Chapter 593: Cressida’s Hunger

It took Thoren a couple of seconds to recover from the shock.

The sight before him had been completely beyond his expectations, and for those brief moments, his mind had struggled to connect the Cressida he knew with the horrifying entity standing before him.

The thought that the mysterious Cressida was no more, and that he had left her behind on the Bleeding Desert, was nothing but his naive thinking.

He had believed that after leaving the Bleeding Desert, whatever connection Cressida had with him would eventually disappear.

But now, standing inside the core of the underground research facility, Thoren finally understood how wrong that assumption had been.

Cressida was still here.

She never left in the first place

Or perhaps the thing behind Cressida was the real her.

Either way, the existence before him was far more powerful and mysterious than he could ever have imagined.

Thoren stared at Cressida’s condescending gaze and took a deep breath.

His emotions were spiraling out of control, but he still managed to contain them right on time as he began to think logically.

He could not allow his emotion to control his judgment.

That was how people died.

Especially when facing an enemy whose true strength and abilities were still unknown.

His eyes moved across the chamber once again, carefully observing the enormous tree, the roots embedded throughout the walls and ground.

The sound of the heartbeat echoed throughout the chamber like a war drum. Heavy and intimidating.

However, Thoren was no longer affected by it as his gaze returned to Cressida’s face.

"How can you be here?" He asked, raising his brow slightly.

To Thoren, this was the piece of the puzzle he could not wrap his head around. This should be the hideout of the Slave Trade Guild.

This was where he expected to find the source of everything that had been happening beneath Suncrest City.

More importantly, this was where he should find the Crimson Womb.

And now...

Cressida was standing in the center of it all.

Or rather, her face was embedded within something that looked like a massive living tree made from human tissue.

Thoren’s mind quickly went through everything he had learned since entering the facility.

The experiments.

The children.

The mutated humans.

The strange creatures.

Yet the person waiting for him at the end was someone he had already encountered in the Bleeding Desert.

That was what made the situation even more difficult to understand.

Listening to his ignorant question, Cressida sneered and a faint trace of amusement appeared in her eyes.

"Instead of wondering how I am able to appear here, you should be preparing for your death." Her tone was filled with confidence.

She did not sound like someone who was worried about Thoren.She sounded like someone who had already decided the outcome of their encounter.

Then she continued. "You surprised me... I can’t deny that."

Her lips curved upward. "That makes me even more curious about how delicious your soul will be when I consume it."

The moment her words fell, the atmosphere inside the chamber changed as the roots began to move.

At first, it was only a slight movement. One of the thick roots embedded in the ground slowly twisted and then another moved.

Soon enough, the entire chamber seemed to come alive. Hundreds of roots began moving simultaneously.

They dragged themselves across the floor with slow, wet movements, while others pulled themselves away from the walls and ceiling.

Some rose into the air.

Others slid across the ground.

They moved like hundreds of enormous serpents waking from sleep.

The strange liquid flowing through their fleshy bodies became faster as they moved, and the translucent tissue covering the roots expanded and contracted slightly, making them appear disturbingly alive.

Squelch. Squelch.

The sound spread throughout the chamber. Roots crawled across the floor around Thoren.

One passed behind him and another moved across his left side.

Several emerged from the ground in front of him and more descended from the ceiling. Within seconds, they had surrounded him from every direction.

There was no obvious escape route.

The roots continued twisting around him, their tips slowly rising as if they were searching for the best place to pierce into his body.

The sight was terrifying.

An ordinary human would have probably lost the ability to think under such pressure, and some might have already collapsed unconscious from the sheer fear.

Being surrounded by hundreds of living tendrils that moved with the patience of predators waiting for their prey.

But Thoren remained standing and his expression became colder. He watched the roots carefully like a patient hunter.

Cressida continued speaking as though she was completely unaffected by the growing tension.

"I thought I only needed to feed on the aboriginals of this backward place." Her voice remained soft and pleasant.

"Even though they might not satiate me."

A root beside Thoren suddenly twisted and another slowly wrapped around a nearby pillar. The fleshy surface of the roots rubbed against the stone, leaving behind a thin layer of dark liquid.

"But you are different..." Cressida’s eyes narrowed and the condescending smile on her face became wider.

"I can feel it."

The roots around Thoren began moving faster.

"I can smell it."

Several roots rose higher.

"And I can almost taste it."

The enormous heart inside the trunk suddenly beat harder and the vibration traveled through the chamber.

This time, Thoren’s expression became serious as the pressure kept increasing.

Yet, Cressida’s eyes remained fixed on him.

"I’m craving..."

Her voice became gentle like a young lover ready to be made love to.

"My instinct screamed..."

Just then, the roots surrounding Thoren suddenly stopped. And for a brief moment, everything became completely still.

The massive chamber was frighteningly quiet while the massive heart stopped between beats. Even the strange liquid inside the roots seemed to slow.

Thoren furrowed and his breathing quickened. Every instinct in his body warned him that the next attack would be different from everything he had faced before.

And then, Cressida smiled. "As long as I devoured you... I will achieve the next evolution..."

She did not finish her statement when all the roots struck at the same time.