Crimson blood slowly seeped from the creature’s wound.
No matter what had turned it into this monstrosity, its fundamental nature as a living being remained unchanged.
After repeatedly casting divine spells, Li Wen was down to just 2 points of magic power.
Considering that activating the shattered Eye of Transcendence required mana—and that this spell didn’t fall under the Glorious Light spectrum or benefit from the Flame Blood’s boost—she absolutely couldn’t afford to use any more.
Part of the reason she had chosen to confront this ambush alone was to test the effectiveness of Arclight without incantation.
The result was satisfying: even though the creature’s neck was armored with scale-like tumors, they failed to withstand Arclight’s touch for more than a moment.
Moriah looked up at the ceiling, but saw no sign of other monsters.
Perhaps the one that attacked Li Wen had been the only one lurking in this place.
“Its claws were clean,” Li Wen had noticed this even in the midst of the ambush.
“It’s not the one that killed those adventurers.”
“In other words, there are still other monsters hiding in the shadows…”
The moment she said that, both the gnome and the wild mages shuddered violently.
Unlike Li Wen and Moriah, they didn’t have the power to fend off such threats.
If they had been the targets of the earlier attack, their only hope would’ve been Moriah’s timely rescue—or death.
“Haha, well… look around, everything here is a complete mess. Finding anything useful’s not going to be easy, especially with unknown dangers still lurking. How about we head back for now and come up with a better plan later?”
Hallick rubbed his hands nervously and offered a weak chuckle.
He had long grown tired of this cursed place and couldn’t wait to get out.
Moriah turned to Li Wen for her opinion.
“I don’t mind. If any of you want to leave, go ahead. But I have to take responsibility for my companion. I must retrieve the Shadowfall Elixir.”
Li Wen said this deliberately, emphasizing a “companion” that didn’t actually exist.
It was a subtle move to guilt Moriah into staying—after all, if she was unable to fight, who would protect her if Moriah left?
Moriah felt a headache coming on.
He understood Hallick’s anxiety but couldn’t simply let them leave.
It wasn’t that he feared the wild mages running off—he just couldn’t guarantee their safety without him.
As for Li Wen… he definitely couldn’t leave her alone.
“Here’s what we’ll do. I’ll summon an angel using the Descent spell. The angel can escort you out and keep you safe. How does that sound?”
Hallick’s face lit up with joy. But the gnome, Trotus, suddenly stammered:
“N-No, I can’t. I accepted payment from the Lady. I promised to lead her in—and out. I can’t leave.”
Really?
Li Wen was the first to call that into question.
Just then, another voice spoke up—quiet, almost nonexistent until now.
“I’m not leaving.”
It was Nasha, Hallick’s companion—the other wild mage.
She refused the offer even more firmly, not bothering to give any reason at all.
Hallick was stunned.
He gave her a series of frantic, pleading glances. But Nasha didn’t react.
Her face remained hidden under her wide-brimmed wizard’s hat, leaving her expression unreadable.
“Then, Hallick, I suppose you—”
“Ha, haha… I’ll stay too!”
Hallick forced a few awkward laughs.
“I mean, I am a mage after all. Maybe I can help out somehow…”
Moriah smiled in quiet appreciation.
He hadn’t expected that from Hallick.
In truth, Hallick had simply chickened out.
Leaving with company was one thing—leaving alone?
He doubted he even had the courage to make it out of the dungeon by himself.
Li Wen paid no attention to the drama unfolding behind her.
She was focused on using her bone-eating dagger to slice open the creature’s abdomen and skull, inspecting its internal structure.
The results were… grotesque.
Every organ had dissolved into a black, gelatinous substance, which had formed intricate web-like structures throughout the body.
The monster’s head was worse: its contents were completely hollowed out, replaced by a single bloated worm.
Roughly the size of a human forearm, the worm lay coiled, covered in fine stone-like scales.
Its head was a circular maw lined with rows of jagged teeth.
It had once slumbered peacefully inside the creature’s skull, but now, with its nest destroyed, it let out an ear-piercing screech and raised its scales in rage.
Li Wen drove her blade straight into its head.
“What is that thing?”
Moriah frowned deeply.
“Looks like a parasite of some kind. That monster—or victim—had its brain devoured. I’d bet this worm is the one that controlled it and sent it after me.”
Li Wen was already about 70 to 80 percent sure of her theory.
She was just missing one final piece of the puzzle—and that piece…
“You don’t have anything to say for yourself, Trotus?” she asked.
The gnome flinched.
He scratched himself nervously.
“I-I don’t understand. I don’t know anything!”
He turned to Moriah with pleading eyes.
But Moriah merely stared back calmly, as if waiting for him to explain.
Even Hallick, slow as he was, now sensed that something was about to happen.
He quickly distanced himself from both Li Wen and the gnome, dragging Nasha behind him to hide behind Moriah.
“I don’t understand…”
Trotus muttered, scratching frantically at his face, neck, and body.
His nails tore open his skin, drawing blood.
“I don’t understand!”
His usually meek voice now rang out shrill and harsh.
“Why? WHY?! How dare you suspect me?! You filthy, worthless creature crawling out of the mud!”
He screamed, tugging at his hair and tearing at his own face.
At last, he calmed, though his bloodshot eyes still glared with madness.
“Humans… always so devious, full of lies and schemes. Tell me—when did you start suspecting me?”
“From the beginning,” Li Wen answered bluntly.
For a moment, Trotus’s expression twisted into something unreadable.
“That’s impossible!”
Li Wen shook her head.
“You were right about one thing—you really don’t understand potions. You probably didn’t know that Ghost Solution can’t be stored for more than three months.”
“After that, it dissipates on its own. So when you said the potion came from the dungeon? That was a lie.”
That was why Li Wen’s very first question had been whether he had made the potion himself.
Trotus refused to believe her.
He screamed in denial, shouting and cursing in gnomish.
“No! No! I took that potion with my own hands! I swear it came from the dungeon!”
Finally, he could take no more.
The gnome drove his nails into his own forehead, then tore off his entire face—skin, flesh, and all.
Tftc!