Chapter 33 32: Underground Snakes

"Hey dude, this is place is too dark. Ghosts won't jump out, right? Right?"

"Lord of Shadows my ass." Claude annoyedly smacked the amulet over and over as he paced through the underground path. He pressed one hand against the erratic rocks sticking out from the sides and followed the path close. It was too dark to see properly, but he could still sense things around him.

The high perception had great benefits.

Claude's gait remained vigilant as he walked deeper and deeper inside. He left a small bit of his mana on the walls to be able to navigate back in case something went wrong. It was a handy skill that Elric had come up with when they explored a giant ant settlement back in the forest.

"Where did that ghost go, though? Weren't you following her?"

"Who cares, this is more curious. The ghost was likely leading us here in the first place."

"Hmm, did your old world have ghosts too?"

"No."

"You're strangely calm after seeing one."

Did this thing not realize it was practically a ghost too? Claude shook his head and decided to ignore the Lord of the Shadows. Friendly as it was, the words were nothing but an act. The soul of the Lord of the Shadows was not something he could trust, It was more than a hassle having to steel himself every waking and sleeping moment to avoid it taking over his body.

The 'Hostile' word in his soul stone was proof enough.

ραпdα nᴏνa| сom Soon enough, a faint light entered Claude's eyes, illuminating the damp ground below and the rocky walls around. He was reaching closer to whatever was hiding here. Claude clutched the amulet again, and this time, the cape of the Lord of the Shadows emerged from within.

The cape was Claude's favorite equipment of them all. Handcrafted by the ghost haunting him all the time, it was one that not only nullified a wide range of magic proportional to how much mana he could put in, but it also worked to hide his presence with the correct patterns.

Through his shoulders, the boy's mana seeped into the cape and slowly hid his presence. He could feel himself hiding away from the world, like a dwindling flame. Ready, Claude walked on ahead deeper into the cave. After following another curve, the light seeping in brightened. He hid behind a stone spike stretching out of the walls and peeked ahead.

"Divine beast! Your feast will begin soon. Your feast will begin soon!"

"Fucking hell..." A curse slipped out of Claude's mouth.

Crimson blood covered the sides of the widening in the passage. Almost as if it had been used as a plaster to hold the stones up. Bones and flesh had muddled in with the rocks around while entire skulls warily looked at the entrance of the cave with their eyes that lacked sight. It The muscles on the ground still throbbed, a sign of their freshness, while some of the blood on the walls had turned black under the air.

Claude held his breath. A hundred bad stenches must have been offered to gods before they made something smell this repugnant.

At the center of the room, with chains of gold and silver decorating its width, stood lofty a snake. The giant monster's tail lathed around the blood all over the room, its sepia scales soiled by the pool of human soup with every flutter.

The snake hissed. "You... Meal! Richer... hisss.... Or, I kill!"

"Oh, divine beast!" The man kneeling in front of the snake screamed in passion. His fanatic voice sent itches over Claude's back. "Your meals shall only be richer from now! We have secured two adventurers of a high rank! Once you kill them, they'll only send stronger ones—"

The snake's tail wrapped around a skull before launching it to the head of the man. It knocked him down and he fell on his back as the skull rolled over to Claude's feet.

'Village chief...' Claude remembered the face of this man rather well. He had seen him just this morning, acting meek and helpless.

"I kill? Insolent! I tell mummy!"

The old village chief scrambled to his feet and slammed his head to the ground, the puddle of blood sticking to the sides of his face. "Apologies, oh divine beast. We'll bring them. We'll all catch and bring them!"

Claude frowned deep at the sight.

"Hungry... NOW!"

The village chief straightened his back at the snake's words. He jumped up and started running away from the passage—

—The snake's tail stretched out like a whip and wrapped itself around the village chief. The meters-long giant pulled the hapless chap closer to its mouth.

"D-divine beast? I am sorry! Please, don't eat me—"

The snake's tongue reached out and stroked the village chief's face, licking away the blood that had stuck to him. The old man trembled in fear as the snake enjoyed itself, slowly savoring every drop. Once it was done, the snake flung the man away. He flew past Claude and landed inside the dark passage. Claude closed his eyes, still hidden in the darkness of the cave. The sounds of the man's feet clicking against the ground reached his ears before fading away.

"Mummy! Daddy!" The snake's infernal screams were the only thing reaching Claude's ears for the time being. The giant monster danced again and licked the blood, eating away at the wild bits of meat around. Claude shifted his gaze down to his feet.

The skull on the ground. It was small, tiny.

A child's skull.

Claude pushed in the wave of unease and anger swelling in his heart as he completely hid his presence and rushed out of the cave. He had an injured old man to outrun.