The interior of the mausoleum was dimly-lit and relatively small. It was a rectangular room with black pillars integrated into the high walls, which were decorated with intersecting lines.
Furthermore, rather than a previously vacant ancestral site, this seemed to be a place of worship for the Unholy Blasphemers. The lack of air currents indicated that it was underground, but that was all that could be determined.
The room was totally empty, lacking any basic furniture or altars. Besides the noticeably lack of illumination, the still air and particularly cold and eerie atmosphere, the place was utterly devoid of literally anything.
Were it not for the lack of dust and the clear signs of it being recently cleaned, Arthur would have suspected this to be a temporary base of operation that had been found not too long ago. But no, its lack of religious appeal notwithstanding, this mausoleum was well-kept and had an ominous, formless and invisible aura lingering in it.
On the black ceiling, at the corner, there was a small spider dangling from a thin white web. The creature, so minuscule, merged with the black-colored ceiling as its eyes focused on the orange-haired girl.
Arthur wasn’t worried about being seen, not because of his currently small vessel, but because Jan was restless and disoriented.
The notorious Witch of Izakan was hyperventilating and in a clearly destabilised mental state. She would switch from being calm to anxious every now and then until, finally, she recovered and stood up.
First, she walked to the female cultist’s body and looked down at it for an inordinate amount of time. She had the urge to make it explode into tiny bits but held herself back and walked to the end of the room, exactly opposite of the door leading outside.
Standing straight, her face solemn and eyes cold, she regained her aloof and indifferent countenance.
Then, when she was ready, she slowly put her hand on the wall and closed her eyes. For a bit, there was no reaction, but soon enough, there was a light tremor.
Arthur saw the wall, like a sliding door, open up and reveal a creepy-looking bone hovering mid-air.
It was no different than any bone one would usually throw to a dog, but when the Witch carefully touched it, it let out a sinister grey miasma.
A couple more breaths passed before a deep manly voice echoed within the room.
“Jan?”
“Yes, it’s me, Gord.”
“You initiated an urgent communication. What happened?”
The man’s voice sounded a bit worried as he questioned her.
“There has been… a complication. I was attacked.”
“And?”
“Whoever it was, they caught me and…” She wanted to say the truth, but decided against it at the last second as she shook her head.
“Nevermind. I managed to escape after killing her. I brought her body with me. I don’t know… something felt weird.”
“It’s a she? And *she* caught you? Am I hearing this correctly, Jan?”
“Yes. I was injured and I had to give up a year of my life to heal myself.”
“A year?! It was that serious?”
The more he heard, the more the man named ‘Gord’ was shocked.
“So I’m assuming your plan failed?”
Jan bit her lower lips and dropped her head in shame, relieved that he could not see her miserable expression. “I was able to determine who the secret helper was. It's Deacon, Parmenas.”
“Fuck!” Cursed Gord as he continued to hear one bad news after the other.
After a momentary silence, the man, with a heavy sigh, declared,
“Give up on the Alchemy Scripture. Parmenas is not to be trifled with. He’s extremely dangerous.”
“No, it’s not too late. With Nader, I can…”
Although she tried to protest, he cut her off, “Listen to me, Jan! You were attacked. What makes you think there are no more enemies waiting for more chances? It isn’t worth the risk. Please.”
“I-I get that you’re worried, but it’s really not a big deal. Nader should have a plan already.”
“Nader won’t do shit! You think that solitary secretive dipshit will help you? Whatever rank he climbs up to, he’ll never be one of us.”
The Witch’s shoulders dropped and her mood worsened as she clenched her fists. Gord was her only ‘friend’ in this organization, which was filled with cunning and shrewd people. They were both amongst the high-ranked members, but so was Nader, and so were several others.
The Unholy Blasphemers might be an organization composed of fanatical cultists, but while they answered to the same Divinity, their motives differed greatly. There was competition and back-stabbing, trickery and subterfuge. Basically, it was no different than the turmoil constantly happening in Royal Courts and governments. No organization was harmonious and free of internal conflict.
“Anything else?” Asked Gord after he had enough time to process everything.
“The woman who attacked me asked about the Circle of Damnation.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know. Either she was testing me or she really wanted to know.”
