Chapter 37: Tension.
On Airi's side, five fierce black wolves continuously dodged the blood-red chain swings from the young girl. In Airi's eyes flashed cold sparks, a slight smirk on her lips, haughty and challenging.
"Do you think you can dodge forever?"
Her voice echoed, as sharp as a blade, as soft as the night wind.
Lifting her arm above her head, Airi summoned hundreds of swords as red as blood. The cold steel blades hovered in mid-air, gleaming with death. Two hundred swords, forming a cloud of death, waiting to fall and judge the creatures below.
Her voice was full of triumph as she glanced at them all once.
"This much is enough to send you off."
The black wolves froze, eyes wavering. An instinctive fear flashed in those glowing eyes.
At the same time, across the battlefield, Takeshi was flying at wind-tearing speed. His body glowed with energy, rushing straight at the roaring giant three-eyed tiger. From its mouth, a thick purple energy stream like poison sprayed out violently. But Takeshi did not dodge. On the contrary, he stopped for a split second, legs crouching like springs, jumping high and confronting it directly.
That fierce purple energy source was like an invisible wall, slowing his jump. The energy enveloping his body was being eroded bit by bit, bit by bit…
"The old wolf always forces me to dodge,"
He growled.
"But today... I want to know how durable I am."
He shouted, then dove headfirst like a flaming arrow, ramming straight into the tiger's mouth. A large explosion echoed, shocking the entire space. In the distance, the three giant snakes still stood watching, motionless, as if weighing something. Then one suddenly turned away.
"You stay here and watch," – it said, voice disdainful, – "wait for them to finish determining the winner, then kill the survivor. I'm going over there to help the white wolves."
BOOM!!!
Thick smoke rose from the fierce explosion. From within that murky dust, the giant tiger was blown away, its massive body slamming hard into the stone wall in the distance. When the smoke cleared, Takeshi's silhouette appeared amidst the ash. Clothes torn to shreds, but he still stood firm, gaze fixed on the enemy now lying motionless.
"That's more like it…" he exhaled, gaze still burning.
The two remaining large snakes slithered over, bodies smooth and flexible. Takeshi immediately turned, hands raised, growling:
"Come on!"
The ground immediately shook violently. Two giant stone walls rose from both sides. However, the two snakes still slithered forward.
Takeshi grit his teeth, both hands placed parallel in front of him trembling. Then he used force, crossing his left and right hands. Intending to crush the two snakes with a pincer move, as if two stone blocks were two magnets attracting each other.
When the stone blocks were about to compress like two meteors, moving fast, they suddenly slithered atop the stone peaks, dodging the crushing intent.
Takeshi's eyes widened.
"What!? I didn't calculate for this case…"
Not giving him time to react, the two snakes immediately coiled tightly around Takeshi's body, squeezing hard. He managed to create an energy layer to avoid being crushed, but clearly had fallen into a passive state.
A mistake in not radiating energy outward sooner could lead to death.
"Damn it… I was careless. Must think of a way out of this situation…"
The energy in him began to rise. The two snakes also felt it. They roared, then simultaneously opened their mouths. The tongues inside were lifted, revealing a purple tube, then they sprayed poison at Takeshi.
A scream echoed everywhere, a painful sound that tore through the space.
Kazuka – fighting nearby – froze, eyes panicked. He turned his head toward the scream. But that moment of distraction caused an opening.
Three wolves behind simultaneously launched fatal attacks. Kazuka's protective energy was only enough to block two. The third blow stabbed deep into his back.
Kazuka's eyes widened, body rigid, blood spurting from his mouth. He collapsed to his knees.
But the wolves did not stop. They rushed again.
Rage erupted. Kazuka's eyes turned white, jaws grit tight. Energy radiated massively as if wanting to tear his body apart.
From the kneeling position, he leaped up, spinning. The sword in his right hand flew like a lightning bolt, piercing the belly of the wolf on the right, blowing it far away. He clenched his fist, retreating into a stance.
The ground shattered as Kazuka rushed like a bullet. A punch glowing with energy slammed into the middle wolf's chest, blowing it hard into the wall. In the air, Kazuka spun, launching a thunderous kick at the last one. All three wolves lay motionless.
On Airi's side, just as she was about to strike the final blow, a poison stream from afar suddenly shot over. Not panicking at all, Airi shouted:
"Blood Burst Form!"
