Chapter 125
A long tongue scraped across the floor. The sound was threatening, but it clearly showed extreme caution toward them.
If it had revealed itself and confronted them directly, Layla and Eustar might have been able to handle it between the two of them—but since it didn’t, dealing with it was exceptionally tricky.
Eustar already had his sword raised, every nerve alert, focusing on the direction the presence came from. He knew what this creature was. He had also experienced firsthand what terrible things would happen if it were left unchecked…
Layla spoke.
“It doesn’t seem like locking the door will solve anything.”
“Layla, it’s just born. Well… technically, it ate two humans, so calling it newly born might be inaccurate. In any case, it feeds on human life through shadows, and the more victims it consumes, the more difficult it becomes to control. This is a monster called the Shadow Thief.”
“Monster…”
Layla understood that it wasn’t a ghost—it didn’t radiate the kind of presence a ghost would. But a monster like this? She had never even heard of it.
Eustar quickly continued.
“For now, it’s targeting us, but if it senses that it’s outmatched, it will flee. With its current strength, it won’t be able to attack directly. That’s why we need to lock the doors. We must prevent it from escaping. If it gets out and starts sacrificing people…”
“…It’ll be terrible.”
“Yes. Extremely terrible. So while I distract it, Layla, you use all the magic you can to lock every door here. Do you have chalk?”
“I have chalk and a crystal. But nothing else…”
Eustar interrupted her, relieved.
“Even that is better than nothing.”
“I understand how to draw the sigil to lock the doors. But after that?”
“You’ll see after all the doors are secured. Are you ready?”
Instead of her usual leather pouch, Layla pulled out the crystal and chalk from the cream-colored silk pouch Mel had made for her—almost more like a piece of jewelry than a pouch.
Once ready, she nodded to signal she was prepared.
Eustar gripped the hilt of his sword tighter and glanced toward the hissing sound. As the sound suddenly drew close to his ear, he activated his runner skill and swiftly moved away from Layla.
—Shhh! Ssshh!
A chilling sound, like air escaping through the teeth of a giant, echoed throughout the spacious greenhouse.
Layla, without a moment to see where Eustar had gone, immediately drew a sigil on the floor and dropped the crystal. Locking the doors was actually a simple barrier spell, so it wasn’t very difficult.
As the sigil began to glow brightly, Layla muttered in a low voice:
“Three bell rings, three knocks. Come running and close the back door. Three bell rings, three knocks. Run out and block the windows.”
A semicircular sigil, slightly larger than her palm, shone brightly, and a clanging sound followed.
Like a series of signal fires being lit in succession—clang, clank, clang—the sounds echoed until they finally ceased.
—Kieek…
Layla shivered as if someone had driven a needle into the crown of her head, and she lifted her gaze. There, against the high ceiling, was the shadow. Clearly visible, it hung upside down with limbs stretched like a human’s.
“Get into the shadows, Layla!”
Hearing Eustar’s shout, Layla snapped to attention and hurriedly took cover under the tree shade. At the same moment, the shadow plummeted like an arrow toward the floor, landing exactly where she had been standing.
—Ssshh—!
A piercing roar, sharp enough to make the hairs on her arms stand on end, reverberated. Layla cursed herself for not grabbing her sword but it was too late.
Eustar activated his runner skill again and charged, sword ready, but the monster moved faster than him, slipping through the shadows. It intermittently made shh, shh sounds as it disappeared into other tree shadows across the greenhouse.
“Damn it!”
Eustar, frustrated at losing sight of it, yanked his hair in anger and cursed.
Layla led him into the shade and wiped the sweat from his forehead. Even just holding his shoulder, she could feel the pounding of his heart reverberate through her own chest.
“Didn’t you drain too much of your runner energy?”
Eustar exhaled a long sigh and nodded.
“I had to. It moves incredibly fast; I couldn’t afford to lose it. And once it realizes the doors are locked, it cunningly tries to evade me and head toward you.”
After several deep breaths, he finally managed to calm his nearly exploding heart.
Layla asked, “You said its name is… Shadow Thief, right?”
Eustar, wishing for a sip of water, nodded.
“Yes. That’s it.”
He swallowed and closed his eyes briefly, steadying his breathing.
