Chapter 86. Torment
Within the damp labyrinth, a grim-faced Charles led his crew in a mad sprint.
"Mr. Charles! My friends can't keep up!" Lily cried out anxiously as she stood on Charles' shoulder.
"Get them to climb onto James! Quick!" Charles ordered.
The brown mice rapidly scurried up the back of the giant James. Despite his figure gradually shrinking back to normal, the large number of mice on his broad back looked as though he were draped in a cloak of darkness.
"Ahhhhh!"
"Ahhhhh!"
"Ahhhhh!"
The pained screams ahead grew increasingly louder as they echoed through the twisted passages. However, they did nothing to slow Charles down.
If Bandages' words were true and he indeed saw the island had already sunk below the surface from the outside, they would all sink into the abyss with the island if they didn't escape in time.
Regardless of what lay below at the seabed, the deep waters were definitely not a place humans could tread.
An oppressive atmosphere loomed over the wet air, and anxiety was painted on everyone's faces. However, with Charles leading the way and their core resolve unshaken, none of them panicked.
Following the guidance of Bandages, the crew darted to and fro within the maze. The screams of agony grew nearer and nearer. Suddenly, as Charles turned a corner, the scene of torment was revealed before them.
The area ahead was unexpectedly illuminated with light. However, the events that unfolded within the light were truly hair-standing.
The expanse that measured the size of a football field, was filled with naked humans—men, women, old and young. They were clutching their throats as they let out agonized howls and wails and writhed in mud. Their pained expressions mirrored the graffiti the crew had seen earlier on the wall.
The humans were surrounded by a dense number of palm-sized black insects that resembled centipedes with spider legs.
Like water spiders, these creatures stood on the water as they circled the humans. Their bodies quivered rhythmically with the volume of the scream, seemingly enjoying the humans' suffering.
Seeing the scene before that, a realization dawned on Charles. These creatures were Torments. Scarface had been truthful, this was the creatures' lair.
When Charles laid his eyes on the Torments, the creatures had seen him as well.
The Torments began to move. Some even crawled out of the mouths of the screaming humans. They advanced toward Charles and his crew, determined to make these newcomers one of their victims of agony.
Gathering in droves, the Torments looked like a vast black carpet surging toward Charles and his crew.
Terror surfaced on the crew's faces as the monsters neared. Charles speedily carved on the wall.
"Bandages! The Torments are coming! Where's the exit you speak of?"
But it was at this crucial moment that Bandages disappeared from the wall once more.
"Damn it!" Charles exhaled a deep breath and pulled out the Lightning Rod from within his coat. It was the only relic he had at his disposal that could deal with a horde of enemies.
Bzzt!
A brilliant crack of electricity shot forth and landed in the group of Torments. The discharged power leaped and danced between the creatures.
But then, a scene of despair unfolded before them. Even with enough power to kill 1002, the cosmic horrors before them remained unaffected by the Lightning Rod's high voltage.
The Torments surged forward. One of them climbed up Charles' clothes and into his mouth. Instantly, a pain so intense that reached his bones coursed through his body. Charles nearly passed out from the agony. An involuntary scream of pain emerged from his throat.
The other crew members suffered the same fate as they writhed and echoed the terrified cries.
Just then, Charles noticed that Bandages had appeared on the wall again. He drew a box on the wall and made the gesture of opening something.
Box? Mirrorbox!!
With trembling hands, Charles reached for James' backpack. However, the excruciating pain made even thinking difficult. His hands instinctively clutched at his throat, as it seemed to be able to alleviate the suffering.
"Mr. Charles, let me help you!" Lily's mice swiftly jumped into James' backpack and retrieved a Mirrorbox.
The Torments seemed to only see humans as their victims and ignored the large number of small rodents around them.
Despite being overwhelmed with pain, the vampire, Audric, buried himself in the mud. His fear of the sunlight allowed him to momentarily overcome the agonizing pain.
Snap!
The mice opened the Mirrorbox, and dazzling light pervaded the entire space.
Under the bright sunlight, the Torments around them swiftly melted away like snowmen, leaving not a single trace. Bathed in the light's warm glow, the searing pain had also rapidly vanished.
Weak from the assault, Charles gasped for air as he cast a glance at Bandages on the wall. A sudden thought appeared in his head. How does he know that sunlight works against those creatures?
Just then, the doodle of Bandages disappeared once more as his real figure poked out from a hole in the mud nearby.
"Captain... here!"
Under the mud, a flickering, hazy white light shone next to Bandages. It was the spotlight of the Narwhale. The exit was just right there!
Charles squeezed through the muddy hole, and he was instantly enveloped by the bone-chilling seawater as the water washed away the filth covering him.
Surveying his surroundings, Charles realized that the flat-topped island was now several meters beneath the sea's surface.
He didn't surface immediately but waited at the exit. He did a headcount of his crew members as they emerged from the hole.
Lily, Conor, Dipp... One after another, the crew members exited from the hole and swam to the surface.
But very soon, Charles realized that he was missing one man. His Chief Engineer, James, had yet to crawl out.
Charles rushed back in to find James rooted to the spot with a bitter expression.
"What's the matter? Hurry up!" Charles shouted.
"Captain, I'm too huge, I can't get in." Despair was apparent on James' face.
A pang of fear struck Charles' heart. It was only then that he realized James' body had yet to shrink to its original size. Standing at a height of three meters, there was no way James could fit into the hole.
Trembling, James presented the Purple Pyramid before Charles. His voice cracked as he said, "Captain, please tell my wife that I... I love her forever."
Seeing the sight of James being like a man imparting his last words, Charles slapped the hand holding the purple crystal before him back at James.
"Tell her that yourself. How much longer before you return to normal?"
"I... I estimate another five minutes. Captain, we don't have that much time," James lamented.
"Then, we'll wait five minutes. Calm down, I'll be with you." Charles fished out the pocket watch from his coat and waited.
Time ticked away slowly. With each passing second, more and more seawater poured in through the hole. As the mud started to float upon the water, Charles finally understood how the marshland was formed.
Just when James had shrunk back to two and a half meters, Charles noticed that the edges of the bizarre exit were twitching and undulating. The exit was starting to close!
"We can't wait any longer. Move now!" Charles shouted and pushed James' large figure toward the exit.
But as expected, James got stuck. The edges of the exit contracted and caved in on his skin.
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