Wherever everyone looked, there were Blood Cocoons.
Each scarlet cocoon was embedded in the fleshy walls, with distorted human silhouettes faintly visible within.
Those inside the cocoons had their skin stripped away, their lower bodies fused into the cocoon itself, emitting waves of agonized moans.
These wails intertwined into an ear-piercing Demon Sound, relentlessly tearing at and tormenting everyone’s minds.
Even Selim couldn’t help but furrow her brows at such a disgusting scene.
Watching through a screen before, it had only felt grotesque and sickening, but now, surrounded by the thick stench of blood, the revulsion rose to an entirely new level.
“Sophia,” Selim’s voice held a trace of imperceptible pity, “destroy this place. Give them a swift release.” “As you command!” Sophia’s fury had long since reached its limit.
Her longsword flashed from its scabbard, instantly wreathed in ghostly blue flames.
She swept her arm in a broad arc.
A frigid wave swept forth, freezing a swath of Blood Cocoons and the silhouettes inside them into icy sculptures, then shattering them into dust.
The souls of those who died unnaturally should have been filled with resentment and bitterness, but Selim could clearly sense a relieved gratitude from these weak, shattered remnants.
Some even gathered at Selim’s side of their own accord before she had activated Soul Devour, longing for the chance at revenge.
“Who’s there?” A bloated figure suddenly darted from the shadows at the flank, sensing a powerful attack had just struck the entire Blood Nest.
“Enemies? How did you get in here?” The mask concealed his face, but his tone made it easy to hear his utter surprise at Selim and her companions’ arrival.
“So you’re the ringleader? Bastard, go to hell!” Bart shouted angrily. His dagger flashed with cold light as he darted forward like a phantom.
“Courting death!” Mask Man snorted coldly, carelessly swinging his arm.
His left arm transformed into a bloody tentacle, whistling through the air as it lashed fiercely at Bart! Bart seemed unable to dodge and was struck head-on by the tentacle—his body exploded into a mist and vanished with a “poof”.
“What are you looking at?” Bart’s mocking voice rang out at Mask Man’s side.
The tentacle had only struck an illusionary decoy he’d left behind. Bart’s left hand drove his dagger precisely into Mask Man’s lower back, while his right hand slashed upward, a flash of cold light slicing a neat gash across Mask Man’s right arm.
Before the counterattack could land, Bart lightly leaped back to the ground.
“Is that all?” Having landed a blow on his enemy, Bart felt an immense satisfaction.
Mask Man glanced down at his spurting, blood-soaked severed arm, seeming to feel no pain at all. His remaining left arm swung again, commanding the tentacle to launch a fresh assault.
“This next move, I’ll take your life.” Bart was about to unleash his second attack. “Bart, fall back.” Selim’s cool voice came from behind. Bart hesitated for a moment, then smoothly backflipped away. “That’s just a puppet body.”
Selim explained. In the game Selim once played, there had been no sentient monsters here—this Mask Man was a new variable.
“Heh, so there’s someone who knows what’s what.”
The gravely wounded Mask Man collapsed to the ground, lifeless. But from another direction, an identical Mask Man slowly stepped forward.
“A few lowly rats dare intrude upon God’s Domain?” Mask Man’s voice was fanatical and hoarse.
“Accept the grace of merging into the Supreme Radiance of Our God!” All around, the Blood Cocoons trembled violently.
The human figures on their surfaces were instantly devoured and compressed by the writhing cocoons, shriveling up like deflated balloons.
From within, one after another blood-colored figure possessing Transcendent power at the firefly level burst forth, screaming as they rushed madly toward Selim and her group.
“Selim, stay behind me! Bart, protect her! Leave this to me!” Sophia stood as an unbreakable shield at the front.
Her longsword danced and the blue flames swept through—every blood shadow shattered, not a single one able to withstand a single blow.
“Let’s see how long you can last.”
Mask Man could smell danger from them, choosing to wear down Selim’s group with these expendable minions.
“What now? Want me to take out that Mask Man?” Sophia’s voice was steady as she cut down the blood shadows as easily as chopping vegetables, while asking Selim in a low tone. A few sticky drops of blood splattered onto the ends of her blue hair in the midst of the fight. “No need. Maintain the status quo and wait for a change.”
Selim had originally planned to finish this with overwhelming force and charge straight for the Core to rescue Sharn.
But upon entering this place, a strange soul fluctuation had appeared at the edge of her senses. As the surrounding soul power gathered, that calling fluctuation became ever clearer and stronger.
“Bart, you go clear out the monsters as well. These things can’t hurt me.” Selim tossed a green Soulwhistle Arcane Shot, which exploded thunderously in the dense swarm of monsters.
“Alright.”
Bart charged in too, joining the melee among the monsters. For a time, with the three working together, the battlefront actually began to advance toward Mask Man’s position.
Seeing the tide turning and the situation worsening, Mask Man’s brow furrowed beneath his mask.
“To profane the majesty of Our God is to invite divine punishment!”
He roared, suddenly dropping to the ground as his body began to swell grotesquely. In an instant, he became a Skinless Monster, stripped of its outer hide, its whole body bulging with dark red muscle, crawling along the ground.
It looked exactly like a Licker from Resident Evil. It let out a threatening low growl, then charged forward with a shriek. Seeing a Skinless Monster charging her, Sophia did not retreat—instead, she rushed to meet it. In a flash, sword light and claws crossed.
Sophia’s figure twisted at an incredible angle to evade an attack, her longsword stabbing back to precisely slash the monster’s claw, a metallic clang ringing out as she shattered it by force. Man and monster clashed and sprang apart.
“Bart, protect Selim for half a minute. I’m going to cut it down.”
Sophia’s probing attack had already let her gauge its strength. She was confident of a quick victory.
The monster looked at Sophia with obvious wariness. She had just dodged and counterattacked at extreme speed, shattering its claw. This was likely the strongest Moonlight Level expert it had ever seen.
“Ooo~”
The monster threw back its head and shrieked. The flesh wall behind it writhed violently. More Mask Men poured out and crawled onto the ground, twisting and swelling, transforming into more hideous Skinless Monsters.
Seeing more than a dozen monsters appear, Sophia retreated, sword in hand, and said to Selim, “Go first. I’ll cover the rear. Let me see if I can wipe them all out.”
“If you’re here, I’ll be worried Bart won’t be able to protect you while I fight.”
“Thank you for your concern, but it’s not necessary anymore.”
Selim’s voice was oddly calm. “Now, it’s my turn.”