Blinding light made the creature cower its face and take a step back, but flames that filled small space and burned blood vessels drilling into his hands did no damage to the crimson body of the monster.
Flames spread through the room, burning the wooden door and the lifeless head hanging from it, allowing Hildebrant to push doors open and escape from the room.
The world before him flickered again and returned to normal but Hildebrant no longer believed what he saw and heard and maybe because of high stress and wildly beating heart, the world almost instantly flickered back.
The room he entered and knew for many days became unfamiliar, filled with blood vessels and stench of blood.
Above him on a wall pale girl was hanging her body surrounded by crimson vessels that tried to suck her dry.
Her already pale face was even paler, and her eyes continued to lose their luster.
Surprised Hildebrant tripped on the edge of the room and without the support of his hands that were now entirely black he fell and hit his head.
"Hill! Stop I will not hurt you!"
Came from behind and when he looked back at where the doors from the tight room of the toilet were, a crimson monster with a faceless face came out. This time however its legs were replaced with a long snake tail while tentacles and centipede legs began to grow out of its flesh.
Just looking at it made Hildebrant shiver and use his burnt hands to stand up but as he tried, he found out his legs did not listen to him.
Looking down on them he finally discovered why and as he stared at blood vessels that began to merge with his flesh his heart trembled in fear.
They mercilessly connected him with the floor and refused to let him go while they pulsed with an unknown substance that he could feel entering him.
There was no escape from them for they were everywhere.
On walls, floors, and even on living beings.
They tried to drill deeper but finally waking up from his stupor he screamed and flames in his body poured out again, flowing like a broken dam into each part of his body and turning him into a small sun.
At that moment all he felt was pain and power.
It was unimaginable great and mind-breaking to the point he did not even notice that the blinding light of fire coming out of his skin and flickering around it made the monster stop and cower its eyes while shouting in frustration.
"Stop! You will kill yourself!"
Its four hands grasped the wall on the other side of the doors and wanted to rush closer, but the moment Hildebrant fell his legs were free of blood vessel's influence he crawled back on his feet and closed doors before the monster's eyes.
Bang echoed in the room, and doors shook but the monster did not enter.
Nevertheless, Hildebrant felt a strong gaze landing on his body as if the entire room observed him, and it did.
Blood poured out of the gasp and crimson blood vessels resting on various places began to move closer to him.
Icarus's voice also sounded from behind the doors and tried to calm him down but even when the world flickered, and all space became normal he just screamed while trying to push unknown force out of his head.
"Calm down Hill. Please calm down. We are close just a little and we both will be healthy again. Don’t you want to be healthy Hill? Don’t you want to help your friend to be healthy?"
He wanted.
Even when the world was exchanging colors from beautiful white and brown, to black and red he still wanted to help him.
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But how could he help his friend?
How could he help Icarus?
He should stop resisting and just let blood vessels enter his body.
Yes, that was a good idea.
Blood vessels surrounded him and created a circle with him in the center but when one rose and wanted to connect with him, his flames poured out of his red skin and burned it until not even dust remained.
"Hill!"
A screeching sound came from behind the door, and something hit the wall.
The crack spread from the other side, and the sound of marble hitting the floor echoed and made Hildebrant crawl even farther from the doors while burning his way through the blood vessels surrounding him.
Blood began to pour out from gaps in the door and more blood came and connected with blood vessels in a room, the bigger they became.
Staring at them Hildebrant wanted nothing more than to become part of it.
But then something in him screamed to look up and when he lifted his gaze and stared at the girl that was now above him, she stared back.
Weak as she was, she still stared back while blood vessels around her began to slither down on his head.
"Don’t worry Hill it will not hurt I just want to cure both of us, I don’t want you to live similarly to me okay, so just calm down and let me refine you so you can be healthy again, so we both can be healthy again. After this is over, we can go out to play, I will bring you anything just don’t run. Please!"
Creature said weakly but Hildebrant hand already moved and from his charred hand white flames poured out burning blood vessels surrounding the girl.
Unknow screams of pain came from vessels, but flames had no concept of mercy and even when they crawled on the floor, they burned it to the last drop of blood.
Weirdly flames did not touch the girl even in slightness and when the blood vessel was gone, she jumped down from the wall right before him, and after giving glance at the doors she opened her mouth.
Her jaw parted and then it kept widening beyond his imagination making him ponder how it was possible until a ghostly and almost transparent hand came out.
The hand grasped both sides of the girl's mouth and widened it even more, from there head pushed herself out, and after the head came the body.
Hildebrant could do nothing but stare at the transparent figure that now stood atop the girl's opened mouth with a face filled with resentment and pure hate.
Maybe the monster behind the doors felt intruder because the moment the ghostly figure appeared all blood vessels stopped slithering to him but changed their direction and began to surround the pale girl and woman who descended from her mouth to the floor.
After closing her jaw pale girl looked even more tired than before but she still even while breathing heavenly helped him to stand up and then both somehow tripped to the door.
While they did all of that, a transparent woman in a ghostly dress and chains on her head screamed with a voice that made his soul shudder but what made him even more fearful were crimson vessels that began to drill in her legs.
Not caring if the creature before them was psychical or not they began to move through her transparent flesh and turn it red while connecting her to the rest of the room.
Even when ghosts tore her lips and ate the blood vessels they did not stop growing in strength and slowly they began to consume her from inside out.
With a scream, the transparent lady rushed to the doors but when they slightly opened, she stopped, and her face twisted into that of fear.
A faceless face stared at her and blood poured from the other side, then with a furious roar creature came out and grabbed the woman's face and tore her body in half with such brutality it made Hildebrant hold his breath.
No blood came out and both sides of the body even passed through the crimson monster's hands after a while and began to connect but as if expecting it monster grasped combining halves and tore it again and then again and again.
It was a terrifying sight and at the same time beautiful.
With each torn part of transparent flesh, blood vessels seeped deeper and deeper into the woman turning her redder and redder until her skin became a shade of crimson completely overgrown with blood vessels that peeked out of her skin.
But she still fought and each of her screams would make the monster freeze for a moment.
Using that time Hildebrant not caring about his injuries or pain poured his flames into his hand and feeling power coursing through his limb he punched the lock open.
Wood sheltered, burned, and then steel melted, and with a numbed mind he and the girl ran out of the room he had no idea how long he stayed inside.
The outside world flickered but it quickly returned to normal finally showing him the true face of the sanctuary.
The dark corridor was full of darkness, corpses, and skeletons.
Most of them belonged to young children and teenagers but some belonged even to adults and twisted creatures and monsters of various shapes.
There were also armor, swords, and bows, weapons of various sizes and forms burrowed with bones of forgotten warriors.
Not having time to look at them he and the girl limped through as fast as they could but deep down both knew they were not fast enough.
In the end, Hildebrant was right and with the last scream of the woman Hildebrant soul shook making him fall to his knees and vomit blood.
Then blood rushed out of the doors he entered some time ago and a crimson flash dashed through it with speed that turned it into a blur of light.
Its body slithered like a snake and from bulging monstrosity its body turned thing, its tail gaining numerous legs that propelled it forward.
"Come back Hill! Come back to me!"
With affection, Hildebrant had no idea from where it came It stretched its hand and was prepared to grasp him but then darkness moved and with a monstrous scream of frustration dark corridor disappeared and Hildebrant found himself staring at the clean night sky.