In an attempt to rationalize what he had just seen, Faust focused on his breathing and slowly calmed himself.

  People…

  Recalling what he had observed a few moments earlier, he approached the window and peeked again.

  There were people, many people. Their appearance was strange, unnervingly so. Their skin was just as pale as the snow itself, their hair white as well but disheveled. Women wearing white dresses draped in colorful flowers brought a little change to the palette; they hummed something in a tribal tongue.

  Alongside these women, there were men. They wore dark clothes, thick leather, and long-brimmed hats that together hid most of their bodies. On their waists, Faust did not take long to notice it…

  Weapons! They have weapons?!

  The men carried old and jagged weapons with them, mostly old sickles or small blades that seemed less for combat and more for cutting food or grass.

  But there’s no grass…

  All of the pale people, women included, danced around a gigantic campfire. Its orange fire soared skyward, distorting itself constantly thanks to the wind. Yet, it seemed strangely resolute. No matter how much it flickered or waved, it would not go out!

  That fire was enough to light up the entire village and even its outskirts. The people observing or dancing took so much attention it seemed like a sacred rite of sorts.

  “…Women draped in flowers and men draped in dark leather… both around the fire of extinction singing or dancing or enjoying to their hearts content.”

  Faust let out a breath, instantly connecting the vision in front of him with the contents of the book he had read moments ago. He was almost sure of it; these people were the Kakariu.

  An illusion? he pondered. Maybe that fog is messing with my senses? That could explain it… but it seems so real. Are illusions that powerful?

  Well, I assume it must be an illusion. It’s impossible for a village to be reconstructed so easily. Impossible!

  Although I’m inside a dungeon, I can’t really judge what’s impossible or not. What if it’s real? There’s a chance, a great chance, actually! Shit… I don’t know. What should I do?

  Should I try to talk with them? If the historian guy did it, then I— Thinking about it, why is there something in Alkisione inside a dungeon? That’s a human language. Maybe it adapts itself to the person inside—

  Faust shook his head. No. It doesn’t matter for now.

  I need to know what I have to do. What to do… what to do…

  Noticing his anxiety, he focused on calming down. A couple of seconds later, he let out a deep exhale and touched his temples.

  Alright… alright. I can talk with them or simply leave the village. Talking with them could be dangerous, but leaving the village without any idea where I should go could be too. What if I wander too long and die from the cold?! That would be…

  Talking with them is not a great choice either, however. They have weapons and outnumber me. I don’t think I could even defeat them in a figh—

  Growl!

  Suddenly, a sharp pain attacked his stomach from within, producing a strange sound.

  I’m hungry… there’s no food. Can I eat the snow? But that will just turn to water. I will think about it later. Focus on the present… on the present.

  Spending a couple more minutes weighing his options, he decided to simply leave stealthily. He did not want to risk an attempt to talk and be attacked by the weird people.

  But the solution gave place to another problem. How would he leave stealthily? The doors would make noise if opened; the windows were made of glass, and breaking them would clearly be noisy too. There was no other escape besides these two.

  Now that he thought of it, he was in a situation where even his already limited choices were accompanied by other difficult choices. In the end, he settled for finding the window most distant from the Kakariu, breaking the glass, and then running for his life.

  Before doing that, he prepared himself mentally, ignoring the humming and whistling outside, the howling wind, and the muffled steps against the snow.

  It’s a simple plan… he repeated like a mantra multiple times.

  Over the course of minutes, he checked and rechecked his items multiple times as a way to delay the escaping. But finally, he resolved to do it.

  He cut down the blankets with his axe and turned them into smaller pieces of cloth that he wore over his chest, with one wrapped around his hand.

  With all the preparations done, he slowly descended to the first floor, making sure it was still empty. Stealthily, he avoided the possible windows' line of sight from the exterior, approaching the one furthest from the dancing people on the back of the temple.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Alright… alright… he inhaled deeply, his eyes focused. Let’s do it.

  With a punch, he broke the window. The shattering glass echoed through the stone building. Without losing time, he hastily cleaned the remaining glass with his cloth-wrapped hand.

  However, he noticed something: the strange singing had stopped.

  Shit!

  He put even more speed into it before leaping outside the window and almost falling in the snow. Looking behind his shoulder, he noticed a few dark-dressed men walking towards him. Of course, he had been noticed!

  But such a thing was already in Faust’s expectations, so he quickly scrambled back to balance and began running away!

  He passed by the houses of the small village, ignoring the few scattered people, and finally reached the ice forest once more.

  Glancing back, he noticed some people following him. All of them were clad in dark leather and fiercely went after him, shouting strange words in a tongue he could not understand.

  Despite the cold, sweat streaked his face, and he kept running amidst the colossal ice spikes, occasionally glancing back to see he was still being persecuted... and he was, but by fewer pursuers this time!

  Apparently, he could make them lose track of him in the ice forest if only he were agile enough. Remembering his training, his thief skills, and forgetting the pain of his empty stomach, he simply kept running, making the pursuers disperse more and more amongst the ice structures.

