Chapter 98 - Realization Of Hell

Ren came to a stop as a distinct noise met his ear, focusing as the noise became clear as the sound of chewing became clear to him.

--The minotaur? No, I don't feel that same pressure--I forgot that that minotaur was probably the "boss" of this floor, so there are bound to be goons.

Quietly, he slid Belus from its scabbard, moving forward slowly as he inched closer to the source of the chewing sounds, originating from one of the cells up ahead.

He stopped once more, this time because had remembered something--a tool specific for this sort of situation.

--Even if I have a good idea where it is, I shouldn't cut any corners when I can check precisely.

Kneeling down, Ren pressed the palm of his glove-clad hand against the stone ground, closing his eyes for a moment as he garnered his focus.

"Araphel: Particle Shade."

He uttered the incantation under his breath to maintain his secrecy, conjuring an extremely thin shadowy mist that traveled through the corridor, stretching into the cells. The subtle darkness he emitted acted as an extension of his senses, feeling anything that the shade came into contact with, even down to the rhythm of a heartbeat.

The vague chewing he had listened to before sounded now as if it was just against his ear, hearing the heavy breathing of the creature as his scouting shadows found the creature.

--Two cells up, to the left.

Standing up and releasing the spell, he took each stride with caution, keeping one hand on the handle of his blade and the other hand prepared to fling a spell. Even if he knew where the creature sat, he had no inclination of what the nature of it was.

Ren stopped just before reaching the cell, the iron bars had been ripped open, jutting out as if something had crashed through them from the interior. A single breath into his lungs is all he took with him before shifting in front of the cell to confront the lurking creature.

--What the…

It was a mass of a black, slimy substance in the shape of a humanoid with extremely long, lanky legs, hunched over as it shoveled something into its unseen mouth. The creature stopped as it heard Ren's footsteps, keeping its back facing him before it slowly turned to meet him face to face.

Attached to what should be its head, the creature bore the face of an infant, releasing a high-pitched cry of a baby as it saw Ren. Although it cried out with its face unmistakable from a human infant's, the way it quickly stood up, twisting its body around, it oozed with hostility.

"You're fucking creepy!"

Ren made a joke in an attempt to force the air of fear away, but it failed as the creature began to step towards him. Each step it took left a trail of dark goo that seemed to wriggle about if each part of it was a living organism.

It didn't take much thought for him to come to the conclusion not to let any of that slimy substance touch his skin, backing away to put more distance between him and the lumbering baby-faced creature. Coating himself in magical energy, he engaged the nightmarish entity with his sword in hand before cutting away at it, slicing directly through the middle of its cylinder-like body.

His blade had no trouble cutting through the creature, but just as quick as he bisected it, it reattached itself without any hindrance shown to it.

"--Shit!"

Performing a heavy slash like that brought him close enough to smell the creature, the aroma that gave sewers a run for their money had saved him--as his body instinctually recoiled in disgust, dodging backwards as the creature swept its arm forward.

It continued to cry out, its wailing shifting into an ear-piercing screech as it thrashed about after missing its target, colliding with the hanging chains.

"It's so loud...It's going to bring that damn minotaur right to me!"

The creature didn't seem to be focusing on him now, throwing a tantrum as it bashed its body against the wall, flailing its arms about before releasing a stream of black bile from the crying mouth on its head.

Coating the dangling links of steel with the mysterious substance, the dark slime began to rust the metal as if sucking the life out of it.

--I've got to kill it, and quick! If my blade went right through that black goo like nothing, then maybe that baby head is the weakness? I don't know how I feel about cutting a baby's face...but I don't have much of a choice here.

Charging forward, he swung his sword back behind him to garner all of the momentum he could before swinging it directly at the source of the fervent crying. A thin layer of dark reinforcement coiled around the steel, a result of the extensive reinforcement training instilled into him by Sora.

This time, he could distinctly feel a resistance against his blade, cutting through flesh and bone before fully committing to the strike--severing the head into two.

It seemed his guess was right, as after the head had been destroyed, the black goo that made up the rest of its body hardened into a solid rock-like substance before scattering into dust.

"--Shit…"

Ren dropped down onto the ground, catching his breath as he attempted to burn away the sensation of cutting through the skull that felt no different from a human.

"Just what the hell did I get myself into, Meinhard…?"

Leaning his head against the wall behind him, he looked up at the ceiling as he waited for his heartbeat to settle into a lull once more.