"Calm down, calm down, calm down!"
Bracing himself, Tales told himself not to look at that face while struggling to help the two sisters up. But in the next instant, the two Karabian girls shut their mouths.
"Sisters?"
"Sisters!"
They exchanged a glance, then leaped up from the floor with firm, perfect understanding!
To Tales's astonishment, the Karabian sisters supported each other and hopped down the corridor in three-legged fashion, vanishing from sight at an astonishing speed.
Several seconds later, Tales finally reacted.
I've been abandoned again?
Weren't they going to help me?
Weren't they unafraid even of making an enemy of the world?
Footsteps sounded.
Tales, who had been staring in stunned silence, shuddered and turned around—just in time to come face-to-face with that blank visage.
This...
Tales's mind went blank for several seconds, and his whole body prickled with numbness. It was only when the curve of the other party's lips grew wider and wider that he remembered to run.
Sin of the Hell River surged up knowingly. Amid its master's boundless terror, it spread into his legs, forcing him to turn around and stride forward. However—
Bam!
Tales felt a sharp pain in his chin and fell, seeing stars!
The aching Prince lowered his head and discovered in horror that the laces of his two boots had somehow been tied together.
A rustling sound came from above.
Tales looked up through his goosebumps at the faceless monster standing before him. He raised both hands and spoke in a trembling voice:
"Um, um... Even if you're a monster, there should be a limit..."
Fortunately, the monster before him ignored him.
It reached out, grabbed the place where its eye sockets should have been, and pulled upward!
Tales shuddered again.
The grotesque face without eyes or a nose was