Chapter 219 - Reckless Abandon

As they traversed the corridors of repugnant flesh, their bickering was the only thing keeping their minds off of the horror around them and the looming anxiety that flooded Ren's mind. All he could think about was reuniting with the rest of the group, worrying about their safety. 

Each step onto the non-firm, squelching ground beneath made his stomach twist, feeling the vibrant warmth of the living, organic floor press against his soles. It slowly began to turn itself into a maze, the texture remaining painfully the same as multiple pathways made themselves known. 

"Left or right?"

"Does it really matter if we have nothing to go off of?"

The two came to a halt when presented with the options before them. Trying to find anything to go off of to sway his decision, Ren simply bounced his finger to and from each pathway. 

"Left!"

Announcing his decision with some level of confidence, the choice took Macheo back who looked at his companion with his puzzled, vermilion jewels. 

"Don't look at me for an answer. I just went with my gut."

Shrugging his shoulders, Ren's explanation didn't seem to really satisfy the blonde noble, but alas, he followed him into the chosen pathway of repugnant flesh. Continuing on, it was damp with the blood that seeped into the fleshy ground, squelching beneath their boots before something caught both of their eyes at the end of the hall. 

"What the...Is that?..."

"A person?"

Both of them spoke only fragmented utterances, looking forward at the peculiar, chilling sight. Slumped over against the farthest wall was clearly a human; an adventurer and challenger of Purgatory by the leather armor with verdant clothing. 

"Should we?..."

"I don't know, he looks kind of too far gone to me."

Macheo's answer to Ren caught the white-haired man by surprise; it wasn't what he had meant as his hand was readied on his blade. It was easy to see even from the little light afforded to them in the repulsive domain--the unmoving adventurer was missing an arm and both legs. 

"Shit...I mean, if he dies, he'll just be revived, right?" 

Keeping his gloves close to the hilt of Belus, Ren kept his eyes peeled on the black-haired adventurer slumped over against the far wall. 

"Not necessarily."

Macheo's answer came quickly, a response that surprised Ren who thought his conclusion was an unbreakable truth. 

"What do you mean?"

"Just--not for certain, that's all. If he's like this, giving up and not trying to fight as he slowly withers away then his chances might not be great."

Hearing this, Ren couldn't place what he wanted to do. It was a saddening sight for him, seeing the adventurer, looking to be around his age, in such miserable condition. However, he felt his heart only had room for so much care at this point. 

I don't have time to help you, I'm sorry. I have others that I need to save right now. 

Resolving himself to move past the near-death challenger, he found himself frozen as it was Macheo who began to approach the mutilated man. Such an action seemed to hold no weight on the destiny of that single person as the moment Macheo stepped towards him, something else made itself known in the intersection of corridors. 

From the wall which the unconscious adventurer sat against, two arms protruded unnaturally. Though they looked to be humanoid, muscular, and covered in stitches, the arms were anything but natural to the eyes of the two young men. 

"Hold on!...Wake up, you fool!"

Attempting to warn the adventurer to move, Macheo's desperate yell managed to wake the youthful challenger from his pained slumber. 

Just as he opened his dreary, cobalt eyes, tears left from their boundaries. All hope was already lost within those irises; so pained and miserable, vacant of will and resolve. 

"Run...If you can still move, then run." 

Those words left his dry throat quietly, but they were powerful to those who watched this. The enigmatic arms met with the blood-soaked adventurer, the hand wrapping itself around his face as he began to be pulled back into the wall itself. 

"Wait! Achelous: Azure Bind!"

In a desperate attempt, Macheo threw out ropes of water toward the adventurer, wrapping the tendrils of liquid around the half-existent legs protruding from the boy's broken body. Tugging tightly, Macheo's strength didn't seem to have any effect on what was happening before his eyes as the arms continued to slowly drag the entire form of the young man into the fleshy bounds of the domain. 

"Ren! Come on!"

The entire time, Ren had stood there vacantly watching this unfold before his eyes. Even as his companion yelled with such visceral emotion, his throat tightening as did his grip on the bindings of water he conjured, Ren did nothing but watch. 

"He's dead."

"Huh?...No, he's not! Not yet, Ren! So, help me save him!"

"He's dead." 

As Macheo looked at the snow-haired comrade of his, his expression plummeted as what met his ears was only a quiet, calm repetition. Slowly, his grip opened, releasing his hold on his watery binds as his will fell all the same. 

