With that, the group bolted, their footsteps now silent but swift.
Ron forced himself to hunch slightly, keeping his claws from raking against the jagged floor. His tail was lifted carefully, twitching in tight control as he moved, his face scrunched in concentration.
The others, meanwhile, followed the path they came from, ducking beneath overhangs, dodging stalactites, and slipping through narrow crevices with the ease of practiced instinct.
Behind them, the distant but growing echoes of guttural snarls and snorts echoed through the stone corridors.
The goblins were coming.
Elius didn't speak.
He merely glanced back once to confirm that none of the others had stumbled, then shifted slightly and sped forward, gliding just above the ground on his sword as though skating on air.
Even now, his movements were precise. Controlled. Flawless.
Ron was sweating now, doing everything he could to avoid leaving even the smallest sign.
He flattened his claws with every step, curled his tail tighter, and breathed shallowly through his nose.
Not because of fear—well, okay, maybe a little—but mostly because he didn't want to be the reason the goblins tracked them.
They ran for several long, grueling minutes through winding tunnels, past patches of glowing moss, and beneath towering cavernous columns that looked like ancient, twisted trees turned to stone.
The eerie quiet that followed was only occasionally broken by distant growls, echoing so faintly it was impossible to tell if the goblins were far behind or just around the next corner.
And then, finally—
A shaft of dull blue light appeared in the distance, shining from a break in the rocky wall where the dimensional rift pulsed faintly, like the heartbeat of the world.
Freedom.
They didn't speak. They only pushed harder.
And then they burst through.
The moment they emerged into the safe zone just outside the rift's entrance, the tension evaporated like mist under sunlight.
Klee collapsed to the floor, hands on her knees, gasping and laughing.
"We made it!" she wheezed. "We actually made it!"
Lina leaned back against the cold rock wall, her chest rising and falling as she let out a breathless giggle. "That was intense…"
Ron flopped onto his back with a thud, eyes wide. "Dude! I thought they were gonna catch us! My tail is still twitching!"
Shiro let out a breath and nodded once, satisfied. "The diversion worked. We lost them in the maze."
The three whooped and high-fived each other, grinning from ear to ear.
"I can't believe we just did that!" Klee shouted.
"That was like—some actual real-world mission stuff!" Ron added. "We snuck into a goblin camp, avoided a fight, and made it out!"
Lina smiled. "That clone strategy was brilliant, Shiro."
Shiro just gave a small, tired nod, the praise starting to make him blush again.
And amidst all the noise, laughter, and excited celebration… Elius stood silently.
Unmoving.
Arms crossed.
Expression unreadable.
He didn't join their celebration.
Didn't offer praise or smile.
He was merely watching.
Watching with eyes that had seen too much. Felt too much. Knew too much.
The others began to notice.
Ron, sitting up, looked at him curiously. "Hey, uh, Elius?"
Elius raised a brow.
Ron rubbed the back of his head. "Be honest with us… if we did end up facing those goblins in a head-on fight. Would we have stood a chance?"
Klee's laughter died down. Lina's expression sobered. Shiro looked thoughtful.
It was the question they had all been wondering.
Elius tilted his head slightly. Then—
"Why don't you find out?" he said calmly.
He lifted a hand and pointed forward, just beyond the ridge of stones leading away from the rift's mouth.
All heads turned.
And there, standing alone and eerily still… was a single goblin.
It was no taller than a child. Maybe four feet.
Scrawny, with thin limbs and green skin stretched tight over wiry muscle. It wore no armor—only a belt made of stitched ears from unknown creatures and a dirty cloth tied around its waist.
In one hand, it held a rusty jagged dagger, dripping with some unknown goo.
Its eyes were what made it terrifying.
Deep red orbs, glowing faintly like coals, with no pupils.
Eyes that didn't blink.
Eyes that stared directly at them with the intensity of a starving wolf watching trapped prey.
Its mouth opened slowly, revealing sharp, crooked yellow fangs.
And it smiled.
Ron swallowed hard.
"…Uh… that's… that's one of them?"
"Just one," Elius said.
"It doesn't even have armor," Lina murmured.
"It's tiny," Klee whispered. "Why do I feel like it could still kill me?"
Shiro clenched his jaw. "It's not normal. Something about it… it's wrong. Unnatural."
Elius smirked and turned slightly to Ron. "What's wrong? You're a velociraptor, aren't you? You've got claws. Teeth. Raw power."
Ron was frozen.
Elius leaned in slightly, his voice like a knife wrapped in velvet. "You look way more terrifying than it. So why are you chickening out?"
Ron looked at the goblin. Then at Elius. Then back at the goblin.
It hadn't moved an inch.
But it was still smiling.
Still watching.
Like it knew.
Like it wanted him to come closer.
Ron took a step back.
And the goblin tilted its head—just a fraction. As if acknowledging the fear.
Klee stepped closer to Ron's side, her voice trembling. "We're not ready for this."
Elius stood with his arms crossed, his five swords floating around him in slow, lazy orbits—like predatory stars circling a cold sun.
The hum of spiritual energy pulsed faintly from their cores, and one sword, a sleek, jagged blade with a runed spine, pointed toward the lone goblin that stared at them from the rocky ridge.
"You're all not ready for this?" Elius asked flatly, his voice a sharp contrast to the swirling tension in the atmosphere. "Then what now? Should I just kill it… and leave you to wonder what you're truly dealing with inside that dungeon?"
The goblin didn't move. It was still watching, still smiling.
Elius's voice deepened, louder now, every word like a slap of ice across their confidence.
"Should I spare you the terror of understanding? Let you keep your fantasies about what awaits beyond those tunnels—about how strong you really are—safe and untouched?"
One of the floating swords began to rotate slowly, its blade singing softly as it moved in mid-air, slicing through the stillness with a haunting, circular rhythm.
"After all," Elius continued, his tone casual but his words razor-sharp, "you might all sleep better at night believing you're strong enough. That your powers, your bloodlines, your strange quirks are enough to take on monsters born of corruption and hatred."
The four flinched slightly.
"I could end it in a blink. That thing wouldn't even scream before its head touched the floor. But then what? You'd walk deeper into that rift thinking it's all manageable. That you'll be fine as long as I'm around. That someone will always be here to clean up your messes."
His eyes flicked from Shiro to Klee to Lina. Then finally… to Ron.
"Alright, he mumbled.
Elius didn't move. But the swords did.
Two more rose to hover just above his shoulders now, angled forward, their tips almost vibrating in anticipation.
His words lingered like a heavy fog.
The group was silent, the tension thick enough to choke on.
Then…
Suddenly, Ron stepped forward.