A pillar of bright red energy enveloped her body, blocking the rushing poison. In the center of that red energy, Airi's hand lowered. Instantly, the red sword rain from the sky descended like lightning, piercing the snake corpses and the black wolf pack. All collapsed on the spot, bodies torn to pieces by the swords.
Kazuka retrieved his sword and ran toward Takeshi, face full of worry.
"Don't... don't let anything happen, Takeshi…"
But while rushing, he was forced to stop and swing his sword to block a series of swords from Airi flying over.
"What are you doing, Airi?!"
The red energy around Airi gradually faded. She scratched her head, somewhat embarrassed:
"Sorry… The range was a bit wide. Blades and swords... have no eyes."
Before Kazuka now were the two large snakes still squeezing Takeshi. A cloud of poison surrounded him, making it impossible to see the situation clearly. Kazuka shouted, launching two sharp slashes, cutting off the heads of both snakes.
He ran over, pulled Takeshi from the snake corpses and placed him on the ground. His eyes widened, throat choked up.
"Takeshi…?"
Airi ran over, her voice strangely calm.
"Hey, Takeshi! You must stay conscious! Use the energy in your body to stop the poison from spreading! It's just some trivial snakes, how could you die!"
Kazuka was different. He nearly went mad, voice screaming in panic:
"Takeshi... Takeshi!! Don't be silent like that!!"
Suddenly, as if a bolt of electricity flashed, the body thought to be motionless vibrated slightly. Takeshi sat up, face still smudged with ash, skin somewhat pale gray, a few places looking as if they had just been burned. Kazuka, leaning close, was startled and fell backward.
"Ah...!"
Takeshi reached out as if to reassure, voice hoarse but still calm:
"Calm down... I've handled the poison. It's just that my body feels so uncomfortable I thought I wasn't okay, so I lay still to check again."
As soon as the words ended, his skin tone gradually returned to normal. The shriveled burn marks on his face faded as if erased by the wind. Kazuka couldn't help himself; he immediately lunged forward, hugging Takeshi tightly. His face choked up as if he had just regained a life from the abyss.
"Good god... I thought you were dead! You scared me to death!"
Takeshi awkwardly pushed him away, trying to keep distance.
"I'm fine. No need for such drama."
Airi stood up, arms crossed, voice scolding but unable to hide the relief.
"Did you forget? Must always stay calm. Every time you panic, you lose control, Kazuka."
Kazuka scratched his head, laughing loudly to hide his previous emotions:
"Ha ha... Sorry. Truly sorry. My mistake this time."
Airi exhaled in relief, then tilted her head at both:
"Done recovering? Do we continue or climb up?"
Kazuka turned to Takeshi, voice deeper, more serious:
"Do you still have strength to continue?"
Takeshi stood up, stretched, face still calm. It seemed that poison, though formidable, was not enough to take him down.
From the cave mouth, the old wolf was sitting cross-legged on the ground, hand holding a wine bottle, head tilted up at the sky, observing. He brought the bottle to his mouth and chugged. While chugging, something suddenly entered the old wolf's sight.
He frowned, stopped drinking, lowered the bottle to the ground.
"Huh? Raiga? What is it doing here? Looking for Airi?"
Raiga was crawling around in the air, atop the cave mouth. Strangely, despite being in empty space, it didn't fall but hovered in the air as if crawling on an invisible flat surface.
"It wants to go down? The hole entrance is a barrier preventing the demon race. Its strength is still weak, it won't break through. But why does it want to go down?"
The old wolf's eyes narrowed. A spark of suspicion crossed his mind.
"Could it be... something happened to Airi? This snake followed Airi for a while, so it sensed it? Is there a link?"
He stood up, walked near the edge of the hole. Raiga was still persistently crawling around the glass-like transparent barrier. Without a word, the old wolf placed his hand on the barrier, closed his eyes, and channeled internal force.
In a flash, the barrier vanished like smoke. Raiga fell like a water drop soaking into the abyss. Immediately after, the barrier closed again, soundless and shadowless.
The old wolf stood silently looking down, expressionless, wordless, as if entrusting everything to fate.
Kazuka sheathed his sword, and Airi stepped forward to lead. But only after a few steps, a strange sound echoed behind.
From the darkness, Raiga suddenly crawled over. All three immediately stopped, eyes full of shock and alertness.
Raiga, small and nearly blending into the surroundings, silently approached the giant corpse of the snake Airi killed earlier, its body still riddled with sharp blood-sword marks.
No roar, no redundant movement. Raiga simply... opened its mouth.
Then began to eat.
