Lillian stiffened slightly at the touch, but then she relaxed, allowing herself to be pulled along.
Kazuki squared his shoulders, the thought settling into his chest She's been carrying the both of us since the forest. It's time I stop playing backup dancer and start being the damn lead.
He tightened his grip just slightly—to reassure her.
Lillan didn't say anything, but he felt her glancing sideways, those violet eyes flickered with tiredness.
"You good to keep moving?" he asked, trying to sound more solid than he felt.
She gave a nod, slow but sure. "Yeah. I'm just a little bit tired."
Kazuki managed a half-smile. "It's okay you could take it easy, I will handle things."
She didn't argue, just bobbing her head down, staring at the passing ground.
A soft chime echoed in his ear. Like a sound of unfulfilled prophecy call of tragedy.
[SYSTEM OVERRIDE: Precautionary Measure Ignored.]
[NEW MISSION: Escape the Forest.]
[Priority Level: CRITICAL.]
The glowing text lingered in the corner of Kazuki's vision, etched into his field of view. It pulsed once, then dimmed, but it didn't vanish.
Kazuki swallowed hard. The System wasn't joking around anymore.
He tightened his hands around her and took the lead, his boots crunching through the damp ground. The cold air cut through his cloak. The moonlight through the night was only source of direction.
As they moved away from the cave, the crisp chirping sound rang out in the background again, a weak groan left there both mouth—a quiet, involuntary sound that neither of them acknowledged aloud.
They both looked at each other, their faces pale in the moonlight.
Kazuki broke the silence first, his voice low and strained. "What the hell is it anyway?"
Lillian just shrugged her shoulders loosely, the motion tired and slow. "I have no idea."
Chirp sound echoed—closer this time, it felt like the source was just few feet away from them. The sound was annoyingly unpleasant unlike the crickets which have some kind of melody, this one went through there ear and entered their brain scratching it wide open.
"I hate this place already, Let's get the hell out of here."
Lillian gave a faint nod, her steps syncing with his again.
They kept walking.
The branches above swayed gently. Every so often, a stray twig snapped underfoot, sharp against the soft, squelching noise of their boots sinking into patches of mud.
Squelch. Step. Squelch.
Their soles grew heavier with the weight of the mud, as if the ground itself wanted to cling to them, drag them back into its roots.
A cloud of dust swirled near Kazuki's feet, mixing oddly with the damp air.
The breeze carried a strange, iron-tinged scent—metallic, raw. Not quite blood, but close enough to set his nerves alight.
And then… the sound.
That damn chirping.
It didn't fade. It didn't echo. It multiplied.
One chirp became two. Two became six. Then dozens. All layered over each other like a discordant orchestra of bone needles scraping against glass.
Kazuki winced, rubbing his temple. "It's getting louder."
"I noticed," Lillian muttered, her voice tense. "It's like crawling under my skin."
Squelch.
Crunch.
Chirp.
Kazuki paused.
Something moved behind them, the bushes rustled with twigs snapping and wind blowing.
Kazuki squinted his eyes, whereas Lillan stood on her legs no longer using Kazuki as support, both of them tense.
Moon hid away under the clouds, veil of darkness shrouding them. From the darkness behind them, a figure emerged. Lurching, walking unsteadily.
A soft sigh escaped his Kazuki's mouth. "It's another person.", he waved his hand. "Hello, who are you? Did something happen.?"
He was about to take a step forward, but Lillan held him back with the hand.
"Something looks wrong about him."
Kazuki stopped mid-step, glancing at her with furrowed brows. "What do you mean?"
Lillian didn't answer right away. Her eyes were locked on the figure, narrowed in focus. "Look at how it moves."
The figure stumbled closer, dragging one foot through the mud like it didn't quite remember how to walk. Its arms hung slack by its sides. Each motion was jerky, almost... puppet-like.
Kazuki narrowed his eyes. Now that she mentioned it—yeah. Something was definitely off.
The moonlight pierced the clouds for a fleeting moment, casting a pale light across the stranger's face.
The man's face was half-gone. One eye socket was hollow, his jaw sagged open, twitching slightly.
Chirping sounds picked up—no longer faint.
They hammered the air around them, each pulse like a drum pounding directly against their skulls.
Kazuki stumbled a step back, instinct taking over. "Okay, yeah, not a person."
The figure jerked its head up, as if reacting to his voice, and let out a gurgling rasp.
Its head twitched violently, bone cracking beneath the skin, then it let out a guttural gurgle. Then It charged at them with sudden, terrifying speed.
Lillian's arm snapped up.
The oceanic circle spiraling around her wrist flared a brilliant blue, casting a cold glow into the shadows.
The ground beneath the creature erupted in a burst of frost. Cracks bloomed out like spiderwebs, and in a flash, ice surged up from its feet, encasing its legs—then its waist—then its torso. It froze mid-lunge, arms clawing toward them, mouth hanging open.
Its jaw twitched.
Lillian raised her other hand, mist coiling into the shape of a jagged spear of ice. Her expression was unreadable—hard and tired and focused.
She was about to launch it when Kazuki stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Wait," he said quietly, his voice strained but calm. "We need to go. Now."
She blinked, her spell flickering in hesitation. "But—"
"Forget it. Killing it would get us nowhere." Kazuki's voice cracked as the chirping reached a new, feverish pitch. "It would only get you tired."
Lilllan put her hands down and relanting.
But that wasn't the only reason he did that. Kazuki stared at the glowing text that blinked insistently in the corner of his vision, it pulsed like a heartbeat—no, more like a countdown. Each repetition hammered into his skull, syncing with the rising chirping in the air.
[SYSTEM ALERT: CRITICAL MISSION REPEAT]
[ESCAPE THE FOREST. ESCAPE THE FOREST. ESCAPE THE—]
The chirping sound turned into a screech—sharp, piercing—like nails digging into a chalkboard.
Kazuki felt his knees nearly buckle. The sound wasn't just noise anymore, he felt it his bones, in his thoughts peeling away his sanity.
Irritation flared, nerves wracking havoc. His vision blurred for a moment,
He stumbled, clutching his head.
Lillian's cry was muffled, distorted like she was speaking underwater.
Their hands flew to their ears in unison, a desperate, instinctual attempt to block it out.
Then—
Silence.
A pause.
A moment of clarity, sharp and cold like a blade pressed to the skin.
Without speaking, they bolted.
Kazuki grabbed Lillian's hand, and they ran.