The second Lexi stepped into the dimension, the smell hit her hard.
Rotten, heavy, disgusting.
She immediately covered her nose with her sleeve.
"Ugh, what the hell is that smell, is that shit?"
Her voice echoed across the graveyard.
Tombstones everywhere. Some broken, some leaning, some half buried in dark wet soil. The ground looked soaked, not just dirt anymore, more like old blood that never dried.
The sky above was green, glowing in a sick way.
"Yeah, great, graveyard," she muttered.
She looked around slowly, eyes sharp.
"Spirits and demons, right..."
Her grip tightened on her bow.
"Ghost arrows..."
She clicked her tongue.
"Fifteen percent mana per shot, amazing."
Silence.
No movement.
No sound.
"Where are you..." she said quietly, annoyed.
Nothing.
Her expression hardened.
"Hey, come on, stop hiding, get out here!"
Slash.
Pain exploded across her back.
Lexi gasped as something tore through her armor and skin. Blood splashed down her side.
"What the fuck?!"
She spun instantly, bow up, ready to fire.
Nothing.
Empty.
Her eyes narrowed.
"No way..."
She stepped back slowly.
"That wasn't speed..."
She scanned again.
"Something's off."
Outside the dimension.
Liron stood exactly where the entrance should have been.
There was nothing.
Just air.
She frowned.
"...what?"
She stepped forward, looking around.
"No, that's not how this works."
Her expression changed fast.
"Since when does a dimension disappear after someone enters it?"
She grabbed her communicator.
"Command, this is Liron. A fighter below C rank entered a green dimension, I lost the location, I need backup now."
"Command received. Send location."
"Near Bliyosu cafe. Hurry, we need a full dimension scan."
"Copy. Units arriving in ten minutes."
Liron lowered the device slowly.
Her jaw tightened.
"Lexi... what did you walk into?"
Inside.
Lexi crouched behind a cracked tombstone, blood dripping from her back.
"Fuck..."
She breathed heavy.
"They're not showing themselves..."
A small distortion in the air.
Her eyes snapped to it.
There.
She didn't hesitate.
A ghost arrow formed in her hand.
"Don't miss."
The air shifted again.
This time she waited.
A presence behind her.
She turned and fired.
The arrow hit something mid air.
For a second, nothing.
Then a shape appeared.
Half visible.
A twisted figure, like smoke forced into a body.
A spirit.
It screamed.
But it didn't die.
Lexi stared.
"...what?"
The spirit flickered, then snapped away.
At the same time.
Something hit her from the side.
A demon.
Fast.
Too fast.
Its claws dragged across her ribs, cutting through her clothes.
She got thrown back, hitting the ground hard.
"Tch..."
She pushed herself up.
The demon stood a few meters away, staring.
Its body looked normal.
But its eyes.
Glowing wrong.
Then the air behind it moved.
The spirit.
It slipped into the demon.
Lexi froze.
"...you've gotta be kidding me."
The demon's body twitched.
Then it moved.
Faster than before.
It vanished.
Appeared behind her.
Slash.
Her arm this time.
Blood again.
She jumped back.
"So that's it..."
Her breathing slowed.
"You're not fast. You're cheating."
She formed another ghost arrow.
Waited.
The demon moved again.
She tracked the distortion.
Fired.
The arrow pierced through the air.
Hit the spirit inside.
A scream.
The demon froze.
The spirit ripped out of its body and shattered.
Gone.
The demon dropped to its knees.
Normal again.
Lexi didn't hesitate.
A regular arrow.
Straight to the head.
It fell.
Dead.
Silence.
She stood there, breathing.
"Okay..."
Then.
The sky shifted.
Green turned darker.
Then red.
The entire dimension felt heavier.
Lexi looked up slowly.
"...what now?"
Outside.
Liron stood with the backup unit.
Machines were scanning the area.
One of the soldiers frowned.
"There's nothing here."
Liron turned to him sharply.
"What do you mean, nothing?"
"No dimension signal. No energy trace. It's like it doesn't exist."
Silence.
Liron's expression dropped.
"...that's impossible."
Inside.
Lexi tightened her grip on her bow.
The red sky pulsed.
Something was coming.
"Fuck!"
She took a step forward.
"This isn't normal anymore, shit."
To be continued