It bit off a large chunk of meat, chewing voraciously. Every strand of meat tore under the small but razor-sharp teeth.
Kazuka whispered:
"Hey... Airi? Why is Raiga here? Wasn't it kept up there?"
Airi shook her head, face equally bewildered.
"I don't know... But Raiga is the creature with the strongest snake bloodline. Maybe... eating snake meat of the same clan will make it stronger?"
Takeshi nodded:
"Yeah, makes sense."
Kazuka smiled lightly:
"So now we have a... snake teammate? Sounds interesting."
He stepped closer, placing a hand lightly on the snake corpse to examine. But at that moment:
Vút!
Raiga suddenly turned its head, lunging to bite Kazuka like an arrow.
Kazuka timely retracted his hand, retreating, eyes shocked:
"What the hell? It was friendly the other day, even ate grilled meat with me! Today it eats raw meat? And its relatives too!"
Airi crossed her arms, eyes thoughtful.
"Maybe... it thought you were going to steal its prey."
Takeshi mused:
"Or... instinct. The blood of the strong often carries a craving for power. Maybe it's changing."
"Quite possible…" Kazuka sighed.
Then he asked:
"Now what? We leave it behind?"
Airi replied:
"Probably just keep going. It's safe here now, monsters are cleared. Besides, look at it, so tiny. Eating that whole corpse will take all day. And after eating, it will probably... sleep."
Takeshi smiled lightly:
"Yeah, let's leave it."
Exiting the cave, they stood before a series of exits, a maze of choices.
Kazuka muttered:
"So many paths again... which to choose now?"
Takeshi pointed to the largest door at the end of the hallway:
"That one. Easiest to see, probably the main way. Picking at random now is just a game of luck."
Airi nodded:
"Yeah. Whatever."
And so, the three continued the journey, leaving behind layers of ash, spilled blood, and... a small snake still gnawing power from the cold flesh of its kin.
Raiga made no sound. But in its small eyes gleamed a light, the light of pure survival instinct... and the endless desire for evolution.
Walking in suffocating silence, only the sound of footsteps echoing vaguely in the long, lightless hallway, Kazuka suddenly spoke, breaking the heavy atmosphere:
"…This path is much wider than the others. Is there some huge monster here?"
His voice echoed in the empty hallway, followed by an echo as if the walls themselves were mockingly repeating the question. Although it was a half-serious joke, no one laughed. The feeling of unease grew, thick as fog coiling around their necks, making every breath heavy.
They continued walking in silence, every step slow on the floor cold as steel, dry sounds echoing in a vague space. Time seemed stretched endlessly, and only after walking a long stretch, it felt as if they finally escaped that dark tunnel.
But relief did not come.
When they set foot in the new space, all three froze simultaneously, bodies rigid as if frozen by an invisible cold draft sweeping past.
Before them was a space so vast it was overwhelming, a massive room covered in thick darkness, only faint light from crystals hovering on the high ceiling reflecting down to the pitch-black ground. No sound, no wind, no movement, but that silence carried a horrific weight, as if every inch of space here was compressing something terrifying about to burst.
And then, they saw them.
A series of giant monsters, with rugged bodies, shaggy armored scales, standing motionless in the darkness. No roar, no movement, but from their bodies emanated a concentrated energy, fierce and brutal like a trapped raging storm. The pressure they radiated needed no action; merely existing was enough to make the surrounding air freeze, and the entire body of those facing them feel strangled by a giant invisible hand.
Their eyes, pairs of eyes red as smoldering coals, silently, simultaneously opened, no blinking, no moving. But that gaze stabbed straight at Kazuka's group, sharp and naked as a pointed blade.
All those eyes, without appointment, pointed to one spot.
Kazuka's group.
In just a short moment, all emotions were strangled; survival instinct screamed in their heads. Confusion and fear surged like fierce waves, striking their hearts, making every muscle tense, every heartbeat frantic like war drums. No one could utter a sound. The eyes of all three widened, unable to blink, and lips parted unconsciously without being able to speak a word.
Their mouths opened, but not to talk, only to try to catch a breath, while chests were being squeezed by a pressure so heavy it felt as if air had vanished from the world.
That atmosphere… was completely swallowed by the most primal fear.
But those giants radiating the aura of demon gods were not what made Kazuka's group so terrified.
It was further away, in the very center.
A deep, terrifying voice echoed, tearing through the heavy silence of the space.
"So you are the ones causing trouble in my place?"
