The cold of the cave crawled over their skin like an invisible blade.
Even Lian, who now, thanks to his talents and skills, had become almost resistant to normal cold, felt that the air around him had become heavier than before.
But what really made his spine freeze was not the cold.
It was the system notification.
[You Have Entered Monster Territory]
[Dreadmaw Sovereign]
[Rank: Unholy]
[Level: 20]
A heavy silence ruled between him and Seris. For a few seconds, neither said anything. Even the sound of their breathing was barely heard.
Seris’s face, which was always calm and emotionless, changed for the first time. Her eyebrows came together, her eyes opened a little wider, and then fear! Very little, but it was there.
Lian had never seen anything like that on her face before.
"We should retreat." Seris then said quietly, but worry was clear in her tone.
Lian did not answer immediately, because he had been thinking the same thing.
An Unholy.
A monster even higher than Fallen ones, and at level 20! Only one step away from its first evolution, and maybe even now its evolution process had started.
This was no longer a creature at their level. This was something beyond any monster they had seen so far.
Lian clenched his fist, his gaze fixed on the notification. They had no chance of defeating this one. He was sure of it, with no doubt.
Even though he had become much stronger than the last time they were in this village, he and Seris had barely won against a level 19 Fallen monster.
And an Unholy? Even thinking about it was stupid.
"If things get bad, we run." He then said quietly.
Seris looked at him.
"Run?" Seris looked at him as if she had heard a joke.
"If necessary, we just run. Don’t worry."
He still had stat points and could use all of them for speed if needed. He could also upgrade Fallen Wolf Speed if necessary.
Maybe they could not defeat an Unholy, but he was confident about escaping.
A few moments of silence passed.
"...Okay." Finally, Seris said quietly and looked into the depths of the cave.
"I trust you again."
The two continued moving. The further they went, the colder it became. The stone walls of the cave were completely buried under layers of ice.
The sound of their footsteps echoed in the dark space. Every few meters... bones. More bones appeared. Some belonged to humans, but most did not.
Massive skulls, ribs as big as an adult human body, and spines that looked terrifying even after turning into bones.
"This place looks like a predator’s den." Seris said quietly.
Lian said nothing, because he felt exactly the same. As if all the monsters that had entered this mountain... had died here in the end.
A few minutes later, they reached the center of the cave, and at that moment, both stopped. Two massive cocoons hung from the ceiling.
And on the other side, at the end of the cave, there was a huge stone door. Beyond that, there was no way forward.
White, slimy threads like spider webs covered the area around them. Inside both cocoons, shadows could be seen.
Human shadows.
"Could it be them?" Seris frowned.
"Maybe." Lian answered quietly.
A moment later, Seris lifted off the ground, and the Frostfang sword flashed in the air.
SLASH!
The connecting threads were cut. Both cocoons fell to the ground with a heavy sound, and the impact made the slimy liquid inside them shake.
And suddenly, a movement. Then a second movement. Lian’s eyes narrowed.
They were alive.
Seris delivered another strike, and the cocoon fabric tore. A thick liquid flowed onto the ground.
And three bodies fell out of it.
Aria.
Ryan.
And Alisa.
Ryan and Aria were inside one cocoon, holding each other’s hands. Alisa was in the second cocoon.
A moment later, all three started coughing, expelling the liquid from their lungs, and then they barely opened their eyes.
Lian stepped forward.
"Are you okay?"
But at that moment, Aria’s face lost its color, as if she had seen a ghost.
"You..."
Ryan also froze.
"No..."
Alisa started to tremble.
"No... no..."
Suddenly, all three backed away in horror, as if an enemy was standing in front of them, not a rescuer.
Lian frowned.
"What’s wrong?" Lian frowned and could not understand the reason for their behavior.
"Stay away!" Aria shouted with a trembling voice.
"..."
"You are monsters!"
Lian and Seris both stopped. A few moments of silence passed.
Ryan threw himself in front of the two girls, and despite his legs shaking, despite his obvious fear, he still stood.
"I won’t let you hurt them!"
Lian was confused.
"What do you mean?" What was happening here? Did they look like ghosts that these three were so terrified?
"You thought we didn’t see?!" Aria’s eyes filled with tears.
"..."
"You killed all the village children!"
Lian completely froze.
"What? When did we do that?"
"Don’t lie!" Tears fell down Aria’s face.
"We saw everything!" Images of that night appeared in front of her eyes.
Children.
Screams.
Blood.
Corpses.
And two monsters that were Lian and Seris.
Lian suddenly remembered something. The children. All those children. When he had fought the villagers, there were no children.
Not even one. They had completely disappeared. And now he realized that he had not seen any children in the village.
Of course, he was sure those children were actually monsters, not real humans. But regardless, they were not there.
"Brainwashed?" Seris whispered quietly.
Lian was thinking the same thing, and if not, what other answer could there be? But the question is, why would they brainwash these three?
He even thought that these three should have been dead by now, and that they are still alive is a surprise in itself to him.
He could not understand, what is this final mutation? Why are these three being kept for it? And why were they in these cocoons? What is this cocoon?
But before he could answer, a sound echoed in the cave.
Grrrrrrrrrrrr...
All four turned toward the sound. At the end of the cave, the massive stone door began to open.
The ground shook. A golden light shone from the crack in the door. And then the sound of footsteps was heard.
Tak.
Tak.
Then a familiar voice was heard.
"Is the ceremony finally over?"
Lian’s eyes suddenly narrowed. He knew this voice. Very well.
The light moved aside, and a man came out from behind the door. A calm smile was on his face. The same usual smile, the same friendly smile.
The village chief!
He glanced at the torn cocoons, then his gaze slid over Aria and the others, and finally fixed on Lian and Seris.
His smile deepened.
"Oh? So you two came back."
At that moment, a new notification appeared in front of Lian’s eyes.
[Dreadmaw]
[Rank: Mutated]
[Level: 20]
He glanced briefly at the notification. Fortunately, they were not facing a Fallen one; the monster in front of them was a level 20 Mutated.
The village chief smiled, looking at them for a long time.
"It’s good that you came back, because with you, the ceremony will go better." He then said quietly.