230 The Cockroach Man

"Most likely. So he shouldn't be able to see or hear us, can he?" Johann replied and then turned to Valentine, who was slowly sneaking closer to the man.

"Only our noises are concealed. Our voices are still audible if we speak loudly enough," Valentine explained.

The man standing in the middle of the large room infested with cockroaches was repulsive. His head was completely human but the bottom of his body was still made of those small insects crawling around hurriedly. Occasionally, a few cockroaches would crawl out of his skin, leaving a hole that would quickly be filled by another one of the brown insects.

Crush!

Since the floor was still pretty much littered with cockroaches, Valentine just accidentally stepped on one, crushing it into squish. Although the sound was muffled by his mist, it seemed that the man could sense his location because of that.

"There you are!"

The long-haired man raised his right hand and all the insects around Valentine suddenly started behaving strangely. He quickly ran back to the path and shouted.

"Duck!"

The others did as he said right away.

Kaboom!!

Numerous cockroaches near where he had stood exploded in a bloody, gunky mess that left a small dent on the floor. It was evident that the power of the explosion wasn't something to dismiss easily.

Splatters of green slime with a rancid smell filled the wall. Had they not ducked, the slime would have hit and stuck to them.

"Screech!"

The spider let out an intimidating screech at Johann's command and shot spiderwebs at the thin man. Sticky white silk came out of its spinnerets and hit the man right in his face and upper body, causing the cockroaches to stop moving around.

Woosh!

Agatha controlled her blood chakrams to strike the man. The giant, spinning blood weapons quickly moved towards the man at a frightening speed, like metal predators lunging at their prey. The loud noise created by their spinning could strike terror to the hearts of anyone nearby.

Slash!

The giant spinning chakrams sliced through the man without any resistance, cutting him into three parts. Having his head, torso, and bottom half of his body separated caused the man to disintegrate into countless cockroaches that collapsed to the floor, except for the part that was still stuck together by the spider web.

From another spot in the room, cockroaches gathered together again, congregating and forming the same man.

Whoosh!

Agatha didn't give him any chance to reassemble his body. The blood chakrams struck right at the spot where he was trying to reappear.

"The two of them make a very good pair, G," Valentine muttered softly.

He and Luuk were watching from the back, ready to provide support at a moment's notice. They were amazed by the synergy between the Gore and the Astrologer.

"Alright. That is enough! I won't play around any longer!"

Came a voice from inside the chamber that sounded insect-like. It sounded like whoever was speaking had had their throat slit and was unable to vocalize their words perfectly. The voice also came from every corner of the room instead of just one spot, as if the cockroaches themselves were speaking.

With Agatha's and Johann's combined attack, the number of cockroaches in the pitch-black room ahead had been reduced by quite a lot compared to before. However, they were slowly replaced by new ones that came crawling through the numerous tiny holes that were barely visible because of the small creatures blocking them.

Rumble!

Suddenly, the corridor where they were staying shook, and shortly after, they became narrower and narrower.

"We need to get out of here!" Valentine shouted from the back. He was the first one to notice that the walls behind him were closing in.

Knowing that they would be crushed to death if they stayed, they had no other choice but to enter the chamber despite the danger littered about.

Agatha had to move her blood chakrams to take care of the insects closest to the entrance first. Body parts of small insects flew about the moment the chakrams killed them, cutting them into pieces.

Baam!

The path behind them was no more. The walls had closed in, blocking whatever exit they had. Now, they were completely in the domain of the cockroach man.

The damp and bloody smell mixed with the stench of the creatures was even stronger in the chamber. The thick odor was sickening, although luckily they were not normal people. The blanket of darkness didn't feel comfortable either, as if there was something crawling on it.

"Mr. Detective, don't you have any offensive move?" asked Johann to Valentine. His spider had come back to his side to help kill the cockroaches around them to prevent another explosion.

Having no other choice, Valentine had to switch with Graham.

"Yes, but I will need a second. Protect me," he ordered.

Luuk nodded and took out his dagger. He began slashing the cockroaches with the weapon that was inlaid with a red gemstone. The moment the sharp blade came into contact with the creatures, a flame came out, burning them to crisps. However, with every attack, the brilliant glow of the gemstone became a little dimmer.

Valentine leaned back against the wall that had been cleared out of the creatures and closed his eyes. He had activated the Illusion Substitutes previously, so Graham could also use it once they switched. Now all he had to do was fall asleep.

Since Agatha and the spider were now busy clearing the spot near them, the enemy had got the chance to fully formed his body, appearing far ahead of them. His sinister smile was back, but there was now anger mixed into it.

"If you tell me who you guys are and what you want, I might spare you right now," he said. Now his effeminate voice was back to that of a normal human, although it was still very hoarse.

Johann looked like he wanted to speak with the man. His goal was to gain information and seek revenge, after all.

"Are you a member of Pravitatem?!" he asked loudly and sternly so that his voice could go through the yellowish mist. There was no friendliness nor warmth in his tone.

The long-haired man smiled in amusement. His anger had suddenly disappeared and was replaced by satisfaction.

"So that's how it is. Are you here for revenge? Someone you love was killed by us? Hahaha..." he mocked.

Johann was provoked by the man's nonchalant ridicule. The pain and anger that he had been trying hard to suppress were stirred once more. Hatred was reflected in his eyes.

"How dare you! Uttu!"

He commanded his spider to attack the man.

The spider, obeying its master's command, shot its spider web, which the man could easily avoid now. He just simply disintegrated into numerous cockroaches and the web just shot past him. The man then reformed again.

