Despite Anon dismissing the Terror Queen's warning with a nonchalant behavior, Anon did not plan on taking the ominous blood pool lightly.
Ever since his failure with his teleportation spell, Anon had developed a mild apprehension towards the unknown, especially when the unknown dealt with powers that were far beyond his level.
Due to this apprehension, Anon was always cautious with the unknown, not wanting to underestimate it in the slightest.
With every step Anon took, he subtly observed his environment, body and state of mind. Since the Terror Queen had warned him about her subordinate's descent into madness, he was already on guard for any sort of attack or change on his mental state.
Step by step, Anon's distance to the blood pool shortened, and as it did, Anon noticed a minute change in the environment. He paused and with a calm expression, he turned his head, his eyes squinting in the process.
'A blood mist?'
Anon thought, his brows furrowing slightly as he gazed at the blood red mist which had subtly appeared around him.
Anon observed the mist for any sort of danger but he found none and his expression eased a little. He continued his approach towards the blood pool, his mind still vigilant against any unexpected surprises.
Seconds went by and as Anon got closer and closer to the blood pool, his brows furrowed.
'So this is why her subordinate went mad.'
Anon had this thought as his eyes contained a curious and calm light in them. Just as he had this thought, a chorus of voices flooded his mind:
'STOP PLEASE!'
'I BEG OF YOU!'
'WHAT DID WE EVER DO TO DESERVE THIS?!'
'WHY?!'
'TELL US, WHY?!'
'WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO US?!'
'YOU MONSTER!'
'YOU DID THIS TO US!'
'YOU KILLED US!'
'YOU TORTURED US!'
'YOU RAPED US!'
'YOU USED US!'
'WE HATE YOU!'
'YOU DESERVE TO DIE!'
'YOU DESERVE TO DIE!!'
'DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!'
Voices of young girls, young boys, teenagers, adults, elderly men and elderly women. Their voices filled with anger, hatred, fear, regret, madness, cruelty and… exhaustion.
These voices containing such emotional weight that most resilient men and women would be driven to madness. Their hearts, their minds, their emotions, would succumb to a point where madness would become a twisted solace for the recipients of the voices.
Receivers of the voices of death.
'The sheer number and intensity of the voices can drive so many people to madness, talk less of the fact that the voices are directly transmitted to one's mind.'
Anon had this thought as he walked to the blood pool undeterred. His eyes observing the blood mist and the scarce amount of decomposed corpses around him. Their decayed blood adding to the sinister and malevolent ambiance.
A few steps later, a foul stench assaulted Anon's senses. Disgust etched onto his face and he covered his nose with his hand.
'This stench.'
Anon grimaced, focusing on one of the decaying corpses. He observed the corpse and a few seconds later, then an expression of realization struck him.
'So this was what actually killed her subordinate…'
Anon thought with squinted eyes as he kept on observing the decayed corpses.
' A decayed corpse is always dangerous because of its ability to poison people merely through its smell… And with the number of decayed corpses and the volume of blood here, the poison emanating from the corpses would be a lot, slowly killing the person as a result.'
'Not only that, the killing intent radiated by the blood pool would also affect the mental state of an individual, deteriorating it further.'
Anon extrapolated the dangers of the blood pool, breaking it down with ease. His expression utterly calm and nonchalant as he kept on studying the dangers he could notice.
A few moments later,
'What a sinister and ingenious place.'
Anon praised, then a smile formed on his lips as he calmly walked to the blood pool, his expression utterly calm and confident.
'But if this is all the blood pool has, then…'
Anon released a soft scoff and without hesitation, he increased his pace.
'…. They shouldn't have bothered with the killing intent. I mean… I've endured much worse.'
Anon's thoughts although arrogant, were true. He had only faced a minute fraction of the Paragon Ancestor's killing intent, which nearly drove him to madness. In fact, death was at his doorstep when he challenged the killing intent of the Paragon Ancestor.
The Paragon Ancestor's killing intent was not only dangerous in terms of the physical damage it could cause, it could also cause damage to an individual's mind.
So in terms of the voices, killing intent and even corpse poison, Anon remained impervious to them all, allowing him to approach the blood pool with unwavering confidence. Despite the increasing volume and intensity of the voices, the escalating killing intent, and the thickening air filled with corpse poison, Anon calmly resisted every single challenge he encountered.
Apart from the stench.
The stench proved to be a different story.
The stench was downright horrendous, so much to the point that Anon had to bring out a piece of fabric to cover his nose and mouth in an attempt to alleviate the overwhelming stink.
After overcoming the offensive smell as best as he could, Anon reached the blood pool. He stood at the edge of the pool, his eyes squinting as he looked around, ensuring there was no immediate danger, before he shifted his gaze to the pool itself.
'Now, to see why I felt a sense of unsettling familiarity from the pool.'
Anon's reason for coming to the blood pool was not driven because of his curiosity or his desire to learn more about the blood pool.
No
Ever since he entered the blood red cavern, he had been feeling an inexplicable sense of familiarity from the blood pool, and it was absolutely unnerving for him since he could not fathom how he had a connection with something so sinister.
At first he planned on ignoring the sensation since it wasn't actually his problem. However, the words of the Terror Queen had made him realize that ignoring the purpose of this place could affect him in the future.
'What is it that's giving me this sense of familiarity?'
Anon squinted his eyes as he tried to pinpoint the source of the familiarity.
His eyes moved to the far end of the pool, but he found nothing of note. His gaze shifted to the center of the pool, the corpses on the pool, the edges of the pool, but he found not the thing that gave him the sense of familiarity.
Just as he was about to give up, his eyes moved to the depths of the blood pool. His eyes blinked repeatedly, a stunned expression washed all over his face.
"I… definitely did not expect that."
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m