The King of the Underground Quarry

It repeated over and over again, it was an endless suffering.

Her skull, her limbs, her organs, her flesh and blood. Every single thing of her body was rubbed, violated and twisted. Her mind was set alight by the anguish, it was as though one of her nerve-endings were being plucked right now, her soul defaced, ripped away. 

The voiceless screams she let out were racked with an unimaginable feverish sense of loss.

Violated, violated, violated, violated, violated, violated. 

She was in a circle of despair. Then suddenly, her never-ending suffering was starting to fade—

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" Evelyn woke up screaming.

At that moment, even the fact that her screaming throat had been crushed, drowned amidst gushing worms, was naught but a memory.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!" Evelyn squirmed onto the floor.

She tried in every way to defend herself from the worms that were overwhelming her. Her body should be chained, yet she was able to move without any problems.

"My mistress, are you well!? What happened to you!?" Agnes nervously placed her hand on Evelyn's shoulder. 

Whilst opening her mouth, with which she was desperately seeking oxygen, Evelyn felt something pungent and painful from her throat. Unable to bear it, she vomited, her stomach was mostly empty.

"Ugh, Uh, Blergh." Evelyn coughed hard.

The rancid yellowish-green watery chunks of vomit were spewed out of her acrid mouth onto the floor.

Coughing violently, Evelyn put her hands around her brunette hair, "AAAAAAH!!"

"My mistress, my mistress!" Agnes, who was next to Evelyn, shook her mistress's shoulders, hoping that she would come to her senses.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH–!!" Evelyn continued to scream.

Terror, desperation, anguish, and pain were overwhelming her.

The worms that abused her, her lifeless parents, and what looked like a snake made her shiver in terror. Her body was shaking while her brunette hair was messy.

Her soul rejected her violated body. Far from allowing her to choose awareness, her soul refused to be hosted by an unworthy body. She slammed her forehead hard on the floor covered in the watery contents. She slammed her head again and again like seeking comfort.

"The waves that sound like a lullaby, the night sky sleeping and calming, may your lullaby put the danger before you to sleep!" A voice chimed, akin to a melodious chorus, chimed.

Evelyn turned in disorientation, seeing Agnes fluttering a yellowish parchment with ruined black edges as she was surrounded by a wind.

Agnes' gaze was serious as though she wanted to protect her from whatever danger was hindering her. Her voice was like a lullaby, more melodious than a choir at a theater. Evelyn watched in amazement as the vials spilled onto the tables.

In the next moment, Evelyn's consciousness faded from reality once more.

※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※

Skyler and Elijah were petrified by the macabre discovery.

In the middle of the dark underground cave, Elijah's torch continued to illuminate the bones and skulls scattered in the sand. Some were half-buried and some were even in plain sight. At first glance, they noticed that the rib cages and skulls had some rather unusual scratches like they were done deliberately.

"It looks like someone had fun feasting on the corpses." Elijah stated, voice firm.

Skyler eyed Elijah. "So that m-means there's s-s-someone lurking a-around and t-those are–"

"Those must be people who explored the tower before us. Damn, so my theory was right…" Elijah replied, interrupting Skyler.

It was evident that these were people who aspired to become Daredevils, but they were killed by someone and then eaten. Therefore, Elijah's assumption that the underground cave was actually a premeditated trap was entirely well-founded.

The gruesome sight before them was like a welcome to their certain death from which it would be impossible to escape.

"We've basically ended up in the enemy's lair. We've no chance but to kill the enemy before it kills us." Elijah exclaimed.

"Kill the enemy… before it kills us… kill you said…" Skyler muttered, voice hoarse.

"That's right. Our lives are at stake, and if we hesitate, we'll lose our lives. Hmm, It could also be the Cursed Beast, so we'd better be on our ground."

As soon as Elijah said those words, Skyler looked around shakily. Her breath quivered and her gasps were hoarse. Her skull was wrapped in despair, after all, the murderer that had slaughtered and feasted on the cadavers could be nearby watching them.

It could be around them waiting for the right moment to off them and dismember them limb from limb. The anxiety was getting the better of Skyler, and the dire theories were driving her mad as she gripped the dagger in her hand.

"I don't want… I don't want to die…" Skyler muttered with trembling lips.

As a tear rolled down her pale face, Elijah put a hand on her shoulder. "You won't die, you'll see that everything will be fine. Ah, and then from your look and behaviour you seem older than me, how old are you?"

"I'm 19…" Skyler replied.

Elijah then curled his lips. "See, you're 19 and I'm 16, so I'm the one who should be crying and not you. Stop being scared and get ready to fight, otherwise how will I defeat the beast alone?"

Upon hearing that, Skyler eyed at Elijah in shock. Her shining eyes were wide as she stared at him. It seemed that somehow his words had touched part of her soul, awakening a dormant part of her.

