The White Gate (4)

When the Dark Dragon had told him the prophecy all those years ago, Faust had asked, "Why me?"

That'd been after he'd applied to be a hunter and surprised the world with his element. Before then, Faust had lived in an average family with his parents, his older brother, and his older sister. His brother was a hunter despite his parents' wishes and his sister was a professor of psychology.

Faust wanted to be great but he also didn't want the hardship. That was why he was immensely thankful that he'd been born with this power. It propelled him to fame overnight and in doing so, the world looked upon him with higher expectations. Faust didn't like that.

Just like anyone, he was afraid of failure. Because of that, he took up only what he could do and left alone everything that he needed to reach for. He saved his teammates because he was powerful but going above and beyond to prevent a horrible future wasn't something he could easily accomplish.

To his question, the Dark Dragon had replied, 'Because you took in this power, so you must take everything it brings, the good and the bad.'

Faust had been afraid because he'd had no idea where to begin.

And then Nathaniel had approached him one day and said, "I'm the strongest hunter. If you work with me, I'll make you the strongest support."

Faust accepted it not because he wanted to be the strongest support. Instead, just like anyone, he chased after the strongest hunter. He believed he could use Nathaniel's power to slay the Light Dragon.

And then the Dark Dragon told him that the Light Dragon couldn't be killed by weapons. It dies when it passes its power onto a successor.

Faust wanted to throttle the dragon.

"You look angry," Nathaniel commented.

"I am angry," Faust replied.

The guards by the White Gate were making final preparations. They'd set up a few barriers just in case any monsters were to rush out.

The gate slowly broke apart to reveal a dark entrance. Nathaniel led the party cautiously in. Then, as they all entered, deafening quietness enveloped them despite the previous chatters of the loud reporters.

Faust tossed a few glowing orbs into the air to light the way and the fire-type hunters created their own flames to illuminate the near vicinity. The orbs near Nathaniel kept flickering because of his wind-type magic churning around him in anticipation.

"Faust, can you make it brighter?"

Faust hesitated. Even with the small light orbs, he could already feel their resonance with the light realm. They were already brighter than they would've in the Dark Dragon's realm but it was still only enough to light up the stones underneath their feet.

It was either that the light was too dark or the cave was too large.

Faust added a bit more energy into the orbs until they could finally see the walls on the side made of large crude stones. At that moment, low growls could be heard in the back covered in darkness. The light must've woken something.

The hunters drew their weapons.

Standing at the back of the group, Faust could feel the quiet deep rumble as the gate became temporarily sealed.

"Faust, are you sure this is the brightest you can go?"

However, the french hunter Corentin inserted, "Don't wake the monsters. Keep it low."

"I could go brighter," Faust said for Nathaniel's benefit, "but it might explode."

He didn't know if that was true but that was how he felt at the moment. The more energy he fed into the orb, the more it felt like it was going to burst. Faust had thought the light realm would suck away and overwhelm his power but it seemed like it was rejecting it.

Suddenly, one of the hunters in front exclaimed. A lone wide arc of flame burned through the air as a sudden loud growl was cut short. Something fell onto the ground with a heavy thump. The sound of glass shattering filled their ears.

Faust conjured a brighter orb to take a look at the monster that'd attacked them.

It was a mutated wolf with blue ice shards embedded in its shoulders. The shards seemed fragile as most of them had gotten destroyed when they'd come in contact with the hard cave ground. The wolf looked sickly and its thick dirty fur couldn't hide its sorry state.

These kinds of creatures usually lived in colder environments. It was logical that they wouldn't fit well in a stiflingly warm cave like this.

"...?"

Faust looked to Xiu Cai and then to the things she was looking at. On the ground, the fragments were trembling as if trying to piece themselves together.

No, it was trembling along with the floor.

Nathaniel looked up and Faust followed his gaze. There was only darkness above them but the strongest hunter seemed to have sensed something.

"Move!" he roared, grabbing the hunters nearest to him and took a leap back.

They didn't know where to move to but seeing Nathaniel's action, there was no hesitation as they all darted back a good distance. There were no questions asked as seconds later, a large chunk of rock fell from the ceiling and crashed into the floor.

Where the wolf's head used to be was now the edge of the rock. The ground around it was splattered with black blood.

A crater was revealed as the ground couldn't hold onto the rock and the large shard-like stone toppled sideways and fell flatly onto the ground with another deafening boom.

