Thud!

I planted my feet against the ground and sighed in relief. It was a good thing that Leon was present, otherwise I wouldve fallen several times.

He was the one that saved me.

Uekgh Agh!

With regards to Leon, he was currently leaning against the nearby wall while holding onto his stomach and gagging repeatedly.

Uakh!

It was quite dim, and so I couldnt see properly, but he didnt look okay.

He looked somewhat green, but that could very well be due to the lighting.

Blergh!

Or maybe not. It did sound like he was puking. The best part was how he was able to keep his face straight when puking.

I waited a good minute before approaching him.

Are you feeling better?

.

Leon just looked at me without saying a word.

Rather, his face turned green as he once again lowered his head to puke.

Bleeergh!

.

For a second, I felt like the reason why he puked wasnt because of what happened before.

It cant be, right?

It took another minute for him to fully recover.

With both hands on his stomach, he walked ahead of me. Though I couldnt hear his thoughts, I could tell he was cursing me out in all sorts of ways.

.

.

The two of us continued forward in silence.

It was dark, thus making it hard to see ahead. But the darkness went away the moment Leon took out his sword which glowed a bright white hue. It instantly illuminated the surroundings and displayed a new set of murals that resembled those on the dome up above.

This ar!

I didnt have much time to observe the murals as I paused for a brief moment.

Holding onto my breath, I waited for the convulsions to stop before taking a deep breath.

Ive got about six minutes left.

Originally I had ten minutes, but lost about two getting down and another two while waiting for Leon to recover. On any normal occasion, I wouldve urged him to go faster, but I was in need of recuperating my mana for the inevitable fight that was about to happen against the Queen.

I just need to be faster.

Furthermore, with Leon with me, things were going to be easier.

Were getting closer.

Suddenly, Leons steps paused and so did I.

In the distance, I could make out a faint red light. Accompanying the light was a faint pulsing sound.

Ba Thump! Ba Thump!

It seemed to directly mimic the beat of my own heart as I started to feel unsettled. No, more than unsettled it was better to say uncomfortable

I couldnt quite explain it, but it made my entire body twitch in response to each pulse.

Almost as if it was calling for me.

Could be the work of the poison?

No, it didnt seem like it. Especially since Leon shared a similar sentiment to me as he frowned. Then, turning his head to look at me, he nudged lightly with his head and I followed along, slowly walking in the direction of the light.

The glow on his sword diminished as we walked, his own way of lowering our presence as he drew nearer. It was a good decision since we didnt know what was ahead of us.

But we were able to find out soon enough.

.

.

Our steps paused at the same time.

Ba Thump! Ba Thump!

The faint pulsing sounds grew louder as we drew nearer, each beat echoing loudly in the confined space.

From where we stood, we could see a massive, grotesque mound of flesh where light black veins traced all over its surface while certain areas stuck to the surrounding areas. Hands jutted out from the monstrous flesh, dangling lifelessly.

Beneath the sack, a sea of Wraiths slowly emerged, their hollow eyes fixed on the pulsating mass as they walked in a trance-like state, protecting all corners of it.

It was a sight that sent shivers down my spine and as I looked at Leon, he looked back at me.

Seriously?

.How would I have known?

I shrugged my shoulders lightly while frowning.

I dont have much time. What do we do?

What else do we do?

Leon heavily sighed while lowering his shoulders. Then, before I even had time to process the situation, he pressed his foot against the ground and shot forward like an arrow.

Bang!

The ground beneath him split apart, and the glow from his sword intensified, illuminating the entire surroundings and shattering the dim red hue that had dominated the area.

Within moments he appeared right before the Wraiths who all turned to face his direction.

Huuup!

With a movement of his sword, he sliced down directly.

Bang!

The surroundings shook as pieces of the ceiling started to fall, casting a small cloud of dust over the surroundings.

That was the moment that I needed.

Without hesitation, I sprinted forward and shot toward the sack. As I moved, I activated [Veil of Deceit] and shot for the small opening that appeared in one of the areas around the sack.

Bang, bang!

In the distance, I could hear the clash of metal as Leon fought fiercely against the Wraiths. I knew time was running out. As soon as I reached the grotesque sack, I took a deep breath and plunged into the small opening.

Plop!

