"Alright, quick question. The ones you encountered before—did they talk?"
He was referring to the forsaken divines that Artemisia and Beatrix had fought the day before and the two girls both shook their heads.
"Nope. Not a word."
Beatrix replied and hearing this, Evan placed a hand on his chin.
"We're in the place where they came from, so we could be dealing with more advanced versions. Anyway, now that we know their artificial divine cores are their weaknesses, I'm going to try and pinpoint that first on the next one."
Artemisia and Beatrix exchanged glances, then turned back to him.
"And how exactly are you planning on finding this core?"
In response to Artemisia's words, Evan grinned behind his mask.
"Don't worry. I've got a master plan."
He held up his hand, letting his draconic transformation partially activate. White-gold scales spread across his arm, while he poured energy into his titanium body skill.
Summoning his sword, he swung it down on his scaled arm and the blade bounced right off, earning a satisfied nod.
"Yeah, that's good enough."
Then, he turned to the two dumbfounded girls.
"Beatrix, get your time magic ready, just in case. Artemisia, your evolution ability—you can temporarily enhance someone's durability, right?"
Artemisia blinked, a little taken aback.
"Uh, yes, I can do that."
"Good. I'll need you to temporarily boost my durability as high as you can."
After saying that, Evan turned towards the door and spoke.
"Well, let's check it out."
They moved cautiously down the hallway, following the eerie, intermittent cries for help. As they approached the source, Evan's Danger Sense hummed with a low, warning note.
'Yeah, this isn't someone needing help.'
Such thoughts crossed his mind and he appraised it quickly. The scrambled status board on his display confirmed his suspicion.
But he didn't let on, instead stepping forward to approach the figure, knowing exactly what he was up against.
The moment he reached out to reassure the "person," it turned on him. His left arm plunged into something soft, only for that softness to turn rigid and clamp down on him.
But Evan remained calm, even as he let the creature devour his arm and acted like he was scared for his life.
He was searching through the squirming mass for the artificial divine core. And then, he found it.
It was then that the creature noticed something off, but it was already too late. Evan used Flammable Arm on it and obliterated its head in an explosion of fiery debris.
◇ ◇ ◇
"Well, something feels off about the amount of EXP I got from that one. I think I'll need to kill another one to check something out."
Evan spoke as he wiped the little blood on his face with a handkerchief and Artemisia raised an eyebrow.
"What exactly did you find out?"
He scratched his head, searching for the right words.
"It's kind of strange, but let's say the EXP needed for a level is 100. I was sitting at level 581, with 45/100 points.
But when I killed this thing, I got exactly enough EXP to hit level 582, again at 45/100. It was like it filled up perfectly for just one level. I want to see if that's the case with other monsters here too, or if this one was a fluke."
"So, the creatures might have a set amount of EXP, calibrated almost... precisely."
Such were Beatrix's words as she nodded, her expression thoughtful and Evan concurred. He looked down at the shattered remains of the core before turning to Beatrix and asking.
"Hey, do you think you could use your spatial magic to scan these things and mark the core's location? Now that you've seen one, it should be easier to recognize."
It sounded like a viable situation, but Beatrix gave a negative response.
"Scanning bodies with spatial power isn't as easy as you think. It depends on how much energy they have.
The stronger the energy, the more interference I get.
Using you as an example, I'd barely see a thing since you have so much energy. Your destruction essence alone would probably short-circuit any attempt to scan you."
"That's one easy way out."
Evan responded with a sigh, before shaking his head and continuing.
"Let's keep moving. If we can find another one of those creatures, I'll try using a technique that'll hit hard enough to really mess it up, or use my destruction essence to bypass their durability.
I also need to consider if their cores are all in different places.
But oh well, let's find them first."
As soon as the words left Evan's mouth about finding more monsters, a wave of chilling cries filled the air around them.
"Heeelp meee!"
"It hurts, please… It hurts!"
"Someone help me! It hurts so bad!"
The voices came from everywhere at once, echoing down the corridors in a haunting chorus.
Evan's steps froze as he heard them. If every cry belonged to a monster like the one they had just encountered, how many were lurking around them unseen? How many had been there the whole time?