The cave trembled.

The group was silent for a moment, scanning the blackness above them for more stones that might fall without warning. The cave stopped trembling a little later and someone breathed a sigh in relief.

They were all used to hunting in light. This darkness brought fear despite the best of them. It was only an ice wolf and a rock.

"We just have to find the Dragon Servitor," Nathaniel reminded, "kill it, and we'll be done."

They nodded.

"Faust, light up the way." The man paused. "But not so much that it explodes. Just enough that I can see some goddamn thing before it kills me."

Faust cast the spell quickly. At the same time, under the disguise of the spell, he felt in the darkness for any lurking monsters. Every creature had a source of light in them. In this case, the light did not imply goodness or badness. The light that existed in everything simply denoted life.

His quick search returned normal. There were no monsters in the near vicinity, but there was something oppressive up ahead. He was sure the other hunters had felt it too because their steps grew cautious the farther they advanced.

The silence unnerved them. They were used to the roaring and screeching of monsters coming out of the gates.

Perhaps this was what the monsters felt before they crossed the gates, Faust thought. That high-strung anticipation of danger.

"There's something large ahead," Nathaniel said. The breeze he'd sent out must've hit something as well.

Cold air abruptly rushed past them and the party felt themselves being sucked forward. Faust threw up a shield just in time to meet the sudden gush of hot air blowing straight toward them. The smell of rotten eggs and spilled garbage filled the air.

Nathaniel slashed down at the air and a surge of fresh air roared around them, swallowing up the staleness. However, just as everything was going away, they were hit with another heatwave.

Sand blew toward them and the few that broke past the inadequate shield scratched their cheeks.

"Ah!" Corentin howled. "It's in my eye! It got in my eyes!"

Faust threw up another shield before turning to Corentin. His right eye was bleeding and the man was scratching his face trying to get the sand out. Faust grabbed his hands to stop him and began healing.

The party watched anxiously. A wailing screech came from in front. Faust flinched before relaxing; the British hunter had summoned a banshee to counter the heat. The chilling scream cut through the rolling waves of rotten heat like an icy blade.

However, the sand that flew toward them suddenly enveloped the banshee and began devouring the flesh from the head.

"...!! Those are not sand." Nathaniel breathed. "They're insects."

Xiu Cai was quick to unleash an arc of fire in front of them to burn down the incoming insects. However, the air that had turned scorching hot was also blowing toward them. Faust's shield started to waver.

He didn't have time to throw up another one before Corentin was screaming again. "It's still there! Get it out! Get it out!"

Faust's spell had healed the claw marks the man had made on himself but the eye was bleeding again. It seemed like his spell couldn't remove the insect.

It was just one small creature, Faust thought anxiously as he restrained the man from gorging his eyes out. In front of the shield, the banshee had been eaten. However, Xiu Cai's fire had also burned out the sand bugs so that all that was left was the slowly-dissipating gush of hot air.

As the last of the air roared past them, eaten by the wind conjured from Nathaniel's sword, a low roar was heard from the very back of the cave. The ground began trembling again.

Amid the chaos, Faust looked to Corentin and felt for the tiny creature crawling behind the man's eyes. He located its faint, blinking light and then, with a single thought, extinguished it.

Corentin collapsed onto the floor at the sudden absence of pain and Faust let him sit there as he cautiously took away his shield. The cave darkened as the glowing barrier shimmered and disappeared.

"Mr. Dubois," one of the hunters said carefully. "Are you okay?"

The man nodded shakily and stilled the tremors in his hand. He nodded at Faust and gripped his dagger as if in reassurance. "I'm fine."

As he spoke, the ground stilled again and then heavy stomping footsteps could be heard coming toward them.

The ground was crushed beneath each step. Unconsciously, the hunters began backing away in unison. Nathaniel held out a hand as if trying to push them behind him.

The footsteps stopped and an enormous creature was felt. Two green eyes blinked in the darkness high above them but the creature did not reveal itself. It stopped just beyond the light.

Then it spoke. Or Faust thought it did but the noise it made wasn't a language any of them knew. It was a deep rumbling sound that sent the cave shaking violently. Corentin, who still looked shaky from the insect, fell onto the floor as the group shook as if it were waves.

One of the hunters grabbed him and hauled him upright again. A large stone fell without warning from above, impaling itself in the middle of the party. They all looked up as stones as large as them began raining down upon them like meteorites.

And then the ceiling began caving in.