?"aaaand done."

Miguel got up from the squatting position as he finished carving the last line in the magic circle.

"Okay, as we discussed, if we separate" Lith said.

Miwa raised her index finger up. "always head north and leave trails."

"No." Ralph chimed in and said.

"What?"

"It's not north, it's north for you, in case you don't see anything." Dennis was the one who answered this time.

Miwa tilted her head in confusion. "What are you four talking about?"

Lith patted Miwa's shoulder, grabbing her attention.

As Miwa looked at him, he said, "First look everywhere around you. If you see anything noteworthy like a settlement or a colorful mountain, you go there. If you don't find anything, and really really don't find anything Walk in the North direction."

Miwa blinked in surprise. "Why are you talking to me like I'm a toddler or something?"

This time, all three guys around her blinked in surprise, and as if there was an imaginary camera that distanced itself from them, the three saw the scene in a bird's eye view.

Miwa was in the middle of the three, half the size of them, and with the way the three looked down at her, it was not even metaphorically, but out of necessity.

The three didn't want to think about it, but it really was like talking to a toddler

"Ahem. Anyway, you get the point, right?" Lith broke the silence and tried not to laugh along with Ralph and Dennis.

Miwa's lips twitched, but now was not the time to beat these three guys up. She would save this for another day.

The four broke the circle around Miwa and for one last time, did a final discussion and went to stand on the magic circle.

Miguel looked at the four and taking a deep breath, asked, "Before leaving, I want to ask Does anyone want to skip this? Think about it one last time. It's not a joke and you may lose your life."

Dennis smiled and said, "Chef, aren't there risks in every aspect of life? The martial path is full of dangers and there's no saying if we can even live to see the next day."

Lith, Miwa, and Ralph looked at Dennis as if he didn't just drop the most out of pocket and deep quote of all time so randomly.

Dennis didn't realize the weight of his words and was still smiling and looking at Miguel.

Lith, Miwa, and Ralph came to their senses as they realized and turned to look at Miguel.

"If I were to die, make sure to look after my family." Miwa said with utmost seriousness.

Lith knocked her head with his fist. "Nobody's dying. Stop with the ominous comments."

Miwa rubbed her head and glared at Lith hatefully.

"Let's get it done, Chef." Ralph said plainly, giving his approval as well.

Miguel sighed and nodded. "I wish you kiddos the best and nothing but the best. Fly high!"

Saying so, Miguel dropped a purple liquid on the magic circle and made it glow.

Red light illuminated the surroundings temporarily and in an instant, the four vanished from their spots.

.

.

.

.

.

After a momentary flash of darkness, Lith found himself standing in the middle of a desert.

This was what should've been the case, but right then, he heard the sound of water and felt a cool breeze around himself.

Surprised, he turned to look up and felt baffled.

"What"

A big river flowed high up in the sky, surrounded by an upside-down forest!

This was a genuine shock, but right then, a chill went down Lith's spine as he watched a few sand particles in front of him float high in the air.

The small amount of particles soon turned big and in no time, a reverse sand rainfall took place, making Lith genuinely confused on what to do!

Lith ran in a random direction as fast as he could, trying to avoid getting swept in the sand particles.

He hadn't even run for a few minutes when he felt something dark brown land in front of him.

FWIP! FWIP!

Like an arrow, something dark brown flew in front of Lith and got attached to the sand.

Giving it a momentary look and turning to look at the sky, the chill on Lith's back intensified and he thought, 'Ho..ly shit.'

..

In a dimly lit cave.

"Owf My head hurts" Miwa grunted in pain as she attempted to soothe the burn she felt. As her hand made contact, it immediately felt warm, and a bit wet.

Confused, she slowly held her hand under the dim light to identify what it was.

When she saw it was dark and liquidy, a suspicion creeped into her mind. It was confirmed soon when liquid trickled down her head, and in the eerie silence of the cave, a clear sound rang out.

Drip.

Sizzle

"Huh?" Miwa saw the liquid evaporate, spreading a stench of blood around her.