It was a chilling sight, watching the poor, helpless adventurer be sucked into the harrowing walls. 

"What the hell was that?"

Macheo asked quietly between his teeth as he fell to his knees, looking at his own two hands that were wrapped by the stygian leather of his gloves. 

"I don't know, maybe it was the Butcher--"

"Not that! You! Why didn't you help?!"

It was a sharpness forged by raw emotion that roared out from Macheo's throat, yelling so unnaturally to himself that it sounded as if he was tearing his throat. Such vibrant, pure emotion from the crimson-eyes boy took Ren by surprise, who could really only feel confused by this sudden outburst.

"...Since when do you care about the others within this place?" 

"Since I was saved by one! Since we both vowed to change! Did you just forget about that?"

By this point, Macheo was already close to Ren, his eyes never wavering from contact as his words bulldozed right through Ren. Silence fell between the two for a moment as only the sound of trickling fluids met their ears.

"I didn't. But sometimes, choices have to be made. Say we did manage to pry him from those arms, even if we miraculously found Iris in time, her healing can't save wounds like that. He was already dead, Macheo." 

"...You still have to try." 

There was a certain sense of fragility in those vermilion irises of his, a sense of uncertainty and regret already present. Whatever the case, Ren didn't feel like staying stationary within the depths of the hellhole they found themselves in. 

I thought he was tougher than this. He's still just a kid at the end of the day. Maybe I said too much, Ren thought. 

"Maybe you're right. It's probably in our best interest to stay away from these walls, in case whatever the hell is lurking within them intends to take us as well."

"Yeah."

Replying quietly, Macheo straightened himself out, fixing the collar of his dark coat as he walked alongside Ren down the deathly corridor. 

Finding themselves naturally gravitating towards the leftmost path once again, the terrain seemed to shift itself, taking on a differing form from the abundance of shaped flesh. Making up the floor was a snow-white, solid substance, stretching itself thin across the walls around them. 

"Is this…"

"Bone." 

Ren affirmed what he knew his companion would say, knocking his knuckles gently against the material as a hollow echo resounded. Momentarily finding themselves distracted by the change in the material around them, something caught Ren's eye at the end of the corridor. 

It seemed to lead to a completely new chamber instead of continuing to run through the maze of flesh. Macheo discovered this as well as he pointed his eyes towards the same direction as his companion's own. 

"I've got a feeling; don't really know if it's good or bad."

Unsheathing his longsword, Ren slowly began to make his way to this awaiting territory as the Lucrauvian followed closely behind him. It was beginning to get all too tiring for Ren, blindly navigating through territories designed to either break him down or kill him. A feeling of frustration bubbled up within his core. 

"If it's in this place, I'd trust whatever is in your gut to be a bad feeling."

"I agree. That's why I'm going to do something pretty damn stupid." 

Holding a troublesome smile on his face, Ren marched forward until reaching this enigmatic chamber ahead of his eyes, dropping himself into its boundaries as the younger companion of his followed next to him. 

Like the rest of the sinful, nightmarish territory, the walls were all formed of what looked to be living flesh. This time, however, pillars of bone stood, holding the high-standing roof above their heads as a sense of a grand scale surrounded them. 

"...What're you planning?" 

"Well, if I'm being honest--I don't really feel like moving on the path chosen by this place. You've felt it too, right?"

Being asked this, Macheo slowly nodded as he gulped, "Yeah, it feels like the damn place is changing itself to try and box us in, or guide us somewhere. Still...What does this have to do with what you're going to do?"

"Frankly, I'm tired of it. This place--Purgatory--and all of its damn shenanigans. More so than that, I want to find our friends before anything can lay a damn finger on them. Just that thought alone is making my blood boil; not knowing where they are, if they're alright, wondering if something is after them. I'm not playing by the rules any longer--this place can go to hell. That's why...I'm going to blow this damn shithole to kingdom come." 

As he vented his feelings, speaking without frivolity or jest, a sense of bubbling up magical energy could be felt radiating from Ren's body. Raising a hand to the air, the rising energy massively amplified itself, condensing into the spot above his palm. 

"You might want to get back and use a barrier for this one." 

"...What? I don't get it."

"This is how we'll find them. They're in here somewhere--I'm certain of it. If I make enough damn noise, enough ruckus, destroy enough, they'll find it."