As I locked gaze with the crimson eyes of the spider queen, I suddenly realized something,
'So this is what that feeling meant….'
The first time, during the battle to leave the devil's path, I locked gaze with this monster. At that moment, I felt something strange tug at my heart but I didn't understand what it was until now.
Within the crimson eyes of this monster, all I saw was a prisoner trying to escape its prison.
And at that moment, I realized a lot of things, like the reason why I was so calm despite all that happened.
Although I kept my mind blank to reduce the impact of negative thoughts, I realize now that that would have merely been a futile attempt if I was truly feeling anything.
In truth, the Leonis household was nothing but a shackle for me in this world. With a cheat like Esfyn, a lot of eyes will be on me once I start showing growth especially when I was in a family.
There will be thoughts of foul play and to make matters worse, those old men like the branch family leaders and especially my father would be able to guess that there was something unnatural about my growth.
And although I didn't like it, I had to admit, this freedom was refreshing.
Srik~ Scrisk~
The massive monster walked out from within the shadows and stood before me, its eyes gazing down on me, its looming figure casting a massive shade on the ground beneath.
'No hostility….'
"Esfyn, can you understand the reason behind the actions of this monster?"
[Yes, lord Emris. The monster before you is a male, male nightcrawlers pride their strength above all else and they usually try to woo the queen, but this one is different. I won't be able to tell exactly how until you earn it as a monster or a summon card.]
'So it's a king…. I see… it must feel shackled after being reduced to a doll by its cluster….'
"What do you want? Why did you kill your cluster?" I asked.
I knew it couldn't reply to me, but I also knew it understood or at least had an idea what I was saying.
'Its eyes are like that of a human…. It's intelligent….'
Now I suddenly realized that if this king had made a move back then when our gaze met, Reid and I would have been long dead.
The spider suddenly looked towards the left. I followed its line of sight but there was nothing there. Just the vast plain covered in the gentle glow of the moon.
Then it clicked….
"You want freedom?" I asked even though I knew I would receive no feedback.
"Esfyn, can I use the flawless card now?" I asked.
[Yes lord Emris, although I would advise against that.]
"Why?"
[Because of your constitution, the moment your core is healed, you will experience a flux of mana that will lead to you properly awakening.]
[It would be best if you heal in a place with dense mana or with the aid of a catalyst that can improve your body in general.]
"I see….. and I can't use the beast taming scripture without mana?"
[Yes, lord Emris.]
I looked at the monster once again, it was still staring at me with the same six crimson eyes.
Purple liquid dripped from its mandibles, staining the floor. The same purple liquid that stained all of its limbs.
The nightcrawler king was about three meters tall, a large size for a 1-star monster.
'It is most likely mutated,.... That means its potential is higher than usual.'
I was stuck. I wanted to tell the nightcrawler king to wait until I got stronger but although it wasn't showing hostility, I wasn't willing to test its patience.
'What can I do? If only there was a way for me to…..'
My eyes widened as I thought back to that moment, the moment the nightcrawler king and I made eye contact. At that moment, I saw something else,
"Esfyn,.... What about the rupture? I should be able to find something within."
[That's highly likely, lord Emris. The core of the guardian should be more than enough.]
I looked up at the nightcrawler king,
"We are both just two beings that want freedom….. but I can't promise you freedom."
My heart slowed as I looked into the six glowing orbs that were the eyes of the monster,
"What I can promise you though, is the chance to live as you like but only if you come with me."
I knew I had no right to bargain, but I had to take the leash and act like I was in control. For some reason, I felt like the nightcrawler king would listen to me.
It was like although we weren't bonded, we already shared a link.
The nightcrawler king remained still but I could sense it had no trouble agreeing with what I said.
"Take me to the rupture,....."
'Please….' I added inwardly.
The nightcrawler king turned around and began to head into the forest. I followed closely behind him. I didn't have a night vision potion so I made sure to stick as closely as possible.
On the way, I carefully picked up every dead nightcrawler corpse I stumbled upon, placing them in the storage ring.
Right now, I was dead broke and this was a department where Esfyn was of little help.
After about half an hour, we arrived before it.
The rupture.
It was my first time being before one and it looked different from what I expected.
It stretched out in four directions, like a square with stretched edges and a large hole in its center. It looked like a gaping wound suspended in the air.
'The name really fits.'
The rupture has a white surface with blue veins that pulses from time to time, it was like a heartbeat, like the wound was revealing a deeper part of the world.
It was strange and bizarre but also fascinating.
The nightcrawler king looked at me and I looked at him. Then without waiting for him, I took a step into the Rupture.
My vision was instantly filled with white for a moment before returning back to normal.
Huu~
I gasped in awe of what presented itself before me.
I stood on a battlefield, all around me were weapons, skeletons, banners and so many other paraphernalia of war, tattered, battered, worn and burnt and stained in all shades of blood.
A strong smell hung in the air, one of iron, blood, and ash. The sky was dim, like it was dusk and a crimson glow cast itself upon the land.
It looked like the sky itself was bleeding.
I didn't need to look behind me to know that the nightcrawler king was present at my back.
"This battle,... It was between nightcrawlers and specters, wasn't it?"
I could tell immediately, even though I didn't have experience, I knew a lot. From the bit and pieces of purple blood and flesh, I could tell it was from dead spiders.
And the torn and ragged paraphernalia were things associated with undeads.
This led me to believe that a battle between an army of undead and the nightcrawlers had occurred. And the fact that there wasn't any army waiting meant the army that died remained dead.
This meant the guardian wasn't a lich, it had to be either a specter king or a wraith. And from the difference in strength of the two species, a specter was more fitting.
I took a step forward, heading for the castle in the distance.
"I take it the specter king is in there." I murmured partially to myself and partially to the nightcrawler king who followed behind me as I headed towards the abode of this specter king.
'Since the army is dead, the seal around the specter urn would be weakened. This means it will be more ferocious than before…..'
I took a quick glance behind me, at the nightcrawler king,
'It's a good thing I came here with him. He can distract the specter king while I claim the core from the urn…...'
In less than five minutes, we arrived at the castle. Although it was grand and awe-inspiring, especially due to the landscape effect, now that I was close to it, I realized that it was a pretty simple building.
'Looks like there's only one room,.... The throne room.'
I paused before the gigantic double doors, they were made of metal instead of wood and I knew I might not be able to push it open.
'I better try first before asking the spider…..'
But to my surprise, the moment my hands touched the cold body of the doors, the slightest bit of effort pushed them open.
Vwooom~~
A loud groan came from the doors as they opened all the way by themselves.
As I stared into the throne room, the first thing that caught my eyes was the gigantic throne located at the head of the room.
And on it sat a figure clad in battered heavy armor.
None of its traits were visible, none except a pair of flame-like orbs, burning with more malice than I've ever experienced.
I felt my skin crawl.