Cayden watched with an indifferent expression as the Alpha Snake Beast got burned by the [Ghost Fire], his [Endless] blade activated. The screeching and the deadly glare the Alpha Snake Beast threw at him before he was burned down completely was hideous and terrifying. Still, it did not affect Cayden in any way.
He gazed at the phantom [Ghost Fire] that burned strongly even though the Alpha Snake Beast's body crumbled to the blackened corpse.
"Leave his heart." He commanded. The [Ghost Fire] responded. As if it had life on its own, it actually stopped burning down the corpse, and black ashes piled up on Cayden's feet.
Cayden crouched down and picked up the heart of the Alpha Beast Snake. It's been blackened to the extreme. Cayden hovered the blackened heart above the [Dimension] bracelet, and it disappeared from his hand.
[Congratulations to Drifter Cayden Campbell for passing the Free Infinite Mode of the Hard Level of the entrance trial.]
[Clearance Score: S]
[Within thirty minutes, you will be pulled out of the second entrance trial and be transported immediately to the third and last entrance trial.]
[Good luck!]
Cayden stared blankly at the screen that popped up above and the annoying fireworks that kept exploding beside the announcement. This damn place celebrates a human winning against the Snake kin beasts.
But Cayden is not happy at all.
There was a countdown for 30:09 below the announcement. It started immediately with the first fireworks. Cayden pressed the button to open his [Dimension] bracelet and entered his consciousness inside the [Dimension].
The small cabin stood out in the middle of the green hills. The quiet clear lake glistened beside it. The whole scenery is very tranquil; if it weren't for the blood trails that dirtied the ground, everything would have been perfect.
Cayden doesn't know what to do with this unsightly blood. These belong to the slaves he ruthlessly dragged here and killed. He made use of the transportation to get the slaves off guard and stab them to death.
Now the [Endless] has reached maximum level and unlocked an S - class Skill. He was contented with that. Cayden remembered the heart he stole from the Snake Beast. He stared at it before placing the heart on the ground. A few minutes later, the grasses around it started dying one after another, and the blackened color started to change back to its beautiful blood-red color.
Pete is alive. He is not dead. Cayden picks up the heart when it sustains its original color and walks toward the cabin where Pete is imprisoned.
Pete is alive. Cayden's step is robotic and stiff, his face is expressionless, but it can be seen from the dull light reflecting in his eyes that he is in a daze.
He could not accept Pete was dead. He is alive.
There is still hope.
When he was on the sixtieth floor, he and his teammates were confronted with gigantic parasitic worms. They share the same trait as the Snake Beasts. If they parasite within a human body, that human will be under their control forever. He will lose his humanity and become bound to that monster that transformed him.
"Hehe," Cayden snickered upon remembering that scene.
When the other team's leader was parasitized by the worms, his team members killed the Alpha Parasite Beast and ripped out its heart to feed on their team leader. And it resulted in the team leader regaining clarity. But he was no longer human. He loses his skills, magic and points when he transforms into a parasite beast.
The team members were horrified when they found out that their team leader lost his sanity because he could not accept his sudden transformation. That team leader used to be at the top of the ranking with strong skills and abilities. But when he transformed into a monster, he lost his rationality and succumbed to the darkness.
Cayden's sharp gaze landed on the cabin. The door was opened, and Pete was inside the cabin. His skin no longer has his usual tanned skin color. It was now dirtied with striped black and brown contrasting color. His muscles hardened, and it was like looking at a giant snake with human features. Pete's eyes were purple slit and dull. He had been bound and stayed in the same position for some time now. Not daring to move or struggle against the binds because he doesn't have his own consciousness now.
Cayden walked step by step closer to Pete. His eyes, which were indifferent, now became suffused with pain and regret.
"It will be alright," Cayden whispered. He knew Pete wouldn't be able to hear him, but he wanted to comfort him. Hope hasn't been lost yet. The fact that he was able to see Pete alive was already considered a miracle in itself.
He came back here to the past to make things right. He had already lost everything the moment his teammates were annihilated on that day on the eightieth floor. That was the first time he gave up.
He's never giving up again.
He took a deep breath to calm his nerves and handed over the Alpha Beast Snake's heart to Pete.
"Eat this." He ordered. Now that Pete is no longer under the control of the Alpha Beast Snake, Cayden could now issue simple orders like 'Eat,' 'Drink,' 'Stand,' and the like.
Pete may be with him, but he's no longer the same. But it's okay. He can get Pete back to the same state if they pass this trial together. He could also use Pete's current stare to his advantage too.
He can bring Pete to 'lie down and win' with him. And he won't have to see that terrible sight about their parents.
Pete obediently opened his mouth and took a large bite of the heart before munching the flesh with gusto. When Pete finished swallowing, he stared dazedly at Cayden's face.
There was no ripple of emotion in those deep dark blank eyes.