The sensation of drinking blood for the first time was unpleasant in Nero's mouth.
The metallic taste lingered in the red-eyed man's mouth. He even thought that even if he rinsed his mouth, the unpleasant metallic sensation wouldn't disappear.
Nero raised his head, analyzing Lux's words.
"Maybe a cell," Kōri exclaimed.
"No."
The ever-perceptive Merlin stood up and exclaimed with a sharp pain in his arm.
"Here..."
He paused briefly before continuing:
"...is where they send traitors to die."
Lux smiled, his bitterness palpable.
"They discovered us..."
Kōri approached Merlin, her face a mask of caution.
"Merlin, your arm."
The wizard stared for a few seconds at his arm, which had a hole that went right through it.
"It's nothing, don't worry..."
Nero smiled inwardly.
Nice acting, wizard, but you were practically crying in pain a little while ago. Don't act tough in front of a lady just to impress her.
Nero kept these intrusive thoughts to himself as he cleared his throat, drawing the group's attention.
"Lux and Merlin, search the entire room, looking for a way out."
Then he paused briefly, deliberately...
"Kōri, Sunday, and I will see what that faceless monster was."
Lux snorted, "You talk like you're the leader... Fine, I'll do it."
The others just nodded silently, too hurt and tired to protest, argue, or refuse.
The wand remained on the floor, inert and beautiful. It partially illuminated the room, just enough for them to see half of it.
Nero, Kōri, and Sunday slowly approached the lifeless corpse of the faceless monster.
Lux and Merlin began walking. They ventured into the darkness, guided by Lux's night vision.
Sunday crouched down with an analytical expression, then examined the creature's body.
"Kōri, your knife..."
"Huh?" Kōri looked at his frost knife. Then he handed it to Sunday.
Nero approached the blue-eyed knight and looked at him with intrigue.
"What are you going to do with that—?"
He didn't have time to finish, because Sunday had already opened the faceless creature's chest.
Kōri and Nero crouched down, reaching the same height as Sunday.
Sunday tore deeper, exposing the creature's entire interior.
"How grotesque..." Kōri murmured, seeing that the blood and organs were black.
Nero sharpened his vision...
He discovered that the heart was beating unnaturally, as if the beast were still alive.
"Is it still alive?"
"No."
Sunday gripped the knife, then plunged it into the creature's chest. He cut through the flesh and the black veins until he could extract the monster's heart.
The heart stopped beating for a second, then resumed its disgusting rhythm...
Sunday stared at the heart with almost obsessive focus, then after a few seconds, his gaze shifted to the corpse on the floor.
He hesitated before saying in astonishment:
"A Daemon... a faceless type."
Daemon?
Nero lowered his eyes to look at the creature.
A faceless type? Are there different types of Daemons?
Kōri, for her part, looked just as confused and surprised as Nero.
Sunday, noticing the expressions on their faces, exclaimed with intense surprise:
"Don't you know the different types of Daemons?"
Sunday, my dear friend, if you look at our face, you don't need to be a genius to know, Which of course we don't know that!
Nero shook his head, somewhat irritated, a gesture that Kōri mirrored.
Sunday let out a small exhalation...
After a few seconds of awkward silence, Kōri looked at the black heart. She carefully chose her words before saying:
"How do you know that thing is or was a Daemon?"
Sunday smiled slightly.
"Because of its body, because it doesn't have a face if we don't count those yellow eyes, and... because of this."
The knight with clear blue eyes brought the black heart closer until the other two saw "something."
The center of the heart emanated a small red light, almost imperceptible, but undeniable once they saw it.
Sunday plunged the knife into the heart. He cut from left to right, splitting the black heart in two.
As Sunday cut the heart in half, a small stone fell and rolled across the floor.
Sunday grabbed the stone and held it up for everyone to see.
The black stone resembled a prism folded in half, with a rough texture and a strange smell. At its center lay an ancient, red, magical rune that shone with blinding intensity.
Sunday, her fingers dripping with thick blood from holding the prism, said,
"And this is the Centrum of a Faceless Daemon."
Kōri remained silent, recalling one of Axel's old lessons: "If you consume Centrums, you can advance in rank more quickly."
"Should we consume it?"
Sunday understood what she meant.
"Yes, if you want to corrupt your soul, I kindly invite you to do so. If you want to stay alive, or at least remain free of mutations or intense madness, don't even think about it."
Nero looked at Sunday.
"So, what do we want the Centrum for?"
Sunday paused briefly, lost in thought, before opening his mouth and replying:
"We could sell it as a precious and unique gem, trade it on the black market, or give it to the scientists and researchers."
Black market...
Nero made an indecipherable face, one that mixed disgust and interest.
...
Meanwhile.
Lux and Merlin walked in the gloom, searching for a crack or hole through which to escape.
"So, mage."
Lux stopped, touching the moldy walls.
Merlin walked in the darkness, guided by Lux and his power to see in the blackness.
"What?"
Merlin stopped beside Lux.
"How do you think we got to this dark prison?"
"Um... I guess Reveli discovered our escape plan, kidnapped us, and locked us up with that monster, and he's probably off right now screwing some beautiful lady, laughing and drinking, thinking he's better than us."
Lux smiled.
"I like your sense of humor."
Merlin shrugged.
"I'm not being funny."
