Chapter 63: Where Chaos Hunts

After enjoying the exhilaration of flight for a few more minutes, Summer gradually brought her massive black wings to a smooth halt, descending softly onto the ruined stone floor of the underground chamber.

The excitement of flying quickly faded, replaced by a sudden, heavy coldness in her chest. The bright light in her eyes dimmed into a sharp, lethal glint.

She had not forgotten why she was here. She had not forgotten the agonizing pain of her body disintegrating, nor had she forgotten the sight of Three detonating its own core just to save her from those wretched humans.

"System," Summer called out mentally, her tone devoid of any previous childhood innocence. "Take me back to where Three died."

[Are you sure, little girl?] the system asked softly, her female voice full of gentle concern. [You just completed your metamorphosis. Your new bloodline needs time to stabilize.]

"I don’t care," Summer replied coldly, her small fists clenching so hard her knuckles turned white. "I need to go back."

"Let her go," the Shadow chimed in from within her physical anchor, his tone solemn. "A true heir of Chaos never leaves a blood debt unpaid."

Without another word, the system calculated the spatial coordinates. A dark rift of corruption mana tore open directly in front of Summer, rippling with black and crimson light.

Summer folded her heavy wings slightly behind her back and stepped straight into the void.

Whoosh!

The scenery shifted instantly.

The air grew thick with the heavy stench of scorched earth, burnt flesh, and lingering holy mana. Summer stepped out of the spatial distortion and landed softly on the edge of a massive, blackened crater.

This was the exact location where Three had detonated its core.

The surrounding root walls of the subterranean tunnel were completely blasted outward, shattered into black dust. The ground was charred black, covered in deep fissures from the sheer force of the explosion.

Summer walked slowly toward the center of the crater. Her small, naked feet made quiet crunching sounds against the scorched stone.

She looked down, searching frantically for any remaining piece of Three. But there was nothing.

Not a single bone fragment, not a speck of ash, not a trace of its blue core. Three had erased itself completely from existence to give her a chance to live.

A sharp, painful sting filled Summer’s eyes, but she forced the tears back. She turned her attention to the rest of the crater, scanning the area to confirm the fate of the humans who had pushed them into a corner.

Near the far edge of the blast radius lay the shattered armor and torn limbs of the male humans. Their bodies were charred beyond recognition, shredded by the violent blast wave of an elite puppet’s self-destruction.

They were dead. Completely dead.

However, as Summer walked around the perimeter of the crater, her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.

There were no bodies of the women.

She remembered them clearly. The proud, arrogant girl named Ophelia, the cruel healer girl named Maya, and that stubborn female guard who had shielded them with heavy barrier magic during the fight.

Summer knelt down, her fingers touching the scorched dirt at the edge of the crater. There were faint, hurried footprints leading away from the blast zone, accompanied by dark drag marks of fresh blood heading deeper into the eastern tunnel network.

"They survived..." Summer whispered, her voice dropping into a terrifyingly low growl.

[The female guard likely sacrificed her heavy defensive artifact at the final second,] the system analyzed calmly. [It absorbed the main force of the explosion, allowing them to escape with severe injuries.]

"Good," Summer said, standing up as her pitch-black wings spread wide behind her back, casting long, menacing shadows across the ruined tunnel. "It would have been too easy if they died so quickly."

She bent her knees slightly, her new Chaotic Corruption bloodline surging through her veins like liquid fire.

Fwhoosh!

With a single, powerful flap of her black wings, Summer shot forward into the dark eastern tunnel, leaving behind a trail of lingering shadow mist as her hunt officially began.

Deeper inside the subterranean tunnel network, three figures leaned heavily against a damp stone wall, catching their breath in the dim light of a flickering mana torch.

The atmosphere was suffocatingly heavy, filled with the sharp stench of copper blood and burnt leather.

"Ah... fuck! Damn it!"

Ophelia spat out a mouthful of dark blood, clutching her left arm tightly. Her usually immaculate, expensive robes were scorched black and shredded in multiple places, exposing raw, blistered skin beneath.

Her face was pale, covered in dirt and dried blood, her eyes burning with pure venom.

"That damn zombie..." Ophelia cursed through gritted teeth, her voice trembling with a mixture of rage and lingering horror. "That fucking monster actually had a subordinate that would explode its own core!"

Beside her, Maya sat slumped against a mossy boulder. Her right leg was bandaged tightly with torn cloth, fresh blood still seeping through the wrapping. She did not say a word, her breathing shallow and ragged as she stared blankly at the dark ground.

Standing a few paces ahead of them was Vespera.

Vespera looked the worst of them all. Her heavy steel chestplate was completely cracked down the middle, the magical runes embedded within it fully shattered and dark.

Deep blood trails ran down from her nose, mouth, and ears, evidence of severe internal organ damage caused by the spatial shockwave.

She held a broken short sword in her right hand, using it as a makeshift cane to keep herself upright.

"Stop screaming, Lady Ophelia," Vespera said, her raspy voice barely more than a painful whisper. "You are going to attract every roaming beast in this sector."

"Shut up!" Ophelia snapped back hysterically, tears of pain welling in her eyes. "Look at me! Look at what that creature did to my arm! My mana pathways are completely damaged! If my father finds out about this—"

"If I had not activated the shield artifact at the cost of my own core, you would not be alive to complain to your father!" Vespera cut her off sharply, turning her bloody face toward Ophelia with a cold glare. "All eight of our elites were vaporized in less than a second! We barely dragged your useless body out of that crater!"

Vespera was already dissatisfied with this young heir. If not for her background, she would have already abandoned her.

Ophelia flinched at Vespera’s harsh tone, but she clenched her jaw, unable to refute the terrifying truth.

If she had not thrown her high-grade barrier talisman forward at the exact second the zombie detonated, none of them would have survived.

The blast had instantly vaporized their surrounding guards and completely destroyed the sub-space anchor.

Maya remained silent, terrified by what she had experienced. If she had not been standing near Ophelia when the blast occurred, she would have died. She did not want anything now. She just wanted to return to the real world.

Suddenly, a strange, unnatural silence fell over the corridor.

The low ambient hum of subterranean mana completely died out. The temperature inside the narrow tunnel plummeted rapidly, turning their breath into white mist in the freezing air.

Flicker...

The small flame of the mana torch in Vespera’s hand suddenly flickered violently before turning a deep, dark purple, casting long, distorted shadows against the jagged stone walls.

Maya’s eyes widened in sudden terror. As a healer with high perception, her instincts screamed wildly at her. She reached down, grabbing Vespera’s shoulder with a trembling hand.

"Miss..." Maya whispered, her voice shaking uncontrollably. "Something... something is coming."

Vespera immediately raised her broken short sword, shielding Ophelia behind her as she stared intently into the pitch-black tunnel ahead. "Stay sharp! Is it a dungeon monster?"

"No..." Maya stammered, pointing a shaking finger down the corridor. "Look at the light..."

From the deep darkness of the tunnel ahead, the ambient light was not just fading, it was actively being swallowed.

A thick, pitch-black mist poured across the stone floor like liquid darkness. And floating silently within that cold, light-devouring fog was a small humanoid figure.

Two massive, light-devouring black wings spanned across the entire width of the tunnel, beating softly against the air.

Cold, glowing red eyes locked straight onto the three terrified women.

"Found you..." and a cold, merciless voice pierced their eardrums.