Black Pool Rice

(Miluno)

After hearing the sound and walking for several more minutes, the downward sloping passage finally came to an end, and we arrived in a room with level ground.

We could not even make out the room's full extent.

The violent commotion was coming from here. No words were exchanged, but everyone raised their guard.

I set Ceruno down from my back as well. Keeping her on my back would only make it harder to move.

The pillar of light above Sirius's head also dimmed considerably, lest it make her a target.

The unknown Monster known as the "Guardian" was lurking within the black fog. I was certain they could see our movements through it; otherwise, they could not have lived here from ancient times until now.

"Hm?"

My foot stepped onto a stair.

It was hard to tell where in the room we were.

I relaxed my suppression of my body's instincts, and tons of Dark Energy were drawn into my bottomless heart, becoming nourishment for Mono.

But I did this to see our surroundings more clearly. Since Sirius had lowered the brightness of her illumination, we needed clearer space to make out the environment. Fighting with low visibility and a limited field of view would be extremely disadvantageous...

"Siri—"

Though she quickly covered her mouth and fell silent, Xiaoling still let out a cry.

I turned toward her side...

Ripples spread across the pitch-black lake surface. It stretched beyond sight; we were merely standing at its shore.

"Black Pool."

This was the Black Pool Stratos had mentioned, the spring of life that had birthed the first Monsters and the Base Bodies of today...

"Miluno!"

Whoosh—!

Razor-like whip blades lashed out from behind me. Even without Ceruno's warning, I could feel that intense killing intent.

And there was more