"We’re going to Tartarus."

Viva turned to the side and looked at the spot where she thought Percy’s voice was coming from with wide eyes. What in the world was he talking about? Viva had never heard about Tartarus before, and she had no idea where it was, so it felt like Percy was talking rubbish!

’But I’ve never heard about the library having a basement either, so how are we moving down? Is this some sort of magic sequence?’

Viva couldn’t wrap her head around what was happening, and she held on tighter to her folders as the elevator finally stopped! The area in front of them was completely swallowed by darkness, and Viva took a step back as her ears dropped in fear! Viva wanted to go back up immediately, but Percy’s voice reached her once again.

"Make sure you don’t stray too far. Stay in the light and don’t step into the darkness, or you’ll get lost. I haven’t fed the eldritch monsters this month, so they might think you’re food."

Viva’s eyes widened as she took another step back in fear! What in the world was Percy talking about!? Monsters in the library!? She didn’t get briefed about any of this!

Percy took a step forward, and the path in front of him was suddenly lit with a dim white light that travelled in a straight line about one meter wide! Everything beyond that straight line was still completely swallowed by darkness, so it felt like they were standing on a tightrope of light with an endless abyss on either side of them! Percy began moving forward, and Viva called out!

"Librarian! What is going on!? Where are you taking me!?"

Percy turned around and spoke calmly.

"I already told you not to stray too far. Just follow me."

Viva swallowed, and she glanced into the darkness on either side of her before she hesitantly took a step out of the elevator and walked out into the light.

BWOOOHHH!

A deep, terrifying sound unlike anything Viva had ever heard in her life suddenly rumbled across the room like the bellow of a deep-sea creature, and Viva felt her entire body go weak as she fell to her knees! Viva’s eyes were wide from terror, and goosebumps travelled across her entire body as an instinctual fear came over her! At that moment, Viva immediately understood that she was in the presence of a creature beyond mortal understanding!

But Percy simply turned to the darkness and pointed a finger at it in annoyance.

"Behave yourself. She isn’t food."

BWOOOH!

The creature made another sound, and Percy clicked his tongue at it.

"I know I haven’t fed you yet. Rita’s bringing it down later. Now go back. Don’t make me come in there."

Percy flicked his hand toward the darkness like he was shooing a fly away, and the loud sound echoed again from a little further back as the creature retreated.

BWOOHH!!

Once Percy was sure the beast had gone away, he put a hand on Viva’s shoulder, and it glowed green! Viva’s entire body was suddenly filled with an intense energy, and she shivered as she felt her confidence returning to her! The spell that Percy had just used was a common healing spell called [Lionheart], and it was meant to help doctors treat patients who were too scared to behave properly in the hospital.

Viva looked up at Percy with wide eyes as she stood, and she asked him what just happened to her! Percy spoke up as he continued walking.

"Sorry about that. Henry gets a little cranky when he’s hungry. You’ll feel a little cold for a while, but you should be fine. Mortals aren’t meant to face the cry of an Eldritch, so even the babies are usually nerve-wracking."

The babies? Was Percy trying to say that the monster that Viva had just heard out there in the dark abyss was a baby? And what in the world was an Eldritch? Viva had never even heard about such a thing before!

Viva asked this last question to Percy, and Percy hummed as he explained.

"The Eldritch are higher beings forged from magic essence outside the mortal plane. We can’t classify them using mortal magic realms, and most mortals don’t know about their existence since they don’t exist in the same reality that we do."

"Do you mean like a parallel reality?"

Viva asked this in a cautious tone, like she couldn’t even believe the sort of question she was asking, but she was shocked when Percy actually nodded! Viva looked around her in shock!

"You mean we’re in a parallel reality right now!?"

Percy waved away Viva’s concerns.

"No, that’s absurd. The white line you’re walking through is still our normal reality. The parallel reality is the area within the darkness of the abyss. That’s why I told you to be careful while following me. You’ll get lost in another reality if you leave the light."

Viva felt a shiver travel from her toes all the way up to the tip of her ears, and she took multiple steps forward so that she was standing right behind Percy! Viva looked towards the darkness again, and she felt a surge of fear rising from somewhere deep inside her! This wasn’t normal! None of this was normal at all!

Even for someone like Viva, who was used to seeing and using magic on a daily basis, the idea of Eldritch monsters and parallel realities was so outlandish that she couldn’t wrap her head around it at all! For a few long moments, Viva simply followed Percy silently, but after a while she became curious enough to ask another question.

"Why are we here?"

"We need to go to Tartarus to speak to someone."

Percy’s answer seemed simple, but it only made Viva more confused, and she felt anger filling her heart as she raised her voice.

"But why!? Why are we going to speak to someone in Tartarus!? And where the hell is Tartarus in the first place!?"

Percy glanced back and raised a brow at Viva, and Viva scowled when she saw a small smile on his face! Was he laughing at her!?

Percy knew that his answers were getting on Viva’s nerves, and he was actually doing it on purpose as revenge for her rude behaviour, but Percy finally decided to give her some answers since she was so curious.

"This case is a little similar to something I saw in the past, and I think the two incidents might be related. We need to go to Tartarus to meet with a demon that can verify my suspicions. If what I’m suspecting is what is really happening, then we can solve this case quickly."

"We’re going to meet with... a demon? Like a real demon?"

"Yes, a real demon. You should try to keep up."

"Librarian, this isn’t funny anymore. I need you to explain what’s really going – Oof!"

Viva was suddenly cut off as Percy stopped in his tracks, and she slammed into his back. Viva rubbed her nose in pain while glaring at Percy’s back, and she walked around to see what made Percy stop. There was nothing in front of them, but Percy suddenly put his hand out and released a pulse of mana into the air, and Viva was shocked when a white rectangle formed out of thin air! It was a door floating in the middle of the pathway, and Viva narrowed her eyes curiously as the door opened to reveal absolute darkness on the other side. Did Percy want them to enter there?

There was no way she was walking into that!

"Come on."

Percy spoke up as he stepped into the darkness, and Viva took a step back while shaking her head.

"No! You’ve been dragging me around without explaining anything! I won’t enter some dark door floating in the air like –!"

A hand reached out and grabbed Viva by the shirt, and Viva screamed as she was pulled into the darkness!