{Passageway 6}

TAP

TAP

TAP

Barely audible footsteps crunched against the rocky cavern floors.

The hollow walkway's red glow illuminated the pathway with an insidious radiance.

Walking along this seemingly treacherous path was a man covered from head to toe in pitch-black garbs.

His light green eyes pierced from under his veil, gilding the warm red walls with a slight shade of green.

He slithered forward cautiously, taking note of his environment, only to nearly yelp out in fright, "What in Yala's name?"

Before the shadowy figure was a gigantic red creature with half its face sloppily drooping downwards and an entire leg missing.

The figure and his group were no strangers to the pattern of a deceased creature with a missing leg.

With its disfigured face and battered body, it was hard to pinpoint what its bloodline was exactly.

Nonetheless, for the newb to defeat one of this size, it just proved the tasks may prove more peerless than it seemed.

With now furthered suspicions, the man continued forward past the creature, his squinted eyes lighting up with a dangerous shine as he followed the boy's trail.

The bloody footprints gave off a soft glow leading him right to the source.

Past the semi-narrow entrance, the man came through an opening only to be even more shocked by what lay before him.

A pool of red; however, this pool of red was filled to the brim in "red water" with splotches of deformed furry apples bobbing above the water.

The man's eyes widened in awe.

He bent down in front of the pool, steadily scooping up, his light green eyes gazing about before scooping "a little apple" out of the water.

Once in his hand and upon inspection, he nearly dropped it from shock.

As he peered at the deceased creature whose mutilated body was barely discernable, he could only tremble in fear as cold sweat rinsed down his back, "W-we shouldn't be here…"

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{Passageway 5}

"What the fuk?..", a sea of red lay far out in front of him.

The warm, red glow of the soaring cave walls only made the man more uncomfortable.

His light green eyes creased underneath his black full-bodied garbs, 'I know the boss said split up, and I'm all for findin' that lil newb but…' shivers crept down his back, 'Why do I gotta bad feelin…'

Having gone through the 5th entrance, it was only natural he'd be nervous, "That other prick is lucky he got to go through the far right."

He heavily exhaled through his nostrils, "We all know that's the easiest."

The hooded man peered around as he continued forward further to inspect the crimson lake that lay before him.

'Why…', as he peered around, 'Do I have a bad feeling."

His light, green eyes beamed across the room for any disturbance or trace of the boy, yet he saw nothing… but alas, that gut feeling still lingered…

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{Meanwhile... in that same room}

"Hehehe", stifled giggles bubbled through Oz's throat as he peered down at his prey from within the shadow's blanket.

The shadowy figure slowly continued forward, as he did so the malicious grin further seeped across Oz's face.

Finally, the man was a foot away from the "lake of red", and as he gazed around at the area in front of him, his eyes widened in shock as he realize only now what dangers lay in front of him.

Without skipping a beat, the shadowy figure lifted his left leg to step back and dash for the exit, and yet a loud rumble rang across the large room.

BMBMBMB

The man whipped his head around to see the entrance from which he came collapsing upon itself as it was pelted by attacks from the surroundings.

"No!!", the man bellowed out as he dashed for the entrance, yet from the corner of his eyes, he saw whizzes of red whip towards him.

WHOOOSH!

The man narrowly ducked down, narrowly avoiding the attack from the unknown.

He looked towards the ground where the attacks landed to see tiny pebbles sunken into the ground.

The man's eyes creased suspiciously at the pebble that was firmly planted into the ground; however, he had no time to focus on that as a series of unpleasant screeches nearly caused him to jump.

SCREEEEEEE!!

The man's eyes bulged as he slowly turned his head to the source of the vile shrieks, and his eyes bulged in fear.

From out of the vats of "red fruits" arose even larger "produce", the three hulking rats tumbled upwards, gently swaying the smaller creatures aside as they trudged forward.

A hateful gleam pierced out of their ember red eyes, and steam could be seen rising from their bodies as they stalked towards the lone intruder.

The shadowy figure gulped, 'Fuk, I gotta get back to the mini-boss and the others but I ain't gettin' through those boulders while these things are on me, plus…'

The man's green eyes gazed around cautiously, 'There's somethin' else in here, and it don't want me leavin'…'

The three rats that had slowly prowled forward while examining their target had grown tired of waiting and decided now was the time to attack.

SCREEEEEEEE!!

The man's eyes focused back in front of him as his attackers approached, and the little area of visible skin aro6und his eyes subtly gleamed with a shade of green.

However, not subtle enough to go unnoticed by the boy lurking in the shadows.

A mischievous grin spread across the boy's face as his crazed obsidian eyes stared on with anticipation and delight.

SCREEEEEEE!!

The rats all launched towards the cloaked figure, leaping into the air in a reverse triangular formation, the two biggest rats leading the charge while the slightly smaller rat trailed behind.

"You fuckers!", the man screamed as he leaped to the side, dodging the pounce from the rats.

BOOM!

The ground cracked as they slammed onto the ground.

The man nervously swallowed, 'Just one of those hits is gonna hurt…'

"Yahh!", the man bellowed out as he circled around and slightly bent his knees.

The floor fractured apart from the force, and cool gusts of wind breezed throughout the warm cave, and then… he disappeared.

WOOOOSH!

Suddenly from out of nowhere, the man appeared right in front of the rat in the very back.

"Die!" a fist containing pure bloodlust was launched into the rat's face, solidly connecting and causing a crisp clap to ring through the air.

BOOOM!

The rat was launched through the air tumbling and twisting as its body twisted and folded until its momentum died down and it lay still, its figure disfigured.