“Nothing good ever comes out from them. Did you tell her anything?”
“Only about the Devil Doctor and the second unknown member lurking in the academy. She used some sort of weird magic on me… I-I couldn’t resist.``”
“It’s alright. You’re fine now so that’s what matters.”
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“Okay..”
“Be careful, Jan. Watch your back and don’t reveal yourself.”
After that, the connection was cut-off and the bone returned to its dormant state.
The Witch of Izakan took two steps before sitting back on the ground and listening to the deafening silence dominating the empty room. She closed her eyes and tried to purge any dark thoughts and the vivid memories of the torture.
She was a naturally strong-willed person, but the fear and dread she experienced truly shook her to the core. It was the first time in her life she felt so powerless, so scared… so defenseless against a frightening type of magic that sucked everything from her. It was as if her very soul was being pulled out.
She had gotten her revenge, but even that wasn’t enough. For someone of her age, she was smart and knew how to manipulate people, but her quick rise to glory had made her arrogant and careless enough to get ambushed at such a crucial time.
Time passed but the parasite didn’t attempt anything, not because he was afraid but because he was expecting more cultists to arrive.
Although all of Jan’s subordinates were hit by [Wither Blast] and died, Arthur expected more to return, specifically those tasked with other things.
Just by looking at her unsettled attitude and unwillingness to leave the mausoleum, he was certain that she was following her friend’s advice and being extremely careful.
Arthur came here to possess more than the Witch of Izakan, and killing a cultist first then starting an assault would prove more effective than using the Spider Lily.
Her leg and arm were restored and she had, more or less, recovered, therefore, it was a bit risky to only use a small host to deal the finishing blow. That and the lack of potent and deadly skills while in this Arachnida-class body.
The room was ever-gloomy and chillingly cold as hours passed one after the other. However, Jan’s patient waiting finally came to an end when light footsteps came from outside.
Several cloaked and masked cultists entered the room and stood next to each other as they greeted the Witch of Izakan.
“Strip that body and store it somewhere safe. Also, I want details about what happened in Ilexset.”
They nodded in unison and split up; Two people approached Jan and reported the chaotic situation in the port city while five of them circled around the dead cultist’s body.
The rest, which amounted to seven cultists, guarded the entrance as they already sensed the girl’s wariness and distress.
It was during that time that an unnoticeable black spider with four tiny legs walked across the wall and creeped closer to the five cultists staring at the corpse.
They handled their dead ‘colleague’ carefully, none sensing or seeing the black creature that dangled in the air using a thin web.
It was flexible and nimble as it landed on the back of one of the cultists before speeding toward his neck. By the time the man flinched and felt a cold tingle, it was too late as two small but sharp pair of fangs dug deep into his neck.
The first skill used was [Vampire Bite], which had a potent destabilizing effect. The parasite, albeit in a relatively defenseless body, sucked the cultist’s blood and made him thud loudly against the ground.
Just as the other noticed the black spider with stains on its back, a small volume of sticky liquid was sprayed at the closest of them.
[Gila Poison] was a skill obtained from another corpse, but depending it could be used by a wide variety of hosts, though humans were excluded, unfortunately.
Cries of pain echoed throughout the room, garnering everyone’s attention. However, Arthur was swift and decisive as used his small body to enter the unconscious cultist’s open mouth.
It took him more time than anticipated to die as the spider’s fangs, empowered by [Vampire Bite], weren’t as effective as when using a rat or a mouse.
Still, the parasite’s minuscule body was ejected from the spider and possessed the cultist.
With the wary and startled enemies springing into action, the parasite’s new body let out a burst of green mist.
Jan freaked out and instantly snapped her fingers, but she missed the target and the explosion only hit those close to Arthur.
Two of them were blown away, never to get up again, though their bodies weren’t entirely ruined and were still ripe for possession.
The room was small, rendering it particularly easy to cover it in a dense and green mist.
Everyone’s vision was shrouded, causing more panic and fear. Jan backed against the wall, with her hand raised and her Mana bursting forth.
