After nodding in response, Dark entered the passage, put on his gloves, and began searching for hidden mechanisms.
The light cast by the Spirit Phantom Bug also turned inward as he entered the passage.
Gray shadows stirred in the dark corners untouched by the light.
However, Dark remained under the protection of the Magic Spirits at all times, without exposing the slightest opening.
"Click."
A brick in the wall suddenly loosened under the infusion of magic power, and Dark's face instantly lit up with delight.
Based on experience, this should be where the mechanism was.
No matter how difficult the puzzle ahead might be, at least one hidden room was guaranteed.
At that very moment, the gray shadow lurking in the corner could no longer hold back. Seizing the instant Dark was "distracted," it pounced!
Its appearance came without warning, and it moved without the slightest sound. As it lunged forward, its body stretched incredibly long, like a wisp of gray smoke.
In an instant, it rushed into the Spirit Phantom Bug's illuminated range and rapidly closed in on Dark.
Its actions were utterly frenzied, but the delicious prey before it had already robbed it of even its most basic reason.
But the distance between it and Dark was simply too great.
The moment it poked its head out, the Magic Spirits had already begun to move.
Even Dark had turned to look at it, their eyes meeting head-on.
"Ah—"
The gray shadow suddenly let out a piercing shriek.
Inverted World
It was merely a meeting of eyes.
Yet it transformed that gray shadow from its original madness and greed into fear and panic.
In the gray shadow's eyes, Dark had likely changed from a delicious meal into a bloodstained butcher's blade.
It screamed desperately, venting its fear, then