LIGHTNOVELWORLD Chapter 30: Aftershot
They stood bunched together, the steady drip from the cavern walls magnified by the stillness enveloping them. For several breaths, not a word was uttered—no one wanted to break the lingering echo of that ghostly hiss. At last, Surya let out a quivery laugh, as though determined to shrug off the tension.
"That was..." he ventured, then let the words die. "That was definitely... something."
Riley kept her halberd elevated, guiding the lantern in a slow, sweeping arc to cast its pallid glow across the walls. "There could be more," she warned. "Stay alert."
They proceeded cautiously, navigating around a slick sprawl of fungus creeping across the stone. With a quick gesture, Voss urged Angela to scout ahead. Her Fisherman lens clicked and whirred, cycling through various vision modes to probe the corridor. Shen, heart still pounding from his earlier shot, checked the strap on his rifle.
Kayode brought up the rear, halberd at the ready. Each hollow drip echoing off the stone prodded his thoughts back to Dana, who would have had some wry remark about fumbling in the dark. Part of him wished she were here just to share her sardonic humor; another part dreaded the tongue-lashing she might deliver about their latest perilous venture.
Angela returned, waving them forward. "No more spectrals," she murmured. "Just a lot of fungus—and a fork in the tunnel."
"A split?" Surya asked, lowering his defibrillator-laced arm. "Any idea which path leads forward?"
Unruffled, Angela nodded. "I spotted footprints that veer left. Whoever was down here—miners or otherwise—chose that route."
Voss glanced toward Shen and Riley, who signaled their agreement. With no better lead, they followed those tracks, footsteps echoing as though the Undawild itself were listening.
Just before turning the bend, Shen slowed, exhaling uneasily. "I'm sorry for snapping earlier," he said in a low tone to Riley. She gave a slight shrug, a wisp of a smile on her lips.
"You're under pressure," she said. "Just don't make it a habit." Her halberd tapped the barrel of his rifle. "Nice shot, though."
Shen let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He trailed behind the others as the corridor narrowed, the drip of distant water seeming louder with every step.
Here, the fungus coated the walls, veins pulsing with a dull sheen. The sight made Surya's stomach churn, reminding him of the spectral's tendrils from before. Kayode sniffed, nose wrinkling, halberd leveled. "It's grown thicker since we last came through," he muttered.
Voss stepped carefully over a crooked fissure in the floor. "The deeper we head, the worse the stability. Mind your footing."
In the middle of the group, Alexander kept a close watch for anyone needing quick healing, his Miraspin device humming softly at his shoulder. Even with no immediate threat, the squad advanced at a measured pace, instincts on edge.
They rounded the bend, lantern beams dancing off a vaulted section of rock that opened onto a broader chamber. Shattered wooden beams lay scattered across the ground, rotted and slick with slime—probably remnants of some earlier attempt at construction. Angela's lenses clicked again, scanning the gloom.
"All clear," she announced, stepping aside so everyone could enter.
Gathering in a loose circle, they swept their lanterns across every surface. Surya lifted his defibrillator arm slightly, braced for a sudden attack. Shen's gaze flickered over the collapsed beams, searching for any fresh sign of human activity—a pickaxe, a torn scrap of clothing. There was nothing. Just the somber hush of an underworld holding its breath.
Exchanging glances, they wondered if the miners had abandoned this route. A distant rumble echoed through the stone, faint but menacing, sending a tremor into the ground beneath their feet. A collective shiver rippled through the team.
"Stay sharp," Voss said tightly. "We have no idea what's next."
On that note, they advanced again, the corridor funneling them into a single-file line. The fungal growth thickened, and the low ceiling bore down like an age-old weight. No one spoke, each step a reminder of why they were here—to rescue those possibly still alive and to unearth the secrets of a realm that seemed bent on swallowing them whole.
Angela hesitated as she recalled how the Spectral they shot earlier had evaporated. How a faint shimmer seemed to have lingered, before dissolving into blackness—like the final parting of a presence that barely existed to begin with. She tilted her head, contemplating the void it left behind.
Surya sidled up to her. "You're drifting off again," he said quietly. "What's got you stuck?"
She looked at him through her lens. "That ghost," she said. "It seemed... weary."
Surya's eyebrows shot up. "Tired?" he repeated. "Way to kill the mood, but all right."
Angela turned back to the path. "Do spirits get worn out when they linger too long?" she asked, almost to herself.
Alexander caught the question. "I believe so," he answered. "Keeping something going past its natural limit has consequences."
She rested lightly against her lantern's handle. "But who's to say how long something should exist? We just—ended that one."
Shen's expression flickered at the word ended, but he held his tongue. Kayode appeared too focused on their surroundings to chime in, and Surya eased away from the topic. Better not to dwell on it.
Riley exhaled, halberd in a steady grip. "In a gentler place, maybe the people we love help us move on when it's time. But this is Sveethlad. People on Earth don't usually wander around like that after death."
Quietly, Angela shook her head. "Here, some ghosts outlast everyone who cared for them. No one's there to free them." She glanced at the slowly dispersing ash in the air. "That one must've been so tired," she whispered again.
From the front, Voss's voice broke through. "We can hold funerals for every ghost we put down, or we can finish what we came for. Move out."
No one answered. They resumed their march.
Soon, Angela held up her hand. "Twenty," she said under her breath, lenses clicking as she swept them across a sprawling chamber. Emerging from the gloom were more spectrals—translucent shapes flickering in the half-light.