"I'm bleeding?" Miwa questioned, touching her head.

What she ended up feeling was numbness in that area. She couldn't feel the touch on her head, just the warmth of the liquid on her hand.

Miwa felt a great chill down her spine as she realized she was hurt. However, in the next instant

Drip.

Sizzle

Another drop of blood dripped down and evaporated.

Miwa was about to tend to her injuries and try to figure out what it was that made the blood below sizzle when

Tap.

Tap.

Miwa heard some footsteps.

The spine-chilling sensation intensified. Miwa immediately knew something was wrong with this cave!

Without caring for injuries or anything else, she decided to trust her instincts and run.

Just as she was about to make a run for her life, her gaze fell down on the ground, right at her shadow.

The shadow wobbled slightly, completely unnaturally, and for a moment, Miwa felt as if time had stopped and found herself staring at the shadow.

A red smile split apart in the middle of her shadow and immediately stretched into a wide, ominous grin.

Miwa's eyes widened, breath quickened, and her mind struggled to process the collapse of her worldview.

Intense fear surged through her, and eventually it all shut down only to be replaced by a chilling reality as a pair of sharp claws grasped her neck.

A cold breeze flew past her ear and she heard the red breeze A cold breeze flew past her ear and she heard the red breeze slowly enunciate, "yokoso"

Thadump!

Miwa's neck burst apart and her headless body fell down with a thump.

The last thing she saw was her shadow's head flying off, and the red smile laughing hysterically.

..

"UWAAAAA"

Dennis woke up with a scream, coughing intensely and breathing heavily, his body fully drenched in water.

Pat. Pat.

"Are you okay?" He felt a pat on his back and heard a comforting old voice.

Surprised, he immediately turned behind and saw an old lady with a hunched posture patting him.

"You are?" Dennis asked, knitting his brows.

The old lady, with her gentle small eyes looking at Dennis, shook her head and said, "My, my youngsters these days are not grateful for anything"

Dennis didn't comment and just distanced himself from her.

The old lady, turning to the side with her posture still hunched, 00:06

said, "Look there, my cane is floating in the lake. I don't know how such a healthy young man like you ended up drowning in that"

Dennis turned to look at the lake and indeed found a wooden cane floating there.

There were also trails of water and wet patches on the grass by the edge, and Dennis was just a few feet away from it.

This indicated that the old lady did indeed save him with the help of her cane and lost it in the process.

Dennis rubbed his temples and sighed, trying to recall how he ended up in this place and the dream he just had.

In his dreams, he saw Miwa getting killed and just recalling the chilling scenes, his hands trembled in fear. The fear stemming not from death, but the death of his companion.

Dennis's mind was a mess at this point and he felt his head spin.

Right as he was at his peak of overthinking, Dennis heard:

"Youngster stop daydreaming. This old lady cannot walk without her cane, go fetch it."

Snapping out of his thoughts, Dennis looked at the old lady and then at her cane.

"My crane" The old lady, noticing Dennis pay attention, pointed at her cane floating on the lake.

Dennis got up and did a slight nod to her.

He went in the lake and fetched her the cane.

Handing it to her, the old lady shook her head and said, "Knows how to swim but still drowned. Youngsters these days"

She sighed and began walking in a certain direction.

"you are all drenched. If you want to warm up, collect some sticks and bring them to the campfire."

The old lady was probably referring to a campfire by her house and indirectly made an offer to Dennis.

Dennis thought it wouldn't hurt to warm up a bit and then see what settlement he was in.

He collected some twigs and quickly followed the old lady.

Unbeknownst to Dennis, as the old lady walked in front, from her neck, a silver cross pendant emerged out and a sly grin formed on her face.

..

In a divine bright hall.

Many figures wearing pristine white robes surrounded a magic circle, above which was a pink-haired handsome man, heavily chained.

The white robed figures looked at each other and said:

"Can't believe we find a sacrificial demon in the first summoning."

"Indeed. It seems God is on our side."

"Indeed. Indeed. Let's finish with the final few rituals and sacrifice him."

"Yes. Let's do it quickly!"