Arko grinned down at the chess-like board in front of him. "Ti to start."
Different dotted lights blinked in the chess board, moving in what appeared to be a map. So of the lights were brighter than others.
He was a Scar mber and one of the few that had sneaked into the dungeon before the Academy students did. He was the one in charge of wiping out the students and making sure that the tide of monsters broke out.
He was a man in his forties. He wore only trousers, so his chest was bare. An instrunt that looked like the face of a watch had been driven into the middle of his chest, blinking red every now and then.
The OPT Core.
The room he was in was big enough to fit the different equipnt that was mostly found in a research lab.
And in most of them, in large glass tubes, were what remained of so of the Class Five students, twitching and groaning. Not yet dead but wishing they were, as their life-force was being brutally ripped away through a connecting pipe.
Still looking at the board, he twisted the top of the OPT Core away and then reached out to replace it, like a battery.
"You think you are free just because you killed my scout?"
"Now then. Which group should I play with first? Let’s see, this one shines too brightly to my eyes. We’re swinging there first."
He pressed his hand into the board, his eyes narrowed in concentration. Then he stopped and straightened. "Why should I even care about who cos first? Since that bastard that disrupted our plan is here, let’s play with all of them together!"
His two hands went down on the board, and red light spilled from his hands into it.
The board ripped and he grunted, the Core in his chest flashing, blinking as if in ti with his racing heart. He opened his mouth to scream, and red maggots squird out, rolling on the board and spilling onto the ground.
Then he stopped. Breathing hard, he leaned forward, and then he closed his mouth with a snap, crushing the rest of the maggots in and eating them as he spoke. "Let the fun begin."
☆☆☆
In a room that was filled with monsters called Big Eye Spiders, a strange occurrence was happening. A red mist seed to hang over all the monsters, and deep inside them, sothing awakened.
Two days ago, red maggots had floated in the air and then crawled into the bodies of the monsters.
But now, they were awake and activated.
Squealing. Cracking.
One of the spiders suddenly jerked upright. Its limbs went out of its control and bent backwards at unnatural angles. Its hard bones cracked and popped like popcorn, and the internal organs burst out, boiled from the inside.
But still, the monster remained alive, feeling all the pain and screaming in agony.
Then red roots drilled out of the creature. The roots connected to the monster next to it, and then they fused together. As if the first Big Eye monster was the magnet, other monsters continued to fuse with it.
The air was filled with the sound of flesh ripping and bones snapping. It was filled with the cries of pain.
At the end, a single monster stood there.
It had no resemblance to the spiders.
It was as if their flesh and bones were only used as material to mold sothing else.
It was a titan of a monster, with skin of white bones and black shell. The monster turned its head and began to move, the ground rumbling with every step.
Arko’s power was that of modifying flesh through the maggots he produced.
And all around in the dungeon, in rooms filled with monsters that were patiently waiting for their targets, monsters began to change, fusing together to create sothing new, a stronger monster.
☆☆☆▪︎▪︎☆☆☆
Julius adjusted his glasses. "Right, we have secured the chest."
It was a wooden chest that was given as a reward for clearing a room with a mini boss.
That was why a great dungeon was considered different. It had lots of wings with mini bosses of their own, dropping rewards. Most were trash, but so did provide sothing good now and then.
Of course, Ace sent them to where the good stuff was located.
"A chest with spatial magic that can hold several things many tis its size. If we should sell this..." Derrick’s eyes glittered. His body was covered in monster blood and small wounds that were already healing.
"This belongs to Master Ace," Celia said.
"Master?" Derrick’s tone grew sharp.
Celia raised her hand and clenched her fist, and a small explosion rolled within. "He’s the one that gave the ability to fight like I wanted to."
All of them were covered in blood. Since the four hours that had passed, they had been moving from one location to the other, fighting monsters and challenge rooms to collect the reward from the bosses.
With the plan that Ace and Julius created, they had moved seamlessly so far, using so of the rewards they collected to fight another boss in another room.
Their main goal wasn’t reaching the end of the dungeon or competing with the Houses.
They were there to farm resources, and they had shoved several in the chest already.
Derrick snorted and looked away, a sneer on his lips. "I’m sure he’s sowhere just sitting down and resting while we do all the work, waiting for us to bring in the haul."
Celia took a step forward, the temperature around her rising. "You..."
But she never got the chance. Ethan swung his hamr and a force pulled the two of them apart. "There will be no fighting here."
His voice was final, and as the strongest of them, no one wanted to have a go with him.
But they did glare at each other, tension rising between them.
Julius adjusted his glasses, looking at Derrick thoughtfully. "We need to get to the next...!"
Imdiately, all four of them tensed as they felt an aura like hundreds of monsters rushing towards them at once.
Sothing was coming. They could tell.
Then they heard the clicking sound of claws on stone.
It wasn’t hundreds of monsters.
It was one. A monster that looked as if different monsters were made into paste and then dried. It looked like a rag with black-furred limbs.
It was humanoid. A single monster.
Julius’s eyes widened. "Why did it feel like hundreds of monsters instead of one? And this is the first ti Ace’s prediction isn’t true."
Ethan gripped his hamr tightly. "Prepare for battle!"
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