Wicked Reincarnation

"The one about the Lords?"

"Yes."

"Stop! Don't answer her! Don't give her what she needs, we can do without her," the anxious male relentlessly wanted Lia out of his sight.

Lia got even more annoyed and turned with the smile to him, "How about you shut your mouth for once? Do you know which people have the best survival chances? It's those that know when to keep their annoying mouths shut."

The male instantly ran away from her. The expression Lia had on her face was too terrifying to him. He wanted to continue to shout at her but didn't dare to.

"So?" Lia turned her attention back to the black-haired male.

It would be best to quickly finish this and go to Rag. She wanted to make sure Xavi and Lily were alright. She couldn't help but worry about them. As for those people, sadly she didn't have any sympathy left for them.

"There are four Lords, each for one of the areas- North, East, South and West. They are brothers, so they share the same power."

"I see," this wasn't what Lia expected. She thought there would be more than four Lords. Having agitated one already wasn't good as he covered one-quarter of the Veil.

"Which area are we in right now?"

"I'm not going to tell you everything only to have you walk out on us," the black-haired male was indeed suspicious of her.

Lia couldn't do anything but put up with it. If she was in his situation, she also wouldn't reveal more information running the risk of having the other person betray you.

So, Lia waited until finally the injured woman stopped her wails and was able to move her foot again. It took at least 10 minutes for that to happen. As they approached the path, the other three turned to the black-haired male and asked,

"Which one should we take?"

"The right one."

"Really? But the left one seems like it has an exit."

"It might be a trap," the black-haired male started to enter the right path when the rough female stopped him.

"Wait, let her go first," she pointed at Lia.

"Yes, yes," the anxious male didn't dare to say more as Lia stared at him.

"I understand. Precaution so I won't do anything to you?" Lia sneered and walked in the front with the other four trailing behind her.

She was seriously considering just letting them die and turn them into her corpses but as the other guy said, there was a reason for five people to be necessary in order to pass this 'game'. Also, she had nothing to kill them with.

This long, endless path forwards in darkness reminded her to prior a few hours when she, Xavi and Lily were led through the underground path towards the Lord's mansion. For a while, nothing happened until they met another cross-section with two paths splitting before them again.

"What's this? Isn't it obvious to take the right path again? The left path will only lead to the left side!" the anxious male poured out all his thoughts in hope someone understood his reasoning.

Lia was also puzzled. Why was the path split into two again? Either it had a meaning or it might be deliberately here to create confusion and have people be unsure about how to go on.

This brought a headache to Lia. There was already so much she had to deal with today and now another game threatened to drown her mind with chaos. If Xavi was here then they might be able to finish this quickly and figure out the intent behind this.

"I think we should split up after all," Lia took the initiative to suggest something, "think about it. Five players doesn't necessarily mean we should stick together. It could mean that five players are needed to explore this cave and find the exit."

"No, we stick together," the black-haired male didn't look at Lia.

"I'm for splitting up. We can have her go her own way and we take the other one," the rough female voiced her opinion.

"I said-"

"Are you the leader?" a slight smile played on Lia's lips as she provoked the black-haired male, "Are you trying to dictate over everyone? We should be fair here and vote, no?"

"Seconded!" the anxious male immediately agreed.

"Me too."

"I agree."

The other two females supported Lia's suggestion.

"Well, then it's been decided."

It wasn't long before Lia vanished from their sight. She chose to head down the left path while the others wanted to continue taking the right one.

A light breeze swirled around her and Lia froze. Either she was close to the exit or it came from somewhere that might lead to another place. But this other place was somewhere Lia wasn't keen on exploring. It would be better to stay away from there.

Who knew what dangerous places this cave offered. Just as this thought passed, Lia found herself again in front of a crossroad, only this time it was three.

They all looked identical. There was no way to determine which one was the right. The glimmer that was in the first left path also wasn't present in any of them.

For the sake of keeping up the pattern, Lia chose the middle one. In the first crossing, she took the right, then the left, now she headed for the middle one.

The feeling that it was all based on luck strongly left an impression. This might be after all just a random guess play because as the mortals say, luck is also a skill. Yet luck was something Lia didn't have in the past.

The darkness enveloped her like madness. From the walls to the farthest corner at the end of the path, absolutely nothing gave off a more disturbing vibe than the faint drops of sound occasionally appearing.

Like little droplets of water falling onto the ground. Or like corpses hanging from the ceiling, their blood dripping forming a puddle on the floor. There was something about the sound that eerily infested the nerves and flowed in the veins.

It went drip. Drip. Drip.

Sometimes louder. Sometimes quieter. Then at other times, it merged into one large drop and fell with a heavy force on the ground. Its impact could be felt but its volume was no greater than any of the tiny drops.

A faint realisation hit Lia and she knew that this sound originated from one of the other paths she didn't take.

Yet, what Lia didn't notice that whenever the large, weighted drop made its entrance that there was another underlying sound accompanying it. Quietly, mysterious, hiding under the veil of what was already there.

Indeed not wanting to be discovered yet desperately wanting to be heard.

It was the sound of another fatal mistake Lia made.

Then once again, Lia had to choose a new path to take. This time four options beckoned her to come. Lia decided to go through with her pattern and followed down the one that opened up a new direction.

No sounds emerged again and it was dead silent. And so in the silent, ominous path, she walked ahead.

A short while later, Lia was surprised. Her feet moved forwards. Not too fast but also not too slow. Steadily walking towards the end. With the last step, she left the darkness behind and walked towards the brightness the moon provided. She was out of the cave.

The contrast of bright and dark, even though not too stark, still blinded her and Lia had to hold her hand over her eyes and squinted.

The fresh wind felt refreshing on her skin and washed away the feelings of suffocation behind the cave provided.

This went easier than they thought it would go. There was nothing dangerous laying in wait. She guessed it was probably only a mind game toying with the people, have them fight with each other and cause a huge tumult that would prompt them never to leave the cave. It seemed like either path would lead to the exit.

She looked behind her and saw that the cave only looked like a small opening in the landscape full of grass. It was tall enough for a person to walk through but not wide enough for more than two people to walk out of it at the same time.

Yet what Lia didn't expect was that the cave opened directly towards a few cities facing the front.

The cities were a distance away and only the outlines of the buildings could be seen again surrounded by the white smoke but they were still in sight.

"You!"

Lia heard a deep angry voice and saw the black-haired guy limping out with his clothes full of blood.

Her eyes widened and she had a bad feeling. She almost didn't want to ask. His piercing stare paired with rage and slight despair made her already guess what she was going to want to know from him,

"Where are the others?"