MTLNOVEL Chapter 8: The New God III
The worm devil's screeches echoed violently through the room, each high-pitched wail piercing the sorcerers' ears like jagged shards of glass.
Its massive, segmented body writhed with convulsions, purple blood oozing from a jagged perforation in its once-impenetrable shell.
The creature's blood sprayed haphazardly, splattering the already cracked walls and pooling on the ground in thick, glistening puddles.
No one spoke, not that they didn't want to, but the confusion along with the fear left them all terrified by what they witnessed.
Kai, who had been been helped to lean against the wall, fought to keep his eyes open.
His breaths were shallow, wheezing, each one a painful reminder of his life which was slowly diminishing.
Blood oozed sluggishly from multiple gashes across his torso, dyeing his clothes a dark crimson.
Even in his battered state, Kai's attention was to drawn to the scene he was witnessing.
' What just happened?'
The worm devil had proven nearly invulnerable, its hard shell resisting every attack—even the devastating physical attacks from Muri- a sorcerer who had been involved in Vanguard class battles.
Yet now, inexplicably, it was bleeding profusely, and its shell punctured as though it was a snail's.
"It's bleeding…" Alisson murmured under her breath, as she gazed at it with utter bewilderment.
"How did that happen?"
Kai tilted his head weakly toward her, catching a brief glimpse of her furrowed brow before shifting his gaze back to his wounds.
Even in their current predicament, his eyes still showered her with compliments as all he could see, was a goddess by his side.
Still, he could feel the sharp edges of pain digging into his consciousness, threatening to drag him under as depression soon overwhelmed him.
'This isn't good... I'm fading fast...I need to get a healer as soon as possible. But, in truth, my limbs are already lost, so, there's no coming back from that.'
Despite the creeping numbness, one thought burned stubbornly in his mind, and he wasted no time to utter it out.
"This is our best shot."
"I don't know how," Kai rasped between shallow breaths.
"But this… might be our only chance to kill it." He forced the words out, pausing to suck in air.
"Problem is… I'll probably be dead by the time you're done."
Alisson's sharp gaze flickered between Kai's bloodied form and the thrashing beast. Her lips pressed into a tight line as she crouched beside him, assessing his wounds with a practiced eye.
The devil was vulnerable now — weakened, exposed. Any competent sorcerer would seize this moment to deliver the killing blow, claim the victory, and rise in rank, which would mean- increased pay.
Wasting only a moment to think, she exhaled slowly and said.
"No. We're leaving. You need treatment."
Kai blinked, dazed by her words.
"Wait… what?"
"Your life is more important than any damn mission. Every life matters, no matter what."
Attaining a mission complete—the mark of their success—was just a few steps away.
All she had to do was land the final strike and claim the kill, most likely by attacking its tentacle eye.
Any other sorcerer would have done it without a second thought, taken the glory and rised in rank.
But Alisson had chosen him over her rank. Which could let you think, was it possible that his feeling for her was not exactly one sided?
'Does this mean she actually cares about me, more than I think?' Kai's thoughts spiraled, a strange warmth flickering through his battered body despite the pain.
'Is...Is this ...love?'
His lips parted instinctively, desperate to say something meaningful, something cool. "Thank you" felt too cliché, too ordinary for the moment. He needed a better line—something unforgettable.
'She probably thinks I'm a cool guy. I can't ruin that image now. I have to give her the coolest reply ever. Dont ruin this Kai.'
She didn't think of him as a cool guy, sadly. Not that it mattered anyway.
But then, in the telling moment, his brain, fogged by blood loss and pain, betrayed him.
"…Pity sex?"
The words slipped from his mouth before he could stop them. Completely annihilating his intended image.
Kai's mind reeled in horror.
' No. No, no, no. Damnit!'
'Did I just ask for pity sex?! What the hell is wrong with me?! Blood loss or not—this is a new level of stupidity!'
Alisson froze, her expression unreadable. Her gaze locked onto him, disbelief flashing in her eyes.
"…What did you just say to m—"
Luckily for him, before she could finish, the worm devil's agonized screeches abruptly ceased.
A second perforation tore through its armored neck, spurting a fresh wave of dark purple blood into the air, spraying and damping the injuried sorcerers.
The creature convulsed violently, and with one last heavy gaggle of blood, collapsed with a thunderous crash, sending dust and debris flying into the air.
The room fell into an eerie silence for a few moment. They all stood still, gazing at the worm devil, just incase there was any sudden movement which could lead to their death.
At last, Jaya, trembling, managed to stammer, breaking the silence.
"I-Is… is it dead?"
Sia, the closest to the fallen beast, pausing for a moment, mustered her courage and took tentative steps forward.
On reaching the worm devil, she gently touched its shell, her fingers trembled as she pressed her hand against its slick, cooling exterior.
The absence of mana was palpable and the beast's degeneration had already begun.
"It's dead," she whispered, her voice quivering.
"It's actually dead… we did it!"
It was true, the worm devil was dead.
A disbelieving chuckle escaped her lips, shattering the tension. Relief washed over the group as smiles spread across their faces. Joyous laughter mingled with gasps of amazement along with tears of joy.
They had done it—defeated the worm devil without Muri, their strongest comrade. It was an impossible task, yet somehow, they had done it, they had made it through. Now all that was left, was Kai's treatment.
However, amidst the celebration, Kai remained frozen, his expression grim.
You see, from the moment he laid eyes on the haunted house, he was certain the unfamiliar aura emanating from it far surpassed anything within the Seeker Class.
Yet, as a mere Seeker himself—a weakling by all standards—his ability to accurately gauge mana signatures was laughably limited, leaving room for error and doubt.
However, he was sure of one thing.
'This isn't right.'
The others might have been fooled by the devil's death, but Kai's instincts screamed at him.
The oppressive aura he had sensed from the moment they entered this cursed place—it hadn't vanished.
If anything, it had grown stronger.
'No...this can't be happening... '
"We survived!" Sia jubilated, her grin wide. "We get to live!"
No. It was too easy. Far too easy for something which had emitted that aura. Besides, he hadn't made any wishes, nor had any of his comrades executed an attack, so why...or rather, what killed the worm devil?
'If the worm devil is dead... then why the hell do I still feel that aura?'
He paused for a moment as the terror shot up his spine, on realization of the implication.
His breath hitched as he saw it—a blur, impossibly fast, slicing through the air like a phantom, going after one of the sorcerers- Sia.
Sia didn't even have time to scream.
In less than an instant, her body was reduced to a grotesque display of carnage.
From her head to her torso, she was sliced into countless cubical fragments, and by the time the slashing was done, all that remained was a lower half, awkwardly standing amidst a growing pool of blood.
Sia was dead, desiccated in a brief second.
Kai's eye gave in, widening in terror as confirmatory thoughts lingered in his head.
'No… no... Lord, no! There's... there's another devil in here!'