Though she felt a deep lump in her throat, she swallowed hard and wiped her face with her pajama top.

"D-do you t-think I'm right to h-help you? I mean, I can't do a-anything." Skyler expressed.

"You'll help me. Sure, we don't know much about the enemy, but with my sword and your mind I'm sure we'll win." Elijah said in a know-it-all tone. "Mmh… by the way, my father told me that the Cursed Beasts are much smarter than other monsters, ah, and that they're divided into Grades."

"In Grades."

"It's like I said, they're very dangerous from what he told me, um, they can affect the environment and cause irreversible catastrophes."

"But if they are so d-dangerous, how are we going to defeat one? It might be stronger than us!" Skyler gritted her teeth, clutching her necklace.

Albeit Elijah's tone was calm and reassuring, what he said so far did nothing but send her into a state of unease. Thinking rationally, how did they even think they could defeat an entity that was possibly more cunning and smarter than them put together?

The desire to defeat the Cursed Beast was completely unrealizable, especially since the only weapons they had at their disposal were a sword, dagger and a parchment with limited spells. In short, they were a signature for their death.

"Huh, would you calm down for a moment? I didn't say killing it was easy, but it's not impossible. It all depends on cunning. If we work as a team, then killing the beast will be a walk in the forest." Elijah advocated.

"But… but it's… d-difficult. I d-don't even know…. if we'll get out of it u-unscathed." Skyler was on the verge of tears.

Elijah put a hand on Skyler's shoulder. "Listen to me, we've no choice but to kill it. After all, we're in its lair and if we try to escape we'll die. We have an ace up our sleeve, and if we use it well, we'll succeed."

Skyler nodded weakly, looking away. Elijah was right, on the other hand, they are trapped in a tower full of monsters to face the Trial to become Daredevil. Even if running away was all she wanted, it would inevitably lead to her death.

That would cause enormous trauma to everyone she cared about, especially Benson, Evelyn and Klein. Hence, running away was an idea to cross off.

"Do you… have a plan by any chance?" Skyler asked.

Elijah nodded. "Hmm… I'd say we should first gather information about it. But the most important thing though is to find its weak point and focus our energies on that—"

But just before he finished speaking, he trailed off. His tail and ears suddenly went up as he frowned. The very next moment he raised the torch, a light appeared behind Skyler as she turned her head.

The wisps that appeared in the background were red, gloomy and primitive. Then, as a light fog began to descend on the underground quarry, a couple of skulls below them were crushed by a supernatural force.

Upon witnessing that, Skyler and Elijah understood what was happening.

–A hostile entity was approaching them!

It was a mass of about two metres composed of bones and slimy tentacles of crimson color. Its face was pale, with a gaping mouth and blackish spines in the place of cheekbones. Its limbs were longer than normal, and its claws were rather sharp, giving it the appearance of a cunning predator.

"Ohh! Ah! AHHHHH!!" Skyler screamed.

Nervously backing away from the threat, she fell on her bottom into the thick sand. Elijah helped her up, holding out his hand, which she took despite the dagger in her hand. They then glared at it directly.

"Don't look… don't look… don't look… don't look…"

Skyler gulped, feeling a huge shiver run through her body until she was shaking. The sound of Elijah's distorted voice echoed in the fog surrounding her on all sides. However, as she looked at Elijah standing next to her, she noticed that his mouth wasn't uttering a single word, and in realizing this.

"Don't look, don't look, don't look, don't look, don't look!"

Hearing the voice echo in the midst of the fog, Elijah lunged at Skyler, knocking her to the ground. Whilst falling to the ground, a crimson tentacle swung rapidly just above their heads with a sharp whoosh.

"Thank goodness, it was a close call." Elijah muttered.

As soon as she started to feel dizzy, Elijah brought his lips to Skyler's ear and whispered. "We have to be careful. It seems that it's able to manipulate us by using our voices. Whatever happens, don't listen, okay?"

Just as Skyler agreed firmly with what Elijah said, a rancid, pungent scent began to fill the air. It was so putrid and unbreathable that, as it entered the depths of her nostrils, she could no longer bear it anymore.

Once again, Skyler vomited.

"DON'T LOOK, DON'T LOOK, DON'T LOOK, DON'T LOOK AT ME!!"

The inhuman voice began to emit high-pitched whines, similar to the wail of a crying child.

"Damn, come on you damned beast!" Elijah yelled at the top of his lungs.

Drawing his sword from his robe with shaking knees, he dashed towards the Cursed Beast casting his torch into the sand. In response to the attack, the Cursed Beast swung its myriad tentacles, but Elijah rolled, leaped to his side, or darted himself forward, nimbly avoiding the tentacles that came in succession with abnormal agility.