Lux chuckled a little.
"Well, stop being unintentionally funny."
The two continued walking.
Lux saw countless creatures in the darkness, some poisonous, others strangely colored like orange or green, and most of them startled by the two boys' presence.
"There are a lot of bugs here," Lux told his companion.
Merlin nodded and replied:
"Yeah, there are a lot... wait."
Lux stopped and looked at the wizard in silence.
"Lux, where are those bugs coming from?... I know! Let's check the corners!"
Merlin and Lux began searching the room, investigating each corner one by one.
Lux carefully observed the walls, while Merlin silently analyzed what Lux was saying.
After searching the entire room, Lux noticed a crack in one of the corners that no one had noticed before.
"Merlin... a crack."
"Where?"
Merlin patted the wall until he found the corner. Then, he lowered and raised his hand to reveal the crack.
The crack wasn't huge, but it was fragile and easy to pass through.
"Guys!" Lux shouted.
Kōri and Nero approached the blond-haired boy and the wizard. Sunday, meanwhile, grabbed his wand and walked toward the group.
The grass on the walls stretched out toward the crack, like the hands of a desperate blind man. Only these hands were green, rough, and smelly.
Nero studied the crack for a moment, aided by the wand that was half lantern. His hands touched the fissure in the wall, analyzing its texture and how hard it was.
"Uhm..." he murmured, stepping back slightly from the wall.
Then, a faint, relieved smile appeared, and he said with determination:
"If we break that crack, perhaps we can escape this demonic dungeon."
Merlin avoided looking directly at the flashlight. He leaned against the wall, his head down.
"I'm going to unleash a lightning bolt, stand back a little," Sunday exclaimed, opening his left hand.
Everyone moved about two meters away from Sunday and waited for him to act.
A trail of light expanded in Sunday's hand. The trail warped until it took the shape of a blue lightning bolt.
Sunday fired the lightning bolt at the crack in the wall, which was completely destroyed by the impact of the blue beam.
A cloud of dust filled the room, making it almost impossible to breathe.
"Cough... we should get out of here."
Kōri turned to look at Nero, seeking approval or something else...
After a few seconds of waiting, the brown smoke finally dissipated, revealing the new hole in the wall. The crack had widened enough to allow a teenager of about sixteen years old to pass through.
"I did it..."
Sunday froze, a wide grin spreading across his face. Then, his smile vanished, replaced by his serious expression.
The group began to emerge one by one, with Sunday carrying the wand.
Nero was the last to escape...
"What the hell?"
Moss covered the stone floor of the catacombs, a striking contrast of gray and green. Piles upon piles of bones were scattered throughout the inhospitable place.
Nero turned to his left, where a precipice hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of kilometers deep lay before him.
Nero turned to his right and beheld a gloom so desolate it took his breath away.
The group was both fascinated and terrified by the "alive" atmosphere.
Merlin's face showed astonishment, and he crouched down, staring at the moss on the ground with doubt and surprise.
"T-this is..."
He picked up the moss and examined it more discreetly. The mage bit into it, chewing a small piece, then smelled and touched it.
Kōri took two steps back, completely disgusted by her companion's behavior. Lux and Sunday just stared at Merlin with intrigue.
Nero crouched down beside Merlin and raised an eyebrow, expectant.
Merlin noticed his companions' reactions and laughed. Then, he turned to Nero and said,
"This..." He held up the moss. "This have Sinner power."
Nero almost fell backward...
He was completely surprised, because if the moss possessed Sinner powers, it would mean that it could be used in rituals, and therefore would be sold for a high price and be useful for spells and natural healing.
"C-Centrum? That damn moss has a Centrum?!"
"Yes, but not just any Centrum..."
Merlin began to pluck the moss and stuffed it into his clothing.
"This damn moss, as you call it, possesses more aura than a Rank 8... about 1000 to 1200 aura points, if I'm not mistaken."
What? 1000 to 1200 aura points? That would be roughly multiplying my entire aura by 10 or 12.
Nero smiled slowly...
"What can we use it for?"
Merlin placed a hand on his chin, his pockets full of dark green.
"It sells very well, about 100 to 120 Longs..."
Merlin paused to gauge his companions' reactions.
Kōri's mouth fell open in astonishment. Lux eyed the grass with a greedy look that seemed to say, "How much money can you make me?" Even the impenetrable Sunday was stunned.
As for Nero, the corners of his mouth curled upward as he reached for the grass.
Suddenly, a person—or thing—screamed in the distance. It wasn't a pained cry or a simple whimper; it was a piercing sound, so atrocious that it made the entire group flinch.
Lux took a step back, looking in the direction the scream had come from.
"We should start walking... money is valuable, but not as valuable as our lives."
...
The group began traveling across the black wasteland, following the trail of grass on the ground.
The landscape was terrifying, but... why? Nothing had attacked them, yet the feeling of constant danger was tormenting their minds.
The mental danger and the feeling of being watched were unpleasant anywhere...
They walked for about 10 minutes that felt like hours, dodging strange creatures and piles of corpses.
Suddenly, green, blue, and red lights illuminated the cave naturally.
Merlin climbed one of the bone piles to see where the light was coming from...
The wizard froze, speechless.
Nero climbed the pile of corpses and had the same expression as Merlin.
"I-is that a mushroom forest?"