We hadn't even been inside the Valley of Seals for long before that creeping wrongness started to settle over us.
The air was heavy, damp cold clinging to my skin like invisible fingers brushing past. Light slanted through the twisted trees at crooked angles, and the shadows on the ground writhed like living things.
Every so often, from somewhere far off, a low and drawn-out growl rolled through the silence. It wasn't the sound of an animal. It was the sound of something... warning us.
"This feeling... these aren't normal Monstrous Beasts," Elsa muttered, her hand drifting to her sword's hilt as her eyes swept the fog.
Lilis narrowed her gaze, scanning the darkness between the trees. Caina shifted her grip on her staff and eased forward a step at a time.
"They are being controlled," Mariona murmured, lifting the tip of her staff.
Soft ripples of mana bloomed out from her in concentric waves, brushing through the mist. Shapes shivered faintly inside it—half-formed shadows drifting like they had wills of their own.
"Not just intelligent," she added. "It's like they're moving under one single will."
"A Trial, huh?" Lilis shrugged, though her voice had no bite.
Then the grass rustled—and the fog ripped open as Monstrous Beasts lunged from every side.
Wolf-like beasts with snarling jaws. Twisted quadrupeds bristling with spines. Serpentine shadows that glided along the ground like black water.
They fanned out around us in a ring, eyes gleaming—not wild, but cold. Calculating.
"...We're surrounded," I said, drawing my sword.
Elsa stepped forward at once. "Then we break through!"
Her blade crashed down, splitting the first beast clean in half—but another vaulted over its dying body, jaws snapping.
"Persistent bastards!" Caina shouted, flaring a magic circle under her feet. A crack of thunder split the mist as lightning lashed out, seizing a beast mid-leap and dropping it twitching to the ground.
The others didn't even flinch.
"...They're fighting like a unit," Lilis said, flicking a dagger through the air.
And she was right—while one darted in fast as bait, another came from the blind spot, fangs aimed for soft flesh. Their eyes flicked in tiny glances, just enough to pass silent orders like soldiers on a battlefield.
"Indeed... not mere beasts," Mariona said, voice low, even as she raised a shimmering barrier of magic to block a rushing maw.
"They're coordinated like trained troops."
"Then who's commanding them?!" I yelled, cleaving another aside, but no answer came.
"Figure it out later—kill them first!" Lilis vaulted up, twisting in midair to land behind one. Her blade slipped between its armor plates and straight into the neck.
The fight exploded around us, brutal and fast.
Elsa's sword tore open the front line, Caina's magic arced through the air like snapping chains of light, and Lilis darted like a shadow, striking clean through every opening they carved.
"Mariona! Is the Sealing Monolith close?!" I called.
"Aye—nearly there!" she shouted back. "If we reach it, we might learn the source of this cursed mana!"
Through the swirling fog, a shape loomed—tall, solid, faintly glowing. The first of the Sealing Monoliths [t/n: magic-warded obelisks anchoring the barrier seals].
"Then push through!!"
At my cry, Elsa drove her sword forward in a blazing arc, carving a path. The beasts howled and snapped at our heels, but we sprinted hard, blades flashing as we broke from the encirclement.
We burst out into an open hollow—and there it stood.
The Sealing Monolith towered over us, its stone surface carved with intricate sigils. Faint lines of mana ran like veins through the grooves, and pale light bled from it in soft pulses. The patterns slowly stirred to life, glimmering as if the stone was breathing.
"So this is the Sealing Monolith..."
Caina stepped forward, fingers brushing it with care.
The light surged brighter.
"An inscription," she murmured. "'That which is sealed shall be undone by the chosen...?'"
"A trial indeed," Mariona muttered, eyes narrowing.
The monolith's front held four shallow hollows, each glowing with a different hue of mana.
"It seems we must touch them in the correct order," she said.
"And if we don't...?" Lilis asked.
Mariona flicked her staff toward one hollow. Black mana smoke hissed up from it, and she gave a wry smile.
"A trap will spring, no doubt."
"...Then slow and careful," I said.
Caina focused, scanning the flows of mana with narrowed eyes. Then, slowly, she pressed her hand to one of the hollows.
Light flared across the monolith. The etched sigils blazed, shifting as if the whole stone had begun to move like living muscle.
At that same moment, the Monstrous Beasts around us faltered, just for an instant—their eyes flashed red, then flickered, like something deep inside them had cracked.
"...It worked. The Sealing Monolith was controlling them," Caina breathed.
"Three more, and the valley's curse may loosen," Mariona said, nodding, though her gaze stayed locked on the glowing stone.
But behind us, a shadow moved.
"Well, well... so breaking the seals weakens the beasts," a low voice drawled.
Wolfgang stepped from the mist, that cold half-smile cutting across his face.
"I see. Clever. But pointless."
His eyes glinted like steel. "We'll go straight through."
"You're serious?" I demanded, but he only shrugged.
"For the strong, a Trial exists only to be crushed. No need for detours."
"...So you'll stick to your own path no matter what," I muttered.
"Exactly." He gave a short laugh and turned away, the Blood Ravens following like silent red shadows.
"...Hope they make it," Elsa sighed.
"Leave them be," Mariona said gently. "Our path lies ahead."
And with that, we set off toward the next Sealing Monolith.
The air grew colder as we walked.
The presence leaking from the depths felt heavier now, clinging like a second skin—waiting. Just waiting.
Notes:
• Elsa - Proud red-haired warrior — once a frontline fighter, deeply trusts (and loves) Leon. Masters raw strength and combat. Tall, long crimson hair, fierce golden eyes. Reminder: Fierce protector, sharper after her return.
• Lilis - Agile rogue/thief — Leon's close friend and playful teaser. Strikes fast with twin daggers and vanishes into stealth. Petite, light-blonde hair, mischievous green eyes. Reminder: Playful trickster hiding sharp instincts.
• Caina - Calm, brilliant mage — the group's strategist and analyst. Uses lightning magic with precise, logical focus. Slender, silver hair, calm blue eyes. Reminder: Stoic thinker and precision spellcaster.
• Mariona - 'Flame Witch' scholar (v2c1) — Lilis's strict but warm mentor, holds deep Zelva lore and fire magic. Small, long white hair, keen amber eyes. Reminder: Stern teacher, secretly cares deeply.