'Gulp', Oz nervously stared on in disbelief and fear, 'Strong…'

SCREEEEEE!!

The remaining two rats, however, had become even more infuriated as their ember red eyes glowed an even fiercer light.

"Bring it on, bastards!! I'll kill all of you!" the man brazenly shouted out as he slammed his fists together.

Yet, all was not it seemed as Oz attentively squinted his eyes at the cloaked man.

"Huff… huff…", the man was in a fighting position, but even from where Oz was, he could make out the man's chest heaving and his already labored movements.

The balmy, humid cave definitely wasn't helping the man's situation either.

The low glow of the red lights splashed the surroundings in an anxious aurora, the barely audible sound of thousands of "fruits" snoring alongside the man's haggard breaths creating a peculiar symphony of sounds.

GRR…

Low growls were let out by the two frenzied creatures, one stepped forward as the other stepped back.

The man readied himself in a fighting stance, prepared for whatever danger was to come.

SCREEEE!

The rat bellowed out as it rushed towards the man, its pitter-pattering footsteps reverbing off the cavern ground.

"Yahhh!!", the man launched himself to meet the rat, swinging his right arm, sending a hook to catch the creature in the face…

SWOOSHH!!

Yet, the air was all his fist met as the creature, having learned its lesson from its fallen ally had jumped back, circling the man once more.

'Ugh… not good, is it trying to tire me out?..', the shadowy man, having fought his fair share of battles, was well aware of what the dreadful creature was up to.

"I'll end this now!" the man barked out as he sprinted towards the fiery red rat, "Die!"

He sprinted forward, sending a left jab out, but the creature ducked it.

He launched a right uppercut; the rat side-stepped it.

He blasted with a left hook, the rodent jumped back.

"Gahhh, you bastard!", the man screamed out in rage.

An aura of green enshrouded the man as he lowered his body, sending a backward low-sweep, to which the creature jumped in the air to avoid the blow.

A faint whisper was let out… "Finally."

Before the rat's paws could even touch the ground, the man was cloaked in an aura of green as a gust of wind rushed throughout the room.

This mysterious aura caused the man to speed up, allowing him to deliver a forceful back-kick straight into the creature's face, sending it sprawling across the floor.

"Huff… huff…

The man's damp black garments clung to his skin as he bent over his knees in exhaustion.

The cinnamon-smelling room had heated up since that fight and now was the chance to cool off.

'Wait a minute', the man's eye's bulged, 'Where'd the other one go?'

He frantically whipped his head about, searching for that last abominable creature, as he gasped at what he saw…

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{Meanwhile in Passageway 4}

Drip…

Drip…

"Hmm… is that water?"

A man cloaked in black garbs walked along the moist cavern floor.

"Hmm, it's wetter in here. Where does this passage lead?"

As the man continued along the path, he mused to himself, 'Hmm, I understand mini-boss headin' through the hardest cave, but why do I get 4th? I'm sure "That guy" ain't that much stronger than me.'

The cloaked man was awoken from his thoughts as the sound of rushing water entered his ears.

As he moved forward, the cave's warmth began to heat up as an insidious red light illuminated the walls, staining his pitch-black garb in coats of red as if splashed in blood.

UGHH...

UGHHH…

Running water was not all that he heard.

The man stood still, honing his senses as his light green eyes glowed with a mysterious light.

Peeking through the foggy red curtain, the man gazed at what looked to be a body of water in front of him.

His eyes widened in surprise, 'In a place like this?'

Drip…

Drip…

The calm drops rung throughout the small cavern, yet the man felt a certain unease about the air that he couldn't put his finger on.

Nonetheless, he continued forward, slowly trudging through the fog with false conviction, his heart held captive by an intangible fear.

Finally, he stood over the pond of water.

It was wide enough to fit 10 plus horses, with a 10ft (3m) circumference and Yala knows how deep it went.

The murkiness of the… water? The cloudiness of the liquid didn't even allow the man to see his own reflection.

UGH…

'That sound again…', the sound was like a buzzing, something noticeable when paying attention but easily drowned out by a simple thought, yet now…

UGHHH…

UGHHH…

The liquid in front of the man shook.

Drip…

Drip drip drip…

Plop plop plop…

The droplets had turned into cascading globs that splashed against the pond before the man.

PLOP.

"Aghh!", the man yelped out as his whole body was engrossed in a large blob of the thick, goopy liquid.

It had a sour, rancid smell that was like spoiled cheese, and yet… the slight trace of cinnamon was ever-present.

The man slowly craned his neck upwards to confront the horror that awaited.

"Ha…", the man's jaw hung agape, his mouth dropping so low it nearly unhinged itself, and for good reason, as what he saw would give any normal person the worst nightmares.

Above him were swarms and swarms of tiny red… rats, impaling each other from behind with their… "personal sticks"…

The gruesomeness of it was alarming, as he watched many of them struggle to see who could impale who as they hung and battled from the ceiling, the loser swiftly being used for pleasure whilst unconscious.

Hanging limply by the neck, the victor held in its jaw while delivering its deadly hip strokes.

The guttural squeaks and moans ranged through the room till droplets soaked from out of the loser's behind.

Yet, now…

The goop had gotten bigger, and the creatures were more excited… because now, they had found an even better f*ck toy.

"N-no!" the man muttered out in utter terror as he backed away, slipping on the moist floor.

The swarm of watermelon-sized "red fruits" all swarmed along the ceiling, the creamy liquid streaming against the ground as they scattered across the ceiling.

Eventually, dropping to the ground and completely surrounding the man, muffled screams rang through the isolated cavern with not a soul to know nonetheless even care about his seemingly miserable demise.

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