Leonard looked around again. The monsters were drooling as they lurked, but not one dared step across the boundary of the dance studio. Yet that was only on the surface.
Because they were still watching in silence, as if the very mont Leonard chose not to enter, they would leap forward and swallow him whole.
Looking back at the door, the golden patterns carved across it were now glowing with writhing crimson light, like countless veins pulsing and flowing, luring him to open it.
Leonard slowly raised his hand...
[God, whenever Leonard’s alone like this, he feels completely different!]
[Goodbye to the cringing era, hahaha.]
[It feels like he just grew 20 centiters taller. Standing straight really makes such a difference!]
[Cut his hair and he’d look even more handso.]
[Open it open it open it! Ti to reunite with my long-lost wife!]
[Scarlet? That’s terrifying, haha.]
[Tch! What would you chickens know?!]
"Creak, creak!"
The door looked brand new, yet when it opened, it groaned with a piercing screech, as though it hadn’t been touched or maintained for ages.
Inside was pitch-black. Almost before Leonard could react, the cold voice of the dungeon system rang out!
[Congratulations, human, on entering Scarlet’s domain. Strive to survive, and you will obtain sothing to save your companions’ lives!]
At the sa ti, Leonard realized the scene before his eyes had completely changed!
"Boom!"
The door slamd shut behind him with a deafening sound. In the room, a large window swung open. Outside, a perfectly round full moon hung high, its gentle silver light pouring into the room, painting everything in a layer of silver.
Beneath his feet, marble tiles were neatly laid. On both sides of the walls stood massive mirrors. Within those mirrors, countless hazy silhouettes stood crowded together in disorder. Yet from outside, there wasn’t a single shadow to be seen.
And standing at the very center of the room was a girl.
A girl in a crimson dress.
The shadows blurred her face, her figure thin and slender. The hem of her skirt fanned out like a ballerina’s tutu, but faint droplets of blood pattered onto the ground. Only then did one realize—the dress wasn’t red at all. It had simply been dyed scarlet by fresh blood.
What drew even more attention, however, were her lower legs beneath her thighs.
From her knees down, blood stread endlessly, with shredded flesh still visible. But below that, her shins had been replaced by two sharp spearheads, each about five centiters wide at the base, tapering to razor points as they descended.
She stood balanced on those spear tips, arms gently outstretched, body leaning ever so slightly, as though poised to begin a graceful dance.
Music swelled. Those who loved ballet would instantly recognize it as the score from Giselle.
Leonard, however, knew nothing of that. All he felt was his body suddenly bound tight, as though so unseen force had seized control of him. Following Scarlet’s movents and the silhouettes in the mirrors, his body began to move, mimicking Scarlet’s dance step for step, a one-to-one replication!
Rising on his toes, pain stabbed at the tips of his feet. Leonard’s body wasn’t too stiff, but neither was it supple enough to pull off the smooth, flowing motions. With every movent, he could almost hear the crack of his bones, the pain sharp enough to draw cold sweat down his back.
The countless shadows danced in the mirrors, multiplying until they nearly swallowed Leonard’s reflection.
[Hahaha Leonard doing ballet, I swear Nerio must be hiding sowhere recording this.]
[Damn, I can feel my own bones aching just watching.]
[No, but this is hilarious—soone better edit a tutu onto him later.]
[But isn’t Leonard going to resist?]
[Maybe he thinks it’s just dancing. People like him always die because they underestimate danger...]
[Resist how? Scarlet’s power isn’t sothing to take lightly. Besides, besides Lucian’s heart, Leonard hasn’t eaten anything else. If he wants to win, he must first break free of her control—and then tear off a piece of Scarlet’s flesh!]
The ballet Giselle was known as a tragic play, symbolizing love and selflessness.
But Leonard was not the man Scarlet loved. There would be no forgiveness waiting for him here—not for daring to appear in this place.
Leonard was an esper. He shouldn’t have been getting exhausted this quickly. Yet Scarlet’s power seed to co with a debuff. Before long, Leonard’s breathing grew ragged, his body dizzy, cold sweat pouring down his face.
Just then, a soft giggle suddenly rang out.
Imdiately after, Scarlet’s shadow-veiled head began to sway, the sound of shifting bones cracking and grinding together, sharp enough to make one’s teeth ache.
"Crack!"
At last, Scarlet’s entire head tilted to one side as though boneless, drooping down onto her shoulder. And there it was—her grin, stretching to her ears, lined with shark-like teeth sared in rotting flesh.
Leonard’s body locked up, forced to mimic Scarlet’s movents.
[Wait—Leonard’s really going to die like this? I don’t believe it!]
[Nerio saved him once, even tore out Lucian’s heart for him. There’s no way Leonard’s going to die so easily!]
[If he dies, he dies. It just ans he was useless. Nerio never cared about him anyway.]
[Exactly. Shoving Lucian’s heart into Leonard’s mouth probably wasn’t to save him—it was just to shut up his annoying crying...]
[For real? No way!]
[Finally, the end of the guy who always insisted on being Drake’s equal, hahaha.]
[You’re all celebrating like a pack of hounds.]
The comnts dissolved into a full-blown argunt. anwhile, Leonard’s head had fully twisted aside, his eyes rolling white, fresh blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
The music continued to soar toward its climax, yet Scarlet had stopped. The shadows had also stopped, their forms growing increasingly solid. At the sa ti, Leonard’s body beca increasingly transparent—as though he would soon rge completely with the wandering phantoms inside this dance studio.
"Clack, clack, clack!" Scarlet stepped forward. With each step, her body swayed, looking as if she might collapse at any mont—so utterly different from the graceful figure who had danced so fluidly before—as she crept slowly toward Leonard.
But just then, Leonard’s bloodstained lips suddenly curled upward. His grin stretched wide, wild, even more twisted than Scarlet’s.
He opened his mouth, and the voice that rang out didn’t even sound like his:
"You want to play this ga? Then you’ve already lost, hahaha!"
As the words fell, he suddenly stood upright. His neck jerked back as though yanked by a zipper, snapping instantly into its proper place.
He raised both hands—and tore open his own chest, revealing a heart still beating furiously inside!
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