Chapter 1627: Brown Flesh

The five continued moving deeper into the structure, following the passage illuminated by Adrius’s floating lights.

Their footsteps echoed on the stone floor, occasionally accompanied by distant screams that seemed to come from somewhere far ahead.

The deeper they went, the more unsettling their surroundings became. The strange bone-like protrusions covering the walls and pillars appeared increasingly numerous and some of them seemed to form patterns that were difficult to distinguish from the architecture itself.

Erebus grew increasingly tense as they progressed. His eyes fixed on the passage ahead, but beneath his stern expression, anger continued building in his heart.

He knew they were approaching the creature responsible for the curse. After everything it had done to his people, the thought of finally confronting it filled him with a mixture of hatred and anticipation.

His anger grew even stronger whenever he thought about the enormous structure hanging above Scadri. It had been there all along, silently concealed above their heads while the people below suffered for generations.

They had searched for the source of the curse countless times, examined their surroundings, and exhausted nearly every possibility, yet this damned thing had hidden from them all this time.

It had watched their suffering from above like an aloof master observing the misery of its subjects, seemingly content to let them endure their torment without ever revealing itself.

The thought made Erebus clench his fists. "This ends now. I won’t let it continue any longer!"

The others also felt the ominous atmosphere growing stronger as they advanced.

Erend, Adrius, Sylmira, and Lysander all had the same unsettling impression that the building was not an ordinary structure. Something about its interior made it feel almost alive, or at the very least, like a part of something that had once been alive.

The strange bones protruding from the walls and pillars only strengthened that suspicion. However, they still had no clear understanding of what this place truly was, so none of them lowered their guard.

After walking for a while, Adrius turned his attention toward Erebus and said, "I want you to tell us everything you know about that creature."

Erebus glanced at him with a slight frown. "Didn’t I already tell you everything?"

"You told us about the war and how your people defeated it. I want you to go over everything again. This time, try to remember if there’s anything you might have overlooked or something you didn’t consider important back then. Even the smallest detail could be useful now that we’re getting closer to its lair."

Erebus remained silent for a moment. He looked ahead as he tried to recall the events from more than a century ago.

He had already explained the history of Scadri and the war against the creature, but there were still details that he had never considered particularly relevant. Perhaps some of them could help the Archmages understand what they were about to face.

"Very well," he finally said. "As I told you before, it was a monster that came from another world. It appeared in Scadri more than a century ago and began attacking everything in its path. Its strength was extraordinary, and ordinary warriors couldn’t stand against it. The war lasted for decades. Countless people died before we finally managed to defeat it."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"One thing I remember clearly was that it was a female creature. Her powers revolved around curses and darkness. She could spread a curse over an enormous area and corrupt anything that came into contact with her power. Even after we defeated her, the curse remained. That’s why we believe she was responsible for what happened to our city."

Adrius listened carefully, occasionally exchanging glances with Sylmira and Lysander.

The information was consistent with what they had discovered so far, although the mention of darkness and curses gave them another detail to consider.

Erebus continued after a moment. "There’s something else. I’ve sometimes wondered if her power had something to do with my own nature. I was born with the power of a Shadow Dragon. Perhaps that wasn’t a coincidence."

Erend glanced toward him. He had already suspected that Erebus belonged to a Dragonborn lineage with power associated with shadows. The way he manipulated darkness through his Magic had made that obvious, but hearing Erebus confirm it provided something more substantial than his own assumption.

"So he’s a Shadow Dragon..." Erend studied Erebus briefly before returning his attention to the passage ahead.

The connection between Erebus’s nature and the creature’s powers was worth remembering, although he could not yet determine if the two were directly related.

"Do you think she was the reason you were born with that power?" Sylmira asked.

"I’m not certain," Erebus replied. "I only know that my powers awakened during the war. I never found out if they were connected to her or whether it was simply my own Dragonborn nature."

"That’s something we should keep in mind," Adrius said. "Especially if the creature’s power has influenced the development of your Magic."

Erebus nodded, although he clearly had no further explanation to offer.

They continued walking until Lysander suddenly noticed something unusual on the wall ahead. "Wait. What’s that?" he asked.

The others stopped and followed his gaze. A short distance above them, part of the wall had an irregular opening.

At first, it looked like a hole in the stone, but as they approached they noticed something strange about its surface.

They frowned. The edges of the opening were not made of stone. Instead, they were made of dark brown flesh that continued squirming and moving in irregular contractions. Its surface looked moist and uneven, and the surrounding material seemed to tighten and relax as though it were breathing.

"Is that... flesh?" Lysander stared at it with an expression of disgust.

Sylmira moved closer but remained cautious. She carefully examined the opening with her Magic senses, trying to understand what kind of material she was looking at.

"That doesn’t look like any ordinary biological tissue," she murmured.

Erend narrowed his eyes. He looked from the opening to the surrounding walls, then toward the bone-like structures that covered the interior.

A thought suddenly crossed his mind, and the more he examined their surroundings, the more convincing it became.

"Could it be that this entire building is actually the body of a creature?" Erend said.

The others turned toward him.

Sylmira examined the walls again before giving a slight nod. "I’m afraid you’re not wrong about that."

Her response made the atmosphere even more unsettling. Erend looked back at the opening, watching the dark brown flesh continue its slow movements.

Adrius also studied the surrounding architecture with a more serious expression. "If that’s true, then the bones we’ve seen throughout this place might not be part of its construction. They could actually belong to the creature itself," he said.

"Which means we’ve been walking inside something’s body this entire time?" Lysander asked.

"That’s what it looks like," Sylmira replied.

Erebus’s expression darkened. He stared at the fleshy opening before looking farther down the passage.

"This place really is connected to that monster... Hmph! Lets get inside quick." With that, Erebus walked inside the opening.