Far away, at the end of the gaze. There sat one on a large chair, like a king's throne, but it wasn't made of gold or by craftsmen; it was made entirely of bones and skulls of dead monsters piled up. It was like an achievement, a trophy he placed there to watch every day while sitting.
Hidden behind darkness cold as a metal knife in a murderer's hand, it made him even more dangerous.
The three stood there, still bewildered and not answering him. Not because they didn't want to answer, but because throats were frozen hard as if blocked by boulders. Minds could not focus on anything.
Suddenly, he appeared before the three. As if he didn't move but teleported. He leaned low and peered closer, wanting to scare the greenhorns who dared come here to challenge a king of this place.
His voice was calm but carried a terrifying coldness.
"Answer me."
The three did not dare move strongly, but stood still, bewildered, terrified of the monster before their eyes. They understood that with one twitch, death would come instantly.
Airi stood there in shock at the pressure the monster ahead released.
—"What the hell? This monster is too strong, the oppressive feeling is truly uncomfortable... Energy that can oppress a vampire is certainly not normal; its power must be at the General level, if categorized by the demon race."
Kazuka's eyebrows trembled violently; this was the only thing he dared to move.
—"His... appearance..."
Takeshi swallowed a mouthful of saliva.
—"This monster... too dangerous... But running is certain death."
Before the three, a creature nearly 1.4 tharns tall, thin-framed but tough as sinew, covered by a dark skin like damp velvet, absorbing the surrounding light. Its body had no clear face; instead, a black indentation in the middle of the head. No eyes, no nose, only a deep mouth with inverted teeth, opening not in a circle but in a vertical line like a cut.
From its back grew seven long arms, joints bent backward as if broken but still moving smoothly. Each arm had three joints and ended in long, sharp fingers that could claw through stone like mud.
He was Narlok.
Narlok's feet did not touch the ground. He hovered a few dozen centimeters above the ground, moving by sliding through the air and leaving a faint black smoke like a ghost.
He broke into a deformed smile, but it was clear he was happy and very amused.
"A vampire is here? Then let me introduce myself, I am Narlok."
"A young vampire and yet caught down here?"
Airi bit her lip to regain calm. Blood flowed from her lip and fell to the ground. She lifted her face and faced him directly.
It could be said that in the group, Airi was the smartest, most calm. She knew she would be the one to solve this; the other two certainly couldn't.
"You were caught here by the old wolf, weren't you?"
The monster's voice immediately changed. The smile vanished, replaced by hatred.
He growled.
"I am asking you, brat. You dare ask me back?"
Airi smirked, voice and face carrying disdain. She directly lifted her head to confront him.
"How were we caught? We are the old wolf's disciples."
At this moment, one could clearly hear his voice carrying anger and hatred accumulated over decades.
"Is that so? Then you will die here."
Keeping that tone, Airi spoke without any fear.
"Do you think the old wolf will let us die?"
—"Damn it, I'll try to threaten him. That old wolf definitely won't come down to save me. I hope this guy is mentally weak."
Narlok smirked in disdain at Airi's words.
"That old man is old now. How can he do anything to us? You truly are stupid to hope in him."
Takeshi and Kazuka stood motionless watching. In their heads, the same thought echoed:
—"Airi surely has a plan to do this. Must trust her."
Airi smirked and shrugged.
"How would you guys in here know? That old man is now extremely strong. He's the strongest in this kingdom now."
Narlok pressed close to Airi's face, wanting to use his scariness and initial oppression to threaten her.
"Are you telling the truth?"
Airi spoke calmly, without hesitation, as if it were a natural fact.
"If that old man grew weak or died, you would know the barrier up there must weaken. Right?"
He lifted his head, but another scheme sprang up in his mind.
"You guys are stubborn too. I only feel faith from you. So that's the faith that old man will come save you? Seems like today I won't get to eat vampire meat and human meat."
"So now, you three, what do you want in this place?"
Airi answered bluntly:
"We came here to train."
A hand from behind his back curved forward and stroked his chin, with a bit of thought.
"Then how about this."
He pointed to the monsters lined up behind. They stood on both sides like a meeting with a king.
"You will fight my subordinates.Whoever dies, let them be. As for me, I will help you and not let you die."
"How about that?"
Airi with a probing gaze stared at Narlok. She understood he had some intent behind this.
"You don't do this for free, right?"
His mouth opened wide, a broad smile appeared. Caught but he wasn't afraid.
"Of course. I only want you to tell the old wolf to release us when you return."
