[CONTENT WARNING]
- Physical Violence
- Blood and Gore
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Raphael's eyes adjusted to the mellowed darkness, the tight cavern tunnel opening up into a massive subterranean space.
Stalactites clung firmly to the ceiling, dripping murky brown fluid into puddles and drenching the floor.
The sound of creaking stone underfoot made the white-haired boy flinch, the memory of the attacking spiders flooding his mind.
Everywhere below his shoulder ached with vicious pain, and a large purple welt had formed on the pale white skin of his hand where the blood flow was reduced.
Turning his gaze towards Ashly, he quietly uttered a chant, a chill settling over the space.
「Staphreus」
Appearing in a gentle burst of particles, his weapon floated by his side, and he gripped it with a steady resolve, his eyes focused on the darkness ahead.
He noticed a quiet creak in the distance and held out his hand to Ashly, gesturing for her to stop.
Releasing a layer of mana around his ears to enhance his perception, he stared blankly in wait.
Then, he heard something similar to murmuring and muffled breathing coming from within the pitch-black space ahead of him.
Without a word, he aimed his staff towards the location, opening his mouth and releasing a chant.
「Explosis」
Silence engulfed the room for a moment, then, with a horrific screech, whatever lurked within the cave erupted into flames.
Limbs clawing against rock, flesh burning away to reveal bone, and the smell that wafted through the chamber made Ashly gag.
Not wasting a second, Raphael raised his staff again, feeling a wavering within his mana core preventing him from casting another spell.
Sighing heavily, he loosened his firm grip on the staff, staring at the glowing remains of what he had burned to death.
Covering her mouth with her hand, the orange-haired woman gasped as she made out the fallen figure.
Melted into the rock, a humanoid figure stretched across the smoldering surface, a charred skull popping out of the ashes like it still had unfinished business with the living.
Deep gashes were engraved onto its scalp, forming hexagonal patterns that wrapped from ear to ear.
Its eyesockets were holes of darkness, all tissue consumed by the flames, yet Raphael could immediately tell something was not right.
The person's eyes weren't simply burned away, nor were those marks the result of his magic.
"Gouged out and scarred."
His words were breathless, a cold, emotionless void settling in his chest as the suspicions squeezed his heart.
They weren't alone in these caverns, and whatever was with them had no mercy on the humans who inhabited the land.
Slowly shifting his gaze towards Ashly, he watched as tears filled her eyes, tremors shaking her figure like miniature earthquakes.
Opening his mouth to speak, he paused, then closed his jaw, feeling the tension in the air tighten as a sound echoed throughout the room.
Crkk…
Immediately aiming his staff towards the noise, Raphael felt the vibrations of something quickly moving through the large cavern.
Whether it was bipedal or not, the sound of multiple limbs crawling along the slimy floor permeated the silence as an unidentified beast made its way around them.
The sound of its grotesque body dripping with an unknown substance caught the white-haired noble's ears, and he gathered mana in his core to prepare a spell.
Calculating the amount he would have left after casting, he made a rough estimate and concluded that he could use one low-level and one utility spell at best.
「Aetheris」
Light flowed forth, flooding the chamber in vibrant, divine radiance, revealing their observer in its fullest form.
Taking a step back and hurrying to cast again, both Raphael and Ashy resisted the urge to vomit out their guts and die at that very moment.
Skin as thin as paper clad its humanoid form, bones protruding from under the surface like spears.
Its eyes were a foggy mess, two pale moons with no pupils, blurred and forged for the darkness of the underground caverns it occupied.
The beast wore no clothing, its bald head dripping with crimson blood, its mouth a den of spikes with intestines stuck between them, hanging down like morbid decorations.
Long arms and legs supported it as it crawled along the cave walls like a spider, its head craned backwards as it stared at the two.
"HSSS!"
Erupting with a howl like no other, it lunged at the pair, the organs of its previous victim falling out of its gaping mouth.
Digging his feet into the ground and anchoring his back against a rock, Raphael screamed at the top of his lungs, fear holding him hostage as he called upon another spell.
「HEAVENLY ARRAY」
A wall of glistening gold light burst to life with his staff at the center, protecting both Ashly and himself as the beast slammed into it.
Clawing at the shield with all its fury, the creature bared its teeth, banging its knuckles into it until they were bloody.
Its cold, dead eyes stared at the two as it circled the barrier, searching for any weakness it could exploit to get through.
"W-What the hell is that thing!"
Falling backwards against the stone, the orange-haired cartographer began hyperventilating, her face a sickly white.
