The Harem of Juicy MILFs

Chapter 36: New Lead [4]

When they arrived in the guardian’s room, the sight that greeted them was striking. The room was empty, completely deserted, but the walls bore the marks of a violent confrontation. Deep gashes scarred the stone, and splatters of dried blood stained the walls, forming macabre patterns that danced under the flickering light of the mana flames.

Hae-neul felt her instincts alarm immediately. She instinctively went on guard, scrutinizing every dark corner of the room. "Who could have done this? The guardian’s monsters don’t fight each other..."

Gerhman slowly approached the center of the room, where the guardian’s seat should have been. He crouched down, running his fingers over a fresh gash still damp with energetic residue. "It is none other than the members of the Void Cult," he declared in a neutral tone, as if stating an obvious fact.

"How can you be so sure?" asked Hae-neul, approaching in turn to examine the traces.

Gerhman stood up, wiping his fingers on his pants. "The patterns of these gashes, the residual energy... Monsters have their own way of doing things, even if they fought among themselves they would never have the courage to provoke their leader except for a few irregulars." He headed toward the spot that should have housed the floor’s guardian, but found only stone debris and traces of combat. Everything was empty, nothing was there anymore.

"As Electhra had said, they are here," murmured Gerhman, a cold smile stretching his lips.

Hae-neul swore between her teeth, a hint of frustration in her voice. "They have already cleared this floor. There is nothing left to do here."

Gerhman nodded, his eyes sweeping the room one last time. "Then we have no choice but to go up to the next floor."

---

No sooner had they crossed the threshold of the twenty-first floor than the smell hit them full force. A nauseating stench of decomposing flesh, mixed with the acrid smell of coagulated blood. The scene before them was worthy of a battlefield: monster bodies lay scattered across the ground, bathing in pools of still-viscous blood. Carcasses of creatures with grotesque shapes, some still smoking from the energy that had consumed them.

Gerhman advanced into the middle of the carnage, his hands casually buried in his pockets, an enigmatic smile on his lips. "Quite the carnage..." he murmured, a glimmer of appreciation in his gaze.

Hae-neul stared at him, her eyes widening in shock at his reaction. She couldn’t believe he could show such lightness in the face of such a macabre spectacle. "There is nothing amusing about this," she said. "All these creatures were massacred without mercy."

Gerhman shrugged nonchalantly, his smile stubbornly clinging to his lips. "See it as you wish." He approached the nearest corpse, a monster whose carcass had been literally ripped open, its internal organs spilled on the ground in a pool of blackish blood. He crouched with surprising agility, carefully examining the wounds and the traces of residual energy still emanating from them.

His eyebrows furrowed as he observed the clean edges of the incisions more closely. "It looks like they are conducting some kind of experiment here..." he said, his voice suddenly losing its lightness to become graver. He reached out toward a particular scar, a circular pattern engraved in the flesh that resembled a magical seal.

Hae-neul approached in turn, leaning in to examine the body Gerhman was studying. She felt her stomach twist when she made out the esoteric symbols embedded in the monster’s skin. "What on earth are these madmen preparing?" she commented, a shiver of anguish running down her spine. The members of the Void Cult were known for their forbidden experiments, their manipulations of dimensional rifts, and their human sacrifices. Seeing their work up close twisted her stomach to the point that she had to breathe deeply to not show her disgust.

Gerhman stood up in one movement, wiping his hands with a casualness that contrasted with the gravity of the situation. A wider smile than the previous ones stretched across his face, revealing his white teeth. "Why not ask them directly?" he suggested. "For that, we must catch up with them. They couldn’t have gone far with all this mess."

Hae-neul felt her heart accelerate in her chest, beating against her ribs like a caged bird. Catching up with members of the Void Cult, beings known for their power and cruelty, was not a task to be taken lightly. But she was not a low-rank awakened, and she could not bear the idea of retreating before horror. She straightened her shoulders, fixing her gaze on Gerhman’s with determination. "Let’s go then," she replied, her voice firm and devoid of any hesitation.

Gerhman stared at her for a moment, a glimmer of surprise crossing his pupils. He seemed to evaluate her resolve, to weigh her words. "I find you very confident all of a sudden," he remarked, a bit mocking, his right eyebrow rising slightly. "Just five minutes ago, you were shocked by a simple corpse."

Hae-neul gave him a pouty grimace, but her gaze remained resolute and inflexible. She crossed her arms over her chest, adopting a defensive posture that poorly hid her nervousness. "Even if I don’t look it, I am still an A-rank awakened," she said, a hint of pride in her voice. "I am not here to be a decoration. If you are afraid of dragging me along, know that I can fight just as well as you."

Gerhman did not reply immediately. A small half-smile bloomed on his lips, mixing amusement and respect in an ambiguous expression she couldn’t decipher. He looked her up and down as if seeing her for the first time. Then, without wasting another second, he launched forward, his silhouette cutting through the air heavy with the smell of blood and corrupted magic. "Then don’t slow me down," he called over his shoulder, his voice carried by the wind rushing through the corridor.

Hae-neul took a deep breath, swallowing the metallic air that filled her lungs, and dashed after him. Her steps echoed on the paved floor, paced by the adrenaline beginning to flow through her veins.