Chapter 142 : That's Enough of This Madness
That's Enough of This Madness
Krrrrrrrrng.
Inside the detention hut, where the torch flickered faintly, Gor frowned at the subtle vibrations under his feet.
At first, he thought it was his imagination. But as the tremors continued, he was convinced it wasn't.
It was not a familiar sensation. Gor had roamed countless battlefields as a barbarian, but this feeling was a first.
It felt as though a gigantic heart had begun to beat beneath the earth.
"Something's..."
Rugar, standing beside him, seemed to feel it too. The priest, who had turned his head away from interrogating Melissa, had puzzlement etched on his face.
Krrrrrrrrng!
This time, there was no doubt.
The earth was shaking. The wooden pillars of the detention hut creaked and trembled, and the torches hanging from the ceiling swayed precariously.
"An earthquake?"
Rugar muttered. But his voice lacked conviction.
Of course.
Earthquakes were rare in this area. In fact, Gor, in all his years, had never experienced one.
And yet, now, the ground was wailing beneath them.
"Priest!"
From outside the detention hut came a desperate voice. With hasty footsteps, one of the barbarians guarding the entrance rushed in, panting so hard he could barely speak, his eyes wild with confusion.
"What is it?"
At the priest Rugar's question, the barbarian struggled to catch his breath and finally managed to speak.
"A-at the healinghut...!"
His face was contorted in fear—a look hard to believe on the face of a seasoned warrior.
What could have terrified such a seasoned barbarian this much?
"The patients have gone mad and are rampaging!"
His voice trembled as he spoke.
The patients are rampaging? What's that supposed to mean? Rugar wanted to ask directly, but the panicked barbarian spoke first.
"Something black is coming out of their bodies... and they're attacking their brothers!"
"... Black things?"
Rugar's eyes sharpened.
"The tendons, perhaps."
That creature—the one he'd sent his own son. The abhorrent life that originated from the Abyss.
Even without seeing it himself, rugar instantly understood what the barbarian was describing.
"A-and...."
The barbarian pointed to the floor with a trembling hand.
"Something is appearing on the floor of the healinghut! Like a door...!"
A door.
Rugar's expression hardened at those words.
It's a dungeon.
The barbarian giving the report probably realized it, too.
But he was too flustered to think straight.
"This... this dungeon is nothing like any we've seen! It's covered in bones and veins... It's still growing, as if prepared to swallow the whole tribe!"
At these words, rugar's heart began to pound.
Dungeons appeared in remote lands.
Or in wastelands.
Or in deserted places.
But what was happening now was beyond comprehension.
Could this even be possible?
Before he could answer himself, the vibration only grew stronger.
Now, even standing was difficult.
"Heh."
At that tense moment, laughter clearly rang in the ears of Rugar and Gor.
Gor slowly turned his head. That laughter was from a voice all too familiar.
A voice that had once spoken of love. A voice that whispered like the warmest spring.
Melissa.
Bound to the pillar, she was trembling with laughter.
It was as if she had forgotten the pain of her broken wrist, a bitter smile playing at her lips.
"What's so funny?"
Rugar looked down at her with cold eyes.
There was killing intent in the priest's voice.
"Nothing."
Melissa didn't stop laughing. In fact, her smile only deepened.
Her gaze turned to the ceiling, as if she was staring at something beyond the flickering torchlight.
"It's faster than I expected."
"... What did you say?"
Rugar's voice became even lower.
"Is this also your doing?"
Melissa didn't answer. She simply tilted her head and smiled.
That composure.
She looked as though everything was going exactly as she had planned.
And that unnerved Rugar in spite of himself.
"I waited 25 years for revenge. It's not going to end so simply."
Melissa finally spoke, her voice calm, relaxed with the assurance of victory.
"When the Vessels implanted with tendons reach their limit..."
Her eyes met Rugar's.
"A dungeon that leads to the Abyss will open."
"... The Abyss?"
Rugar echoed.
Knowing the danger of the Abyss, his wariness intensified.
Melissa met his guarded eyes, and hers began to shine with a mad light.
Gone was the devoted healer's gaze—only the madness of one who had dreamed solely of revenge for twenty-five years remained.
"The entire Red Wolf Tribe will be swallowed."
There was rapture in her voice.
"Not a single one will be spared. Old men, children, warriors, everyone! Just as with the Kreta Tribe."
Gor felt his breath catch.
