Chapter 81: Blood Bags

Ethan ordered the Shadow Wraiths to search for another entrance, but they found nothing. The stone door was the only way into the chamber beyond.

He then ordered one of the Wraiths to inspect the door more closely.

Eventually, the Wraith found a narrow gap near the bottom, just wide enough for its shadowy body to squeeze through. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Once inside, it found a large chamber filled with iron cages.

Ethan looked inside the cages, expecting to find more captured monsters. Instead, he found men and women lying on the floors or sitting weakly against the bars

Others lay on the floor, too weak to move. Their faces were pale, and their bodies were covered in dirt.

Ethan sent more Shadow Wraiths into the chamber to get a better look.

What he saw next made his expression turn serious.

Several bats were moving between the cages with small containers in their claws. One landed beside a young man, grabbed his arm through the bars, and sank its fangs into his skin.

The man struggled and tried to pull away, but he was too weak.

The bat continued sucking his blood until it had collected enough. Then it pulled out its fangs, placed the container beneath the wound, and waited for it to fill before flying away.

Another bat soon took its place.

The same thing was happening in several other cages.

These people weren’t being killed for food. The bats were keeping them alive so they could continue collecting their blood.

But that wasn’t all.

Near the wall, several bats were preparing a strange mixture from dried plants, meat, and a liquid stored in small containers. They divided the mixture into bowls and carried it to the prisoners.

The portions were small, but the bats made sure every prisoner received some.

Ethan watched as one of the prisoners slowly ate from a bowl before lying back against the cage.

He finally understood what was happening.

The bats were feeding these people just enough to keep them alive and help them recover after each feeding. Once they had recovered enough blood, the bats would return to collect more.

These people were being treated like living blood bags.

"Ethan, what’s going on?"

Aria’s voice suddenly sounded beside him.

He turned his head and saw her looking at him with a confused expression.

"You’ve been quiet for a while. Did your Shadow Wraiths find something?"

Ethan nodded.

"I found another chamber behind the stone door. There are dozens of humans locked inside, and the bats are sucking their blood and carrying it away in containers."

Aria’s eyes widened.

"What?! Humans? They’re using people as blood bags?"

"Yeah."

"How can something like this be happening in a dungeon?" she asked, clearly shocked.

Ethan shook his head.

"I’m not sure yet. But I suspect these people might be the missing students and adventurers who were thought to have died inside the dungeon. Instead of killing them, the Bat King captured them and has been keeping them here."

Aria went silent for a moment as she tried to process his words.

Then her expression changed.

"We should report this to the academy as soon as possible," she said. "If these people are the missing students and adventurers, we can’t leave them here."

"I agree. They need to be rescued."

Ethan glanced toward the chamber his Shadow Wraiths had discovered.

"But there’s something else bothering me."

"What is it?"

"The blood."

Aria blinked. "The blood?"

Ethan nodded.

"The amount of blood they’re collecting. The Bat King wouldn’t go to all this trouble without a reason."

Aria thought about it for a moment before turning to him.

"Then what do you think it’s planning?"

"I’m not sure yet. But I don’t think this is limited to the Bat Cave."

Ethan’s expression grew serious.

In his previous life, something similar had happened a few months after this point in time.

The Order Academy in the Aethernal Empire had come under attack, and many students had lost their lives before the threat was finally dealt with.

Ethan hadn’t been there when it happened. At the time, he had been away on a quest with Lucian and Elena.

By the time they returned, the incident had already become a major topic throughout the empire. He had heard about the casualties and the damage, but he had never learned all the details behind the attack.

Now, with several months still remaining before that incident, he couldn’t help wondering if the two were connected.

The Bat King was collecting blood from captured humans and transporting it somewhere. Its actions were far too organized to be dismissed as the behavior of an ordinary dungeon boss.

Could this be related to the attack he remembered?

Ethan couldn’t be certain, but he wasn’t going to ignore the possibility.

"Ethan?" Aria called.

He turned back to her.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I want to find out where the bats are taking the blood."

Aria frowned. "You think that’s important?"

"I do. If the Bat King is collecting this much blood, it must be using it for something. And I have a feeling that whatever it’s planning could affect more than the people trapped here."

Aria hesitated before glancing toward the passage leading deeper into the cave.

"Shouldn’t we report everything first?"

"We will. But before we leave, I want to know where that blood is going. We don’t need to fight the Bat King or take unnecessary risks. We just need to find out what’s happening."

Aria considered his words before finally nodding.

"Fine. But if things get dangerous, we’re leaving."

"Agreed."

Ethan turned his attention back to his Shadow Wraiths and ordered them to follow the bats carrying the blood containers.

If his suspicion was correct, this might be connected to the attack on the Order Academy in his previous life.

He didn’t know what he would find, but if there was something valuable to gain from this discovery, he wasn’t going to miss out on it.