Chapter 330: Illusion (10)
Leandro moved ever deeper inside. The path kept going. There was no night or day in the cavern, and by now he couldn't tell how much time had passed or how far he had gone. He didn't even know whether it rained outside.
A faint dampness clung to the air. It was thick, stale moisture like mingled breaths. Soon, the source appeared: a massive hedge of thorns. Viscous air seeped through the gaps. Long, pulsing masses filled Leandro's view as they swelled and contracted.
Larvae of many sizes slid along the floor within the fence, feeding on corpses. The stone under them was slick with the fluids they excreted. There was no stench of rot. Judging by the ceaseless working of their mouths, anything brought here was eaten before it could decay.
Leandro halted. He had seen countless monsters, but never larvae like these. They planted tiny feet as they moved and, with absurdly dainty hands, seized human bodies and chewed them in steady bites.
The smallest were around ten centimeters; the largest were a meter or so. The bigger they grew, the longer their limbs became, and human features slowly emerged upon their blank faces.
"G-grr…?"
The largest lifted its head and looked at him. A slick tongue licked its freshly formed, featureless maw, and it was the only one that had a tongue at all. Threading saliva spilled from it.
"F… fresh…"
It could speak. The sound was wet, almost crawling into the ears.