Their movements created a cloud of gust around them that made their vision even blurry.

"You saw me, you saw me, you saw me, you saw me, you saw me! You will die, you will die, you will die, YOU WILL ALL DIE!!"

Once omitting the eerie words with a distorted female voice that echoed in the cave, the Cursed Beast launched towards Elijah unsheathing all its tentacles. As it swung its sharp paw, as if expecting it, Elijah grabbed a skull from the ground and threw it at the beast, leaping in the opposite direction.

Bam!

While the Cursed Beast destroyed the skull without hesitation, Elijah used the haze of fog and gust to get behind it, his movements were so fast that they made no sound in the sand. He raised his sword high, ready to swing a vertical slash at the Cursed Beast, but one of its tentacles struck his legs at an abnormal speed, causing him to fall abruptly to the ground.

"YOU WILL DIE, YOU WILL DIE, YOU WILL DIE, YOU WILL DIE, YOU WILL ALL DIE!!"

The Cursed Beast's voice became even more shrill and even more feminine. It was a voice very familiar to Skyler and Elijah, because it sounded like Skyler Hall!

Immediately, the beast leaped at Skyler at a high speed and unleashed at her, aiming for her right flank. 

"GYAAAAAAAAH!!" Skyler shouted in despair.

In an instant, the tentacle threw her a few metres away, causing her to collide with a couple of bones before impacting the sand. Her ribs cracked, blood gushed from her mouth, and her organs felt like they were all in the wrong place. The impact was so strong that her vision began to blur.

"Ohh no Skyler! You… damn beast!!" Elijah glared at the beast.

Hence, the Cursed Beast turned and leapt at Elijah with murderous intent. As it shot its paw straight out, Elijah stretched out his hand and pressed it to the sea of sand, opening his legs like scissors while keeping his head low. It made the beast's paw miss as it tore through the empty space.

The fist that was originally aimed at his chest could only hit his legs after Elijah turned his body, but his legs were wide open. Pushing up, his legs closed together, allowing Elijah to leap nimbly to the side while he managed to stand up straight.

Oof!

Before he had the chance to assume the fighting stance with his sword, the Cursed Beast had already arrived in front of him, bringing with it a strong gust of sand. Elijah rapidly lifted his sword in front of him to block.

With a dull thud, he skillfully parried the beast's paws as small sparks formed, then, he dashed backward. While a scarlet eye appeared inside its mouth, the Cursed Beast pursued after Elijah as it flung both of his paw's, delivering right hooks or left punches in a barrage of attacks at him. Its style was similar to that of a professional pugilist!

"Ah… he's smarter than I imagined." Elijah exclaimed.

Meanwhile, Skyler struggled to her feet and got to her knees. Despite the dim light of the torch, she watched Elijah as he battled the Cursed Beast.

The gap between Elijah's strength and that of the opponent was evident. He was unable to face it head on, and had a hard time parrying and dodging the combo of outbursts.

"HOW DARE YOU LOOK, HOW DARE YOU TO LOOK, HOW DARE YOU LOOK AT ME!!"

The voice that sounded like hers eerily echoed through the haze that made both her and Elijah tremble. Despite this, Skyler spat out the accumulated blood, brandishing the dagger in her hand as she stared at the beast.

"I… I've no other choice…" Skyler clutched the dagger, and then. "AAAAAAAAAH!" 

With a scream at the top of her lungs that made her adrenaline rise, she rushed towards the Cursed Beast. At the same time, the beast hurled a tentacle straight at her abdomen, which struck her with blazing speed. Although some of her ribs were breaking inside her and the pain was so bad it felt like her chest was being torn apart, Skyler gritted her teeth and sank the dagger into the beast's tentacle, tearing it completely apart.

"Ah! Aaaaaaah!!" Skyler was in agony, tears rolling down on her pale face.

As the severed tentacle fell to the sand, the Cursed Beast let out a heart-rending scream as it writhed on the ground in pain. Seizing the opportunity, Elijah shook his head and leaped into the air with his sword raised, ready to swing a diagonal slash at one of the tentacles. 

However, the Cursed Beast grabbed his right leg with one of its tentacles and quickly threw him to the ground, generating a cloud of sand.

"Uwa! Thu! Pthu! Pthu! It caught me off guard!" Elijah spat sand from his mouth, then looked at Skyler. "Oh, are you okay? Good thing you're still alive!"

Skyler held her right side. "I'm f-fine, thank you."

As she gasped in pain, Elijah quickly stood up with a smile on his face. It was as if he was satisfied with his fight against the Cursed Beast.

Elijah then quickly approached Skyler with sword in hand, and with a proud tone declared. "Finally... now we've a chance to kill it for good."