  Eventually, Gods know how many minutes he had been running, his stamina began to exhaust, the cold gusts of wind brushing against his black hair.

  His pace was reduced, but there were still pursuers; he still had not managed to avoid all of them.

  Forcing himself to the limit, he kept running until his legs completely tired out and he unintentionally fell to the snowy ground.

  Damn it! Get up! Get up!

  Not only were his legs hurting, but his stomach was also hurting to the point he could not ignore it. As if that were not enough, the cold could not be completely stopped by the few blankets, and his body was freezing. The temperature was even lower than when he first entered the dungeon, likely an effect of the thick fog from earlier.

  Glancing up, he observed the three pursuers he had failed to avoid. They looked at each other and spoke in the strange tongue, then looked at him with their grey eyes carrying an unreadable expression.

  Desperately, he scrambled back, his hands touching the cold ground while he tried to distance himself from the three pursuers. They kept approaching him, ignoring his pathetic attempt to escape.

  Go away, shit! Damn it! I… I…

  His movements were stopped by his back hitting an ice spike. It was impossible to retreat anymore.

  Is that it?!

  No, that can’t be it. I… why am I so afraid?! Will they kill me? No! I…

  The three pursuers kept approaching him with slow and deliberate steps, eventually standing in front of him in a half-moon formation.

  The one in front took a cold glance at Faust, slowly extending his hands towards him and speaking something in his language.

  Faust was staring at the icy ground, his eyes shot open and apparently unfocused on the situation. Cold sweat dripped from his face onto the ground, while some droplets froze on his face.

  Just as the hand was about to touch him, Faust reacted.

  With a clean movement, he pulled the axe from his waist and in the same motion cut through the pursuer’s forearm.

  Thump.

  It fell coldly and muffled to the snow ground, blood from the wound instantly spraying on Faust’s face. The man let out an agonizing scream as he held his wound and fell back.

  I…

  The other two pursuers hesitated, shocked by what had just happened. Their cold eyes gleamed with emotion. Quickly, Faust scrambled back to his feet and rushed forward towards the one already on the ground.

  Not allowing the creature to react, Faust struck with a downward slash, cutting through the brimmed hat and splitting the pursuer’s head in half. Blood and brain matter spurted out of it in an erratic manner just as his body hit the ground, staining the snow a deep crimson.

  Without losing momentum, Faust bolted toward the other two creatures, their faces distorted with an expression of fear.

  I… don’t…

  One of them attempted to erratically draw their weapon, but it was too late! Faust approached it and struck its abdomen with the axe, cutting through leather and skin, opening a crevice as the monster’s intestines attempted to flee from it’s body. It let out a scream of pain that was quickly silenced by Faust half-cutting its neck, leaving the head hanging from a strip of skin!

  Suddenly, pain radiated through Faust’s shoulder! The last monster had shallowly pierced his shoulder with a short blade. Thankfully, the shitty leather armor seemed to be enough to stop the degraded sickle.

  Without any hesitation, Faust twisted his body and forced the monster to let go of the blade, at the same time, Faust unlodged it and threw it away on the ground. Unexpectedly, the monster turned around and attempted to run away. Faust’s adrenaline-powered legs ran after the monster, ignoring their weakness of only a moment ago.

  When the monster looked back, Faust leapt towards him! Unable to dodge, the creature was pushed by his waist and fell to the ground alongside Faust, both rolling in the snow. The monster’s brimmed hat fell, revealing his old and fearful face, his eye gleaming with hesitation and failing to understand why this was happening.

  Faust erratically crawled towards it, his crimson eyes locked on the target.

  I… don’t want…

  While trying to retreat, the monster spoke something, but such sounds were ignored. For long seconds, Faust kept approaching the creature while it tried to get away. Fortunately, it failed!

  Crack!

  Faust drove the axe through the monster’s leg, almost severing it, allowing only the cracked bone to hold it in place.

  The monster screamed in pain while Faust let go of the axe and closed the distance towards the monster, pinning it to the ground. Weakly, the monster tried to push Faust away but failed.

  So, grabbing the kettle helmet from his waist, Faust hit the monster’s head, then again, and again.

  Metal kept hitting flesh and bone, turning it into a puddle of unrecognizable crimson and rose paste.

  Exhausted, Faust let go of the helmet. Smoke from his deep breathing rose into the sky. Falling from the monster’s corpse to the side, his body hit the snow while he observed the dark sky.

  Adrenaline ran out, and alongside it, tears ran down his face onto the snow. His breathing grew more erratic by the moment, a panic attack overtaking him!

  I killed them… He covered his bloodied face with his hands. I killed them…!

  No… why did I do that? They were people… but they attacked me first. No! They didn’t; I did? But they tried to… yes, they tried to! But why didn’t I let them kill me?! I…

  Faust’s crimson eyes widened in realization while his body trembled in panic, the blood pooling from the dead body beside him finally reaching his own.

  With a fear-stricken voice and bloodshot focused eyes, he muttered weakly while tears flowed between his fingers.

  “I… I don’t want to… die… I don’t… I don’t want to die…”