The third thump had been the last straw; the stone gate had dramatically exploded from its frame, and from the darkness that loomed behind it, the forsaken arrived.
It had rushed into the plaza and frozen before the soldiers.
A large lizard the size of a house with small accents of visible bones throughout its stomach and arms, as though it had undergone a melting process. Its eyes were large and round, the slit in its eyes peering at the surrounding soldiers, judging whether they were worth the trouble.
Its horrific mouth, accompanied by serrated teeth, gaped once it found its target. It began moving as if it were in a hurry and began blasting through the fortification to the left of the plaza
"This wouldn't have happened if you humans hadn't meddled with the body". Salty uttered before commanding himself out of the fortification. Standing in front of the horrid beast, he held the orb high in the air, catching its attention.
"As a noble of the primodeens, the one who restores order! I will kill a forsaken!"
Esara had decided to watch; it seemed Salty knew what he was doing and theorized he would do something cool — maybe revealing how he fought or displaying any sort of divine powers. Until this point, Salty seemed like the type not to let anyone scratch his crystal skin.
The lizard turned its attention towards him, its eyes narrowed in provocation as it speedily exploded towards him; then it stopped and looked, and then slammed him, launching him into a nearby building.
"Huh?"
Her mouth gaped, and her thought process took longer than usual.
The beast's eye was directed towards them without moving its head; it was looking towards the direction where Esara had been standing — that was enough to wake her up.
She swayed her hand.
"It's going to attack us! How long are we just gonna stand here!"
Despite her words, the men anxiously remained in their position.
"What are you guys doing?!"
"W-We've never faced a forsaken head-on..." One answered.
"What?"
"We only throw spears at them from the wall!"
Before they could do anything, the horrid lizard had begun its advance and started eating into the shield line.
They poked with the spear, but it had given no reaction — it ate at the spears instead. Esarah observed her surroundings, looking for a high place; they'd have to kill the lizard fast before more forsaken would pour from the gates, which it surprisingly hadn't.
"I'll go finish it".
She took notice of the fortified wall around the gate, and with a brilliant idea, she hurried off.
"If I just had my spear, then I could've killed it there and then". She muttered that she'd reached the stairs leading to where the other busy soldiers were. They were throwing spears down along the wall as forsaken of all shapes tried to climb.
"You guys are lucky they're dumb". Esarah had said to one of the soldiers.
Soon, above the center of the gate. She took her hand mirrors out and turned her head over her shoulder. Without any time to ask, she swiftly snatched a gas lantern hanging from one of the nearby men. Then, she mirrored the flame towards her own, creating a sparkle in the corner of the lizard's eye.
Attracted to the light, it didn't even give it a second thought before deciding to charge her.
"Of course, the forsaken love light".
She dodged the incoming crash, and the lizard's mouth crashed on the edge of the fortified wall.
"Salty! If you're still alive, then at least do something!"
And then, he reappeared. In the face of the beast, Salty came with a flying right hook, still holding onto the red orb. Once his crystal knuckles made contact, the entire head of the forsaken was utterly annihilated.
Its headless body had dropped to the ground, its skin beginning to disintegrate.
He positioned himself beside her.
"...I was caught off-guard."
Esara watched him with jaw-opening eyes.
She knew that Salty was strong, but what she had witnessed was something entirely new.
"You're incredibly strong..." She'd said without thinking.
"Thank you".
He turned over the wall, where the open side was still accompanied by climbing forsaken.
"The humans are lucky these forsaken don't have any brains".
Then, he turned over to Esarah.
"Listen, I'm going to return this orb to where it's supposed to belong. What will you do?"
Reality called back to her.
"What? I'm joining, after returning that thing, you will head to Loft, right? I'm also heading there, apparently that's where my spear is".
"Are you sure? Loft won't be a problem. But as for now, I'm going to return to the ninety-fifth hill; we'll be descending towards danger".
Esara's eyes sparkled slightly, and her tone turned more playful. "Oh? You care for me? I thought you couldn't feel any sort of emotions".
"Don't humor yourself. Everything below this place will try to kill you, even the darkness itself—".
"It's nothing that I am not familiar with. Even so, we shook hands on the deal right? You'll help me to find the perfect world in exchange for me helping with your own set of problems? Right now, after seeing you kill that lizard in an instant, I feel pretty safe".
"So you'll be using me?"
"...Yes, for my own survival".
Salty went silent for a second.
"Makes sense". He'd remarked, as if he hadn't expected it.
Salty then turned toward the weakened army behind the two; despite having no mouth, his voice was loud.
"This woman and I will return this orb to where it rightfully belongs, and we will distract the forsaken away. If you want to pursue a life without the dark, travel south alongside the 99th hill. Theres a lift made of stone that will ascend you towards the 100th hill; it's a place safer than here."
Without any more explanation, he took a handful of his own wrist and... broke it off. His hand cracked like stone, leaving small white dust to replace blood — he threw it towards the center of the small army, knowing someone would catch it.
