'Illusion...?'

  Rumble. Rumble. Rumble.

  The ground was shaking as violently as he remembered. The roars and cries were just as loud. Clearly, they were still religiously following him.

  "Please, let's get away from here!"

  Julian looked around. It was dark, and his eyes barely saw anything. However, the faint sound of water from behind told him that he was still outside the cave.

  "..Al...right."

  The desperate yell of Maria snapped him out of his daze. His right hand popped and cracked as he pulled it down. He did not know how long he had been holding that position, but he did know his hand was terribly sore.

  Julian turned around hesitantly, taking Maria's hand before trotting towards the cave. His eyes, just like in the 'hallucination,' could not be pulled away from the cave's entrance. The only difference was that the blue eyes were absent.

  "Ju-julian, I am sorry. I did not mean to go out," Maria spoke to her agitated-looking son. Her voice, worried.

  "No, no, it's fine. I know you were just worried...," Julian said, his voice shaky.

  Entering the cave, Julian picked up his sword along with the rest of their belongings. His mind was confused. He was certain what he saw was not an illusion. While he lost too much blood that he could not brush past hallucination, it felt too real to be one.

  Passing where 'Maria' smacked his hands away, he unconsciously tightened the grip on his dagger. His eyes kept peeking at the woman running close to him. Just like before, she had also just started to run out of breath.

  "My hand..."

  "Ah, s-sorry," Julian loosened his grip that had tensed unknowingly.

  Seeing that Maria's face was not melting, and her eyes were as brown as they had always been, he breathed a sigh of relief. Shaking his head, he decided to put aside his questions for the time being.

  Shifting his attention back to the vibration on his feet and the crumbling cave, he reminded himself that they did not have much time. Fortunately, they were not without any way out. After all, the sound of running water was getting closer to them.

  "Careful, the ground ahead is uneven."

  "Haah...Ju...haah...Julian!"

  "What?" Julian asked rather hurriedly, hand still pulling Maria ahead.

  "You are not hurt, are you?" Maria asked through labored breath.

  "I am alive, am I not?"

  Convinced the shakiness in Maria's voice was just her being tired, Julian answered her question with a question of his own.

  "B-but, your clothes..."

  Julian was surprised by Maria's remarks. Looking at his clothes and surroundings, he came to the realization that a small amount of light was coming from the depths of the cave. The deep blue light, though still faint, must have let Maria vaguely see through the darkness.

  "Save your breath," Julian said, doing his best to sound calm.

  "We are alm-"

  BANG!

  A thunderous explosion rang right above them. Large rocks smashed down, followed by a thunderous roar that almost shattered their eardrum. Through the dust that had occupied the air, they saw a small opening in the cave's ceiling.

  "Run!"

  It was only for an instant, but Julian saw something move. He tried to call upon the stunned Maria again, but another smashing sound completely overwhelmed his tiny, shrieking voice. There, a shadow forced its way inside. It ripped apart the small opening into a gaping hole.

  A wolf. A head resembling that of a wolf hangs on the cave's ceiling. Its fur was red, and its head was larger than two horses stacked together.

  "Hurry!"

  Cries and roars that felt so distant prior echoed loudly through the hole, spiking back hair on Julian's arms. He immediately pulled Maria, who had her mouth clasped shut. He dragged her around the large, falling debris while parrying away the smaller ones.

  Shrkk. Shrkk. Shrkk.

  Naturally, he was not as capable as he was in his previous life. Those sharp rocks fell and cut him effortlessly, giving him more wounds than he was willing to bear. Already tired and busy maintaining his Gift, he could only let the new wounds bleed out.

  CRASH.

  As if it were seduced by the new presence of blood, the shadow forcefully punctured its upper body into the cave. It roared and cried loudly, completely flooding any sound coming from outside. However, that only made the two pairs more eager to get away faster.

  Thud.

  Crash.

  Unfortunately, one of them seemed to be reaching their limit. Falling headfirst into the spiky rocky ground, the other one was unfortunate enough to be dragged along.

  "Child!"

  "Argh... krgh..."

  He wanted to say he was fine, yet the pain throughout his body made him forget how to speak. The worried inquires of Maria fell into his ears just as a distant ringing, and his mouth and nose began to water for whatever reason.

  His head was spinning, and the rocky floor lured him to fall into a slumber. Clenching his teeth, he pushed himself up while simultaneously pulling Maria up. However, his movement halted abruptly.

  In the corner of his eyes, he saw something coming from the tainted wolf's direction.

  "-own!"

  He slashed his dagger from the side, trying to parry the blurry shadow zipping through the air.

  Zztt.

  His dagger caught the shadow. In his blurry vision, he managed to see a bloody red spear. Under its weight, his dagger sizzled. He flew back, feet bit by bit leaving the ground. He pushed and tugged with all his might, yet the spear had not slowed down.

  Shatter.

  Ultimately, his dagger gave in and shattered. With nothing holding it back, the spear hurled honest.

  "FOLD!"

  Crash.

  Forced, he did not calculate where he was going. He slammed into the solid cave wall, knocking the wind out of him. Falling hard on the ground, he felt as if he had lost all his strength to stand up.

  But that was all the illusion of his mind. As for how he figured it, he saw another spear conjuring before the still wolf. His face was grave. The spear tip pointed not at him; it pointed at Maria.

  Maria was on the ground, seemingly lost amongst the dust.

  'Fold.'

  He folded the earth, appearing before Maria. Using the unsheathed sword as a shield, he blocked the black spear on its path.

  Well, that was what should have happened.

  He leapt, but that was it. He fell back on the earth, still far, far away from her. So far that he could not do anything.

  Swish.

  "MARIA!"

  The spear was let loose, yet Maria did not even crawl a step away from where she was. Julian yelled, hand grasping the cold air. He ran, wishing he could close the distance. But, he knew he could not.