Chapter 171: Sleepwalker Poison
Terry rolled down a hill, bouncing and tumbling until he finally came to a stop at the bottom. He groaned in pain and looked around at the strange underground cave he had landed in. Roots, moss, and dripping water surrounded him in the eerie darkness.
At that moment, three figures slid down the same hill and arrived at the underground cave.
One of them brought a torch that illuminated the cave's walls.
It looked like the ceiling and walls were made out of blocks of dirt and tree roots. The air was thick with a musty smell, and the sound of dripping water echoed through the cave.
At the end of the cave, there was an enormous, thick tree trunk that seemed to be stuck inside the wall. This cave was clearly next to one of the big trees, and the ceiling above was just the forest ground above.
This strange cave seemed to be nature-made.
"What's this place?" Terry asked fearfully.
"We found this a while back." Noel said with a grin. "I happened to accidentally fall into this hole, and like you, I rolled all the way here."
Terry gulped.
"In here, no one will be able to find us." Renee said with a giggle.
"W-why're two of you here?" Terry asked, looking at Renee and Jake. "Two of you have different partners, don't you?"
"We don't care about this worthless fucking class." Jake said with a scoff. "Noel wanted us to teach you a lesson or two, so here we are."
"Is this really necessary?" Terry asked. "I haven't even done anything to you guys!"
"You fool, you're just bait." Noel said with a grin and drove his fist into Terry's stomach.
Terry collapsed on his knees and coughed loudly, which brought out his breakfast all over the ground.
"We've sent Jake's partner to inform Adam about us taking you." Noel said. "We've also given enough hints where we are, so if your friend still can't find us, I am truly disappointed."
"Hahaha..." Terry laughed painfully. "Y-you think you can beat him in a fight?"
"Of course not." Noel said. "It's an unfair fight to begin with. He has the system. If I had a system, yes, I believe I could easily win against him, but I don't, so we need to rely on other things."
"Huh?"
"Jake."
Jake, with a smile, brought out a needle with strange black liquid dripping from its tip and handed it over to Noel.
"This is Sleepwalker Spider's poison." Noel said with a chuckle. "With one drip of this poison, one will fall into a deep sleep for a long time~"
"That won't be enough..." Terry said and screamed. "He'll just kill all of you!"
"That's what you think." Noel chuckled. "You think this poison just makes him a little bit
sleepy? It has special functions, such as completely nullifying his skills.
"Meaning, he can't use his illusions~"
Terry's eyes shook as he realized the full extent of Noel's plan.
"Today, we'll kill S-ranker." Noel laughed.
'They'll kill me as well...' Terry gulped. 'There's no way they want any witnesses!'
...
"Where're you going?" Yuri jogged after Adam, panting as she struggled to keep up with his pace.
"I-I am sorry..." Yuri said with tears on her face. "I-I also want the bullying to end."
"Heh, good job, ugly Yuri!" Renee giggled from the darkness.
Terry screamed loudly, but everything came out muffled.
Noel let go of Terry and made him drop to the ground.
Terry couldn't move an inch as his limbs were tied tightly with rope.
"Sleepwalker Poison, how're you feeling?" Noel laughed loudly. "You didn't see that
happening, now did you?"
Adam looked at Yuri, his eyes shaking and he took a step back in a shock.
It made him remember something that he had been trying to forget.
A memory that had been haunting his dreams ever since his regression.
Liam's face replaced Yuri's, and this scenario felt exactly the same. The same feeling of betrayal dug into his heart like the claws of a ferocious beast.
Adam's eyes started to sink into a deep, dark pool of despair.
The sleepiness tried to corrupt every single part of his mind, but he fought against it with all
his might, and slowly, the mana ocean in his mind started to run crimson and its waves turned
high as skyscrapers.
"I-I am sorry..." Yuri whispered, tears streaming down his face.
Adam swung his sword and sliced through her body in one clean stroke.
Her legs fell to the left and her torso to the right, blood spilling out onto the ground.
She was still screaming and crying, but then everything turned dark for her as her death came
as quick as the strike of his sword.
Noel, Jake, and Renee turned silent.
The atmosphere turned suffocating, like someone was pushing a pillow over their faces.
Terry's screams also stopped. He was just looking with his wide eyes.
Then, slowly, Adam turned around to face them; his navy eyes had turned red, and his mouth
had shifted into a rageful smile.
In his eyes, Noel's face had changed that of Calamity; Jake looked like Nikholas; Renee looked like Lisa; Terry looked like Amelia.
"You trying to betray me?" Adam's laugh sounded sinister, and then he took a step forward.
"I thought we were friends."
"W-why is the poison not working?!" Renee shouted.
"I followed the recipe perfectly!" Noel screamed.
"No, the poison is working!" Jake shouted. "He is just trying to act tough. Just kill him!"
"Shut up, Nikholas." Adam said, looking at Jake with his red eyes. "You were always the
loudest one, but you won't be making noise for much longer." 'Nikholas, who?' Terry frowned. 'What is happening to him?'