When I answered the riddle thirty seconds ahead of time, the first tunnel lit its way and revealed the correct path, while the rest of the roads became darker. There were no monsters tracking us down or any other hidden mechanism that prevented us from moving onward. Without a second of doubt, I pulled Hina away from the place and marched our way outside the cavern. According to our map, this route would lead us outside the cave for good. Within moments, Hina and I finally touched the grass and we were now outside the forsaken cave. As we turned around, the cave’s entrance closed in and shut it until someone from the other side answered the questions… just like we did. When we turned around, the familiar scent of the forest welcomed us and the chirping trees surrounding our environment. The air remained the same, fresh as if we went on a vacation inside a forest. Even the sun looked like something from our world, where the bright light illuminated the areas and gave everyone hope.

“But I thought we’d already accomplished that earlier?... Well, you know what? Whatever.”“Exactly my thought. But I still don’t trust you. And I still want to know your agenda, your plan, your abilities, and… your overall identity and how you became, or at least the people have framed you, a murderer. I can’t just let you walk inside our base with innocent children and people involved. Right now, they don’t know who they are. But I… I somewhat have heard you before from my father's informant and secretary. It might be possible that you were framed moments before we were trapped here inside Omen. Regardless, you need to talk about everything and tell me what you know and what you can give to my people.”Even though I had a ticking time bomb within me - since the elite members of the Crimson Guild were after my ass - what Elena asked for was reasonable. If I was in her position, I would’ve asked the same questions. And if someone claimed to be adventurers who wished to free the survivo

A long and dreadful pause entered our conversation. I didn’t notice the time, but we were talking for an hour inside this house. But since Hina and I were resting for the time being and fought no monsters right now, maybe this wasn’t too bad after all. However, we had a time limit bound around our necks. And the moment that the Crimson Guild elite adventurers or the monsters residing around this place breached this place before we could even escape, Hina’s family and our lives would be endangered. The fate of the world and the possible war was within our hands. “Working together is going to be a big problem for the two of us. But if I have to do it… for your family and for the people’s well being. But if worse comes to worst, and I saw you killing our people, then I will have no other choice but… to present myself to the Crimson Guild…”“Save the people more than help me. Yeah, I get it. I would do the same thing,” I said, interrupting Elena’s words. “Don’t worry about it. Betraying

Backstory (continuation) (Aoi’s point of view) _______________________ After what happened inside the living room, I couldn’t help but check Hina upstairs. I knew that she had changed and became cold hearted while talking to me. But Hina was still my sister. And despite what had happened between the two of us, Hina will always be my little step sister. There was not a thing I wished to change that reality. As I climbed the steps of the narrowed living room, the squeaks from the wooden floor announced my appearance. My sweat drenched my clothes as I crept closer and closer to Hina’s room. A weeping sound echoed at the other side of the staircase, belonging to the girl who was the only one present upstairs. After a few moments, which felt like a decade, I finally arrived on top of the place and came face to face with Hina’s door… It was Hina’s room. The crying sounds of a girl continued reverberating throughout the upper floor. And since this house was not large enough as it sounded

Bonus Chapter (part 2)Icarus’ PerspectiveTen years before joining the Elite team of the Crimson Guild____________________When dad died, every information about his death and moments afterward was classified. The man who visited our house told us that, but mum didn’t believe him. My mum told me that dad had himself caught up with a mission so confidential not even the civilians were informed about it. Only the queen - The United Kingdom - and the United Nations were aware of the matter.Maybe it wasn’t the terrorist behind this plot… Even though it was clear as day those dangerous organisations could’ve done it, my guts told me otherwise. But even so, I still went with the flow and thought that the terrorist was behind it, while keeping the situation mind that something might be pulling the strings. And the death of my dad was related to this event happening in the academy.A known terrorist must be behind this. There was no doubt behind it. If it wasn’t that, I didn’t know how to