Had this been her purpose from the beginning?
The plague.
The act as a healer.
All her acts of devotion caring for the sick.
The love she whispered to me.
All of that.
"She's insane."
Rugar spat the words and reached to his waist.
A ritual dagger with Thrag's insignia was revealed. But what glinted on the blade now wasn't 'ritual', but 'murderous intent'.
"There is no reason to keep her alive any longer."
Pure anger burned in the priest's eyes. The cool-headedness befitting a priest of Thrag was long gone.
"Anyone threatening the tribe will be strangled."
The dagger was raised toward Melissa.
Gor bit his lip hard.
Should I stop him?
Should I not?
He couldn't even decide that.
Melissa was the traitor who betrayed the tribe.
She deserved to die.
But—
"Kr... krrrk!"
Just as Rugar's knife was about to plunge toward Melissa's throat, a bizarre groan echoed in the detention hut.
Right next to Rugar—one of the barbarian guards at the entrance, called Sarin.
He was trembling, clutching his own throat.
"Sarin...?"
Rugar stopped the dagger and turned.
Sarin, who had recently been in and out of the healinghut, complaining about his health. Rugar remembered now that Melissa had 'treated' him then.
"Graaaah!"
Sarin's eyes rolled back until only white showed, and screaming, he rushed Rugar.
"Damn!"
Rugar barely blocked with his dagger. But Sarin, consumed by the tendon, had strength beyond imagination.
The two crashed into a wall, cracking the wood with a loud snap.
"Priest!"
As Gor tried to rush to Rugar amid the chaos—
He caught movement from the corner of his eye.
Melissa.
Had nobody kept watch over her in the commotion?
Using the brief distraction, she was freeing herself from her ropes.
Twisting her broken wrist even further, she escaped her bonds. The pain must have been terrible, but she gritted her teeth and broke free.
Clutching her broken wrist, melissa bolted to the rear of the detention hut.
She stumbled, clutching her wrist, running desperately.
Gor's body moved before he could think.
"Stop!"
He lunged and grabbed Melissa's arm.
She screamed in pain. Gor had grabbed her broken wrist.
But Gor did not let go.
"Stay still, melissa."
At his words, melissa turned her head. The moment their eyes met, a heavy silence settled around them.
There was no need for words.
Melissa's gaze showed confusion.
And something else, impossible to name.
Krrrrrrrrng!
Meanwhile, the tremors grew more intense.
The ground beneath their feet began to split. No—it wasn't splitting; it was opening up.
As if the earth itself was yawning.
A black door rose up, covering the entire floor of the detention hut. A grotesque shape clad in bones and tendons.
A door, writhing with thousands of veins.
Even though he had never seen such a door before, Gor could sense it was a dungeon and that it was strongly connected to the Abyss.
It was trying to swallow this place whole.
"Run, Gor."
Melissa's lips finally moved. But before he could parse her intent, the growing dungeon swallowed even the detention hut.
* * *
Cold.
This was the first thing Gor felt after being sucked into the dungeon.
It felt as though he were underwater—his whole body wrapped in that sensation.
Up and down, there was no distinction.
No light or sound.
Only cold darkness embraced him.
'Melissa.'
The thing that brought his consciousness to the surface—was none other than a sensation.
Her arm he'd been holding.
"Ugh."
When Gor realized he no longer felt it, he groaned and opened his eyes.
Red.
What filled his vision was blood-red.
"Where is this?"
Raising himself up, his palm touched something clammy.
Sticky—he lifted his hand, thinking it was blood, but it wasn't.
Something like mucus. Some unknown sticky substance.
He looked down at the floor and saw what looked like pulsing flesh. The walls were the same.
'Inside the belly of a beast?'
A bizarre sight. He had never seen such a ghastly place on any battlefield.
But Gor did not panic. What filled his mind now was something else.
"Melissa."
He looked around.
"Melissa!"
He called loudly, but only heard his own echo bouncing off the fleshy walls.
Was it even possible to find an injured Melissa in a place as grotesque as this?
No.
He had to.
No matter what.
"Melissa!"
Gor called her name again.
But only the echo came back.
"Meli—!"
"That's enough of this madness, Gor."
A familiar voice made Gor turn quickly.
From between the red fleshy walls, a man appeared, holding the head of a wolf in his hand.
His face expressionless as always.
"S-sage?"
It was Dmihtan.
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