With his right hand, the man commanded an intrusion of cockroaches to swarm the spider that was lunging at him. The cockroaches crawled all over the spider's giant body, slowing it down and inhibiting its movement.

"Your intention to cause an explosion is mine!"

Luuk quickly made a swiping motion with his right hand, and a glowing orb appeared there. The man, who was just about to utter something, suddenly looked confused as if he had forgotten what he wanted to do.

Agatha couldn't assist him because she was busy keeping the tiny crawling creatures away from the spot where they were standing with her giant chakrams.

"Mr. Bockhorst, do not get provoked by the enemy!" she reminded.

Screech!

Johann's familiar let out an intimidating roar. It was busy trying to get the cockroaches off its body. Although they couldn't damage it thanks to its hard skin and armor, the creatures could explode at any time at the command of their master.

The thin, tall man heard the spider's screech and saw that his cockroaches had surrounded it, so he regained his intention to cause an explosion. Luuk, who saw what the man was about to do, tossed the severed hand at him and quickly stole it.

"Your intention to cause an explosion is mine!"

The hand landed on the man's face as if specifically aiming for it and the moment Luuk pulled it back, a glowing orb came back with it, secured safely in its grip. Luuk now had two glowing orbs in his possession, both of which were the man's intentions to cause explosions.

"Hiding behind your friends? Are you unable to take revenge on your own? What will your girlfriend think? I assume that's who was killed... how pathetic... No wonder she died," the man forgot what he wanted to do again and just decided to anger the detective even more.

"I order you to stand still!"

Graham, who had woken up, used Order on Johann to prevent him from doing anything reckless. The detective was now immobilized, unable to lift even a muscle. His face was fuming red from the provocation, but his body wasn't listening to him.

"You're back," Luuk welcomed Graham, who was cleaning his coat off the dirt.

"Yes. Let's deal with that man," he replied. The tiny, illusory flame in front of him illuminated his face, its reflection seen in his bright green eyes.

Flick!

Using his lighter, Graham created a fire that he quickly made bigger using Fire Manipulation.

The flame, that was shining brightly in the pitch-black room, caught the long-haired man's attention. His face turned ugly and twisted. It was as if he had just met his nemesis.

The spider familiar, which had managed to come back closer to its master's side, was now almost all freed up of the cockroaches crawling all over it. The winds created by Agatha's spinning chakrams helped blow away the last remaining ones on its body.

"Ms. van Nostrand!" Luuk gestured at Agatha and the latter nodded.

Using her two chakrams, she created a wall between them and the cockroaches, standing in front of the immobilized Johann.

Luuk, who saw that the enemy was about to do something, quickly let go of the glowing orbs, returning his intentions of causing an explosion. After that, he hid behind Johann, followed by Graham, forming a line behind the two spinning blood weapons.

The two orbs returned to the man's body and suddenly, his intention to use his ability was replaced by the intense urge to make the cockroaches that had been on the spider's body explode.

"Explode!"

Kaboom!!!

The cockroaches that had been pushed back by the chakrams suddenly exploded, sending blood and gunk everywhere. A dent was left on the floor where the strong explosion had occurred, and the thick stench of blood suddenly filled the room.

Fortunately, the blood chakrams served as a protective barrier. Although they couldn't cover the whole area, the four people were safe because they were standing in a straight line behind the barrier. Only the spider was affected by the explosion, chipping away some of its armor. Besides that, it didn't look wounded.

Once the explosion ended, Graham came forth. Around him were now two fireballs, each the size of an exercise ball, and a tiny illusory flame floating gently in front of his face. The heat from the fireballs made the room warmer, and their brightness cast away the darkness.

On his command, one of the fireballs shot at the enemy almost at the speed of a bullet while the other once descended upon the ground in front of him. One of the fireballs made contact with the cockroaches, burning them and leaving a wall of fire on the floor, while the other one forced the man to disintegrate into numerous cockroaches that quickly got roasted.

"I ask that you spread!"

Flames suddenly blazed, spreading across the room with the help of the tiny insects. The smell of charred flesh replaced the stench of blood, and smoke filled the room that was now a raging inferno.

Crackle!

Screech!

The sounds of the creatures writhing as they burned were mixed with the crackling and conflagration of the flames. The heat was getting more intense by the second.

"I order the smoke to flow in the other direction!"

Thanks to Agatha's spinning chakrams that acted like a fan, the fumes didn't flow in their direction, but with Graham's order, the smoke was now blowing to the other exit, its heat cooked the cockroaches that were too far from the flames.

Having no chance to reform because of the fire, the enemy was nowhere to be seen.

A few minutes later, all the cockroaches were now dead, including the ones that came crawling in from the holes. After a while, no more insects came out, leaving the room clear of all insects. The raging flames were burning all of their remains, turning them into ashes.

"Did the enemy die?" asked Luuk curiously.

Graham let the flames burn a few more minutes to make sure they were completely safe.

"I don't think so. He must have run away, but he couldn't have run away unwounded like that. He must be severely weakened, so we must get him soon," he analyzed.

Johann, who had been free from the Order, was trying hard to control himself. He was angry at the detective for disabling him, but he knew if Graham hadn't, he might have put himself in danger.

Agatha kept the blood chakrams spinning to blow away the smoke. She had taken another one of Luuk's stamina powders to replenish her lost stamina from controlling the weapons for too long.

"I cannot believe this strategy also worked on human enemies," she said amusedly.

"Yes, and whoever is waiting for us at the end of this underground space should be suffocating right now," Graham smiled in satisfaction.