I Only Tame Dragons

Chapter 125 The Cursed Loop

Seraphina looked up at Horizon. "What did you find out?"

Horizon folded his arms, his gaze sweeping over the tense faces. "The corpses? They weren't just lost—they were trapped in some kind of looping barrier. That's why they couldn't find the monolith. It's like a maze with no exit, warping anyone's sense of direction. If we keep wandering aimlessly, we'll end up just like them."

Dawnfire's expression darkened. "A barrier? So, someone set this up intentionally?"

"Most likely," Horizon replied. "Whether it's a trap laid by another guild or some ancient magic protecting this region, we don't know yet. But one thing's clear—finding the monolith won't be as simple as we thought. We're not just dealing with obstacles; we're dealing with something that wants us lost."

The group exchanged uneasy glances. Velvet clenched her fists, trying to hide her growing fear behind a mask of frustration. "Great. Just what we needed—a cursed maze with no way out."

Horizon chuckled, the sound low. "If it were easy, everyone would have made it to the exit by now."

Velvet crossed her arms, glaring at Horizon. "So, in short, you found nothing useful from raising those corpses?" she asked, her tone sharp and unimpressed.

Horizon smirked, his expression cool and unbothered. "Who said we found nothing?" he replied nonchalantly. "Because of them, we confirmed what I suspected—we're trapped in a timeless loop here. A force is keeping us bound, cycling us through this desert without progress. So, what's it going to be? Are you ready to play this game, or would you rather sit around and wait for whatever's lurking in this place to find us first?"

The challenge in his voice was clear. Despite their earlier distrust, they couldn't deny his point. The time for second-guessing had passed; they needed to act before they were overwhelmed by the unknown dangers of this cursed desert and ended up like corpses.

With a collective nod, the group moved closer, forming a small circle to discuss their next steps.

"But something doesn't add up," Dawnfire muttered, her brows furrowed in thought. "We just arrived in this dimension yesterday, yet we've already encountered corpses? How is that even possible? A regular player should be able to survive without food or water here for days."

Horizon nodded, his expression serious. "Good observation. It's because time here moves differently. We're caught in a loop—a temporal trap. The moment we stepped into this dimension, we were already ensnared. Time is resetting itself, cycling over and over, and it's dragging us along with it."

Aria's eyes widened. "So, we've been stuck in this loop without even realizing it? Is there any way to break free?"

"There should be," Horizon replied. "Otherwise, no one would make it out of here. It's designed to trap us, but not without a purpose." He paused, his voice dropping. "Unless . . ."

"Unless what?" Seraphina pressed, sensing the shift in his tone.

Horizon's gaze darkened as he considered the possibility. "Unless this loop was set by another guild—a trap deliberately laid to eliminate their competition in the contest."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Silence fell over the group like a heavy shroud. The idea of being targeted by a rival guild added a new layer of danger to their situation.

Fiora knelt on the ground, drawing a series of intricate runes in the sand with her finger. She murmured a soft incantation, her voice barely audible as she tapped into the deepest reserves of her magic. The runes began to glow faintly, pulsing with an eerie blue light that seemed to sink into the earth.

The air around them grew heavy, charged with a strange, oppressive energy. It felt like the entire desert was holding its breath, waiting for the ritual to unfold.

Fiora placed her hands over the glowing runes, closing her eyes. A faint, ghostly light enveloped her, flickering like a dying flame. She whispered the final words of her incantation, and the blue light from the runes surged upward, forming a translucent dome around the group.

The dome shimmered, rippling like the surface of disturbed water. Through it, faint echoes of past events played out, ghostly images of people walking in circles, their expressions blank and hollow. It was as if they were reliving the same moment over and over again, trapped in a loop with no end.

Suddenly, the dome flickered, revealing a dark, jagged tear in the fabric of the air—a rift pulsing with chaotic energy. It was the source of the loop, the anchor keeping them bound to this cursed place.

"There," Fiora gasped, her voice strained. "That's it. The anomaly. It's like a scar in the magic of this realm, twisting time and space around it."

Seraphina's eyes widened. "How do we get rid of it?"

Fiora's face paled as the last of her mana drained away. The dome of light flickered, then shattered, sending a shockwave of energy rippling outwards.

She collapsed to the ground, panting heavily. "It's a seal," she managed to say. "A powerful one. It's not just a natural rift; someone created it—intentionally. We'd need to disrupt the flow of magic feeding into it to break the loop."

Horizon's eyes narrowed as he studied the dark rift. "So someone trapped us here deliberately. This wasn't just a random anomaly."

Velvet cursed under her breath. "Of course, it couldn't be that simple. Who the hell would go through all this trouble to trap us here?"

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Dawnfire's expression hardened. "Whoever it is, they're watching us. They want us stuck here, running in circles until we exhaust ourselves or die."

Aria knelt beside Fiora, offering her a sip of water. "Rest now. You've done more than enough."

Fiora took the water gratefully, her hands trembling from the exertion. "Be careful," she whispered. "If whoever set this trap is watching, they might retaliate now that we've discovered their trick."

Horizon glanced back at his undead, his expression darkening. "Let them try, then."

He turned to the rest of the group, his voice filled with cold determination. "We break the seal, disrupt the flow of magic, and shatter this loop. Then we find out who's behind this and make them pay."