I Reincarnated into a Single-celled Organism! - Chapter 250

I couldn’t help but take another look through the door at the colossal skeleton. It really did give off a pressure that I hadn’t felt from anything else I had ever encountered. I couldn’t help but think that maybe this entire underground realm was a product of this creature right here. I couldn’t exactly explain why, but I suspected both the brain-eating parasites and the mycelium networks were products of this creature’s death. In fact, it might even be responsible for the existence of the entire realm.

Thanks to the mycelium network, I had mapped out the majority of the underground space, and there was a certain symmetry to how the prison was built. This cell sat at the epicenter of the tomb. In short, the entire prison might have been initially built just for this creature. A deep sense of foreboding rose inside me, a primal warning that had little to do with Tiffany’s anxious appearance. I turned to her and nodded.

“We shouldn’t be here,” I spoke quietly. “Let’s go back the way we came.”

She nodded in affirmation, and the two of us turned around. However, we didn’t even make it to the stairway before several shouts and screams echoed above. There was yelling and laughter, but none of it sounded coherent. I could also sense powerful life signs approaching us from above. The insane captives were quickly spreading throughout the prison, and there was no longer a way back without running into them.

I also couldn’t help but note that every time I heard a boom, there was the rumble of architecture crumbling and new holes being made in the prison for mycelium to enter. In other words, the prison couldn’t handle rough fighting. If I tried to eliminate the threats down here, we’d all just end up getting buried.

“We have to go through the beast’s chamber,” Tiffany spoke nervously.

I bit my lip and then nodded. “Fine. If we walk around the perimeter, we can keep away from the beast. The section of the collapsed wall is over there on that far side. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

It was only now that I glanced into the cell that I could see the chute I had been looking for had been opened when the beast managed to rip one of the chains from the wall. I just hoped it had done that while it was still alive.

Taking a deep breath, I led Tiffany into the vast chamber. We immediately began to kite around the side of the room. The air grew thick, the miasma clinging to us like a shroud of cold, heavy oil. I kept one eye on the curved wall and the other on the skeletal mass in the middle. As we worked our way around the room, I couldn’t shake an uncomfortable feeling from the beast. There was a faint, malevolent glow in the beast’s empty eye sockets. It felt almost like it had eyes that were following us as we moved.

“Ahhh…” Tiffany suddenly stumbled on a rock.

“Tiffany…”

“I… hear it…” Tiffany grabbed her head.

“Don’t look!”

It was already too late. She glanced up into the undead beast’s glowing eyes. She let out an even louder scream. She began to back away, her eyes darting around in a wild, unfocused panic.

“Tiffany!” I tried to grab her.

“Get away from me!” she yelled, lifting her hand and chanting as she began to cast a spell.

I didn’t wait for her to finish it. I sidestepped her magical attack and chopped sharply on the back of the neck with the edge of my hand. Her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed, unconscious as whatever magic she was summoning sparkled away. As she fell back, I caught her before she could hit the floor.

With Tiffany in my arms, I quickly checked her body for any abnormalities. In the past, unless there was some physiological change, I probably wouldn’t have been able to notice anything. However, since I had practiced the spiritual healing technique, I became more aware of her energy circuits and her soul force. It didn’t appear that any part of her was currently under attack.

I still couldn’t calm down, so I began to cover Tiffany in a cocoon. I had done one prior while we were in the mansion, but this one was more focused on protection. As a result, it came out more like silk. I wrapped the threads around her until she was completely covered. Once she was covered, I felt nothing trying to get into the cocoon, nor any mysterious connection between her and the outside world. It appeared like I was worrying for no reason.

I glanced back at the skeleton, but it hadn’t moved a single bit since earlier. Perhaps the will inside it had died a long time ago, or maybe we just had to get closer. A small part of me considered trying to put it in my luminal space. If the bodies of other sage beasts were worth so much, these powerful creatures must be extremely valuable. However, I still had an uneasy feeling when facing it. It was one of the rare times I felt apprehensive, so I decided it was best to listen to my instincts and leave it behind.

