Deep within the underground ruins beneath King’s Campus, Royal Crown University.
In a dark, narrow corridor deep within the ruins, Dorothy was running as fast as she could, trying to evade the swarm of bats searching for her from above.
“Huff… huff… To be able to summon so many bats for a full-scale search, to instantly detect my small corpse marionettes, and to rescue Thorn Velvet from the Hunters’ encirclement… This guy… is probably not just at the Black Earth Rank…”
As she ran, Dorothy muttered to herself, analyzing the situation. It was clear that the person currently using the bats to hunt her down was likely a Beyonder above the Black-rank—a White-rank existence.
Dorothy, though capable of relying on mystical items, system skills, and tactical planning to defeat a Black-rank opponent despite being an Apprentice, was not confident enough to challenge someone two ranks above her, especially a White-rank opponent who had appeared out of nowhere, about whom she knew almost nothing and had zero intelligence.
Therefore, Dorothy’s only option now was to find a way to escape. Since the bats had already spread throughout the upper levels, she couldn’t go back. Her only choice was to flee deeper into the ruins.
However, she soon realized that simply running away wasn’t a viable solution.
“No… Based on the intervals at which my corpse marionettes were destroyed, those bats are searching at an alarming speed. They can clear an entire level in no time. If this continues, they’ll reach my level soon. I can’t outrun them. I need to think of another way. I can’t just wait for death. At the very least, I need to slow that guy down!”
Thinking this, Dorothy began scanning her surroundings for anything she could use to her advantage. After a quick glance, she noticed something.
“It seems… ever since I descended to this level, I haven’t encountered any branching paths. It’s just been a single corridor leading straight ahead. That means if those bats want to chase me, they can only come from one direction… behind me!” With this realization, Dorothy stopped at a corner in the corridor ahead. She took out her magic box, adjusted the size of its entrance, and summoned three corpse marionettes. One of them carried a large bottle filled with a strange liquid—lamp oil that Dorothy had stored for her exploration of the ruins.
Dorothy then controlled these three marionettes, along with the one carrying the lantern beside her, making a total of four marionettes. She sent them to stand in the middle of the corridor, facing the direction from which the bats would come. Three marionettes stood in front, while the fourth, holding the lantern and the oil, crouched behind them.
In this way, Dorothy and her marionettes stood in the dark corridor, holding their breath and focusing intently, waiting for the swarm of bloodthirsty bats to arrive.
Before long, the sound of rustling grew louder in the darkness at the far end of the corridor. The noise grew closer, louder, and more concentrated. Dorothy could clearly sense that something was coming.
Finally, after searching all the upper levels, the swarm of bloodthirsty bats reached Dorothy’s level. They surged down the staircase and flew rapidly along the long, winding corridor.
“They’re here…”
Hearing the dense noise, Dorothy prepared herself. At the far end of the corridor, countless bats flew around several bends before finally sensing the presence of living beings ahead. They surged forward at high speed.
Soon, the corpse marionette Dorothy had placed at the front was instantly surrounded and torn apart by the bats, offering almost no resistance. Sensing the marionette’s destruction, Dorothy confirmed the location of the leading edge of the bat swarm in the darkness. Taking advantage of the bats’ focus on tearing apart the marionette, she opened her mouth.
“-Fus·Ro-”
Ancient words spilled from Dorothy’s mouth, exploding like thunder in the darkness. The shockwave from the shout rushed forward along the single-path corridor, slamming into the bats that were tearing apart the marionettes.
Under the impact, Dorothy’s marionettes and the bats were sent flying, smashing into the corridor walls and leaving bloody smears. A large portion of the bat swarm was slammed against the far end of the corridor, crushed against the wall by the force of the shout. The wall cracked under the impact, with cracks radiating outward, some even reaching the ceiling.
But more than the shockwave, the sound of Dorothy’s shout had an even faster effect on the bats. Bats rely on echolocation to navigate and have highly sensitive hearing. The deafening roar of the shout instantly incapacitated the bats that hadn’t yet entered the corridor, causing them to fall to the ground, twitching. In an instant, the attacking bat swarm was largely disabled.
Seeing this, Dorothy felt a surge of relief. She then controlled the marionette that had been crouching nearby, unharmed by the shout, to stand up. This marionette, carrying the lantern and the oil, rushed forward to clean up the battlefield.
Dorothy planned to deal with the bats that hadn’t entered the corridor and had been incapacitated by the shout. She intended to burn them all.
Dorothy controlled the oil-carrying marionette to run to the end of the corridor. Turning to look down the next stretch, she saw a floor full of twitching bats. Without hesitation, she had the marionette pour the oil over them. Just as Dorothy was about to light the oil, another rustling sound came from the distance. Turning to look, she saw another swarm of bats flying toward her—clearly a second wave that had lagged behind.
“Damn… there are still so many? So this wasn’t the entire swarm?”
Seeing the new swarm of bats approaching, Dorothy prepared to light the oil and burn as many bats as possible. However, at that moment, the new swarm of bats began to change rapidly.
As they flew closer, the bats quickly gathered together, forming a growing shadow. This shadow then condensed into a humanoid shape, taking on the appearance of Claudius. However, his skin was covered in large, bloody wounds.
With just a small portion of the bats, Claudius had reformed. He flew swiftly toward the marionette preparing to light the oil, extending a pale, clawed hand and piercing it into the marionette’s body. In an instant, the marionette’s body shriveled up, becoming a desiccated husk within two or three seconds. Meanwhile, the bloody wounds on Claudius’s body began to heal slightly.
