Chapter 27: Corrupted Creeper Beast
The bright light of the tear slowly faded away. Finn’s eyes blinked a few times as they readjusted to his new environment.
"Oh my..."
He muttered, his eyes growing wide as he stared at the vast expanse of the gloomy cave-like interior of the labyrinth.
It was enormous, filled with morbid spear-like rock formations spiralling out of both the floor and ceiling at irregular intervals. The air was murky and stale, making it slightly harder to breathe, while the ground beneath him was hard, cold stone slick with moisture, as though it had rained only moments ago.
Its wetness was from no rain, undoubtedly.
Finally, something about this place made Finn’s skin crawl and every instinct within him scream at him to turn around and run away from the labyrinth, however much he wanted to remain.
Instinctively, he summoned the blade of his crude sword into his grasp and held tightly onto it.
"You will have to kill every monster on this level and reach its ruler if you ever hope to escape this place," Estes informed, taking a few steps away from Finn. "Another thing... I can’t assist you in this place. Not that I can’t, really, but this is your test, not mine."
Finn let out a stifled groan.
’How reassuring.’
A moment later, Estes’ body dissolved into a number of flickering rays before finally taking the form of a mundane eyeball that floated beside Finn.
Finn gave her a disturbed glance before turning back to the dark, mysterious caverns of the labyrinth.
Mustering all the courage he could, he moved forward.
With desperate caution, he traversed the winding path of the cavern. His eyes darted across every single spiral present there.
Each one looked as though it had been crafted rather than naturally formed. They were strangely similar...
Finn took note of their heights and structures as he moved past them. After a while, he discovered several patterns that divided all the spirals into three distinct types.
Either there was a lone spiral jutting out to one side, three intertwining with one another, or a large spiral accompanied by a smaller third one.
"Is it possible for a Corrupted to have enough intelligence to craft things?" Finn asked in a low whisper.
Estes did not reply immediately, remaining silent for a moment before letting out a sigh.
"Yes. Corrupted can gain intelligence over time, even amassing more knowledge than a human could possibly possess, but..."
She hesitated.
Still, she didn’t need to finish before Finn understood what she was about to say.
"The smarter the monster, the deadlier it is..."
A low clatter echoed through the cavern, something striking one of the pillars.
Finn reacted sharply and—
Boom!
"The fuck?!"
A spiralling pillar exploded into rubble as a massive black tendril tore straight through it and shot toward Finn’s abdomen.
Its speed was incomprehensible.
Deadly even.
It took all of Finn’s agility and reflexes to evade the attack, letting the strange black appendage pass him by, missing his clothing by an inch too close for comfort.
He staggered back and gritted his teeth, locking his gaze onto the tendril as it retracted toward its owner.
And what Finn saw made his heart plummet.
A large humanoid monstrosity stood amidst the darkness, a grotesque fusion of several creatures Finn couldn’t even identify thanks to how morbid its appearance was.
A rotting black skull devoid of flesh sat upon its thick neck. Two hollow eye sockets stared at Finn with unrestrained bloodlust. Its mouth was packed with jagged brown fangs, each one resembling a rusted dagger. Covering its massive upper body was a layer of dark chitin, while beneath it stretched four spider-like tendrils that served as legs.
One of those tendrils had just attempted to sever Finn in two.
This was a Corrupted.
Finn’s hands trembled around his sword at the sight of the creature, but he held firm and stabilized his breathing. His eyes remained fixed on the monster, studying every twitch and subtle movement.
A single moment of hesitation or a failure to decipher its attacks would be enough to kill him.
"Be careful, Finn..."
At the sound of Estes’ warning, the Corrupted beast moved.
Its speed was far greater than something of its size had any right to possess.
The monster crossed the distance between them in an instant and released a disturbing shriek as it lashed out with two devastating tendrils.
The attacks were even faster than the first.
Finn jumped away from the first strike and parried the second with his sword, sending bright golden sparks scattering into the darkness.
The force behind the blow was immense, threatening to rip the weapon from his grasp.
But Finn refused to let go.
He was stronger now.
Stronger thanks to his training with Estes. Stronger thanks to the academy. Stronger thanks to the Spirit Will he had accumulated.
He evaded another strike aimed at his face, allowing the tendril to merely graze his cheek.
The horrifying monster released another shrill cry. Its mouth opened impossibly wide, vile green smoke oozing from within as it attempted to snap its jaws around Finn’s head and tear it off in a single bite.
Finn reacted instantly.
He dove beneath the creature’s massive body, narrowly avoiding the attack and allowing its jaws to close around empty air with a thunderous crack.
If he had tried to block that attack, he wasn’t even sure his sword would have survived without shattering into pieces.
Gritting his teeth, Finn stared at the monster’s lower body.
Unlike its upper half, which was protected by thick black chitin, sections of exposed, rotting flesh were visible underneath.
"Die, you bastard!"
He thrust his crude sword deep into one of the exposed patches of flesh.
The monster convulsed violently.
Its entire body jerked upward as green blood erupted from the wound and splashed all over Finn.
Surely he had struck something vital.
However, he did not come away from that attack unscathed.
The moment the green blood touched his skin, Finn felt a searing agony.
It was as though molten acid had been poured directly onto his flesh.
"GAAAH!"
Pain exploded through his body.
"Finn! Roll!"
Hearing Estes’ voice amidst the agony, he obeyed without hesitation.
Throwing himself onto the ground, Finn rolled away as quickly as possible.
A split second later, a sickening crunch echoed through the cavern as the creature slammed its massive body into the ground where he had been moments earlier.
The impact shattered stone and sent fragments flying.
Had he been even slightly slower, he would have been reduced to a puddle of blood and broken bones.
But the battle was far from over.
The morbid creeper released a guttural roar as it slowly turned to face Finn once more.
"No! No! Stay down, you bastard!"
Finn forced himself back onto his feet, ignoring the unbearable pain of the acidic blood continuing to eat away at his skin.
He summoned another sword into his grasp and steadied himself.
"Fine. Come at me, you rotten corpse!"
The creeper shrieked and charged.
It was noticeably slower now.
Finn’s attack had damaged something important.
Yes...
That was an advantage he could use.
As the creature closed in, its mouth opened once more for another deadly snap.
Finn sidestepped at the last second, allowing the attack to miss him by a hair’s breadth.
Then he raised his crude sword high above his head.
With every ounce of strength he possessed, he brought it down.
Targeting the narrow gap between the creature’s chitin plates at the base of its neck, Finn unleashed a devastating strike.
SPLOOOOSH!
Green mist exploded into the air.
A torrent of acidic blood drenched Finn while the rest splattered across the cavern floor.
Then the creature’s head separated from its body.
It hit the ground with a heavy thud.
Its hollow eyes stared blankly at Finn, almost as though they were filled with disbelief.
The body continued forward for several more metres before swaying violently and finally collapsing.
Dead.
Finn’s heart pounded wildly.
He felt both triumphant and utterly miserable.
"Arghhh!"
He wanted to laugh.
Instead, he could only cough.
"I... I did it..."
His voice trembled.
"I won."
Estes giggled from beside him.
Then—
[Ding!]
The runes appeared once again.
Finn’s eyes widened.
"What?!"