“I saw it long ago. It laid waste to two villages. Five experienced knights were lost, and even more ordinary soldiers perished.”
The damage was unimaginable. With shadows to hide in, it could strike anywhere, making tactics nearly useless.
Even if they tried to lure it into open ground, it had some intelligence and cunning. It would never enter a disadvantageous location.
Eustar looked up at the massive glass ceiling with a worried expression. The sun was already sliding toward the west.
We’re in trouble.
At that moment, Layla held out her wrist to him.
“Look, Eustar.”
A faint ticking sound came from the seeker on her wrist.
“The needle is moving.”
The seeker needle pointed west. Somewhere close—likely in the greenhouse garden or just outside—a sink had formed.
“It could be its influence,” Eustar said through gritted teeth. Today, they didn’t even have proper magical tools…
Even if other agents were nearby, communication was impossible. At least he always carried his sword like a part of himself.
Layla had no tools either. In other words, the two of them would have to face this difficult monster barehanded.
Moreover, Layla didn’t yet realize that dealing with the Shadow Thief posed a tricky but crucial problem—a very, very important problem.
“To evade it, you must hide your shadow entirely in another object’s shade—just like it does. If it cannot see a human shadow, it cannot directly attack humans. The problem is, if we only stay in the shade, it will do the same.”
“How do we get rid of it?”
“You must shine light from all directions so it cannot escape. If you can trap it like that, it can be dealt with just like any other monster.”
Eustar paused and glanced at Layla.
“Can you use flash magic, Layla?”
Her lips moved slightly.
“No way.”
She made a frustrated, despairing expression and rubbed her face with her hands.
“Even flash magic has levels of difficulty. Small lights are possible, but to capture something moving this fast, I’d need to flash across the entire greenhouse. I don’t have enough mana, and besides, we’d both go blind.”
Indeed. Eustar accepted her words calmly. The enclosed space was both a blessing and a curse.
The advantage: the monster had nowhere else to flee. The disadvantage: as Layla said, capturing it was incredibly difficult.
At that moment, Layla lifted her hands from her face and shook Eustar’s shoulder.
“What about at night, Eustar? At night, shadows… aren’t visible. Could we hide our presence from it and escape outside? Then we could return with what we need and even call the other agents.”
Hiding their presence was simple for Layla. The greenhouse had many doors; if they chose the nearest and escaped, locking it behind them, the monster would be trapped.
However, Eustar’s next words shattered Layla’s fragile hope.
“That’s the problem. I was going to explain, but if night comes, neither of us will leave alive.”
Layla’s eyes widened in shock.
“What do you mean? Why?”
“Finding the Shadow Thief at night is impossible. It merges with darkness. In the light, it attacks humans using shadows only. But after sunset, in complete darkness, it gains physical power.”
Physical power. Layla immediately understood. To be engulfed by night was like jumping into the monster’s stomach.
“Once it takes our lives, its strength will grow. It could easily destroy this greenhouse and escape. If there were protective wards, maybe it’d be different—but there aren’t. People aren’t considerate enough to put wards around a mere greenhouse.”
Layla said, “Then we have very little time. We must deal with it before night falls.”
“That’s right. Serious problem, isn’t it?”
Even in this situation, Eustar gave her a faint smile. Layla knew he did it to reassure her. In the past, she might have snapped at him for smiling now—but not this time.
She couldn’t afford to lose him here.
She didn’t want to lose him in this majestic, awe-inspiring place—the towering tree, fish with gem-like scales, the crystal waterfall.
She had to return with him. She wanted to talk more about the ‘grand tower’ tree.
“I’ll find a way, Eustar.”
Layla stared pale-faced into the shadows of the greenhouse. The sound of a snake’s tongue flicking echoed as it moved quickly across the space. It didn’t approach, but it never strayed far either.
Before it gets dark. Layla thought.
“Before it gets dark, I’ll find a way.”
Layla pressed her palm lightly to Eustar’s forehead. At that moment, Eustar felt his consciousness slip into darkness.
“Layla, wha—”
His head fell to the side. Layla carefully laid the deeply unconscious Eustar in the deepest shadow, then cautiously rose to her feet.