Claudius’s bat transformation allowed him to split into fifty bats. As long as one-fifth of these bats survived, Claudius himself would not be in mortal danger.
Therefore, whenever Claudius used his bat transformation, he never committed too many bats to the front lines of exploration or combat. He always kept enough bats safely away to avoid being completely wiped out. The bats that had arrived later were his reserve, and the wounds on his body were the result of the bats he had lost to Dorothy’s shout.
“Damn… these bats are actually part of him? He can reform with just a few bats left? That’s insane!”
Seeing this, Dorothy thought frantically. At that moment, after draining the marionette, Claudius flung the desiccated corpse aside and glanced at the bats that had been incapacitated by the shout. With a thought, the bats shook off the effects of the shout, struggling and screeching as they flew back to Claudius’s body.
As the bats returned, the horrific wounds on Claudius’s body rapidly healed. However, they didn’t heal completely, as the leading group of bats had been crushed into bloody pulp by the shout and couldn’t be recovered.
“A Beyonder who can manipulate violent sounds? Interesting… I initially thought it was a Chalice, but now it seems there might be more to it…”
Claudius muttered softly as he walked forward, preparing to confront the Beyonder hiding in the darkness at the end of the corridor. Hearing his footsteps, Dorothy’s heart tightened.
“Crap… his main body is coming. I’ve already used the shout, and the cooldown for the second stage is at least half a day. This isn’t good…”
In the darkness, Dorothy’s expression turned serious. The fact that her shout hadn’t completely defeated Claudius had put her in a passive position. Without the shout, winning against a White-rank opponent was nearly impossible!
Just as Dorothy was deciding whether to turn and run or use all her resources to fight back, a rumbling sound echoed through the space.
The cracks in the wall caused by the shout had spread to the ceiling of the corridor. As the structural integrity of the ceiling was compromised, it finally gave way and began to collapse.
“What…”
Hearing the ominous sound, Dorothy immediately ran away from the collapsing area. Claudius, who had been preparing to confront the enemy in the darkness, also quickly retreated.
Then, with a loud crash, the corridor that had been struck by the shout began to collapse. Large chunks of the ceiling fell, crashing onto the floor below.
In the end, the entire corridor was completely blocked by the collapse. Fortunately, the collapse was localized and didn’t affect a large area. Only the corridor that had been struck by the shout had collapsed. Dorothy, having moved quickly, narrowly escaped disaster.
“Phew… that was close…”
Standing at the edge of the collapse, Dorothy took out another gas lamp from her magic box and lit it. She looked at the rubble blocking the path and let out a sigh of relief.
“As expected… using the shout in a place like this is dangerous. Good thing I didn’t use the third stage, or the collapse would have been impossible to escape…”
Dorothy thought with relief. If she had used the third stage of the shout, it wouldn’t have been just a single corridor collapsing. The entire level might have caved in.
“Now, with this entire corridor blocked by rubble, that bat guy shouldn’t be able to get through. If he were a White-rank Chalice, he might be able to break through the rubble. If he were a Wall Walker, he could phase through it. But from the looks of it, he’s neither… Hopefully, he has no way to get through…”
Looking at the rubble, Dorothy felt a sense of relief. Although the collapse had nearly buried her, it had also separated her from the bat man, temporarily solving her crisis.
“But the cost is that the exit is on the other side of the rubble. I’m now completely trapped in the lower levels of the ruins. I’ll have to explore deeper to see if I can find another way out…”
“So now, I can only keep going deeper.”
Whispering to herself, Dorothy took out her magic box and summoned two more corpse marionettes and another gas lamp. She had one marionette stand guard at the rubble blocking the path, ready to warn her if the bat man found a way through. The other marionette carried the lamp and led the way as Dorothy ventured deeper into the ruins.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the collapsed corridor, Claudius stood with his hands behind his back, coldly observing the pile of rubble.
“That violent sound caused a collapse? Hmph… quite powerful…”
Claudius muttered with a cold snort. He then transformed back into a swarm of bats and flew back up the corridor, returning to the upper level. At the staircase, the bats gathered and reformed into his human shape.
The confrontation between Dorothy and Claudius had taken place on the sixth level of the ruins. Now, Claudius had retreated to the staircase leading down to the fifth level.
“However… if you think a pile of rubble can stop me, you’re sorely mistaken.”
Gazing at the staircase leading downward, Claudius muttered. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small vial of blood. After drinking it, the remaining wounds on his body quickly healed.
Next, Claudius took out a papyrus sigil inscribed with the dual symbols of Shadow and Chalice.
“Poison Mist Sigil…”
Muttering, Claudius pressed the sigil against his body. As the sigil burned and disappeared, he took a deep breath and, using the spirituality of Shadow and Chalice within him, exhaled a cloud of purple-red mist.
This mist, denser than air, quickly sank to the ground after being exhaled by Claudius, spreading across the sixth level.
Claudius’s poison mist was voluminous, and he continued exhaling without pause. The mist spread rapidly across the sixth level, rolling down the corridor.
In this way, Claudius used the sigil to create poison mist with his spirituality, filling the sixth level where Dorothy was. The thick purple-red mist seeped through the cracks in the rubble, gradually spreading from one side of the collapse to the other.
Since the rubble blocked his path, Claudius decided to flood the area with poison. The gaps in the rubble might stop him, but they couldn’t stop the mist!
Once the entire sixth level was filled with poison, every living being inside would be killed. Claudius’s goal would be achieved.