Undead Lullaby
Just like what Jack had thought, the gooey substance sprawled all over the place slowly became alive and crawled their way onto the intruder. Even the small ones. It was as if every cell of this room was alive and had its own sentiency.
"Well, they aren't that much threatening. Wondering why their level is higher than mine."
[Want to use your Appraisal Charges?]
Jack slammed the produced stone on his tentacle to the nearby Soul Teratoma, before splashing on the other nearby moving goo with his sword.
"No thanks." Jack wryly chuckled. "We'll find out soon enough. Although I have a feeling that the level was connected to how there were many of them here."
[This is not a part of the Appraisal but just like their name, I sensed the soul of the undying trapped to every single one of them_
[An extermination is encouraged to free their soul as there are signs of anguish and hatred. Likely, something or someone had fused their souls through some form of pseudo-necromancy without the use of a proper vessel.]
"So these poor fellas here are suffering, huh."
Jack hurled a flaming stone on the pathway in front of him. The stone ricocheted and devoured all of the goo substances just like the slime back on the first tunnel.
[A tragedy might have happened here in the past_
[Regardless of all the theories we can think of, this is a good exercise for you, Jack.]
"Hahah, I'm not keen on calling an act of disrespecting the trapped souls here as exercise."
Jack slashed another Soul Teratoma leaping at him. Losing his balance on the grip, he gave his sword to his tentacle and did a crescent slash to the surroundings before giving the flaming sword to his hand again.
[Petra Tentacle> Length: 128(+2) | Kinetic Strength: 46(+1)]
"Although it makes me realize that I can do more with my tentacle in the time of combat." Jack slyly grinned. "With this physique, I might be able to recreate my favorite martial art moves from the Palm Warrior back in my world."
[Palm Warrior?]
Jack rushed to the other side of the tunnel and hacked everything in his path. His tentacle was used to protect his rear in case that there was another goo leaping from his back.
"Yep!" He stopped, creating another stone on his tentacle again. "They were such likable hardy people. While the magic projectile covering the sky, and tank platoon were scattered like an annoying cockroach squad, these Palm Warriors came to the battlefield with nothing but swords and fists!"
[Sounds pretty metal.]
After a storm of slashes and a rain's worth of flaming stones thrown, Jack had finally exterminated most of the Soul Teratoma. Just like what Sephiroth had predicted, it was a good exercise for him in fighting a huge crowd of enemies.
[Petra Tentacle> Type: Grappler >> Fighter {79%}]
[< < < < < < < < < < < "Huh?" Jack began to caress his chin. "My Survivability is up by a lot, are Heat Resistant and Explosion Resistant that important?"
[If you notice how it basically let you do that crazy move in the tunnel back then, yes.]
"The resistance came from my tentacle, aight?" Jack undeployed his Petra Tentacle. "Now let's see my true stats."
[< < < < < < < < < < < [Seems like the stats do make up for your entire potential. Even your Agility decreased because of how you utilize your tentacle for more aggressive movement and dodging.]
"Now I wonder how strong are the Primarchs in my world when they came here." Jack stupidly smiled, imagining a fifthy meter height warrior cladded in full plated armor appearing in Galamor Forest out of nowhere. "That would be fun."
[Your imagination is too destructive for the inhabitants within this world.]
With jokes thrown around there and there, Jack casually advanced even further.
The further he went, the more chilling it felt to both his skin and heart. The choir of the dead began to fill his ears in an uncanny manner. As his mind was invaded by numerous corrupted thoughts, Jack shrugged off all of the whispering by reminding himself of what he had gone through.
Unfortunately, those whispers were too weak to even remotely bother someone who had stayed within one eternal place for millions of years.
[I thought the Soul Teratoma was edgy, it was nothing compared to this.]
"This whole place is literally cursed."
As the clouds of darkness cleared up, Jack was greeted with a vast chamber, illuminated by the dense flow of energy. It was bright, contradicting all of the places and scenery that Jack had gone through on his way here. The choir of the dead had turned into a beautiful lullaby. The voice of a raspy woman could be heard.
"Deep in the dark~"
With each step entering a room fit for a giant four times the size of him. Jack muttered not a single word.
"The serene flaw grew quicker~"
The encapsulated wind whistled through the numerous flowers within the chamber.
"Ignite the flame, and give us life~"
Illustrations made out of colorful glasses could be seen on the ceiling. There were numerous cupids blowing their horns, as numerous angels sway gracefully to the edge of the frame.
"My cursed mark~"
Albeit all of the lighthearted view, in the middle of it all was a giant grave with a continuously morphing crystal on top of the gravestone. Beside it, kneeled a giant knight figure, clad in corroded white armor.
"And a hollow heart grows sicker~"
Jack stopped in his tracks, gazing at the somber knight. There was nothing but pity and melancholy running through his veins when he saw this scenery.
"Out of the shadow, cometh light."
As soon as the voice from the unknown receded, Jack could notice a change of energy flow from the whole chamber and into the knight.
He was soon startled as the knight suddenly moved its head, gazing at him. The knight sighed and shrank himself, unleashing a vapor of light as he shed his existence.
Despite the change in size, the knight still towered Jack by two meters. He then faded its empty gaze to his guest.
"The night will fall and swallow light, and yet my death is all but nigh." The knight unsheathed its sword. The sword protruded a long rod from its handle, transforming into a deadly spear. "Come kill me, foreigner. I'd like to see you try.
"This is my Undead Lullaby."
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