"There has to be another way."
Unlike me and Snow, Ghost remained strangely calm ... as if the current situation were nothing but a child's game. That unsettled me even more.
"Gates don't operate on a single path. So either it's malfunctioning… or someone tampered with it from the other side."
"Who? We wandered through the sect for hours and didn't see anyone," Snow replied, confident in his claim .. after all, he had scanned the entire place before we arrived.
But his words weren't absolute. He couldn't sense something vastly more powerful than himself. Besides, everything about the sect was cloaked in mystery.
I forced myself to stay calm and opened the system interface.
Just as Ghost said… there had to be a solution.
And if none existed .. I'd create one, through the power of the system. Everything would be fine as long as we completed the mission.
I opened the system, intending to learn what our next move should be ... where we were supposed to go in this barren red desert.
But my hand froze before I could tap the interface. And the same thing happened to Snow and Ghost.
It was like hundreds of filthy worms had begun crawling across my skin .. an overwhelming wave of dread and discomfort.
All three of us turned toward the same spot at the same time—the place where that threatening presence was coming from.
The desert was wide and flat, allowing us to see everything around us clearly.
And yet we hadn't seen it… until it was already near.
A sharp, metallic sound rang out.
Black hair drifting in the air. Something walking on all fours.
"A horse?" Snow asked.
"No…"
The dreadful feeling inside me intensified.
As that creature with a single eye approached, it resembled a deformed man ... twisted by dozens of mutations until it had taken on a grotesque form that walked on all fours. Like a feral horse made of rotting flesh…
The aura surrounding it radiated a dreadful aura that pierced straight through our souls.
The three of us took a step back .... unconsciously.
That thing… had already laid its eye on us.
"Ah! So you were at my side all along!!" The creature's mouth twisted into a grin.
"It talks?!"
We didn't even have time to be surprised. The moment it spotted us, the thing lunged forward with a shrieking, metallic cry.
"Blood… blood… give me some blood!"
"Get ready to fight!"
I shouted, drawing both Balerion and the Dark Sister at once. Snow and Ghost were focused too—so much so they didn't even notice the Dark Sister. All their attention was locked on that horrific creature.
It leapt through a cloud of aura, crashing down on us violently and kicking up a storm of red sand.
Its horse-like body began to deform grotesquely, sprouting hands made of rotten flesh ... hands that flew toward us.
"Ten Thousand Steps of Shadow: Black cutter!"
"One-Sword Style: Absolute Zero!"
I unleashed dozens of black arcs, slicing through the grotesque hands, while Snow froze the rest with a massive surge of icy aura.
We managed to repel the initial wave—barely—which made me let my guard down for just a moment… a moment where that creature's reflection flashed in my Hawk Eyes.
"Frey!"
Snow's shout was the last thing I heard before the beast rammed into me, hurling me away. I felt bones crack under the force of impact.
The monster charged after me on all fours, trying to trample me while screaming incoherent words.
"Blood, blood! Just a little blood, please!"
Its hooves slammed the ground relentlessly as I dodged beneath them in a frenzy.
When I looked up, I saw what was beneath its lower torso—there was a swirling mass of sticky red fluid dripping toward me.
The first drop hit the ground.
The sand began to vaporize instantly.
"Acid…?"
"Please, the blood… just a little blood… why won't you give me any? I want blood… blood… blood…"
The monstrous voice mixed with shrill screeches as it tried to crush me, pouring down a stream of that strange, acidic fluid directly at me.
A single touch… and I'd melt into a rotten pile of flesh.
But the ground beneath me turned black just in time, and Ghost pulled me away into his shadow.
On the other side, the raging beast took a devastating hit ... Snow had descended upon it with a storm of strikes using Vermithor.
Starlight aura burned rapidly around him as he slashed wildly at the creature.
"Too bright!!"
The monster howled, shielding itself from Snow—who now looked like a literal radiant blue star.
Ghost and I reappeared away from the attack. As soon as we landed, I dashed back into the fray.
"Wait for the right moment!" I shouted at Ghost, igniting both my blades with dark aura as I charged toward the monster and Snow, who were still locked in fierce battle.
"Ten Thousand Steps of Shadow: Black Meteor!"
Focused on defending against Snow, the beast groaned in pain as a black beam struck it from the side.
With Snow on its right and me on its left—we exchanged a glance, understanding each other instantly.
Pouring every ounce of power we had, we launched a flurry of savage slashes.
Black arcs from my left, and radiant white arcs from Snow's right.
The creature howled, bleeding profusely under the onslaught of our twin assault.
It tried to escape .. but dozens of black threads coiled tightly around it, courtesy of Ghost's shadow manipulation.
It was completely trapped.
The beast didn't scream.
It wept.
Its sobbing was audible as tears streamed from its lone eye.
"Why? Why won't you give it to me…?"
It was utterly insane. We were literally carving it apart without stopping, yet we had barely pierced through its putrid flesh.
Gasp.
"All I wanted… was just a little blood… fresh, clean blood… that's all this rotting body needs…"
The monster cried while we continued our relentless assault ... until its sobbing stopped, and its hair rose sharply toward the sky.
Then it opened its mouth ... and screamed.
A piercing, explosive cry that felt like someone had stabbed my ears from the inside. Blood poured from them instantly.
The scream was accompanied by a wave of violet aura that sent both Snow and me flying, hurling us far away from the beast.
I immediately regained my balance, attempting to charge at it again—only to be blindsided by a beam of concentrated aura shooting toward me, fired straight from the monster's gaping mouth.
There was no time to dodge.
I crossed my swords, trying to withstand it ... and moments later, the impact struck.
I fought to stay standing as the aura beam scorched my body at an alarming rate.
"Graaahhhh!!"
The creature didn't stop. That metallic screech echoed once again.
Suddenly, the ground beneath me exploded—dozens of giant mouths made of decaying flesh burst upward, all trying to devour me.
Preoccupied with fending off the overwhelming assault, I failed to notice that the beast had already found a new target ..Snow.
He fought back, but the raging creature clung to him tightly as more mouths formed across its grotesque body.
They bit into him relentlessly, causing blood to spill profusely.
Snow cried out in agony, while the monster—ecstatic—let out another wild scream.
"Ahhh! Blood! Blood! Delicious! So delicious! Finally!!!"
It drank Snow's blood at a horrifying pace. Snow struggled, but his expression turned grim the moment he realized the aura inside his body had stopped moving ... something had paralyzed it.
He couldn't fight back. And I was still too busy dealing with the mouths to help.
I realized I wouldn't make it in time.