A popping sound echoed as I jumped into the sack, a thin membrane shattering in the process. My entire body was engulfed in a viscous red liquid, its warmth, and thickness clinging to my skin as I started to slide down some sort of area.

Splash!

I eventually came to a stop, splashing in a red liquid that covered me from head to toe.

..

Brushing the liquid off my face and hair, I stood up and looked around. The walls pulsed silently while the surrounding air felt hot and humid, making it difficult to breathe.

I surveyed my surroundings carefully.

Everything looked as if it had been crafted from living flesh, pulsating slightly as black veins spread across the surface like sinister spiderwebs. Strange, fleshy sacks surrounded the entire space, each one pulsating in rhythm with the outer sack.

Within them, I could make out the faint, unsettling outlines of tall, slender figures.

They were most likely embryos of the Wraiths.

It feels like one of those movies where they enter the human body.

Indeed, it really did this to be the case as everything felt as though it was alive, but I had no time to process my surroundings.

Four minutes.

In that time, I needed to find the queen and drink her blood.

Defeating her was impossible. At least, not with the current time limit and strength. She was a Terror Ranked monster, and I was not even Tier 4.

How was I supposed to defeat such a monster?

It would be nice if I could just drink her blood.

That was my main goal, to begin with.

Where do I go?

I looked around me. There were endless paths, and I wasnt sure where exactly I needed to go. The entire situation was giving me a headache. If I had to spend any time looking for her, then I wasnt sure I was going to make it.

As I racked my brain over the matter, an idea occurred to me.

What if I make her come to me instead?

Indeed, I looked around me. Whatever this place was, I was sure that it held some sort of special importance to the queen. So long as I started damaging it, then there was a chance that shed come find me.

But there was a problem associated with such action.

Its really risky.

.Then again, it was either this or become paralyzed. In the end, I turned to face the embryos. Raising my hand, the tip of the embryos severed in half as threads appeared to surround the entire space.

Splash!

A familiar red liquid burst from the sacks as they collapsed to the floor, revealing the pallid, embryonic forms of the Wraiths. They weakly moved their arms, raising their hands to grasp in my direction.

Both their eyes and mouths were sealed, but despite this, they seemed acutely aware of my presence, their fragile fingers clawing desperately towards me.

It was a scene that sent chills down my spine, but that was nothing compared to the rumbling that ensued shortly after.

Rumble! Rumble!

As if the entire place had come to life, the surroundings shook fiercely, almost making me lose my footing.

I held on tightly to the side of the walls while the surroundings continued to shake.

Eventually, the surroundings stopped shaking.

Squelch.

What followed after it was a tense and unsettling silence. A silence that was soon shattered by a squelching sound as the area above me opened up to reveal a massive eye.

In that moment, my entire breath left my body.

As if the eye could peer right through my very soul, my body stopped functioning and I found myself unable to move at all.

Clench.

But that sensation didnt last for long as I snapped out of it and clenched my teeth.

I brought my hand up without hesitation. Within moments, a purple glow enveloped my entire hand as a hand materialized right before the eye.

[Grip of Pestilence.]

Just as I thought itd touch it, the eye disappeared, almost as if it had never been there in the first place, leaving me utterly baffled.

W-what?

I hastily looked around.

Before I could figure out where the eye had gone, the surroundings trembled again.

Rumble, Rumble!

Once again, I found myself unable to keep my footing steady as I held onto the side of the wall. But that proved to be the wrong decision as a hand materialized right next to the wall.

.!

It was long and slender, its surface covered in a familiar web of black veins. It reached for me, aiming to clasp around my neck, but I dodged it just in time, the tips of its fingers brushing against my forehead.

Or so I thought.

As I ducked to avoid the first hand, I was horrified to see another hand emerge directly beneath me. Its palm was open, reaching for my face with an unnerving slowness that made it all the more creepy.

Huup!

I twisted my body and just barely managed to dodge the attack.

Haa Haa

With a heavy breath, I looked around me. It was then that my entire body froze and my expression sank.

I wasnt dealing with just two hands, no

My stomach churned as I looked around, my breath catching in my throat. Long, slender arms covered nearly every inch of the space, their palms open and twitching as they reached out for me.

I could only stare at the scene in horror as they drew nearer to me.

Fucked This is fucked

In the end, the only thing I could do was curse.

Time remaining until poison overtook me 2 minutes.