Surya, feeling the strain of a deep sadness and wanting to cheer himself up, charged the defibrillator gloves again. He flexed his hands, letting electricity surge up his arms. "Let's see how these hold up," he muttered. At the ghosts' first rush, he lunged, half-slamming and half-grappling each one. Cold waves radiated where they touched him, but the crackling charge let him sense their outlines like static forms in the dark.
"They're not tired," he grunted, pushing a ghost back. It clung to him with a stubborn chill, refusing to fade. For a flicker, he remembered Angela's words about exhausted spirits—these had fight left in them.
With a steadying breath, Kayode powered his halberd, a crimson glow pulsing from his ashen lantern. "I never liked halberds," he mumbled and yet he seemed to have liked the feeling this weapon gave him. Then he inhaled the sharpened jolt of berserker ash. A surge of energy coursed through him as he swung at the clustered ghosts. Each blade strike crackled, slicing through half-formed flesh, and the spectrals recoiled in eerie cries. He lost himself momentarily in the adrenaline rush, cuts landing in quick succession.
Angela kept watch from a vantage point up ahead, methodically switching her lenses from clarity to infrared. "Left side," she called. "They're grouped behind the collapsed wall. Don't let them slip around us."
Riley took position beside Alexander and Angela, wielding her halberd to ward off stray spectrals. "Stick behind me," she instructed Alexander. When a ghost swooped in, Riley deflected it with a precise swing, the metal edge gleaming from her lantern's glow. Another specter darted at her flank; she whirled, bringing the butt of the weapon crashing into its form, dispersing it. Voss liked to joke about her unbreakable stance, and right now, it seemed downright literal.
At last, the final spirit let out a tortured wail before vanishing. Stillness returned, lantern light flickering across the panting group, each of them rattled by the odd blend of physical combat and otherworldly confrontation.
Then came the chime in their Axis terminals, an unmistakable sign: "Level up," Surya exhaled with a shaky laugh, testing his newly charged limbs. Kayode blinked, the red glow fading. Shen glanced at the on-screen display, rifle still humming in his grip.
Voss exchanged a look with Argos, their taciturn bagman. Astonishment was plain in both their eyes. They'd watched these newcomers dispatch a swarm of spectrals with a proficiency that bordered on uncanny. Voss found himself wondering if the biggest threat in these tunnels was the Undawild itself—or the raw, evolving might of the people in this group.
No one spoke of it directly, but each felt the charge of that realization. They had weathered a horde of ghosts and emerged stronger. And beyond lay more darkness, deeper unknowns, waiting to see how far these untested warriors would push themselves.
They paused only long enough to catch their breath. A hush draped over them, weighted by the sense that the Undawild had truly noticed their presence. Surya broke the quiet with a soft sigh.
"That's more than twenty ghosts so far," he murmured. "If we keep this pace, we'll drain our ash—or burn ourselves out—first."
Angela adjusted the lenses on her rig, scanning the peripheral gloom. "No movement," she said, her usual calm untouched by the recent fight. "For now."
Voss, still marveling at how they had handled the threat, tipped his lantern forward. "We should check the next chamber. Maybe we'll find a clue about those missing miners. Argos"—he turned to their pack-carrier—"keep the canisters sealed. No point wasting supplies."
Argos merely inclined his head, shifting the cumbersome container on his back. He trailed close, wary of stray ghosts or creeping fungi.
Kayode hoisted the halberd over his shoulder, the red sheen on the blade slowly diminishing. He breathed hard, adrenaline winding down in his bloodstream. He nudged Shen, who was busy verifying the power cell on his lantern-fueled shotgun. "That last shot felt good?"
Shen gave a half shrug. "It did the job. But we're still in these tunnels," he murmured, running his hand over the stylized design etched into the barrel. "I'll celebrate once we're topside."
Riley flicked her halberd, scattering a little spectral residue that clung to the metal. "No victory dance yet," she agreed, turning an eye to Alexander, who hovered near Surya in case anyone needed immediate healing. "That electricity had you practically glowing. Everything okay?"
Surya flexed his fingers, sparks dancing between them. "A little tingling, nothing serious. Might as well keep moving before I remember all the ways this place can kill us."
Re-forming their line, Angela led again, her lens rig throwing dim light over the cavern walls. Carefully, she guided them around another tight corner, where the passage opened into a squat, rough-hewn hall. Chunks of rock and sodden fungus dotted the floor, indicating an attempt—recent or otherwise—to carve a workable tunnel.
Holding his lantern high, Voss examined the jagged rock. "If the miners came through, they'd have left marks of some kind." He motioned for Angela to scan the chamber's edges. The corridor felt watchful, as if waiting for their every move.
Shen tapped a control on his Axis terminal, updating the digital map they shared, lines shifting as they recorded each twist and turn. "We're pushing further west," he noted quietly. "If we continue this route, we'll reach that old dig site Argos mentioned."
"Then we'll see if there's any truth to those rumors of missing laborers," Kayode said, tightening his grip on the halberd.
Surya splashed through a shallow puddle, stirring tiny droplets. Riley and Alexander observed his steps, ready in case more ghosts materialized. Once, Angela paused to inspect a branching corridor, then waved them on when she saw nothing lurking.
They advanced, acutely aware of how many seconds had passed since the last battle. Subtle pings on their Axis terminals revealed the map expanding, corridor by corridor. Voss followed close enough to overhear the occasional remark, silently taking note. This crew was far more capable than he'd first assumed.
A swirl of spores sifted from the ceiling, prompting Surya to scowl. "I really hope the next bend isn't packed with ghosts."
"Or something worse," Angela remarked in her unhurried drawl, though a hint of dryness edged her tone.
No one else spoke. The quiet of the Undawild seemed to wrap around them once more, each step echoing in a realm where anything could wait in the darkness ahead.