Mana Reaver System-Chapter 24: Flight

Chapter 24: Flight
The lights died so fast the entire hallway dropped into complete darkness. For a few long seconds, Eric couldn’t even hear his own breathing. The guild, which had been glowing red and alive only moments ago, now felt like a dead cavern swallowed by night.
Winter tightened her grip on his wrist.
"Stay close," she whispered. Her voice was low. Too low. Almost like she didn’t want the shadows to hear her.
Eric swallowed hard. He wanted to respond, but the darkness felt thick in his throat. He could barely see Winter’s outline. Only a faint shimmer of her white hair.
A soft humming drifted through the corridor. Not loud. Not sharp. It only felt wrong. A distant vibration that made the walls tremble like something alive was sliding through them.
"Winter..." Eric whispered. "That sound."
"I know," she muttered. "Don’t panic."
Easier said than done. Eric was panicking front, back and center.
The humming grew louder, and suddenly the crystals on the walls flickered weak sparks of light, just enough for Eric to see long, black streaks crawling across the floor. Thin, smoky trails. Like shadows had taken physical form.
The Darkies were here.
’Wow. What a cool entrance for the villains.’
’They are Darkies true and true.’
Winter pulled Eric behind her and took a slow step backward. "We have to reach the East Wing. There’s an emergency exit door there. If we can break through before the alarm resets."
A soft laugh cut her off.
Not a human laugh. Something twisted, hollow. Something that sounded like a troll trying to mimic a person.
Eric froze, his breath caught in his throat. He felt Winter go rigid against him too.
A voice followed the laugh, smooth, quiet, and stretching each word like they had all the time in the world.
"Running already...? But we’ve only just arrived."
Winter grabbed Eric and pushed him behind the wrecked crystal displays. "Stay low, I will handle this," she whispered sharply.
Then she drew one of her sickles, though her mana was still unstable from the battle earlier. Eric could see it in her trembling arm. She wasn’t recovered. Not even close.
The humming grew louder, and the shadows on the floor merged into a thicker shape, rising slowly like smoke taking the form of a person.
A tall figure stepped out of the darkness.
She wore long black robes that dragged against the ground, and her mask was smooth and featureless except for two deep vertical slits where the eyes should be. The mask shone slightly, reflecting the faint remaining light. Her deep black hair flowed down generously till it stopped just over the small of her back, giving her confident steps an even more sinister effect.
’I think the villains in this world are all women. Look at this. She’s lit too, ironically.’
The air around him bent, twisting faintly like it couldn’t settle near his presence.
Winter hissed through her teeth. "Shade Operator... I should have known it was you. Seems you enjoy getting floored so much."
Eric had no idea what all that meant, but the cold crawling up his spine told him it wasn’t good. He sensed some past tension between the two completely different beings.
The masked figure tilted her head. "My, my... Winter of the Crimson Hue. Such a pretty flame. Still trying to protect things you don’t understand?"
Winter growled, "Get out of this guild."
"I can’t," she said softly. She pointed a long, ringed finger at Eric. "Not without him."
Eric’s pulse jumped so fast he felt dizzy. Winter moved half a step in front of him, blocking the Darkie’s view.
"You’re not touching him."
"Oh... but you don’t know what he carries," the masked woman whispered. "We sensed it the moment he entered your little forest. A newborn power... wrapped in something older than this empire. I trust my instinct because it never lead me wrong."
Eric wanted to shout that he didn’t carry anything. That he had no idea what the Darkies were talking about. But his voice wouldn’t come out.
Winter lifted her sickle. "You’re not taking him, Meraslerra!"
’Meraslerra? She got a beautiful name too. If her face is just as beautiful, I don’t think I’ll care about Winter’s protection now,’ Eric thought while he settled in his mind to see this out in a better view.
[Will you stop that nonsense, you perv? You need to focus, you mana spawn.]
’Ouch.’
Meraslerra sighed dramatically. "And here I was hoping we could speak calmly. Oh well."
She flicked her fingers.
Suddenly the shadows on the ground thickened, then shot upward like black spears.
Winter reacted first. She slashed her sickle in a wide arc, releasing a burst of weak flame that shattered the shadows before they reached her. But she stumbled slightly. Her mana obviously wasn’t stable.
The masked figure chuckled. "You’re exhausted. How adorable."
Mera raised her hand again.
But Winter didn’t wait this time. She grabbed Eric by the collar and ran down the hallway.
"Move!" she shouted.
