52 Whats in the Pit? (2/2)

”Ow!”

Slivia's sudden cry caused Jack to widen his eyes and activate the kari stone out of reflex. Jack was dumbfounded to find himself on top of Slivia with his head resting on her ample bosom and blush on her nervous face.

”Sorry!” Out of fear, Jack tried to push himself back off but collided with the falling Brunar instead. They pushed each other to either side of Slivia, Jack to her right and Brunar to her left.

It wasn't too big a deal until Jack looked down and couldn't find the ground, despite having his kari crystal lit.

'Jack!' Rydel mentally shouted as he grabbed Jack by the back of his cloak and pulled him back, returning the blushing hero atop Slivia.

Originally, Jack thought Rydel would be furious about him using the kari crystal, but everyone was glad Jack had in that instance. The party looked to their right; the same direction Jack had fallen.

There was no ground, only a sheer cliff shrouded in darkness that appeared to easily overwhelm the light of the kari crystal. They could only look about two meters before the remaining light was engrossed in complete darkness; the same deep darkness that Rydel had seen.

”This…” The party was speechless at the abysmal scenery in front of them, especially Jack who immediately put out the kari crystal's light.

Other members of the party activated their kari crystals out of curiosity, but Jack tried to stop them and yelled, ”Get back and no lights!”

Amidst Jack's yells, the rolling darkness expanded and flowed towards the party. Jack jumped away but didn't get very far with everyone being tied together. By the time the others followed his example, the darkness had surrounded them.

The light from the kari crystals was dimmed and overpowered, not letting anyone look beyond their hand's reach. Suddenly, Jack was being pulled off the cliff. He tried to fight it and tried to find the source but was scared stiff to see the rope around his waist pulling him into the abyss.

Without any other choice, the party was pulled into the abyss one-by-one. They felt like they were falling but at an extremely slow speed, as if the darkness was so thick that it was tangible enough to slow their descent through the air. Everyone was still connected by the rope, but they couldn't see each other.

Everyone was screaming, yelling, or shouting, everyone except than Jack that is. Jack was stiff and hyper-focused on the situation like his gaze was sharp enough to cut through the rolling darkness. Soon, something came into view and everyone stopped screaming.

Black tendrils lashed out from the darkness, embracing each unsuspecting party member as quick as lightning. They were firm yet felt ghastly to the touch. As they wrapped themselves around the party members' limbs and torsos, a ghostly chilled filled their lungs, making it even harder to breathe and concentrate on the situation.

Jack managed to avoid them with the help of the gladius that he had pulled out of storage, anticipating the sudden seizure of dark tendrils. Rydel and Maynard were able to avoid most of the tendrils and managed to free themselves quickly with their strength.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click for visiting.

'Are you free?' asked Jack telepathically.

'Yes,' answered Rydel.

'Ya know it,' said Maynard.

'Good, we'll have to take this thing on together,' said Jack. 'It's a Nightmare Lily, are you familiar with them?'

'Nightmare Lily!' Both Rydel and Maynard were shocked by the announcement.

'I'll take that as a no,' continued Jack. 'It emits pheromones that can darken night itself, letting it hide in holes, pits, caves, and other shaded places. If you can close your eyes and focus hard enough, you'll notice that you're actually on the ground and no longer in the air.'

Hearing that, the veteran adventurers didn't know what to think. Taking some deep, focusing breaths, they closed their eyes and physically felt around them. Like Jack had said, they somehow felt the ground beneath their feet. Amazed that they were upright after having thought they spun around in the air, they both opened their eyes to see more tendrils creeping up on them.

'The Nightmare Lily is known for disorienting its prey before its tendrils drag it towards the mouth within the main bulb. If we're not fast, we'll lose someone,' Jack's voice wavered as he announced this. 'I'm too weak to fight it, but you can follow the tendrils back to the bulb and attack its brain, just above where the tendrils are connected to the main body. Make it fast!'

Not wasting another second, Maynard and Rydel dashed into action. They quickly followed the tendrils back to the main bulb and found Slivia and the two young samurai being pulled towards a gaping maw within a mass of giant, dark-purple flower petals.

Just as Slivia's feet neared the opening and she could feel an acidic breath against her leg, the veterans slashed through the base of the bulb-like Jack had described. A shrill whine was let loose as the tendrils were loosed and the frantic bodies of the trapped adventurers fell to the floor. The darkness slowly began to clear, letting everyone's kari crystals shed light across the visibly wilting body of a fully-grown Nightmare Lily.