'A Goblin, a fucking Goblin!?'
I cursed to myself.
'Look at yourself! I guess it takes one to know one!' I mocked the girl whose finely crafted, sharp features were on par with those of a supermodel. I threw off the knight's helmet I had used just in case. I would personally have considered giving something that looked like a hellspawn, seemingly performing a sacrificial dance in pitch-darkness, a beating. Tessa decided to fall on her ass instead.
'Not to mention, Goblins aren't red! They're green! Even that bum Justin could tell you that much! Considering how much he drools over that screen of his, he's definitely at least somewhat culturally educated, you damn casual!'
I continued bickering to myself as I slowly inched my way towards camp. I wasn't that mad or embarrassed, honestly. It was rather fun to mess with someone and traumatize them in such an unusual way. Maybe Tessa and I were even? I gave her some light-hearted trauma, and she called me a Goblin.
'Hmm, fair enough.'
As I approached the encirclement of modern tech, a strong metallic scent pierced my nostrils, causing me to drool slightly. I quickly snapped out of it. A somber air radiated from the group of four sitting in the encirclement.
'Yep, read her like a book. Hmm, she went for Vazor as well, fair enough.'
The main flaw in Lumina's plan was maintaining her lie. At some point, if nobody died, they would grow suspicious about Lumina's claims and potentially even suspect her of lying. I had no clue how she planned to solidify her claim without my help, but she may have had some kind of ploy.
Carl, seemingly in a daze, snapped out of it. It seems he realized it.
"Nothing changes. We leave his body here and keep going. I'll take his Storage Ring for his family."
There was another reason for her to kill someone off. Even if nobody believed her and even suspected her of killing Vazor, what could they do? They were now one man short, and they still had plenty of horrors to fight. There was no way they could lose somebody as skilled as Lumina now.
"Why the hell should we listen to you? As far as I'm concerned, you or Lumina just minced up Vazor!" Justin growled, a cold, disdainful glimmer in his eyes. Carl furrowed his brows.
"You're forgetting one person."
Before Carl could voice out his rebuttal, Lumina shot him a calm glance and replied forebodingly.
Justin cocked his head, a hint of mockery reaching his tone.
"Oh yeah? Who might that be? We don't exactly have an abundance of options here."
"You."
Justin's face fell. Lumina let it settle in for a moment, but continued before Justin could lash out at her.
"There was a brief moment when you were alone before you went after Tessa, right? Looking at how rushed the kill was, it's definitely a possibility. You hastily ripped up Vazor and then proceeded to rush to Tessa, right? Or are you not a Fleshseeker?"
This was my part of the scheme. Tessa's double watch duty countermeasure was flawed, and Lumina just proved why. This was what I was pinning my own hopes on.
Justin stared at her with his mouth hanging open before his expression shifted to anger.
"You bit-!"
"Stop. It was my fault."
Everybody turned to stare at Tessa, who spoke firmly. Her voice quivered slightly as her lips trembled. It seemed she, too, felt the weight of having unintentionally caused someone's death.
"My plan failed. We should've had three people on watch. I'm sorry."
Justin's expression softened as he clicked his tongue. Anybody would crumble under such an apologetic look.
My own eyes widened in shock. This was a completely unprecedented situation for me.
'Her? Taking accountability? Wow...Could I have misjudged her? Then why the hate towards Lumina? Hmm, I might be missing something.'
I still didn't regret what I did. Regardless, she's planning on killing Lumina, and that doesn't quite sit with me from my point of view.
As I was left awestruck by this plot twist in her character, Carl spoke up once again, stoic as usual.
"It's fine. I should've noticed this flaw as well. Stopping isn't an option, and we all came prepared to die. It was just Vazor's time, that's all. We'll head through the Middle Layer as quickly as possible."
Carl paused for a moment before continuing.
"Now, tell us what you saw properly, Tessa."
Tessa hesitated for a moment before closing her eyes. After a brief pause, she began describing the incident. Starting from the clapping in the hall, to her heading to check it out, to finding me and my dancing, all the way to Justin catching her seemingly having a seizure.
Everybody cocked their eyebrows in confusion. It seemed my actions could be considered rather peculiar. Chances are, it was their first time hearing of a Fracturebeast putting on a live performance like that.
"Oh yeah, that nasty Goblin was also wearing the knight's helmet."
Of course, she didn't forget to call me a Goblin.
The youths fell into thought. After a short silence, Lumina shot out a suggestion. It seemed even she was puzzled.
"It could've been the red knight regenerating. We saw the blood in the room decreasing, so it may have resurrected using it as an energy source."
