The speed of the skinny, deranged humans was unbelievable, easily rivalling a new Initiate. Their speed, accompanied by the surprise of their attack, made it so that almost no one was ready to face them.
The first one lunged into Nero's spear on its own, but instead of being skewered, the spear only partially stabbed him, getting stuck on the bone. In fact, the spear was nearly ripped out of Nero's hands due to the amazing resistance the attacking human put up.
But Nero held on, and turned the spears blade, freeing from the bone and allowing it to cut through the body. Yet the attacking human was barely fazed. With claws and fangs that were unusually sharp, it leaped at Nero, dark red blood streaming down its body.
This time, however, Nero effortlessly swirled his spear, slamming its blunt end into the skinny, human and knocking it aside. Taking him by surprise once was already a big deal - he would not allow it to happen repeatedly.
Beside him, Leonard had also been taken by surprise, yet the shield he carried saved him and bought him just enough time for the other team mates to come to his aid. Yet the fight had just begun. There were easily over thirty skinny humans, all lunging at them like wild animals with speed and strength far greater than their own.
They were outnumbered and outgunned. The only few advantages they had was that the narrow opening of the corridor meant that they could not be attacked from all sides, and that the humans were only using brute strength, and not their abilities.
In only a couple of seconds they were almost overwhelmed, but then two veils of flames, one yellow and one blue, covered the entrance of the corridor. Considering that most of the attackers were already close, almost all of them caught on fire, of one colour or another, though they seemed to have no concept of pain.
But lack of pain did not mean they were not affected. Their bodies were burning or freezing, and that would naturally affect their speed. Red sand covered the ground and would wrap itself around the attackers feet, both burning them and keeping them from moving forward.
At the same time, Wendy, who was standing further back, pulled out a box of needles and used a card to shoot the needles into the attackers, each one coated with her venom.
The fight, despite being incredibly intense, came to a close within a minute. The 'research subjects' were either burned, frozen, limbless on the ground covered in sand, or dying from severe necrosis.
Compared to curses, fighting living people was a lot easier.
"What the hell are people doing here?" Harold asked, looking shocked. Although he had not played a big role in killing them, he had been largely responsible for holding back their initial assault.
"I thought no one came down here before us," said Leonard, still suffering from mild shock. He looked down at the bleeding corpse at his feet, still absorbing the fact that he killed someone.
"That thing called them research subjects," Nero said, as he bent down and touched one of the corpses, analysing its body. "As ridiculous as it sounds, they might have been here for a very long time."
"That's at least a thousand years. That's impossible, even sages cannot live that long," Gabriel said decisively.
Nero felt the research subject's skin and found that it was extremely rough, and almost directly over the bone. There didn't seem to be much muscle or tissue underneath it, or any at all for that matter. Yet what surprised him most was how dense the aether concentration in his body felt.
This was unusual, for normal humans radiate a powerful aura which is a reflection of their power when they grow to higher levels. They don't directly radiate aether. That, instead, made them seem like walking aether shards.
Nero looked at the machine thing that had instructed them to 'contain' these 'research subjects' and asked, "how long have these subjects been here? What were they being tested for?"
"Research assistants do not have authority to obtain such information. Contain research subjects before their corruption mutations are exhibited."
Nero frowned, and looked back at the people. He wasn't exactly excited about the fact that humans were being experimented on, but that was not what he was focusing on at the moment.
"What do you mean contain them? Haven't we already contained them? They've been killed."
"Negative. Contain research subjects before their corruption mutations are exhibited."
Nero exchanged glances with the others, and then looked back at the corpses. They were all thoroughly dead. They were not doing anything except laying there, slowly bleeding out.
If Nero absolutely had to pick something unusual about them, it would be that their blood was darker and more viscous than it should have been, but that was it. Also, the aether in their bodies had not dispersed upon death.
"Do you think there are more of them out there somewhere?" Harold asked, feeling like maybe they needed to kill more of them.
"One way or another, we'll find out. We still need to search the premises for our targets. But just in case, does anyone have any sealing or imprisonment cards?"
"No, but I can do this," one of Leonard's teammates said as he picked up a chain and fused the last link with the wall - or at least he tried to. At their level, they could not affect the wall in any way. So, ultimately, he just fused all the chains to each other.
Nero looked one last time at the intimidating creature he decided was some kind of robot. He did not seem weak, so Nero assumed he would have been able to kill these subjects himself if he wanted. But he didn't. Instead, he asked them to seal them. Why was that?
Nero felt like the answer to that question might not be a pleasant one.
"Let's continue exploring," Nero said softly. "That looks like it leads to a lower level."
He proceeded softly and cautiously, descending the downward slope. Instead of corridors, it looked like there were massive cracks in the walls which revealed the rooms further ahead. Taking one last look to make sure the machine wasn't going to stop them, they carefully slid through the cracks. The machine remained where it was, standing over the corpses, waiting for them to be contained.
But unfortunately, Nero and the rest did not understand what it meant by that. As a result, the aether in their bodies began to slowly disappear. But it wasn't dissipating out. Instead, it was as if there was something inside their bodies, eating it.
The structure on the other side of the cracks was completely different from the basement before. If the previous halls had been plain and bare, fitting a research facility, then the room they entered was intricately decorated with carvings and designs. Colourful tiles in intricate patterns covered the floor, creating a splendorous and expansive piece of art.
Pillars were carved right into the walls, and between the pillars were statues similar to the machine they had just seen in the previous room.
Paintings hung on the wall, though they had been burnt, leaving only their frames, and crystal chandeliers hung from the ceilings. Speaking of which, the ceiling itself was also painted to reflect the stars and the night sky, with countless crystals acting as the shining stars.
The sudden change from bare to opulent was a little strange, but maybe this lowest level was the residence of someone important. Nero continued forward, stepping onto the red velvet carpet on the floor, and walked deeper into the room.
If there was going to be an artefact, this is probably where it was going to be, so he kept his eyes peeled. Yet for all the decorations that the room contained, it had nothing of any substance.
The ground was still cracked but everyone ignored that and walked into the next room which had an open door, and entered a lavish dining room. From there, as they proceeded forward, they found what looked to be a kitchen, and then a pantry.
The more they explored, the more it looked like they were in an underground mansion, and it didn't seem to end.
"What the hell is this place?" Harold asked.
"Honestly, I have no idea," Nero responded. He kept searching for something out of place, but everything was so strange he couldn't identify what might be strange. Ultimately, they explored the whole area and didn't find anything that might be an artefact, so they decided to head back.
But even before they reached the cracks from which they entered, they heard the sound of fighting and screaming.
At first Nero thought that the machine might be the one fighting, but the screaming didn't fit. It sounded like a lot of people were fighting. They rushed back and found that another team had entered the basement, and what they were fighting… were abominations that had their legs chained together.