The sheer number of voices was disturbing enough, but the timing—how the cries began immediately after he spoke—sent a cold chill down his spine.
It felt as though the monsters were responding, almost taunting them.
Artemisia and Beatrix were also wearing difficult expressions.
"This is... very unsettling."
Beatrix murmured, her voice barely above a whisper and Evan nodded, though his response was more flippant.
"Yeah, I guess the Author wasn't kidding when he said he'd switch the genre to horror for a bit."
The two goddesses looked at him, confused by his strange remark about "changing genres," but he didn't bother to explain.
Instead, he turned away and kept moving, heading towards the next corner without a second thought.
But as soon as Evan rounded the corner, he stopped dead.
Artemisia and Beatrix narrowed their eyes and Beatrix immediately used her spatial power. Then she understood why Evan had gone quiet.
Around the corner, Evan stood face-to-face with a large version of the Forsaken Divine monsters.
This one was an ogre-like beast but with elven ears, with its warped, disfigured organs displayed across its chest and head, much like the one they'd encountered above ground.
For a moment, the hallway was silent. Both Evan and the monster stared at each other, neither making the first move.
Finally, Evan broke the silence, his tone dry, as if he were asking a simple favour.
"Now then, would you be so kind as to hand over your artificial divine core?"
The monster's only response was a deafening roar, its massive frame lunging forward in a wild charge. Evan sighed, shaking his head.
"Thought so."
Before the monster closed the distance, Evan moved supersonically, clenching his fists and activating both Adamantine Might and Artemisia's Tempest Avatar.
He threw his fist forward and in a single punch, Evan struck the monster square in the chest, sending it hurtling down the hallway, crashing into the far wall with a thunderous impact.
"Guess we're doing this the hard way."
Evan stepped forward, cracking his fingers as he advanced toward the monster he'd just punched into the wall. He continued speaking, his tone almost playful.
"Well then, since you've so kindly volunteered, I won't hesitate to use you as my test subject."
The monster staggered to its feet, undeterred by the damage. Its body trembled, and though it was visibly healing, Evan wasn't surprised; they'd already confirmed these things didn't feel pain.
As he watched, the creature's head hollowed out, revealing a swirling abyss within. In the next instant, it unleashed a searing beam of divine energy straight at him.
Beatrix was quick to act, creating a wormhole in front of him that absorbed the beam. Another wormhole materialized behind the monster, and the energy blasted back, striking its back with brutal force and propelling it forward, right into Evan's waiting fist.
"Mesarthim; Orange: Self-Immolation."
With a low murmur, orange flames erupted over Evan's body, engulfing him like a human torch and he clenched his fiery fist, meeting the creature head-on.
His punch landed a second before the Tempest Avatar's punch did, making it serve as a follow-up attack.
The sheer force shattered the ground beneath him, and the steel walls buckled and splintered as though they were made of glass.
The double impact rippled through the monster, obliterating its upper half and sending bits of bone and flesh into the air as its body was thrown backwards, slamming into the far wall with a sickening crunch.
Evan took a step back, shaking out his hand as the flames died down, surveying the destruction he'd caused.
"Pretty sure I caused a ruckus."
Beatrix's eyes widened as her time powers activated, and she quickly shot him a glare.
"Evan, more of those things are already closing in on us."
"Guess I really stirred up a hornet's nest this time."
Evan remarked playfully, but just then he froze as Danger Sense blared an alarm in his head.
He looked around, realizing he was standing in a T-junction, flanked by two pathways. The sense of imminent danger wasn't coming from the hallways themselves, but from the figures that lurked within them.
Two more monsters emerged, one from each side. The one on his left was an ogre-type, its face hollowed out and writhing with exposed organs. The one on his right was smaller, humanoid, about his height, with a similarly grotesque visage.
Evan didn't need anyone to tell him. These were the exact two monsters that attacked them when they were above ground.
The ogre monster launched its fists forward, conjuring a violent vortex of swirling wind, while the smaller one's head hollowed out and unleashed that same jarring sonic scream that had previously disoriented them.
But this time, Evan was not caught off guard.