A crimson light, just as dazzling as the one within the cave, suddenly shone from Manasei’s body. It zipped around him constantly, as if trying to close all the grievous wounds that had battered his body to the brink of death. But just as the light shone, it quickly retreated back into hiding within Manasei’s body, suppressed by the crimson light from the cave that fell upon him, halting the recovery process.

  “Damn human brat. I knew it. He must be practicing that wicked and hateful spell,” the voice of a little boy rang out in the cave as the light within Manasei’s body was overwhelmed by the crimson light emanating from the center of the cave.

  “It has been time immemorial, and mortals still dare to practice this? I guess they never learn,” the young voice spoke again, mockery dripping from his words.

  At that moment, another voice echoed within the cave—far less sentient, intelligent, and choppy.

  “Me… want… to… eat…!!”

  “Patience, you oaf. I will make sure he is devoured by you, bit by bit.”

  “Me… want…”

  The young boy sighed. “...”

  “Why do I even bother communicating with you? Back in the old days, hmph, those arrogant gods would be lucky to get a sentence out of me.”

  “Oh, how far I have fallen.”

  Completely disregarding the dying young man, Manasei, lying before him, the voice from the crimson light lamented, as if pitying himself. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, he had this slightly sentient company to talk to.

  “I do want to wait for him to regain consciousness, but those meddlesome bugs are quickly approaching.”

  “Yes… me… strong… you… strong…!”

  “In other words, you simpletons are nothing without the great me.”

  The crimson light within the cave shone brightly, as if expressing the pride within it.

  Manasei tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt impossibly heavy. He had never lifted a mountain, but he imagined it would feel about as heavy as this moment. After several attempts, he managed to open his eyes, but all he could hear were unrecognizable noises, like the chattering of ants.

  The battle with the winged cursed beast had taken a severe toll on him. At the moment of his fall, Manasei had felt a myriad of emotions: fear, helplessness, despair, anger, and even self-blame. These combined into a single thought of regret.

  *‘How arrogant I was, thinking someone as weak as me could ever step forward into a dungeon.’*

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  But thinking back, he had quite literally no other options, didn’t he? That realization filled him with despair. The thought that his life might be insignificant in the eyes of those who wanted to cover up the Dan’yor trafficking, and that his death was just a matter of course, filled him with boundless anger. Sure, he could admit he was weak, but what he couldn’t accept was lying down and obeying the rules of this world. It was his bottom line, his own way of strength—as foolish as it seemed.

  As Manasei’s eyes adjusted to the bizarre situation in the cave, his hearing sharpened, and the conversation made him feel as though he had jumped out of a frying pan and into a boiling pot of lava. His body felt as cold as the ice islands in the far north.

  “Oh, would you look at that?” the young boy’s voice spoke.

  “Squirmy… food… no… good…”

  The barely sentient voice followed, clearly far less excited than the young boy.

  “Food, food, food! Is that all you have to think about, you damn worm? I want to have somewhat of a discussion with him before you have your meal, so slow down,” the young voice replied.

  “What?” Manasei spoke out, expressing his disbelief.

  From what he could gather, he was definitely going to die. As animated and real as the young voice sounded, the words it spoke were those of a devil. It was clear they were planning to kill him, discussing his life as if it were meat in a street market, ready to be chopped up and served. Perhaps far more literally than he would like to think.

  He might have found it less jarring if this were a typical encounter with a cursed beast—beings known for their lack of rationality and sentience. But it seemed the leader of the cursed beasts in this forest could at least communicate and rationalize.

  Manasei’s mind began to race. Despite the perilous situation, he still wanted to make sense of it as much as possible. Maybe then he would have the slightest chance of survival.

  To start with, the voice definitely had power over the cursed beasts. Even though Manasei had been unconscious, he could recall the moment he fell to the ground. He had been about to be stomped out by the cursed beast horde, but they had stopped. This meant the voice’s control over the beasts was absolute.

  Secondly, there was a reason—a motive. Manasei considered this a beacon in this situation. There had to be some reason he was kept alive, whether good or bad. Otherwise, the voice wouldn’t have stepped in to stop the beast horde.

  And finally, even though the motive might imply he was going to be eaten, it didn’t mean there wasn’t more to it. Essentially, he wanted to find out why the voice deemed it so important to have him killed here and not by the beast horde.

  Manasei felt that distinguishing the underlying reason for his death could possibly turn the whole situation around—perhaps even lead to his survival.

  “Interesting. You seem to believe there is still hope for you in this situation,” the young voice spoke.

  “What do you mean?” Manasei questioned.

  “I mean to say, your death is certain. There is nothing you can do about it. You are far too irredeemable. So, enough of that naive sense of hope.”

  “You know, for someone who wants to ask me questions, you’re not very good at persuasion,” Manasei quipped.

  “I will make your death a lot less painful if you comply with my questions. How about that?” the young voice shot back, mockery evident.

  “That doesn’t sound like much of a temptation. Cut into a thousand pieces or dead by a single needle—I’m dead either way,” Manasei said with a grunt.

  “Your death is certain, not negotiable. So just make it easier on yourself.”

  “Fine. I’ll only answer your questions if you answer mine,” Manasei said, gritting his teeth.

  It seemed that even though the young voice was playful at times, it was completely set on killing him for some reason. Manasei refused to believe it was the same reason as other cursed beasts.

  “Even though I already know what you’re going to ask, I shall permit it—so long as you answer all of my questions first,” the young boy’s voice conceded with an audible sigh.