Eric stumbled after her, nearly tripping as his feet slid on the marble floor. Behind them, shadows exploded upward like waves chasing their heels.
They turned a corner. It was pitch black, as the lights have mysteriously been put off, but Winter knew her way just fine.
Winter slammed her hand against a glowing panel on the wall. The emergency lights flickered weakly, giving the hall a faint red glow again. The hall breathed a little life after all that complete darkness. They jumped in through a thick doorway and slammed the oaken door behind them.
"Think we’ve lost her, for now."
Eric gasped in relief, until he noticed something ahead. The hallway curved upward into a long, slanted staircase.
Winter cursed under her breath. "Of all the halls, why did I choose this one?"
"How is this bad? It’s just stairs," Eric muttered, unsure.
Then, a heavy thud shook the steps. Then another. Then another.
Eric’s heart skipped.
Something was climbing up toward them.
Winter pulled him back and pressed him against the wall. "Don’t move," she whispered.
Eric listened.
The footsteps grew louder. Slow and heavy. Wet-sounding, like whatever was coming had dipped its limbs in some highly viscous liquid.
Then the shape appeared.
It was a hulking figure, taller than a normal man, crawling up the stairs like a giant insect. Its body was wrapped in shadowy armor, each limb covered in dripping black ooze that hissed when it touched the floor. It had no face. Just a hollow hole in its head where something like teeth shifted and clicked.
Winter whispered, "Shade Beast. The Darkies even brought their evil pet."
Eric whispered back, "Does this mean we’re dead?"
[Host has been acting suicidal lately.]
’Shut up.’
Winter clenched her teeth. "Not if you move when I say so."
The beast let out a low, rattling growl that echoed through the stairwell. Its limbs stretched unnaturally as it hauled itself higher.
Winter’s eyes darted around desperately.
"Eric," she whispered. "When I push you, run left. Don’t think. Just run."
"Where again?"
"Left!" Winter grunted.
[Host is dumb. Again confirmed.]
The beast lunged.
Winter shoved him aside.
She swung her sickle and released a burst of fire so bright it lit the entire stairwell. The flame hit the beast directly, knocking it backward down the stairs in a burning heap. Only the fire died down almost instantly.
Eric scrambled to his feet.
Winter grabbed his arm again. "Go!"
They sprinted up the hallway, shadows slamming against the walls behind them as more Darkies entered from other passages.
"How many are there!?" Eric yelled. "Do they teleport? I thought the door was locked."
"Yes, they do change phase, as long as it’s dark as befitting their evil power’s requirement."
They kept running until they reached a narrow corridor with a single door glowing faint blue.
Winter kicked it open. They rushed inside and slammed it shut. Eric leaned against the wall, panting hard. "Are we safe?"
Winter didn’t answer. Because obviously, they weren’t safe. To her, Eric was a whimpering kid, so she didn’t know what else to say to reassure him.
The room was filled with strange floating crystals that circled a platform in the center. The air hummed loudly, like the room itself breathed.
Eric stared around. His heart pounded. "Winter... what is this place?"
She hesitated.
"This," she whispered, "is one of the guild’s hidden escape chambers."
Eric blinked. "Escape chambers?"
"For disasters," she said. "For breaches."
He frowned. "You mean... exactly what’s happening right now?"
"Exactly."
Eric took a slow breath. "Then... we can escape?"
Winter turned toward the teleportation platform.
Her face was pale.
"The chamber activates with a surge of mana flow," she said. "A balanced, controlled surge."
Eric didn’t understand why she said it like that until he saw her hands trembling again. She was almost drained. Too drained.
"Winter," he whispered. "You can’t activate it?"
She didn’t answer.
[She obviously can’t activate it, Host. If I were Winter, I wouldn’t waste my breath for a dumbass like you, honestly.]
[Oh, that poor mage.]
’Excuse me, didn’t you tell me to kill her for a big reward back in the woods?’
[Did I?]
Something slammed into the door. A sharp crack.
Then another.
Eric stepped backward.
Winter raised her sickle again, though her arm shook violently.
"Eric," she whispered, voice shaking for the first time since he met her. "If they break in... don’t let them touch you."
"How am I supposed to stop them!? I can barely stand!"
Winter looked at him — really looked — like she was memorizing his face for a moment she wasn’t sure she’d see again.
Then she whispered,
"You weren’t supposed to be dragged into this."
Another slam.
The door buckled.
Winter raised her blade—
And the final strike shattered the door completely.
The shadows poured in.
Except they weren’t their foes.