The Gamer's POV-Chapter 205: Home of the Hollow Ones [21]

What is the mechanic behind the bridges? Why does the red bridge collapse only after certain monsters are killed? What is that eye at the entrance... the one that puts up a barrier to limit how many cadets can challenge a red bridge monster at a time? And why do the cadets even need that red bridge energy just to cross the blue bridge back to the empires?

To begin with, why do these bridges even exist in the first place? Why do the cadets from the empire and the residents of this realm have to go through all of this?

This and many other questions ran through Cedric’s mind as he watched the many screens in front of him. Then, while he was still processing the data flickering before his eyes, he saw the last party finally kill their red bridge monster, after which the red dot representing it suddenly vanished. In the next instant, a violent explosion suddenly erupted from the bridge’s core, signaling its collapse.

***

Outside...

The red bridge began to grow unstable, swelling outwards and inwards in a violent, pulsating manner. Then, a large wave burst outward from it, sending a shockwave of energy through the entire city. After that, the bridge shrank a bit and the unstable throbbing continued for a few seconds and another shockwave erupted, rippling through the air like a heavy tide.

The bridge then began to collapse in on itself, the structure folding and twisting into a distorted knot. But just as it was about to completely disappear, a female hand tried to come out of it, and the sound of someone crying could be heard from deep within it.

The desperate, muffled scream was cut short as the remaining energy of the bridge suddenly imploded.

***

As everyone began moving, Aurora paused and looked at Cedric and Aika, who were still lying on the ground, unbothered. However, in the next second, both of them suddenly vanished in a flurry of feathers, appearing somewhere up front with the rest of their party.

Aurora blinked. "..."

After a few seconds, she turned and quickly joined up with the others as they began heading to the massive stairs leading upwards. But just as she was about to pass Alicia’s corpse, she slowed her steps until she halted, staring at the body somberly. Then, June’s voice drew her attention.

"My lady?"

She turned to June, then wiped the tear that had escaped and begun to trail down her cheek. "I’m coming."

She then continued on her way, casting one last pained look over her shoulder before forcing herself to run toward the stairs.

Unbeknownst to her, little Ced, the raven Aika had been stroking, was perched on top of a pillar. It suddenly flew down, then hovered around Alicia’s corpse before landing atop her head. Almost immediately, the inventory opened up and Alicia’s head was pulled inside, disappearing in an instant.

The raven turned to look at the remains of the corpse nearby, and it also absorbed it into the storage space. After that was done, the raven shifted into a feather that dropped onto the ground before completely vanishing into tiny grains of shimmering dust.

"Hey, by the way," Aurora asked breathlessly over the chaos when she caught up to Cedric. "What happened?"

Cedric looked to her and eventually replied, "Five out of the six parties ended up successfully defeating the red bridge monsters. The sixth, however, was completely wiped out. When their barrier fell, members from one of the parties which had finished their task earlier went in to take care of the red bridge monster and the few hollow ones that were left."

"Oh." Aurora bobbed her head back, then exhaled in relief. After a moment, she spoke louder addressing everyone this time, "We have to figure out how we are going to get past the hollow ones guarding the exit without wasting a lot of time."

Audrey, who was running nearby, thought for a bit, then spoke up with a hesitant tone. "Uhm... I think I can handle them. Quickly."

Everyone turned to her. Then Aurora arched a brow and slowed her pace slightly to look back at her, before asking doubtfully. "Are you sure?"

Audrey nodded. "Yes. I’m sure."

Aurora studied her face for a split second, then nodded. "Alright. We’ll leave them to you."

Audrey gave a small, determined nod in return and summoned Toki into his weapon form. Then she nocked four arrows onto the glowing string of her bow, and her feet lifted off the floor, hovering above it.

They all continued up the stairs in a hurry as more and more cracks continued to spiderweb across the stone walls.

It took them a while to eventually reach the large opening yawning into the floor above. They didn’t stop and kept on moving as fast as they could, avoiding the debris and chunks of masonry that had begun to fall.

When they got close to the door, they stopped several meters from it. From here, the cadets could see two hollow ones standing in front of the door, while two more stood at different spots in the plaza. The ones in the plaza kept walking back and forth as if they were on patrol.

It seemed that they couldn’t smell the cadets due to the barrier, neither could they see them.

The cadets, after stopping, turned to look at Audrey. She nodded to them, before looking away and closing her eyes. After drawing in a deep breath, she opened one eye, and a green magic circle appeared in front of that eye.

Then she strained the bowstring further back and aimed. After a few seconds, she whispered to herself, "Talon."

[The Character Audrey Platini has activated the exclusive skill: Talon.]

All the arrows nocked on the bowstring suddenly became invisible. Then, Audrey released the string and without wasting any time, she reached behind her into her quiver, took out four more arrows, and nocked them onto the bow. Then she aimed once more.

At first, it looked like nothing happened. Until she muttered, "Hearts!"