Yarra's Adventure Notes-Chapter 1328 - 114: Darkness

Pitch black, this was the only sensation the last priestess girl had as she stepped through the Death’s Gate. Her eyes seemed to lose their function; though they were open, all she saw was darkness. It was an absolute darkness, the kind that no matter how long one stayed, the eyes could not adjust to. At that moment, Lina felt as though she had returned to the deep, dark Crying Cave, back to where it all began, unable to see anything around her. The darkness, like a giant hand, tightly squeezed the girl’s heart.

The terror wasn’t just from the darkness. To her horror, the priestess girl realized there was no solid ground beneath her feet; she seemed to be suspended in mid-air, enveloped by darkness from all directions, losing all sense of direction. She couldn’t even determine her current posture, not knowing whether she was standing or lying down, nor could she tell whether her head or feet were pointing upward.

The heavy darkness weighed heavily on the girl, robbing her of her vision, her ability to hear sounds, smell odors, or even to feel touch. She dared not move, remaining rigid in place as time seemed to lose all meaning. She had no idea how long she had stood there—perhaps only a second, but in her perception, that second seemed like eternity. The boundless darkness brought only fear and despair. There, Lina felt as though she was like the Undead buried deep underground, perhaps, those Undead felt the same way when they were buried.

The next instant, light flooded Lina’s eyes. The priestess girl found all her senses returning. She was standing on solid ground, under the cold moonlight, with endless sand beneath her feet, and the area was desolate, with no one around, only a gentle breeze whispering in her ears. Rubbing her eyes, the girl confirmed that this was not her illusion; she had indeed escaped the terrifying darkness. Only then did Lina breathe a sigh of relief, realizing her priestess robe was soaked with cold sweat.

"How about that, quite a scare, right? I was also scared just now," Pannis’s voice sounded behind Lina. The familiar voice was so comforting after the terrifying darkness, making the girl feel an urge to cry, "The last time I came here, it wasn’t like this. It was just like passing through a barrier to this world. I didn’t expect it to change this time. I suspect it’s because the Grimreaper’s power has recovered, making the rules at the edge of this space more perfect. That feeling, it really felt like dying again."

"So it really is the sensation of death? I thought it was just my illusion," Lina suddenly turned and asked, "Why is the moon out? Did I really stay inside for half a day?"

"Actually, that process lasted less than two seconds. You felt it was very long just because of the illusion in the darkness," Pannis shook his head. "As for the moon in the sky, did you forget? I mentioned before, there is no sunlight here, only the perpetual cold moonlight."

"Phew, that’s a relief," Lina wiped the sweat from her forehead, her heart still pounding heavily as she said, "It was terrifying. No wonder so many people fear death. The sensation of dying is truly something no one would want to experience a second time. Phew, you, you don’t have to go through that sensation every time you die, do you?"

"Tsk tsk, knew you were going to ask that." Lina, still in a state of tension, hadn’t even noticed that the other girls had already gathered around her. Vivian handed her a handkerchief, clicking her tongue, "We’ve all asked him the same thing before, and his answer was pretty much the same—he said you get used to it after a few times, no uncomfortable feelings."

"What a joke, that kind of experience is something you can never get used to. Do you take us for fools?" Lina finally regained some strength, taking the handkerchief and wiping her sweat, her voice still shaken, "That feeling was simply despairing. My legs are still shaky. If it had lasted a few seconds longer, I probably would have collapsed on the spot. That would have been utterly embarrassing."

"Don’t worry, everyone feels pretty much the same," Catherine said from behind, soothingly stroking the trembling priestess girl’s hair, "Compared to the others, you did very well. When I recovered, I was kneeling on the ground. That one over there pretending she doesn’t exist was sprawled out. She even pressed a huge pit into the sand."

"Big sister, that’s really mean," Freya complained, unable to avoid the subject, "I just didn’t stand steady and fell when I recovered. How could you make it sound like I fainted from fear? And besides, everyone was more or less the same, besides Ava and the two kids, no one has the right to laugh at anyone else."

"Because I shut down," Ava said emotionlessly, "Not until I regained my perception of the outside world did my consciousness automatically restore."

"How convenient," the girls looked at each other, sharing a common sentiment, their gaze simultaneously turning to the two little Undead. Only the two youngsters felt nothing, happily squatting on the ground playing with sand. Realizing everyone was watching them, the youngsters looked up, puzzled, and asked, "What’s wrong? Why are you all staring at us?"

"It’s nothing; continue playing," Lina waved at the confused children, then sternly turned to Pannis and said, "I never knew before that dying once would involve going through all this. You, you better not..."

"Don’t bother telling him anymore," Catherine cut off Lina mid-sentence, shaking her head, "This time, no matter what the outcome, he probably won’t have a chance to use death as a fighting tactic again, so there’s no need to say more."

"Okay, you’re probably right," Lina paused, having to admit Catherine’s words made sense. If Pannis’s plan failed, none of them would make it back alive, so there would be no afterwards to speak of. If the plan succeeded, his Death Curse would definitely lose its effect, so there would be no need to consider how many more times he could die. However, as Lina spoke, she suddenly furrowed her brow, her voice tinged with confusion and uncertainty, "I suddenly feel like something’s not quite right."

"What is it?" Catherine followed Lina’s gaze and looked around, "There’s nothing out of the ordinary."

"That’s exactly why it’s so extraordinary," Lina said strangely, "Remember what was said just before we came in? We shouldn’t be here, should we? Shouldn’t we appear in the void waiting for Pannis to find us? Additionally, why is there nothing around? Where are the Undead? The skeletons? This just looks like a normal desert."