaking violently again. The floor begins to crack underneath the fireplace where the group is, and the group retreats further away from them.
Then, the crack runs around the tunnel, splitting the tunnel in half. Some people start to yell at their names, but the ground continues to collapse. Without any other choice, while wanting to preserve their lives, they turn their backs and leave.
The gods decisively turn around to run back to the direction they came from. Each step is getting harder. The tunnel is no longer flat, but instead, the ground tilts and moves to different angles as they run. Phanes and Erebus are trying their best not to use their powers as they run.
The tunnel suddenly rotates to the left, and Phanes loses her footing, crashing onto Erebus and Kyrie while taking Ian with her. They all fall on top of each other as the wall becomes their standing ground. Phanes loses hold of Ian. Then, the tunnel lifts into an angle where they start to slide down the tunnel uncontrollably. Erebus was close to grabbing onto the rocks that stick out of the ground, but as soon as they come to his hands, they shatter due to the weight of both Phanes and Kyrie.
Ian, who Phanes is no longer holding onto, is alone facing the obstacles coming his way as he slides down. As he is skidding down, he tries to protect his head from the debris heading towards him.
Loneliness and fear are weighing down on his chest. His back is on fire from sliding against the rough ground, and the tunnel seems never to end. The feeling that nothing supports him as he falls from the pull of gravity is gathering tears on his eyes. The wind that blows against him chills his heart.
"Kid!" Erebus yells.
Kyrie breaks away from Erebus's arm and forces his body to slide towards Ian. His arm reaches out as far as his joints let him catch the figure that is gliding uncontrollably down.
"Ian!!!"
Ian turns at the sliding figure towards him. His body gets wrapped around by strong arms that poured relief into his heart like a crashing wave.
"Kyrie..." The tears gathering in his eyes finally trickle down his cheeks.
Kyrie grabs hold of Ian tightly, who is getting his back injured by the sharp stones they are rubbing against. He puts Ian on top of him, shielding him from the obstacles while the skin on his back is getting bumped and carved open.
Ian pales as he looks at Kyrie's pained face. He tries to break free from Kyrie's arms, but Kyrie just won't let go.
"Let go, Kyrie! Let go!"
Without enough energy to deal with Ian's intentions to break free, Kyrie squeezes out a plead while trying to tolerate the indescribable pain, "Don't move…"
A groan escapes from his mouth.
With all his might, Kyrie tries to concentrate and circulate mana, and soon after, the wind rushes from the bottom and lifts all of them. Then, the wind cushions them gently so that they could gather back their own balance. They are floating on top of the air current gathering underneath them.
Kyrie lets his body fall in which Ian catches while both land on the air cushion.
Kyrie's forehead is covered in sweat.
Phanes rushes to see both Kyrie and Ian. Her face is plastered in guilt. She looks at their wounds, especially Kyrie's, whose injuries are severe; his entire back has been basically skinned off.
Compared to them, her body escaped from a single injury. She did not get injured because her essence automatically protects her from these physical injuries.
She should not use essence, but she looks guiltily at Erebus, who locks his eyes with her. Erebus sighs and nods.
The worst could be that Erebus has to wipe these two human's memories.
Phanes lets out a gentle warm gold aura on her hands, and she circulates it into Kyrie and Ian. Her eyes glisten with guilt and sadness. Kyrie flinches and wants to move away.
"Hey, don't move away. I am healing you."
Their wounds are lighting up in gold, and they start to close themselves. The purple and greenish bruises are slowly fading away. Then, their clothes that were ripped are piecing back together as well.
[Time magic. But light?]
Kyrie is shocked when he sees that Phanes using light magic. Likewise, Phanes widens her eyes in shock. Once they are completely healed, the light that surrounds them dims.
"Who are you, kid?" Phanes asks, "Why do you have the ability to use light magic? I have never let anyone use it just yet…"
Phanes's eyes place on Ian too, and after, they turn to Erebus.
"You too… You can use dark magic."
Erebus frowns as he looks at them. He separates Phanes from them immediately.
The air around them starts to thicken, and the surroundings are turning dim from the essence coming out from Erebus.
"Who are you?"
Kyrie takes Ian's wrist to move him behind, but Ian breaks free from Kyrie's hold. Instead, he wraps his fingers around Kyrie's hand and stands beside him.
Kyrie's heart skips a beat. A fuzzy feeling spreads inside Kyrie while looking at Ian's hand wrapped around his.
Ian is trying to protect him.
Ian struggles to find a better answer, but he has no other choice.
"We are from the future," says Ian.
"Future?" Erebus glances back at Phanes.
Phanes shakes her head like it has nothing to do with her.
Although she has power over time, she cannot use it due to the mechanisms of fate.
"Yes. We are from the future. I am Vita's …" Before Kyrie can finish his sentence, a piercing shriek rings on his ears.
Kyrie lets out a groan of pain.
He tries again, and the screaky sound comes back to his ears. Blood flows out of his nose.
[What is this? Why is it not letting me tell them? The relic?]
Phanes and Erebus gaze at each other. There seem to be something that is blocking the information from Kyrie to the gods. They think that maybe because both are in the middle of their trial, so there might be some kind of involvement from the god realm.
Kyrie's mana is close to running dry, so Erebus uses his own power to lower them down to the bottom. When they land, they can see that the tunnel goes on. However, thinking about how long it took them to land, one cannot help but shiver in fear.
[Ian and I could have easily died falling from such height.]