"I thought it sounded more like a Sanctuary Spirit. Like, maybe its Sanctuary Spirit parents dropped it on its head and made it a bit special," Justin commented, still somewhat bitter about their earlier scuffle.
I chose to ignore his rude remark for now. Carl nodded.
"Both are possible. This expedition has been strange. If it's a Sanctuary Spirit, we'll be fine. It can't do us any real harm. Still, we should look out for it in case it plays a nastier trick. Should it be the Layer Guard regenerating, we're also fine. It can't enter the Middle Layer."
'Huh, guess they think I resemble that Sanctuary Spirit thing.'
The group sighed. A Fleshseeker had already embedded itself among them, and now they had to potentially watch out for a deranged, flamenco-dancing Sanctuary Spirit. I'd be tired too.
"Couldn't it have drawn the mural as well if it were a Sanctuary Spirit?" Justin asked.
"Let's hope it didn't," Carl replied curtly. There were some strong implications for them if that were the case. It seemed Carl was trying to maintain the peace as much as possible. It was smart. They were already screwed in a lot of ways, and the less distrust among the group, the higher their chances of survival.
I wasn't planning on showing myself to the group again anytime soon. I made quite a risky move with that dance, and honestly got lucky Tessa was a klutz. Otherwise, it may have taken more effort to escape, not to mention potentially being fried alive.
After that, a rich aroma filled the space as the futuristic tents disappeared once again. All except for Vazor's. The rich aroma disappeared as the group stood in front of Vazor's tent. Carl was the only one who went in for a minute before returning slightly covered in blood.
"I took his ring. Let's go."
Tessa stepped forward.
"Wait, leaving him here to rot doesn't quite sit with me. I'll burn his corpse," she spoke, wearing a solemn expression. Nobody rejected the idea as the other youths nodded.
'Wait, what?' I felt a subtle panic in my chest. Not because Tessa was acting like a decent human being, no, but...
She flipped the metallic entrance open and headed inside. A couple of minutes later, when she came out of the tent, smoke followed in her wake. The nearby area was covered in a layer of dusty fumes.
'No, no, no.'
I could feel the heat rising in my chest.
"It may take a little while for everything to burn. I suggest we get moving."
I watched as the group walked towards one side of the hall, where another ominous door stood. Soon, the area was left empty again. I lept out of my puddle and dashed toward the smoking tent. I flipped the entrance open, and a searing wave of heat washed against my face. I fell to my knees.
'NOOOO!'
The insides were bathed in scarlet flames, not leaving a single inch untouched.
Nothing.
It was all gone.
My precious food!
After wallowing in my lament for a moment, I furrowed my brows.
'No, since when did I become such a drama queen over some blood?'
I gave myself a good slap across the face. This dumbass body was really affecting me, and I didn't like it. All things considered, someone had just died, and I was acting like this. The fact that they were scumbags didn't mean I had to be one.
I stood up and gritted my teeth while making my way across the small puddles of crimson in the hall. I could hear my heart thumping in my ears. Genuine anger seared over me at the missed meal.
Yeah, this wasn't good. I needed to find a way to resolve this as soon as possible.
Soon, an ominous, sleek-metal door stood before me once again. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. I seriously had to keep an eye on my behaviour. I felt like I may have jumped into the blazing tent a moment later if I hadn't caught my own thoughts.
'This is a bigger problem than I thought.'
I slapped both of my cheeks once again. I had to focus. I could only afford to joke around because I knew I would be fine, but if I'm not careful, I'll start acting stupid on instinct. I closed my eyes for a moment.
Once I no longer felt the anger, I opened my eyes and slowly pushed open the sleek metal door. I stepped inside, expecting to see the same dark, crimson-filled halls I had grown accustomed to. Instead, I was left speechless.
'What is this?'
In front of me stood a wide-open, well-lit space. For the first time in a while, I saw light from the sky. It almost seemed like I was outside. I covered my eyes with my tiny arms since I hadn't seen light in a while. Something was off, however. Once I grew used to the lighting, I took a proper look around me.
Crimson.
Everywhere.
Several branch-covered crimson pillars stretched towards the rosy red sky. The soil beneath my feet was also crimson for as far as the eye could see. Scattered about were many of the familiar shining crystals now dyed red. Even the light from the sky was a rosy colour, covering everything in another layer of scarlet. It looked like I had walked into the crime scene of a blood-obsessed serial killer.
I stood in awe for a second before snapping out of it. I'd already been pulled out of the eternity of death, so what was there to oggle at here!
I took a step into the space and cautiously began scanning the area.
My bundles of entertainment were missing after all!