A corpse lay on the ground—not just any ordinary person. The body was in an advanced state of decay, its bones exposed and covered only by tattered pieces of cloth that, with each passing moment, crumbled to dust at the touch of the cold breeze in the air. The skeleton lay on its back, hands still firmly gripping an aged piece of paper.

  Hitory approached cautiously, never taking his eyes off the body. Something about the bones felt wrong, as if the corpse was more of a warning than a mere remnant of death. He slowly crouched down and, with care, removed the note from the skeletal hands.

  The paper was nearly disintegrated, and the words written on it were hard to make out. But Hitory, with his sharp eyes, managed to decipher the message:

  "If someone has found my body, be ready—there is no way out."

  Those words cut through the silence like a sharp blade. The weight of the message seemed to spread through the air, and Tekime, eyes wide, took a step back, her face pale with terror.

  “What… what does that mean?” she murmured, barely breathing, looking at the note and then at the corpse. “No way out? But… that’s impossible!” She looked at Hitory, clearly terrified.

  Anon, even paler than before, stood frozen, his breath quickening. “Boss… this doesn’t make sense. What the hell is going on here?”

  The air grew thicker, and the environment seemed to come alive, breathing with them. Hitory, even with his unwavering stance, felt a shiver down his spine. The place seemed to respond to the words on the note, and as he looked around, something began to deeply disturb him.

  A presence.

  Not a human one. Something much older. Something with an energy that made the air feel colder, denser—like it was being compressed by an invisible force.

  Tekime looked to the side, her eyes widening, and whispered, almost unable to believe what she was feeling:

  “Hitory… I feel… something. Something really bad…”

  Before Hitory could respond, Anon, already trembling, let out a muffled cry:

  “You felt it too? I… I can’t take this anymore! That corpse! The words! And now… this!”

  He looked around, clearly trying to see more than what was right in front of him, but his vision seemed clouded by tension.

  The presence Hitory felt was now so strong it was almost tangible. It was as if the place itself was breathing with him, and for the first time, he felt pain in his chest—a sense that this wasn’t just an ordinary threat.

  He took a step back, cautiously, without breaking his line of sight from the corpse. His eyes shifted toward the darkness ahead. Something moved in the shadows. It wasn’t physical, but the presence was undeniable.

  A chill ran down his spine. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew—this was not something he could simply defeat with brute force.

  “This isn’t normal,” he muttered, tension rising in his voice. He was right. That place, that body, and now the feeling of something approaching—something that might be of Aurea class or even Obscurus class—a power so malevolent and overwhelming it could wipe out anyone effortlessly.

  Tekime, still in shock, stepped closer to Hitory.

  “What do we do? We have to get out of here, Hitory…”

  But Hitory remained silent for a moment, eyes locked on the darkness ahead. He knew the presence he felt wasn’t just a threat. It was something he had never encountered before—something beyond his current power. And as determined as he was, he knew he couldn’t act recklessly.

  “Stay close,” he finally said, his voice low and grave.

  “I know what’s happening here. But we have no choice. We move forward, carefully. If something attacks us, we fight. But no panic. We move as one.”

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  The Dissipating Aura

  As they continued deeper into the shadowy corridor, the suffocating sense of that evil presence slowly began to fade. The grotesque-looking plants started to thin out, and the sticky moss clinging to the walls was no longer as dense. With each step, the catacomb seemed less threatening—though it still held an air of mystery and danger.

  Tekime, who had been clutching Hitory tightly, finally relaxed her shoulders and let out a relieved sigh.

  “Looks like that thing isn’t following us… Or at least I hope not.”

  Anon, still pale-faced, ran a hand through his hair, trying to steady himself.

  “We shouldn’t trust it. A place like this never gets better without a reason…”

  Hitory nodded silently but kept walking. He knew any distraction could be fatal, but he also didn’t want to keep the other two trapped in constant fear. They needed a moment to breathe.

  The Treasure Room

  After a few minutes moving through the stone corridors, the three arrived at a large room illuminated by ancient torches burning with a blue flame. In the center, there were piles of gold, jewels, and open chests with coins scattered across the floor.