I slung the cocooned Tiffany over my shoulder and then continued heading to the exit. When I reached the base of the massive broken chain, I jumped onto it and began climbing with Tiffany strapped to my back. It was only when I was about halfway to the wall that I noticed the miasma still seemed to be following us. It was more noticeable now that I was up in the air, but the miasma seemed to be sticking to me for some reason.

If it wasn’t that the beast had some kind of lingering will, then why would the miasma follow me around? It was like it was looking for something. That’s when another thought struck me, and I moved Tiffany to my side and pulled out the Gibbs’ Lantern. As soon as the lantern appeared from my luminal space, the drawing effect increased. However, the miasma wasn’t being drawn to me, but the small green flame sucked in the miasmic smoke.

As the smoke entered the lantern, not only did the light grow brighter, but the release of passive energy began to speed up. I realized my previous prediction had been incorrect. This lantern didn’t feed on zero-point energy or anything else so obstruct. It used death energy. When something died, it would consume the passive energy leaking off of it. Perhaps it had spent all those years consuming the life force of this massive beast. No wonder this ecosystem had changed so drastically. Every dead creature became its food. It would probably continue to release energy for quite a long time, and it’d be exceptionally useful in graveyards and ancient battlefields.

No wonder the prisoner wanted this. I wondered just how much energy it possessed. However, that was a question for another day. As much as I wanted to let it absorb all the remaining energy from this beast, I had no clue how long that would take, and the life forms outside were getting very close to this room. I put the lantern away, the eerie light disappearing, before I grabbed Tiffany and finished going up the chain.

I climbed up the chute, which turned out to be some kind of waste disposal or ventilation shaft, not intended for actual movement. For someone like me, however, a perfectly vertical wall was little more than a minor inconvenience. I just had to create a bit of abrasion on my fingertips, altering the cellular structure to increase friction, and I could easily join the ranks of other wall-crawlers, scaling the cracked metal surfaces with ease.

After a few minutes of silent climbing, I finally hauled myself back onto the first level of the prison. The air was marginally better here; the oppressive weight of the lower levels receded away. I set the cocooned Tiffany down gently, and just as I did, I heard a soft groan from within the silk threads. I quickly generated a small amount of heat, causing the threads to burn away into ash just as her eyes fluttered open.

She sat up with a gasp, her hands immediately flying to her chest and arms, her expression a mixture of panic and confusion. When she saw me standing there, her eyes widened, and she scrambled back, covering her body.

“Nothing happened,” I informed her, holding up my hands in a placating gesture. “You’re safe. The miasma in the cell got the better of you. I had to restrain you so you wouldn’t hurt yourself.”

Her breathing calmed gradually as she processed my words. The panic made way for a wary suspicion. She looked down at her intact clothes and then back at me. After a moment, a strangely unsatisfied expression appeared on her face.

“You… you had me completely at your mercy again. Why didn’t you… Take advantage of me?”

I blinked, and then a slow, amused smile spread across my face, and I reached for her. “Would you like me to? There’s always next time…”

Her face, which had been pale, instantly flushed a deep crimson.

She sputtered indignantly, scrambling to her feet and slapping away. “You… you insolent… let’s just go!”

I chuckled, enjoying her flustered reaction far more than I probably should have. “As you wish. The teleportation array isn’t far from here. While the madmen are all down there, we can escape.”

I led the way down the now-familiar corridor, my senses on high alert. I made sure to avoid the chained man from earlier. Thankfully, we did not need to go that way. There were sounds of the madmen rampaging deeper underground, but none of that would affect us. We reached the large antechamber where the teleportation array was located, but as I stepped into the room, I immediately realized we weren’t alone.

Lord Blanche and his two men were lying on the platform, unconscious. Their bodies were limp, their faces pale, and they looked completely drained of energy, but they were shockingly still alive. I didn’t expect a piece of their bodies to remain after the madmen got done with them, but it was like they were merely taking a nap. Before I could dwell on it longer, a voice came from behind us.

“Finally, the rest of my guests have arrived.” I turned just in time to see the old man who had formerly been chained up stepping out from the darkness as a triumphant, predatory grin stretched across his lips.