System Breaker: Surviving Apocalypse with Nine-Tailed Kitsune-Chapter 23: Unexpected Encounter with the Intruder

Realising two unknown beings had just entered their very rift, Damon rushed back toward the cavern where he had left Victor.

His mind raced with questions. Would those who entered be from Earth, just like him? Or could it be that the ones who entered were from whatever world this rift connected Earth to?

Of course, there was no answer to the questions spiralling in his head, and judging by the lack of an answer from Kitsune, even she couldn’t tell whether those who entered were human or not.

’No matter,’ he told himself as he finally reached the opening to the cavern.

Immediately, he was met with Victor standing against the back wall, dagger in hand.

"Wh-What was that?" He asked the moment Damon walked into the cavern.

"Somebody just entered the rift. Two of them, actually." Damon replied as he began stepping onto the small campfire he made earlier.

"Somebody else had entered the rift?"

"Or something," Damon corrected, "Whatever or whoever it is, the break time is over. We need to reach the core."

Victor gulped visibly at the words. Whether it was the idea of another human or a monster entering their rift, Damon’s scrawny companion looked petrified at the news as he helped stomp the fire down and extinguish it.

The two of them didn’t linger in the cavern for a moment too long. They left as soon as the fire was gone, traversing the quiet but certainly not empty forest of the rift in silence.

They resorted to communicating through hand gestures, not wishing to break the ominous silence of the forest. Of course, that wasn’t so simple, as Victor would often stumble into things and wince as he struck his shin against one after another tree bark.

"The two mana signatures are still on the mountain top..." Kitsune’s voice suddenly cut through the silence in Damon’s head, "They are spread oddly apart as if... not travelling together?"

Damon pondered over her words as he pushed through the now-thin underbush of the forest. He no longer needed tachi to get through, which was a huge plus considering their already low vision and two unknown invaders behind them.

Suddenly, a loud roar cut through the air. But it wasn’t one of a living thing but rather a roar of fire tearing through the air.

They froze mid-step, their heads whipping around toward their backs only to see nothing there. The loud roaring continued, unnatural and unmistakably there, but too far to be seen from their current position.

"Just now..." Kitsune’s voice sounded taken aback for a second, "The mana signature of one of them vanished..."

’Dead?’ Damon asked, wondering if the roar was connected to the sudden disappearance.

"No. When a person or a beast dies, their mana lingers for a little while. This one had vanished completely. Some type of ability."

Damon’s unease only grew at the words. Not wanting to waste any more time, he turned and continued to push through the forest, Victor following just a step after him.

No more than twenty minutes later, the forest opened up to reveal yet another mountain cliff. Damon took a moment to check the sky above. Despite the darkness, he could clearly see the jagged lines across the sky; they led downward, toward whatever lay beyond the next cliff.

Victor, noticing Damon’s gaze at the sky, opened his mouth to speak. "Are we going to climb down?" He was going to ask, but before he could even start his question, Damon let out a short exhale and began climbing down the cliff face.

This time, the drop was longer, at least double what the first one was. Damon couldn’t help but wince; the wound on his shoulder from Crimson Vulture’s beak was still there, fresh and seeping blood through his clothing.

Luckily, the two of them managed to descend without much injury. Small cuts here and there, but nothing that would hinder them in the long run.

Kitsune, of course, simply dashed off the edge and fell in a slow, almost ethereal grace, before landing perfectly on Damon’s shoulder with a soft thud.

The moment every one of them was down, Damon turned to move, but before he could take a single step forward, a sudden snap of a nearby twig froze him in place.

His gaze slowly trailed toward his right, where, in the complete darkness, he could almost see something. Definitely there and almost certainly bipedal.

Damon barely had time to raise his weapon before faint footsteps came from that very same direction, and a moment later, a lanky young man with dark circles around his eyes stepped out of the shadows.

"Hi," he said, raising his arms up in a ’I’m not an enemy’ way.

Damon, however, didn’t lower his weapon for even a second. His eyes narrowed on the man’s burned sleeve, which revealed glimmers of burned skin beneath. He could almost still hear the sizzling from his skin at how fresh the wound was.

"Damon..." Kitsune began in his head, but he didn’t have to be told.

Even with his low mana, Damon could tell that the man before him had no presence. It took him only a moment to realise that the person before him was the very same person who had just entered the rift and who had suddenly vanished.

But before he could dwell on any of that, the man before them took another step forward, a faint smile that didn’t quite reach his dark, circled eyes flashed across his pale face as he spoke.

"Forgive my straightforwardness, but do any of you perhaps have a health potion?"