"No, we can't keep it open any longer."
After Shade and Tifa had fully entered the area circled in black fountain pen ink on the map, Shade suddenly spoke.
Tifa was riding the horse, so Shade had been the one observing the Darkness Box's state of corrosion. More than half of the box's surface had now turned light-absorbing black. Shade felt that this was already the warning line.
"Alright."
Tifa brought the horse to a stop so Shade could close the box again. But when the undead creature that had been running for two and a half hours stopped, it directly collapsed into a pile of bones, scattering across the pitch-black forest.
"It reached its limit too."
Tifa said somewhat irritably, supporting Shade so that he would not fall. Shade hurriedly crouched down and shut the Darkness Box again.
"It's fine. We aren't far from our destination now."
Shade said, holding the map and bringing his glowing finger close to it:
"Although the Darkness Domain can expand without limit, its core area is very small. If nothing goes wrong, even walking, we should see Miss Galina in about twenty minutes."
"This place gives me a very strange feeling."
Tifa slung the box onto her back and spoke softly to Shade, then took his hand. Only through this physical contact could the inexplicable Silver Moonlight on Shade's body help her weaken the darkness's effects. Having entered the core area of the Angel Level Relic, even Tifa was nearing her limit.
The sensation of being watched by something became clearer in this area, while the lingering shadows of the past in the air grew increasingly dense. Something unimaginable must have happened in the core area of the Darkness Domain.
"Be careful. This way."
Shade glanced at the map and continued through the