Chapter 102: Entity
Vacuse could feel a cold sensation slide down his stomach as he heard that. "What do you mean, Jellyfish?"
"Jellyfish?" He laughed. "I like that!"
"Let me explain what I mean. Initially, the boss wanted us to bring you back alive, but that's only because the profit on bringing you back is much more than bringing you back dead.
"In fact, the money difference is like night and day, but since there's a way to bring you back dead, as long as we preserve your body with our special methods, we can also use that option."
"But see what you did to poor Serenthar! All that constructs, all that gold coins! All gone in the blink of an eye. What's worse, the High Commander of Standpoint took all the remains of the construct, and we can't even sell it for scraps!"
"So you see, my dear Vacuse. You have cost us as much as bringing you back alive would cost. So, you have already been termed a failed transaction.
"I don't need you back alive!"
Vacuse felt a chill down his spine, and he immediately asked, "What did you do?"
The Jellyfish bowed. "Those monsters that you killed are vicious indeed, but they have no hope of ever defeating you. What's curious about their blood, though, is that it contains eternal hunger that can awaken the bloodlust of many slumbering monsters."
Vacuse's eyes widened as he immediately came to an understanding. He turned around and shouted, "We need to get out of here now!"
Captain Mera was only a beat behind him, and she immediately shouted, "Fall back! Fall back!"
Jellyfish laughed and laughed. "My illusion is the greatest! I can even mimic sound and smell! I am going to take your body back, Vacuse Vorrakyn!"
Just as he finished speaking, the illusions that he wove around them shuddered and tore away, revealing the true location they were.
For two days straight, they had been led another way as Jellyfish used illusions to create a new path for them directly into the Wilderness.
He had even taken great pains to block out the dangerous aura that surrounded the location.
And once the illusion wore down, they felt it!
At once, no matter how strong or weak, they all felt the sensation of danger that covered them and made their insides tremble. Large trees surrounded them, leaves dark and twisted.
The trees gave the feeling of ancient things and old. The air smelled of rust and rot.
But what made them tremble to their core was in front of them. Something that looked like a shrine made of rusting metal and blood.
The shrine was built in the hollow of the biggest tree around.
And immediately they saw it, they knew there was a terrible presence inside that they didn't want to gain its attention. A feeling of overwhelming danger enveloped them, and their bodies turned rigid.
Captain Mera was the first to break out of it, and her hand went to Vacuse's shoulder, pulling him back.
Surprisingly, Vacuse wasn't feeling much. At first, he felt the danger that shook him to the bones, but then Rith had reacted from inside his Soul Space, spreading an energy around him that shielded him.
Jellyfish frowned when he saw that Vacuse wasn't reacting as the others, but he didn't seem much bothered by it, as his plan was already in action.
The blood on the ground shimmered, red mist rolled off it and was sucked into the shrine.
"We have to go!" Captain Mera's tone was filled with urgency.
But it was already too late.
Jellyfish turned translucent and vanished.
At the same time, a rumbling sound shook the ground, and grinding noise came from inside the shrine that was suddenly filled with strange reddish light.
Then, something turned toward them.
It was a monster that seemed to be made of both metal and flesh. Chains dug into its body, warping the inside of its flesh from the inside.
Its eyes were closed, but when it turned to them, they felt mountain-crushing weight. And what was more, its bloodlust was so strong that those who were standing in the front trembled and fell down to the ground with blood dripping from their nose and eyes.
The surrounding trees shattered, bursting away into flakes, and the ground quaked.
Creak! Creak! Creak!
The chains warped around it were like bindings, as they held it back from taking more steps forward. But the single step it took was enough.
Dragon Guards and Orcs alike all fell down to their knees with blood running down their mouths as the force seemed as if it would crush them from the inside.
Some even directly fainted.
But what was saving them was that the entity didn't seem to notice them, as its closed eyes were focused entirely on Vacuse.
All of Captain Mera's copies burst out of existence, and her hand on Vacuse trembled. She was looking down so as to avoid looking at the entity, as it seemed her eyes would melt just by looking at it for so long.
But Vacuse.
Vacuse was looking at the entity with mild curiosity. He could feel its attention solely focused on him, but it was like feeling rain through the roof of a building.
It was almost similar to the crushing force of the Void Dragon when they first met, but that was like the similarity between a pond and a sea.
They were both waters. And not.
Rith was blocking it. '..oh...Interesting, I don't think I can see something like this here in this backwater place..'
'..hey!..' Vacuse immediately thought back. '..how are you shielding me now and you can't do the same to Serenthar..'
That was the first thing that came to Vacuse. He could remember that Rith was demanding for the blood of the Blood Dragon to help him then.
'...that's because it's not the same thing, brat! This thing is not human. It's not even a proper monster!..'
It seemed as if the entity took it very badly that Vacuse just stood there casually and didn't even seem to be paying attention to it.
Then, its face moved!