Chapter 704 Dread Level Beast

Liam followed the footsteps.

He had no idea how long he had been walking.

There was no sunlight beneath the earth. No sound of wind. No indication of whether he had been walking for five minutes or fifty. The darkness surrounding him was absolute, so complete that even his Aether Sight had become useless. Normally, Liam could see through almost anything. Walls, stone, earth, hidden passages, concealed objects, darkness itself. His eyes had always been one of his greatest advantages.

Down here, they were practically worthless.

So he relied on his ears.

Eldric’s footsteps echoed through the tunnel ahead of him, each one bouncing off the unseen walls and returning to Liam from different directions. Liam followed the sound carefully, maintaining a steady pace while making sure his own footsteps remained almost completely silent.

Step.

Echo.

Step.

Echo.

He continued.

At some point, Liam stopped trying to measure the distance.

There was no point.

All that mattered was that Eldric was still ahead.

And as long as he could hear those footsteps, he could follow.

Then suddenly...

Silence.

Liam stopped.

His eyes narrowed.

The footsteps were gone.

He waited.

Nothing.

Not even the faintest sound came from ahead.

Liam remained completely still for several seconds, listening carefully.

Nothing.

His expression slowly changed.

"Eldric stopped."

That could only mean one thing.

He had reached his destination.

Liam took a slow breath.

He couldn’t see what was ahead of him, but he knew he couldn’t remain in darkness forever. Whatever Eldric had discovered down here, Liam needed to see it.

He took one careful step forward.

Then another.

His body tensed.

He prepared to summon his Celestial Wings.

The moment they appeared, their faint radiance would illuminate the tunnel around him, allowing him to finally see what his Aether Sight couldn’t.

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

"Let’s see what you’re hiding..."

He was just about to release the power.

Then he felt it.

A rumble.

Deep.

Low.

Almost beneath the threshold of hearing.

Liam froze.

The ground beneath his feet vibrated.

"What..."

The rumble suddenly became louder.

The earth shook.

Then something exploded out of the ground.

Several dark appendages shot upward with terrifying speed and wrapped themselves around Liam’s legs.

His eyes widened.

"What the hell?!"

The things felt like chains.

But they weren’t chains.

They were alive.

They wrapped tightly around his ankles before rapidly coiling upward, tightening around his legs with enough force to make the muscles beneath them strain.

Liam immediately reacted.

His strength surged.

He tried to rip himself free.

Nothing happened.

Then suddenly...

A faint sound filled the tunnel.

A strange, almost crystalline hum.

Like light itself had made a sound.

A moment later, white radiance exploded through the darkness.

The entire tunnel suddenly illuminated.

Liam instinctively raised one arm over his eyes.

"Too bright!"

He squeezed his eyes shut and waited.

The light slowly became bearable.

Liam lowered his arm.

His eyes opened.

And he froze.

For the first time since entering the tunnel, he could finally see where he was.

It was still a tunnel.

But it was far larger than he had expected.

The walls were made of ancient stone, stained with dark patches that Liam couldn’t immediately identify. The floor was uneven and covered with scratches, dried stains, and marks that looked as though something enormous had been dragged across it.

But that wasn’t what caught Liam’s attention.

There was a table.

A large table positioned in the center of the chamber.

It looked ancient.

Metallic instruments rested across its surface.

Chains hung from either side.

And the entire thing was covered in what looked like dried blood.

Liam’s expression darkened.

"What the..."

His gaze moved across the room.

The walls were stained.

The floor was stained.

Even some of the instruments looked as though they had been used repeatedly.

The entire place looked less like a hidden treasure chamber and more like a slaughterhouse.

Then Liam felt something move around his legs.

His eyes immediately dropped.

His expression changed.

Tentacles.

That was the only word he could think of.

Long, dark, muscular appendages had emerged from beneath the floor and completely wrapped themselves around both of his legs.

Liam stared at them.

They weren’t ropes.

They weren’t chains.

They were alive.

The tentacles shifted slightly around his legs, tightening their grip whenever he moved.

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

"What are you?"

He tried pulling one leg free.

His muscles tightened.

