The whole group stood before the wall of the Black Dome.
The sun had fled the sky, leaving behind a bruised twilight.
The absolute darkness of the dome seemed to drink the last of the light, making it feel like midnight already. The warriors of the three tribes gripped their weapons, knuckles white. Some trembled, whether from a battle-hungry thrill or sheer terror was impossible to tell.
The Blood Marquis surveyed the ominous structure, then turned back to the assembled chieftains with a serene smile. "Before we begin, let me show you the gift I promised."
He waved a languid hand. From the snow at his feet, a crimson mist coalesced, swirling for a moment before dispersing like a curtain being drawn aside.
Revealed behind it were three figures, bound at the wrists and gagged, forced to their knees, two barbarians and a half-elf.
A collective gasp ripped through the Salom ranks.
"U-Uru’en!" Risha’s eyes widened in shock.
"Daughter!" her husband roared, the sound raw with panic.
They moved as one, a primal surge of parental terror propelling them forward.
"Hmoh." A cold snort echoed.
A pressure like a mountain range collapsed onto them. The soul-crushing weight of Blood Marquis’s aura slammed them down, rooting them to the spot mid-stride.
"Urgh!" They strained against it, muscles corded, but could not advance another inch.
The Blood Marquis glanced at them, his earlier serenity gone, replaced by a glacial cold.
"What do you think you are doing?" he asked, his voice chilling. "They are the bait I specially captured for the hunt." He paused, letting the horrifying statement hang in the air. His eyes began to glow with a hellish crimson light, radiating a killing intent so intense that it almost suffocated everyone. "Or don’t tell me... You were trying to trick me?"
The killing intent intensified.
"ARGH!"
Warriors from all three tribes cried out, collapsing to their knees as the air was crushed from their lungs. Even the stalwart chiefs, Laura and Norak, grunted under the weight, forced into a bow.
Risha and her husband remained standing, but only just, trembling violently as they fought the aura that sought to grind them into the snow.
Their eyes were locked not on Yaro, but on their daughter, who met their gaze, her own amber eyes blazing with fury and despair over her gag.
"L-Let her go," Risha forced out through gritted teeth, her lone eye a beacon of pure hatred fixed on the Blood Marquis.
"I already let her go once," Yaro replied. "But you just had to be smart. Tried to be more exact. Which you failed. Therefore, the consequences are yours to bear, not mine." His crimson gaze swept over the kneeling, gasping warriors. "Besides, it is already night. Begging is useless now."
As if his words were a command, the Black Dome before them stirred.
The perfect, featureless void of its surface rippled like dark water. The absolute blackness seemed to thin, becoming a deep, smoky grey.
The interior was now visible, a landscape of jagged, frost-rimed rock and dead, skeletal trees under a starless sky, but it was no less dark, no less terrifying.
Without waiting another moment, Yaro flicked a finger.
The bindings on the three captives tightened, then lifted them bodily into the air, floating a few inches above the snow. They were pulled forward, hovering like puppets toward the unveiled maw of the dome.
"Walk forward," Yaro commanded, his voice devoid of all warmth. "Lead the way. If you do not... if any of you try to resist or flee, you will not be the only ones to die. Everyone you hold dear will follow. Starting with those you sent away."
"Y-You! You broke your promise!" Risha’s husband roared once more, but the crushing aura held him fast.
Uru’en thrashed against her bonds, but a gentle nudge against her arm stopped her, making her turn her head.
It was Lumin. The half-elf’s face was pale but calm. His eyes met hers. There was no panic in them, only a calm, focused intensity. He gave her a reassuring nod.
The simple gesture cut through Uru’en’s panic. She took a ragged breath through her nose, forcing her muscles to relax. She gave a tight nod back.
With another subtle motion of Yaro’s finger, their feet were lowered to touch the ground. The invisible force pushed them forward, one step, then another, toward the threshold of darkness.
Uru’en, Lumin, and the hunter, who was sent to protect them from the shadows, became the vanguard, the unwilling spearhead of the hunt, walking silently into the waiting belly of the Night Devourer.
"..."
The moment they crossed the threshold, the world changed.
The biting wind from outside vanished, replaced by a sterile cold. The faint twilight was gone, swallowed by a gloom so deep that Lumin’s night vision strained to make out details.
He immediately pushed the [Pulse of the Unseen] to its limit, stretching his senses like fine threads into the oppressive dark.
Their purpose was already clear to him: they were probes. Sensor packages of flesh and aura, thrown into an unknown environment to see what would happen.
The Blood Marquis and the others were waiting outside, observing, seeing if the air was poisonous, if spatial rules held, if the beast would immediately strike.
They were the canaries in the coal mine.
His senses confirmed the horror.
Sound died inches from its source. He saw Uru’en’s chest heave, but heard no gasp. His own footsteps made no crunch. It was a vacuum of noise.
The same goes for direction. He focused on a dead tree ahead, took three steps toward it, and found it now stood to his left. The distance warped; the jagged rocks seemed both agonizingly close and infinitely far.
Worst of all, his skills were muffled.
[Pulse of the Unseen] returned weak, distorted echoes, as if sensing through thick wool.
And he didn’t dare activate [Exorcist’s Gaze].
The memory of those violet eyes locking onto his soul from miles away was still fresh. Using that here would be like shining a beacon directly on himself.
So, he kept his gaze moving, scanning the monochrome wasteland.
Suddenly, a shape resolved in the gloom ahead — a massive, lupine form, darker than the surrounding shadows.
’T-That... Is that the Night Devourer?!’
It looked like a black wolf, easily twice the size of a horse, sat on its haunches. Etched on its forehead was a faint, silvery mark like a crescent moon. Fortunately, it didn’t move. It simply watched him with its menacing gaze.
’Shoot! We have to escape!’
A warning chill shot down Lumin’s spine. He turned, instinctively reaching to alert Uru’en.
"!"
But she wasn’t there.
’Huh?’
He spun completely around. The other barbarian who had been walking a step behind him was also gone.
’T-They are gone?’ He blinked in disbelief. ’But how?’
Then, as if realizing something, he turned back to the wolf.
’Did... Did it do it?’
"..."
Yeah, probably. That was the only logical explanation. But if so... then this wasn’t a hunt. They weren’t the hunters or even the bait.
’We are the prey.’
This was Night Devourer’s hunt, and it had just made its first move.
’Damn.’
He clicked his tongue inwardly, a spike of pure fear trying to claw its way up his throat. He forced it down, crushing it under a wave of cold focus.
’Don’t panic, think!’
He tried to feel for spatial distortions, for a tear in the fabric of the Dome where they might have been taken.
Nothing. The space around him felt solid, locked, and utterly inert. Which meant it was impossible to teleport or use space element here.
There’s no way to escape.
A wry smile etched across his face at the realization.
’...We’re doomed, aren’t we?’