Roundy, after seeing the sling, which wasn't melting, approached it.

Maybe this is it, he thought.

He went to grab it, but...

“Ow!”

He instantly let it go. His little hand was now scorched...

“O-ouch... ow...”

He healed himself but continued sobbing.

It seemed that the artifact rejected Roundy.

At that moment, Mathias and TRX arrived.

“Roundy? Are you okay? What happened?” TRX exclaimed as she approached to check on him.

“T-that...” Roundy pointed to the sling.

“This?” Mathias picked it up, and it didn’t harm him.

“Y-yes, that...” said Roundy.

“That’s... the artifact of this temple, isn’t it?” said TRX.

“Yes, I think it is...” Roundy replied.

Mathias tried to test the sling. He swung it around, as if ready to shoot something, and mimicked launching an object.

“I-I think that’s how you use it,” Mathias said.

“Try putting something inside, something made by your PSI Creations... That’s the name, right?” said TRX.

“Yes, that’s the name. Well, let me try.”

Mathias did as instructed. He placed a gray PSI stone in it and launched it forcefully.

“Ah!” everyone exclaimed.

He had shot a fireball that destroyed the wall, and debris fell outside the building. Suddenly, a horrible scream of an unknown creature echoed throughout the area.

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“What?” Eliah.

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“W-what was that?” Mat asked.

“...I don’t know,” Roundy replied.

“I... I don’t know either, but we need to get out of here fast,” TRX said.

They all left the building.

“No... I think I do know what that is,” said TRX. “If I’m right, it’s a creature called Ildras. It's the World-Eater.”

“A-are you serious?” Mathias, surprised by what she said.

“It’s invisible because, being from a dimension higher than ours, our minds can barely process it... And it seems like we’re inside its stomach or something?”

“H-hearing you say that is terrifying...” Roundy said.

“Sorry,” TRX apologized. “But we should keep exploring.”

“Yes... let’s do that,” Mat said. “We need to find a way out.”

“And also figure out how the relic can help us, aside from just exploding things. Oh, but keep in mind that if you plan to defeat it, it’s impossible,” TRX added.

Well, at least I was useful, TRX thought, feeling proud of herself. Mathias and Roundy just looked at her...

And so, they continued searching. They arrived at the spot they had found first. Mat used the sling, and the fireball hit the wall and exploded, but...

“Nothing happened...” Mathias said.

“W-what?” TRX responded.

“Ah, ah...” Roundy stammered. “L-look...”

“Huh?” the two of them said.

They were melting faster now. The place they were in was also deteriorating rapidly.

“W-what the hell?” Mathias exclaimed.

“Hurry, do something!”

“Ah...” Roundy fainted.

“No, ah!” TRX. “Nooooooo, we lost him! Do something!”

“Ah, ah, okay!” Mat said.

Not knowing what to do, he just launched something using the sling, without much force, and... water came out.

“W-what?”

“W-wait, what?” TRX.

“Huh?” Roundy woke up. “Oh, so it could do that too.”

Then he fainted again.

The invisible wall started to become visible, but...

“Huh?” Everyone except Roundy.

It was a wall of flesh. It moved. It had eyes, human bones, and other creatures’ bones. All of it was moving, making strange noises. Instinctively, Mat used his green PSI Creations, in the shape of blades and maces, to destroy the wall.

The wall bled from the attack, and a gut-wrenching scream was heard once more.

“Argh!” Mat covered his ears.

“Ugh!” TRX.

Mathias, TRX, and Roundy's skin was melting faster. Mathias's clothes were also falling apart. His strange shirt had disintegrated.

“This way, quickly!” Mathias shouted.

Mathias carried Roundy, and they went that way.

“I hope this is the right path.”

“Come on, come on, Roundy, wake up!” TRX seemed scared.

Her chicken-like beak had fallen off, and that part was bleeding. Her little legs were bleeding as well.

Mathias was in bad shape too. His back was raw and melting. His bones and muscles were exposed in several wounds, and he was bleeding. He had also lost an eye.

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“Ah...” Eliah, who suffered worse things.

“That really is gross...” Alaya, who didn’t go through such things.

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Roundy seemed to have only small wounds on his body, but he was bleeding. In this case, even the blood seemed to be disintegrating.

They ran through several places with invisible walls, which Mat destroyed when they turned to flesh (since now they could be harmed), but none of the paths led anywhere.

“Ugh...” Mat. He placed Roundy on the ground for a moment. His entire body ached.

It seems like he’s in pain... TRX thought.

And indeed, he was, to some extent. Maybe Mat had started feeling pain, or perhaps he was just imagining the pain upon seeing his injuries—who knows?

“There are actually several exits,” TRX said, after seeing that there were doors that could lead them out. “But... they don’t help us.”

“Yes, ugh... It doesn’t matter. We have to keep going,” he said and picked up Roundy again.

They continued searching, but... none of the buildings, which only contained treasures (gold), among other things (which didn’t disintegrate), led anywhere.

...They took some of those things with them, for some reason.

“Ugh!”

TRX made that noise. Her wounds were getting worse, but they didn’t actually hurt. She was just imagining the pain.

Ugh, Roundy won’t wake up... Mat thought.

Then, after wandering around the area, they found one of the invisible walls, inside a little house that seemed older—much older than the rest.

After destroying the flesh wall, they passed through and...

“Ah...” Mathias.

“Ah...” TRX.

“We made it...”

They were exhausted, but finally, after passing through that door, they arrived at a different place.

They were standing in the middle of the void or outer space, on a floating platform with four pillars. Despite this, they could breathe.

In the center of this place, there was a pedestal with an orb. The door they had entered through closed behind them.