Chapter 94 - Dungeon - II
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The heavy air reeked of rot and waterlogged earth. An oppressive silence hung over the swamp, broken only by the occasional sound of bubbles bursting on the surface of the black, viscous liquid that covered the ground up to our shins. The sticky substance, dark as tar, faintly reflected the light of a sickly red sun that barely pierced the thick mist.
Twisted bones emerged from the muck, some slowly sinking, others already fossilized in that treacherous terrain. None seemed to belong to any known creatures. They were deformed structures, as if sculpted from fragments of nightmares. Broken ribs curved at impossible angles, skulls with multiple empty sockets stared at nothing, and spinal columns twisted like petrified serpents.
The mist limited visibility to just a few meters, blurring the horizon. The sky above was dark and starless, as if suffocating the world below. The rust-colored sun, wrapped in a sickly glow, provided no warmth, only a corpse-like light over the black swamp, casting elongated, distorted shadows across the muck.
The temperature was freezing, and despite the absence of snow, the biting cold made our breath form small clouds of vapor.
"This is disgusting!" Seraphine repeated, wrinkling her nose.
The swamp's liquid was too thick to be mere water. Its color and smell made it clear—this was blood. A lot of blood, mixed in unimaginable quantities.
Dorian dipped his fingers into the liquid, examining it critically.
"There's blood here, but it's not coagulated," he explained.
I, however, barely paid attention to the conversation. Since arriving in this place, a sinister energy had been brushing against my skin, as if my entire body were tingling. My senses were dulled, struggling to identify the source of the sensation.
"It's also poisonous," Dália added, inspecting a drop of the liquid between her fingers. "We can't stay here for long."