"Give that to the person waiting by the lift. He'll let you go through as long as you carry it. Now, if you'll excuse us".
Salty jumped over the lip of the wall. Once he descended the great height, he lifted the orb in the air with his only hand. The swarm of forsaken who'd been trying to climb seemed to fully turn their attention towards him, as though the red orb held some hypnotizing properties.
They instantly began chasing him as he descended the dark, steep terrain below them.
Soon, it went quiet.
Esara, who couldn't afford to leave her life protection, walked down the stairs and headed out of her comfort zone to pursue him. And of course, she didn't leave without stealing a soldier's sword and scabbard.
"Don't get eaten by the forsaken!" She lastly shouted, waving the human group off.
Soon her body disappeared into the dark terrain below.
***
Until now, there were still many things Esara didn't know. There still existed humans like her somehow, and there was another human settlement besides that. Recently, she'd only been ascending hill to hill alone, fighting the forsaken and surviving, but this mark, the ninety-ninth hill, had introduced her to many things that had impacted her in a way like no other hill had done — especially Salty.
Having descended further into the lower hills, the lantern she had hanging by her waist had revealed the dead forsaken along the way — maybe Salty's work.
The mountain, her home, had never given her the full answer to her surroundings.
The thought alone of traversing down instead of up made her more anxious than she'd like to admit.
In comparison, it would be the same as committing a mistake and continuing to commit them knowingly.
Along the path, there were minor white crystals on the ground. She was running the right way.
Her footsteps turned into loud echoes as she had most likely found herself in the home of a large cave. The silence was loud, as there were no forsaken.
She'd decided to slow down and follow the crystal trails further ahead.
In the corner of her light, two pale eyes pierced the dark, and the legs of crystals had been revealed.
Sitting on top of a boulder, he'd been waiting for her.
"Welcome back to the dark".
Seeing how he sat there, almost carefree of the dangers that could be looming around them, he must have killed them all with his remaining h
"What happened to the forsaken?"
"They've returned to the sea". He remarked.
Returned to the sea? Probably his way of saying they are dead.
She deliberately looked around into the void, then back to Salty.
"So what now? Where do we deliver the red orb?"
"Our fastest route will be through the abyssal zone. We will head to the surface of this hill until it leads us to the old workshop, which belongs to the kingdom of Feller".
"A kingdom?" She paused. "There exist kingdoms?"
"Yes, there are. Have you never been to one?"
"No, never..."
"I see. Well, they are important organs across the entirety of the body. This orb belongs to one of these organs".
Esarah didn't say anything, much less still processing the fact that it existed. In all of her life of ascending, she hadn't even been given a single clue of their existence. Likely because she couldn't perceive the dark like Salty somehow did.
"I know what you're thinking; I can see through the dark". Salty rose to his feet, beginning to walk towards an unknown direction. "There's a path to my left; we're going there. Don't slow me down".
She followed after. It was silent for the next few minutes; her eyes had darted towards his back several times, trying to uncover his true identity.
Her voice, only a whisper, pierced the dark.
"So, Salty, what exactly are you?"
Somehow, his eyes narrowed, and he turned over his shoulder.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you don't have a mouth yet, somehow you're speaking? Also, you have the shape of a human, but carry no resemblance at all. Are you one of those legendary demigods?"
Seeing how Salty didn't answer at first, she might've thought he was thinking about it, but for some reason, she couldn't help but feel a hint of something else.
Suddenly, a steep terrain appeared ahead of them, and Salty went down first, waiting for Esara to get down too.
"I have a human body because it's the most practical form to traverse through the mountain. As for a demi-god... I don't know what that is, but I know what a god is". Silence followed after the explanation, which was more pressing than calming.
"As far as I know, they're children of gods; they aren't as absolute as them, but they still carry the legacy of their parents and are given power to rule and control the lands around us."
"...Children of gods, and you've met these?"
"No, just stories my mother used to tell me". Esara remarked. Yes, it was stories, but if Salty were to hear of them, what type of information would he carry?
Salty, still contemplating, revealed. "I see, if you said yes, then I wouldn't believe you. It's not possible to rule this land, let alone be the descendant of an absolute being. If they really existed and could control these lands as you say, then I wouldn't be here".
After half an hour of undisturbed trailblazing, they came across a small, shallow cave within the veins. Glowing moss shone subtly across the room, not much, but enough for Esara to see everything. She had work on a bonfire with the lantern she'd stolen and with the moss around them.
Salty observed her work, curious — he knelt to get a better look.
"What are you doing?" He inquired.
"I'm starting a fire to heat my food, interested—"
Raising her head to look, He disappeared from her sight.
Salty, who'd originally stood just a few meters away, stood by the exit of the cave; his divine eyes pierced her as though he'd purposely distanced himself.
His voice was low, commanding even.
"Fire?"