Airi was thoughtful, but she actually had the answer in her head. she was trying to make this seem harder for her.
"I'm not sure. I'll only tell the old man. As for whether he releases you or not, I don't know."
He agreed without hesitation, without asking anything else.
"Fine. Let's go to the arena."
His subordinates followed immediately. There were skeletons wearing old and scratched white armor, but looking like true warriors.
There were giant stone golems, large rats walking on two legs, a spider with a human half-body (female half) and a spider half-body, white skin, face with a series of eyes, wolves with sizes much larger than in the arena…
On the way to the arena, Narlok flew alongside the three. He lowered his head.
"You just caused chaos at the arena. I wonder if they'll let you play? But don't worry, I'm here, so you'll definitely get on the floor."
Kazuka turned and looked up. His face no longer showed previous confusion.
"We killed them all. No need to worry."
His mouth protruded slightly; it seemed he was surprised by Kazuka's words.
"You guys are truly interesting."
Reaching the arena, where Kazuka's group had been before, but now empty.
"Alright. Who fights first? I also want to see your strength."
Kazuka said nothing. He jumped onto the arena. Energy surrounded his body. Near landing, he intentionally stomped hard, making the ground crack to display power. He turned and pointed at Narlok's subordinates.
"I fight first. Whoever wants to, come out.
Airi sat down with Takeshi. Narlok saw this and also sat. Airi with an annoyed face and a shooing voice:
"Who allowed you to sit near me? Go away."
He turned and laughed.
"Come on. Truly vampire blood, so arrogant. But me sitting here doesn't affect anything."
Airi replied without hesitation, showing clear hatred:
"I don't like it."
After speaking, Airi grabbed Takeshi's hand and went to another spot, further away, and sat down.
Narlok with his cunning calculated.
—"Wait until they leave the cave, then I will attack them and use the moment before the cave mouth closes to escape. Suppose that old wolf is very strong now, but I will scatter my body. I'll escape one way or another."
"These are his new disciples. Surely the previous disciple finished learning and is no longer with the old man."
On Airi and Takeshi's side, Takeshi turned.
"Hey, is this okay?"
Airi shook her head.
"Hard to say. But currently, we are safe."
—"This guy keeps pressing close to me, and I feel if I'm ever afraid of him, something will happen. The danger he brings is truly horrific."
—"And yet he's very calm and friendly, feels like there's a problem. Even protecting our lives and waiting for us to go out and tell the old wolf."
Airi suddenly opened her eyes wide, as if she just realized something.
—"Going out... Yes, going out. They are waiting for us to go out and then follow right behind. If so, it will be very difficult."
—"The old wolf will have a hard time supporting when we climb up. The problem is still that he's old. Why did he raise these monsters? And how can a monster this strong exist? Did it evolve slowly or was the old man strong before?"
Switching to the arena floor, Kazuka was facing a monster, shaped like an armored skeleton holding a sword.
This skeleton fought like an excellent swordsman. The sword paths released were very powerful and sharp.
Narlok stood above and shouted:
"That is my strongest monster. What do you think?"
Kazuka and the skeleton rushed. Two blades with different energy sources. The blades hadn't touched, but the two energy sources had touched and were neutralizing each other.
Both sides tensed and pushed the blades in opposite directions. No one yielded. Two large energy sources radiated across the arena. Two blades were crossing. Suddenly Kazuka took the initiative.
Kazuka leaned back. The skeleton's sword, using very strong force, swung away. Kazuka had leaned back and dodged. Keeping that posture, he spun to the skeleton's side.
A slash was launched. It cut off the skeleton's head. Upon striking, Kazuka immediately tumbled several times on the ground and kept a distance to observe.
The skeleton, though its head was slashed off, still moved. The sword full of energy vanished, thrown to the ground. The skeleton knelt on the ground and began to crawl. Its hands felt everywhere on the ground. It was looking for its own head that Kazuka had knocked away.
Kazuka pointed at the skeleton on the ground and turned his head, looking at Narlok.
"It can't die?"
Narlok shook his head.
"Must use light energy or be purified to die."
"Can it talk?"
"It cannot."
"So it only listens to your orders?"
"It is a skeleton without a soul. When ordered, its soul returns. When there's an order, it will complete it by any means. If defeated, it stops following the order."
Kazuka's eyes carried interest, brightening.
"Can you give it to me? I can train with it on the surface."
He shouted at Kazuka's request.
"I won't give it to you!"