She wanted to continuously use her ability, but thought against it as killing more of her subordinates would decrease the chance of winning. She didn’t have the time to think about what was happening or how the unknown ‘assailant’ returned… all she wanted was to survive and get out of here.
Alas, a truly devilish cry resounded across the mausoleum. It was a dreadful howl, akin to an enraged beast. It came so suddenly and imbued the cultists with more force, thus making them momentarily terrified and rooted to the ground.
From then on, Arthur’s hunt began and proceeded smoothly. Freezing icicles whistled in the air as they impaled four defenseless Cultists, an icy aura burst from the rapidly-moving parasite, freezing two nearby enemies and allowing him to pierce their heart with a long scythe made from [Mist of Decay].
The shrouding mist notwithstanding, Jan managed to pinpoint the parasite’s location and snap her fingers multiple times, but Arthur was prepared as he kept [Magic Sense] active.
The Witch’s ability caused slight but noticeable Mana fluctuation in the air, signaling that an ‘explosion’ was about to occur there, therefore, he raised the Sanguis Barrier and easily protected himself.
He was also switching from one host to the other to confuse Jan and creep closer and closer to her.
It took exactly half a minute for all the cultists besides Jan to fall to the ground, lifeless. And bloodied.
As she felt the imminent death, Jan’s eyes sharpened as she clenched her hand and let out an explosive shock wave that pushed the mist to the back.
The ground cracked and the room was assaulted by a heavy tremor, but that was it. The green mist vanished and all that was left in Jan’s view were impaled corpses scattered everywhere.
She didn’t get fooled, choosing to stick to the wall and frantically look around. Her hands were glowing with the mesmerizing blue light of pure Mana as she was prepared to destroy this whole place to kill the unknown entity.
“I know you’re here!”
Her face was pale and her lips quivering as she paid great attention to the motionless corpses, expecting one of them to rise up and attack.
Regrettably, her biggest mistake was failing to recognize the nature of her enemy. She was so focused on killing and surviving that she didn’t suspect that it was a Parasite or something of similar nature.
From her left side, at the bottom of the wall and close to the tiny corner, a small insect was rapidly moving towards her.
It was a beetle, one with a thin black wing cover, an orange ‘skin’, and disgusting antennas that wiggled around. Its round black eyeballs were fixated on the Witch as the Bombardier Beetle reached her heels and started climbing.
The beetle emitted no Mana or anything that might uncover its presence, it was soundless and outrageously fast, faster than any normal insect would be.
It climbed Jan’s slightly shaky legs and then spun around and sprayed the notorious poison.
[Acid Spray] was where the notoriety of the Bombardier Beetle originated. Even on Earth, when the living beings weren’t affected by the ambient energies such as Mana, the poison was strong enough to harm humans and cause serious damages.
This chemical mixture sprayed from the beetle can reach up to 22 miles per hour at 100 degrees celsius.
However, such verified facts weren’t always applied to a world like this one, where insects could mutate, evolve, and, in rare cases, even develop sentience.
Unlike with the limited capacity of the Spider Lily, the Bombardier Beetle allowed Arthur to make full use of [Acid Spray] and [Gila Poison] and spray it all over Jan’s upper body, including her face.
[Acid Spray] caused extreme irritation to the eyes as well as damaging the victim’s respiratory system, thus causing temporary but painful incapacitation.
The Witch of Izakan, caught off-guard, fell back and covered her face as she cried out. The Bombardier Beetle was flung to the back, but that was in its favor. Arthur was going to switch bodies anyway since the beetle’s poison, albeit strong, would take time to actually kill the target.
His light body swayed in the air before landing close to one of the corpses. The parasite sped toward it and possessed it, yet again increasing his stats.
A shiny barrier appeared and crashed into the writhing Jan, smashing her body against the wall and completely immobilizing her.
Just as Arthur was about to deal the finishing blow and end this hunt, he suddenly heard footsteps.
Icicles appeared above him and green mist came out of his hands, signaling that he was ready to fight.
The unexpected arrival was none other than Nader Coach.
The black-haired youth looked calm and unfazed by the massacred cultists. He first glanced at the Witch before focusing his scrutinizing eyes on Arthur.
“Marvelously done, parasite.”