Tears flowed from her eyes like waterfalls, her entire body shaking like a dog during a thunderstorm.
Raphael responded quickly, shouting at her with equal levels of fear and horror, sweat dripping down his face as he attempted to maintain the holy barrier.
"WHATEVER THE HELL IT IS WE NEED TO KILL IT FAST!"
Clenching his teeth together until his lips began to bleed, he forced all his strength into shrinking the shield and keeping it operational.
Once it was a tightly wound box around the two explorers, they watched as the beast walked up to the edge slowly.
Reaching out its pale, skinny hand to touch the wall, it opened its mouth as if to speak.
Whispers emerged and echoed throughout Raphael's ears, a hint of curiosity blooming beneath his fear.
Taking a nervous step forward towards the border, he placed his ear close to the beast's mouth, listening to its words.
SHRRRRII!
Lunging at the forcefield with all its might, the beast dug its teeth into the golden halo of defense, making the white-haired boy jump back in surprise.
Instead of the monster's strike being reflected, bite-sized marks were left in the shield, a sight that made the already terrified Ashly nearly faint.
"WE'LL DIE IF THAT THING GETS IN!"
Her shriek made Raphael all the more horrified as he gripped his staff tightly, for, if it came down to it, he would exhaust his core to protect himself and the woman.
As it slammed its bony hands into the wall of light time and time again, a crack appeared across the surface, deepening with every hit.
Bang.
The surface of the golden barrier chipped into miniature fragments.
Bang.
Raphael's grip wavered as he grimaced through piercing agony.
Bang.
Blood dripped from his nose, but he held firm.
SHRAAANNG!
The white-haired noble was flung backwards as the array shattered to pieces, his body instantly lunged on by the hideous beast.
Not waiting a second, it dug its teeth into his shoulder, ripping away at his flesh without any remorse.
"AHHHHHH!"
Screaming erupted out of the boy's throat as he was slowly devoured, his eyes falling on Ashly, who stared at him lifelessly.
His vision blurred as he met her eyes, his mouth opening as he spoke to her breathlessly.
"Run."
With his last wishes spoken, he could die in peace knowing he had at least saved somebody from a fate worse than death.
However, as he turned his gaze back to the beast, he noticed its head craned backwards, its neck seemingly snapped in reverse, facing the orange-haired girl.
N-No…
He couldn't even move his lips, let alone speak, since the beast's hand was covering his mouth with great force as it rotated the rest of its body in impossible angles.
Facing towards Ashly, its figure moved faster than the woman could react, landing on her and pinning her to the ground like a cat catching a mouse.
Raphael had been freed from the creature's grasp for now, yet his entire body shook with horror as he watched the scene in front of him unfold.
The bony creature's maw opened wide, its vicious, blood-soaked teeth glistening in the remnants of the light magic.
And as it lunged downward, biting straight into the stomach of the woman, the white-haired boy could only let out an incoherent scream.
"Ghk—AAGH—s-stop—AGH—!"
Her pleading echoed throughout the chamber as Raphael wept, his hands reaching for the staff that was no longer there.
The beast raised its claws above its head, looking dead in the eyes of the girl who shrieked in agony.
"PLEASE—NO—DON'T—"
Thrusting its hands towards her, the beast impaled the woman, ripping out her organs one at a time and feasting on them.
Yet, not for a moment did it think about ending her suffering.
It simply watched as its prey shrieked and begged for mercy, her death throes like a game to the vile creature.
Craning its neck downward towards her exposed flesh, the beast bit in, the sounds of its enjoyment making Raphael gag.
"Glrch—glrch—"
The noises didn't stop as minutes went by, its blood-stained face never once leaving its meal.
Then, as Ashly's voice faded away, the creature finally stopped, turning its gaze towards her face, still frozen in agony and fear.
Opening its maw wide, it lunged downward.
"CHRRK—GLURCH!"
Her head exploded in front of the white-haired noble's eyes, his mind spinning and the world fading away.
However, as he began to lose consciousness and feel the beast making its way across the rocks towards him, he heard footsteps in a faraway place.
The horrific creature seemed to hear them as well, its figure freezing as it listened intently.
Looking back at the fallen Raphael, it pondered something for a moment, a crooked, evil smile making its way across its deformed face before it jumped away, vanishing into the darkness.
And yet again, there was silence in the chamber, the challenger left stranded, his shoulder bleeding badly, and the woman he had entered with ripped to shreds and devoured.
He had failed his mission to the utmost extent, and deep inside, he knew that no matter whether he lived or died here, this was the end of his exam.