Within the silent, ruined city, an adventurer squad cautiously advanced towards its center. Upon the streets formed of flesh and gore, gluttonous monsters ceaselessly roamed, periodically raising their indescribable heads to scan their surroundings.
“Captain, where do you plan to begin our search?”
Inside a dark red building, Lu Minghao, perched on a sticky, constantly wriggling windowsill, glanced at the passing gluttonous monsters outside before turning to face Sophie behind him, inquiring.
“The Royal Palace of the Edras Kingdom. I have a premonition that it holds what we seek.”
Sophie's slightly pale face wore a determined expression as she gazed at the distant Edras Royal Palace beyond the window. She had noticed that the closer they got to the palace, the larger, more numerous, and stronger the surrounding gluttonous monsters became. Sophie believed this must be because the palace contained something that allowed these monsters to be born ceaselessly.
“But, Sophie, given our current situation, it’s impossible for us to reach the Royal Palace.”
Before Lu Minghao could speak, Elena, the team's mage, looked at Sophie and said, “Just during the journey to the capital, we lost three members. If it weren't for Nina holding off the strongest monster, the entire Crimson Rose squad would have been completely wiped out by those monsters.”
Now, the monsters within the capital, in terms of both numbers and strength, are several times stronger than what they encountered before. Even with Nina's superior adventurer strength, it's impossible to enter the Royal Palace under the siege of so many monsters.
Moreover, Elena didn't believe that there wouldn't be even more powerful monsters within the Royal Palace. Perhaps the Demon Lord species, Flora the Ghoul, was waiting for them inside.
“Actually, we can sneak in through the sewers.”
At this moment, Lu Minghao raised his hand, looking at the others with a smile, “As for whether or not we can infiltrate the Royal Palace through the sewers, I don't know, but I can definitely lead Sophie and the others to the place I've already prepared.”
“The sewers…”
Upon hearing the word 'sewers,' a ripple disturbed the previously lifeless look in Nina’s eyes. Memories resurfaced in her mind. It was in the sewers that she lost her family-like companions, and then completely lost everything.
The reason Nina participated in this mission was because, after seeing the information about the gluttonous monsters, she subconsciously considered it another experiment by the Eastern Empire. Driven by hatred, Nina wanted to destroy everything and burn it all to ashes.
However, after truly encountering the gluttonous monsters, Nina realized that these monsters were not experimental products of the Eastern Empire at all. Although the Eastern Empire's experimental products underwent various modifications, they still retained their internal organ structures.
These gluttonous monsters, however, were entirely clumps of flesh, coupled with their unbelievable immortality and corrosiveness, completely different from the experimental product that had taken everything from her.
Therefore, Nina was now indifferent to the mission. The meaning of her life was only revenge, and these gluttonous monsters were not her enemies. Even if they destroyed the entire Western Nations, Nina wouldn't care in the slightest.
As for why Nina hadn't left yet, it was entirely because Sophie possessed a magical artifact with spatial teleportation abilities. Nina could only stay with the Crimson Rose squad temporarily to leave safely.
Incidentally, Nina didn't mind helping the Crimson Rose squad when it didn't endanger herself, considering it a reward for taking care of her during this time. Of course, if they encountered any insurmountable danger, Nina would directly kill Sophie, snatch the spatial teleportation artifact, and leave.
Nina absolutely wouldn't allow herself to die here. She wouldn't die before completing her revenge!
“The sewers… maybe it really could work.”
Sophie, unaware of Nina's thoughts, carefully considered Lu Minghao's suggestion and found it to be a good idea. After all, the dark, narrow terrain of the sewers would limit the number of gluttonous monsters.
Moreover, the entire sewer system was interconnected. Perhaps they could safely reach the Royal Palace through the sewers.
“Then it’s decided!”
The next moment, Sophie stood up and looked at the remaining members of the Crimson Rose squad, before grabbing the longsword beside her with her remaining right arm and heading towards the door. Just as she had taken shelter in this place, Sophie had noticed a sewer entrance not far away.
Inside the house, Lu Minghao watched Sophie and the other teammates heading outside, revealing a faint smile, and silently followed.
Subsequently, the group cautiously surveyed the street outside before leaving. After confirming that there were no gluttonous monsters outside, Sophie was the first to walk out, directly approaching the sewer manhole. She inserted the longsword into the gap of the manhole cover, and with a force, the manhole cover was pried open.
The originally stone manhole cover had now turned into a mass of flesh, covered with constantly wriggling, slender tendrils at the edges.
“Let’s go!”
Sophie lowered her head and glanced at the sewer below. Within the dark red passage, a large amount of flesh was constantly pulsating. As Sophie began to delve into the sewers, the soft, constantly pulsating flesh walls around them, and the strange tactile sensation underfoot, gave Sophie the feeling that they were walking inside a giant monster.
“How disgusting!”
Elena, looking at the viscous, dark red liquid under her feet, and the constantly wriggling walls above and around her, felt a strong sense of discomfort. Just looking at the wriggling walls, Elena felt as if her own skin and flesh were also constantly wriggling, as if she too would become part of the surrounding walls.
At the forefront of the team, Sophie heard Elena’s voice behind her. She paused slightly before continuing forward, her heavy footsteps echoing eerily within the sewers as they landed on the soft, slimy ground.
In the dim sewers, only the echoing footsteps and the sound of the walls wriggling remained for a time. The entire Crimson Rose squad continued to advance in the direction of the Royal Palace, while Nina in the team looked at the empty sewers around her with a hint of doubt.
For some reason, they hadn't encountered any gluttonous monsters since entering the sewers, as if the entire sewer system only contained them.
After half an hour, Sophie, who was walking at the very front, suddenly stopped, her face showing unconcealable horror as she looked ahead. The others behind Sophie also noticed her abnormality and slowed their pace to approach.