  Anon's eyes lit up instantly. “I knew it! There’s always a hidden reward in places like this! Boss, this stuff is worth a fortune!” He ran up to one of the piles and picked up a golden coin, spinning it in his fingers with a satisfied grin.

  Tekime crossed her arms, suspicious. “Are you sure this isn’t a trap?”

  Hitory looked around, inspecting the room’s details. Something felt... too easy. But before he could warn them, Anon was already trying to open one of the larger chests.

  The moment he lifted the lid, a pair of red eyes appeared in the darkness—followed by sharp teeth!

  “AHHHH! IT’S A MIMIC!”

  Anon dropped the chest immediately and jumped back. The chest rose off the ground, revealing a grotesque mouth full of fangs and a slimy tongue. It lunged at Anon, who stumbled and fell to the ground.

  Hitory drew his blade and sliced the mimic’s tongue, making it recoil with a growl.

  “I told you this seemed too good to be true,” Hitory said with a sigh.

  Anon got up, brushing the dust off his coat. “Alright, alright, I admit it—I got greedy… But seriously, this can't all be a trap, right?”

  As soon as he finished speaking, another chest in the back of the room started to move. Then another. And another.

  Hitory looked at the two and pointed toward the exit. “Run.”

  And they ran, fleeing as the chests transformed into creatures and leapt after them.

  The Risky Lunch

  After escaping through a narrow corridor and locking the door behind them, the three stopped to catch their breath. The environment now felt safer—a smaller room with no obvious traps in sight.

  Anon sat on the floor, still breathing heavily. “I’m never trusting a chest again in my life.”

  Tekime sat beside Hitory, who was resting against the wall. Her stomach growled loudly, and she blushed slightly. “Ah… I’m starving.”

  Hitory quickly opened his backpack and pulled out something wrapped in dry leaves. “Well, lucky I brought some snacks… Let’s see…” He unwrapped it and revealed a kind of meat-filled bread he’d taken from Elyndra’s house before they left.

  Anon grabbed a piece and took a bite. Tekime did the same, but before she could swallow, she paused with a strange expression.

  “This tastes weird…”

  Hitory, already chewing, suddenly stopped. “Wait… was it supposed to taste like this?”

  Anon, who had already swallowed his bite, went quiet for a second. Then his face turned serious.

  “Hitory, where exactly did you get this?”

  Hitory hesitated. “Uhh… I think I got it from Elyndra’s house… But now that I think about it… I don’t remember seeing anyone actually make this there.”

  Tekime’s eyes widened. “YOU GOT THIS FROM THE CATACOMBS?!”

  Hitory blinked. “Uh… maybe?”

  Silence reigned for a moment.

  Then, a low growl echoed from the dark corridor behind them.

  As they continued deeper, the sense of safety they had slowly started to crumble. The cold, damp smell returned to dominate the air, and grotesque vegetation began creeping back onto the walls, writhing as if trying to grasp something invisible. Faint whispers echoed through the corridors, as if the catacomb itself were alive, watching their every step.

  Tekime stopped, clutching her staff to her chest. “I don’t like this… It’s starting to feel like before.”

  Anon looked around nervously. “This is worse… It’s like this place is playing with us.”

  Hitory remained silent, eyes scanning their surroundings. His instincts were screaming that something was about to happen. With every step, the feeling of being watched grew stronger, more suffocating.

  Then, without warning—

  A grotesque shadow emerged from the wall beside Hitory, moving like a veil of liquid darkness. Before anyone could react, black tendrils shot out, wrapping around his torso and neck.

  “GHACK—!!”

  Hitory tried to draw his blade, but it was too fast. His body was sucked into the wall as if he had fallen into an invisible abyss.

  Tekime screamed. “HITORY!” She ran forward and slammed her hands against the cold stone wall where he had just been. But there was nothing. No crack. No trace. Only silence.

  Anon fell to his knees, eyes wide in pure shock. “He… he’s gone…”

  The catacomb, now completely engulfed in sinister darkness, seemed to laugh at them.

  Only two remained.

  End of EP 20: "Echoes of Perdition."