Chapter 156: Plague Wall
Faced with the burly man’s desperate cries for help, Audrey’s face instantly filled with panic.
"What happened?! Where are your companions?!" she demanded, her voice trembling slightly.
The man panted heavily, his body shaking, his strength almost completely drained.
"My... my companions... they are already dead," he gasped.
"I barely managed to escape here myself," he added, his hand trembling as he tried to raise it.
He pointed weakly toward the path behind him.
"My companions... their bodies are further back that way..."
Audrey’s expression softened, sympathy and sorrow crossing her features.
Anyone trapped in one of the Four Deadly Zones was pitiful, just as she herself might have been under the sa circumstances.
But in the next instant, Audrey noticed sothing chilling.
The direction the man had indicated was exactly the way they had been moving.
"Mr. Caelan, we—" she began, but her words faltered, dying midway.
Suddenly, the man who had appeared so frail sprang upright with shocking speed.
All traces of weakness vanished from his body, replaced by deadly precision in his every motion.
In his hand, a dagger coated with poison appeared, seemingly out of nowhere.
He lunged at Audrey with a swift, lethal strike aid at her chest.
The suddenness of the attack froze Audrey completely.
She could not even react to dodge.
This is it... am I going to die? she thought, a chill running down her spine.
Despair rose sharply in her chest.
She knew that even Caelan might not be able to save her in ti from such a close-range, unexpected attack.
Her thoughts spiraled uncontrollably.
If she died here, would Caelan still be able to find the treasures hidden in this zone?
Before she could dwell further, she suddenly felt herself lifted off the ground and pressed firmly against a solid chest.
In truth, Caelan had anticipated the attack from the mont the man appeared.
The instant the burly man moved to strike, Caelan acted.
He scooped Audrey up with one arm while gripping his sword in the other.
With a precise, effortless motion, he swung.
The burly man’s limbs were severed in an instant, falling to the floor without the slightest resistance.
"Why... why would you do this?!" Audrey yelled, her eyes blazing toward where the man had been.
She could not understand why anyone would fight to the death within a maze, one of the Four Deadly Zones.
Wouldn’t it have made more sense to simply survive and escape?
Her question was answered almost imdiately.
The man’s body shriveled as if all the air had been sucked out of it, collapsing rapidly into nothing more than a shriveled shell.
From his wounds, countless fleshworms wriggled outward, slithering violently.
Even as they erged, Caelan’s sword arcs struck them with precision, destroying every single worm before they could react.
Audrey’s mind finally processed the horrifying truth.
The burly man had already been dead before he attacked.
His prior movents had been entirely controlled by the parasitic worms.
"What a terrifying monster," Audrey muttered, her voice trembling slightly.
Her reliance on Caelan deepened.
Girls naturally gravitate toward strength.
But Caelan was not only powerful, he was extraordinarily handso.
Furthermore, she had even caught a fleeting glimpse of his well-defined abs.
anwhile, Caelan’s mind focused entirely on the parasitic creatures.
He barely paid attention to Audrey’s reaction, his gaze analyzing the worms ticulously.
"Let’s find out exactly what’s happening here," he said, leading the way forward without hesitation.
Audrey blinked and noticed that Caelan had already moved several ters ahead.
Her face turned pale as she broke into a small run to catch up.
"Mr. Caelan, please wait for !" she called out anxiously.
"You must protect ! I am really weak!"
Caelan remained calm, unhurried, his expression unchanging.
"Rember what I told you," he said evenly.
"I will not lie to you. None of these monsters can breach my defenses."
At the sa mont, he swung his sword, sending a streak of blade energy flying forward.
In an instant, three massive, twisted monsters were cleaved cleanly in half at the waist.
He did not even glance at them as he moved.
To Audrey, his effortless power was intoxicating, almost impossible to resist.
Her gaze lingered, and she could feel a lethal aura radiating from him at all tis.
Blushing, she pinched herself sharply to stay grounded.
Stay awake, Audrey. He is in a completely different league than you, she reminded herself.
Five minutes later, Caelan led Audrey to the site where the burly man’s team had been ambushed.
To Caelan’s surprise, the path did not end in a common fork.
Instead, there was a massive, writhing wall blocking the road.
The wall was composed of countless fleshworms, tightly packed and moving constantly.
The grotesque sight shocked Audrey.
She retched uncontrollably, unable to suppress the reaction.
By the Great God of Light... she thought. I have never seen anything so disgusting in my entire life!
Caelan, unfazed, activated his Eye of Insight calmly.
The Plague Wall panel appeared instantly before him.
[Plague Wall]
[Level: 563]
[Skills: Plague Infection, Parasite Control, Mind Manipulation, Corpse Reformation...]
[Description: One of the weakest monsters in the Dark Maze. But when they form a Plague Wall, extre caution is advised! Legends say that in the Plague Zone, one of the Four Deadly Zones, vast numbers of Plague Walls exist.]
Both Caelan and Audrey noticed the layers of desiccated skin at the base of the wall.
Audrey’s mind involuntarily recalled the burly man’s final monts.
That horrifying image mirrored the dry, cracked skin lying beneath the Plague Wall.
Wait... does this an countless awakeners had already perished in front of this wall?
At the sa ti, Audrey noticed several awakeners standing in a different direction.
Their situation was grim and precarious.
Countless fleshworms had already begun to envelop them, moving over their bodies with relentless speed.
It was obvious they were resisting parasitism.
Yet without external assistance, being overtaken was only a matter of ti.
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