All the monsters that ambushed Stark suddenly dashed toward him, not leaving him a single point where to escape in this small cave, so small in fact that Stark's body was only just barely fitting.
Any tighter and he would struggle to walk!
~FWISH~
"TONGUE LASH!"
"CLAW SWIPE!"
Some of the [Tongue-Claw Ambushes] launched their tongues at Stark, trying to wrap him up around them as to maybe try and crush his organs, or allow the rest of them to cut him in pieces.
While the other half just launched themselves at him, their white claws glinting in the darkness of the cave, though the energy ball from [Crimson Purification] still allowed Stark to see from close.
~FWISH~
They didn't make a sound.
But... of course Stark wouldn't sit down and do nothing against these... things.
"AURA SMASH! CRIMSON SPEARS!"
All this happened in less than half of a second, but basically: Stark summoned his five spears, then immediately threw one at the group of three monsters in front of him, momentarily stopping them as they were pierced.
"-98371! -102371! -97483!"
The three crimson fists on the other hand were sent at the back, hitting the monster's tongue as they were the ones that used [Tongue Lash], burning it.
"-300000! -300000!" and most interesting of all: they received the entirety of their health in one go the moment Stark hit their tongues.
Meaning... that it was their weakness.
It was rare for monsters to have such an obvious weakness, and even more when the simple action of hitting that weakness was enough to instantly one shot them, but oh well, maybe it was to adjust the difficulty.
After all, the cave would be totally dark under normal circumstances.
"SPATIAL INVENTORY," and to fight the last remaining group, meaning the two above that were currently dropping, their mouths opened, revealing their disgusting tongues, and their claws ready to slash...
~FWISH~
Stark put his hand inside his inventory and with lightning speed pulled two [Crystal Stun Potions], instantly launching them above without even looking.
~BAM, BAM~
The potions hit the monster's mouth, and precisely their tongue.
[Weakness hit with 'Crystal Stun Potion'!]
~DING~
And yet again, the monsters fell to the ground, exploding their hands against the rock as stunning their tongue was literally just as bad as hitting it, meaning instant death.
"Huh..." and so, knowing that, Stark didn't hesitate a single second to pull out four more potions, throwing three of them at the monsters above, killing them as well.
And as for the last one... he just looked down.
"KRAAA!" the final [Tongue-Claw Ambush] finally emerged, thinking that its friends were doing a good job distracting the human.
And yet...
"Kra?" as it lifted its head, it just saw Stark look down at it, its friend's corpses all around, "..."
~BAM~
He dropped the last potion on it, and it died instantly too.
"Phew..." the small golden ball beside him was still working, and so he could see around him.
But before that...
~DING! DING! DING!~
[You have slain "Tongue-Claw Ambush", gained 376,200 EXP!]
[You have slain "Tongue-Claw Ambush", gained 374,500 EXP!]
What could be that feeling...
[Just go, damn it]
"Alright, alright," Stark arrived in front of the bridge.
It was creaking and constantly moving because of the wind, making it seem as though it would all fall apart at ANY point.
But even then.
~CREAK~
Stark took a first step, and immediately...
~DING~
[Do not run, whatever you do, don't try, you will not reach the end.]
"I mean... that bridge is giant, so it would take me around 10 to 15 seconds to reach the end even for me..." this was just how big it was, at least two or three kilometers in size.
So running wasn't an option, as it would immediately collapse under the weight and impact.
~THUD, THUD~
Instead, Stark needed to walk carefully and slowly, calculating each of his steps as to not pass through one of the holes in the planks.
Two minutes passed like that, minutes where Stark just carefully made sure to find the safest way to get to the end.
And.
When he reached the end, when he reached the middle point of the bridge...
IT happened.
~BOOM~
It wasn't the bridge exploding, or anything in the environment, but Stark's aura itself.
At this point, the alarms in his head were ringing so loudly that they were hurting his head.
[WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!]
[GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!]
Stark's heart was pounding so hard that he could feel it in his throat.
The alarms in his head were still going off, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was very, very wrong.
He tried to calm himself down, taking deep breaths and focusing on the present moment.
But it was no use: the feeling was too great, and he couldn't help but feel like something terrible was about to happen.
Sensing that staying still wouldn't do anything, Stark decided to continue to walk across the bridge, as it was better than just waiting for whatever horror was awaiting him.
Yet even then, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched.
He turned his head, scanning the darkness below him, but saw nothing.
He shook it off and continued on his way.
A mere fifteen seconds passed between that.
And right afterward... the true horrors of this world revealed themselves to Stark.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something moving.
It was faint at first, just a shadow against the darkness of the void below him. But as he looked closer, he realized that it wasn't just a shadow – it was something massive and terrifying rising from the depths of the abyss.
His heart skipped a beat as he realized what it was – a creature unlike anything he had ever seen before.
It was at least fifty times his size, with scales as white as snow and eyes that glowed with an otherworldly light. It seemed to be made of shadows themselves, flickering in and out of existence as it rose higher and higher into the air.
And when it fulled revealed itself... Stark realized that it was a giant snake, and it was looking directly at Stark, knowing of his presence.
A snake... that directly came from the void...?