Power surged through his body.

He pulled.

Nothing.

His expression hardened.

Liam increased the force.

The tentacle didn’t even budge.

He pushed harder.

His muscles strained.

The floor beneath his foot cracked slightly.

Still nothing.

Liam’s eyes widened.

"You’re strong."

He gathered every bit of strength he could muster and attempted to wrench his leg upward.

For a brief moment...

His foot lifted.

Only slightly.

A few centimeters.

Then the tentacle violently pulled it back down.

Boom!

Liam’s foot slammed into the ground.

His expression became serious.

"What the hell..."

He tried again.

Nothing.

Again.

Nothing.

Again.

The tentacles didn’t even seem to care about the strength he was using.

Then came the sound.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

Liam stopped.

His eyes slowly moved toward the darkness at the far end of the chamber.

Someone was applauding.

Slowly.

Almost mockingly.

"Wow."

A familiar voice echoed through the room.

"I never imagined that you would have moved a foot."

Liam’s expression immediately hardened.

Eldric stepped out of the darkness.

The village elder walked into the pale light surrounding the chamber, his cloak hanging loosely around his body.

His expression was calm.

Almost amused.

There was no surprise in his eyes. Just a faint smile.

Liam stared at him.

"So you knew I was following you."

Eldric smiled.

"I knew the moment you left the village."

Liam’s eyes narrowed.

"You knew?"

"Of course."

Eldric continued walking toward him.

"You made the rumor far too obvious."

Liam’s expression remained calm, but internally, he was already calculating.

Eldric had known.

The entire time.

The rumor hadn’t fooled him.

It had simply brought Liam exactly where Eldric wanted him.

Liam suddenly moved.

His body twisted as he attempted to break free.

A tentacle immediately shot upward.

Another followed.

They wrapped around both of his wrists.

Liam’s eyes widened.

The appendages tightened around his hands before pulling his arms backward.

He struggled.

The tentacles moved with him, twisting around his wrists and forearms as though they were intelligent enough to understand exactly what he was trying to do.

Liam pulled.

Nothing.

He tried to summon his wings.

Nothing happened.

His expression changed.

He tried to activate Aether Sight again.

Nothing.

He tried to draw upon his strength.

Something felt wrong.

Very wrong.

Then...

Ding!

A familiar notification appeared before his eyes.

[SYSTEM]

[Warning! Warning!]

[Host is currently being restrained by a Dread-level beast.]

[All active powers have been temporarily disabled.]

[Host’s abilities will remain suppressed as long as the restraint remains active.]

Liam’s mind almost went blank.

Dread-level beast.

His eyes widened.

A Dread-level beast?

Here?

His breathing became slightly heavier.

For the first time since entering the chamber, Liam looked genuinely stunned.

He had fought beasts before.

The strongest creature he had personally encountered had only been a high Spawn-level beast.

Spawn.

That was the lowest classification.

Dread was two entire tiers above it.

Spawn.

Ravager.

Dread.

The difference wasn’t something that could simply be measured by numbers.

A Dread-level beast was something Liam had no business fighting at his current level.

And now one was holding him down.

Worse...

His powers were gone.

Even the overwhelming physical enhancement he had become accustomed to feeling inside his body seemed absent.

For the first time in a very long time, Liam felt...

Ordinary.

His body suddenly felt like the body of the twenty-year-old man he had once been before the System.

No overwhelming strength.

No supernatural perception.

No enhanced abilities.

Nothing.

He was simply Liam.

Standing inside a dark underground chamber.

With all four limbs restrained by something vastly stronger than him.

His eyes slowly moved toward Eldric.

The village elder stood only a few meters away.

Still smiling.

Liam’s mind raced.

This wasn’t the treasure.

This wasn’t simply a hidden passage.

Eldric had brought him here.

Or perhaps he had been waiting for someone to come here.

And now Liam finally understood why the entrance had been hidden.

Why his Aether Sight couldn’t penetrate the darkness.

There was something down here.

Something powerful.

Something that could restrain him effortlessly.

And somewhere in this chamber...

A Dread-level beast was waiting.

Liam’s expression slowly became serious.