Rosaline sank to the ground, gasping for air. She had overexerted herself, and the repeated forced activation of the Aeternum system had left her lightheaded and on the verge of collapsing.
'Damn it... pushing Aeternum past its limits really takes a toll on one's life force,' she thought wearily. "If I have to go on missions like this often, even a year of doing nothing wouldn't be enough to recover," she muttered under her breath.
As she lamented her fate, her eyes caught something flickering just above Ellia's chest. Moving closer, she noticed a faint, glowing green light.
'What is this?' Rosaline hesitated for a moment before reaching out to touch it. She recoiled instantly, as if struck by a high-voltage shock. Even after pulling away, tiny threads of red lightning crackled and licked around her fingertips.
She stared at the sparks in confusion. They flickered for a few seconds before vanishing entirely.
"Better get out of here first," she decided. Seeing nothing else unusual, Rosaline forced her trembling body to hoist Ellia onto her back. Her legs shook with every step, but she refused to stop.
By the time she reached the group, she found them in a pathetic state—pale, exhausted, and huddled around a single orange lantern like a band of weary campers.
"Ellia!" Eugene, who had been sitting beside the sprawled-out Charlwind, scrambled to his feet, despite being unsteady and off-balance from his missing arm.
"She's alive," Rosaline said with a faint smile. "We found her at last, Eugene."
"Miss Grey Hood—no, Miss Hermit... thank you... thank you so much," Eugene choked out, tears streaming down his face as he followed Rosaline. She carefully laid Ellia down on a plastic sheet from her inventory.
Rosaline noticed Charlwind's body was covered in bite marks, though the wounds were slowly knitting themselves back together, leaving dark blue bloodstains in patches.
"How is the Professor?" she asked Eugene.
"He passed out right after using that artifact to bait the insects. He's been out since then," Eugene replied. "We were terrified when he ordered us to stay inside the dome..."
Rosaline sighed at Charlwind's inhuman stubbornness. Then, suddenly:
"WAAAGH!!!" "ARGH!!!" "UKYUUUUU!"
Eugene screamed, Rosaline jumped, and Edgar let out a bizarre yelp as Charlwind suddenly bolted upright. Looking like a disgraced nobleman in his tattered clothes, the middle-aged Hunter burst into a boisterous laugh. "See that, Hermit?! My plan worked perfectly!"
The group stared at him in stunned silence while Rosaline crossed her arms, glaring at him intensely.
"H—Hermit... now, now, it was an emergency! I saw your Amber Reign lacked the speed, so I gave it a little boost," Charlwind stammered, adjusting his glasses nervously. "But it worked, didn't it?!"
"Is that the issue here?!" Rosaline sighed deeply. "Fine. Are you alright? Are you hurt anywhere specific?"
"I ache everywhere!" Charlwind laughed, blowing the cotton out of his nostrils and sniffing himself. His sense of smell was likely numb after inhaling gas for hours. "Never thought I'd be doing this at my age."
"The record for a natural-awakened Hunter is 150 years," Rosaline pointed out while helping him up.
"Forget that. You and Amalin check the perimeter. I need to examine this girl," Charlwind said, gesturing to the unconscious Ellia. "And if you find any parasites, collect some in a bottle for me."
Rosaline nodded, glancing at Amalin, who looked disgusted at the mention of parasites. "I'll handle the samples."
…
…
Alka sat nearby, pale and drained, quickly consuming mana orbs Rosaline had given him to recover from artifact overuse.
Edgar, in Adrian's form, sat with his legs splayed, leaning against a surgical bed. "Edgar is so tired..."
Eugene, despite his missing arm, was fixated on his lover. "Professor, if that giant thing is dead... does that mean the parasites inside us will die too?"
"Likely. They should either be dead or have left our bodies already. If any remain, we can surgically remove them," Charlwind answered while checking Ellia's pulse. His brow furrowed as he undid a button on her shirt, revealing faint green spots on her skin, shaped like floral birthmarks. "This is..."
"...I've never seen that before," Eugene said anxiously. "She'll be okay, won't she?"
Charlwind remained silent, lost in analysis. Suddenly, a scream pierced the air.
"W—Wait! What is this?!" Amalin shrieked from a distance. She stared in horror at her arms, where something was writhing beneath her skin.
Everyone rushed to her. Amalin stood frozen, her face a mask of terror. Though she was screaming, the rest of her body was unnervingly still. It was as if she could only move her head while something moved under her clothes. When it stopped, she collapsed to the ground, gasping and confused.
All eyes turned to Charlwind. This gruesome scene directly contradicted his prediction.
"No... this shouldn't be happening," Charlwind muttered. "Something is wrong. These parasites lost their host; they should be inert or leaving the body."
"Professor, this is a crisis!" Amalin shouted, panicked.
"Easy, now. These things require research," Charlwind held up a hand. He noticed Amalin's face was flushing red. "Theory is just theory, after all."
To prevent further panic, Rosaline pulled out a test tube containing a parasite sample. "Everyone, wait a moment."
"Hermit! No, don't!" Charlwind tried to snatch the tube, but Rosaline shoved his face away with her free hand.
"I'm going to test something," she said, walking away as Amalin helped pin the struggling Charlwind down.
The group watched as Rosaline walked a distance away. She held a parasite from the tube with her bare hand; it was motionless, as if dead. She walked further away.
SCREECH!
The parasite in her hand suddenly thrashed and let out a high-pitched cry!
They all realized at once: the distance Rosaline had reached was exactly the same as the distance between the group and where Amalin had been standing!
As their eyes widened, Rosaline frowned and crushed the parasite between her fingers, leaving Charlwind wailing on his knees. "No! Hermit! My specimen!"
Rosaline walked back. "It seems these things communicate or receive orders through some kind of frequency. It appears to be a localized broadcast. Therefore, the reason we're still okay is because something is acting as a signal jammer."
"What do you mean?" Amalin asked.
"What's the jammer?" Eugene added.
"I'll answer that," Charlwind said, recovering from his grief. "I can conclude from Hermit's test that this is a one-way or two-way broadcast. These parasites can't communicate among themselves without a center. They were inert because the 'Queen' we killed acted as the hub... but this presents a slight problem."
"A 'slight' problem?" Amalin's eye twitched. Whenever this Professor said "slight," it was usually catastrophic.
"As Hermit said, there is indeed a jammer. And that jammer... is likely her." Charlwind looked toward Ellia.
"Is Ellia the problem?!" Eugene asked frantically.
"No, Ellia isn't the problem," Charlwind clarified. "These parasites are dependent; they need a host. Since Ellia was the host of the 'Queen,' she likely inherited the status of a broadcast repeater. But since the Queen is gone, she's like an antenna with no signal converter to relay commands. In short, other than Grey Hood, she is the safest person in this dungeon among us."
"That doesn't sound like a problem," Alka noted.
"It wouldn't be," Charlwind agreed, scratching his head with a hollow laugh. "Unless... if there's a large-scale signal area and a jammer suddenly pops up while every other signal is normal. It wouldn't be hard to find that 'blind spot,' would it? Haha... I'm probably overthinking it. De-vons aren't that smart."
Haha... ha...
The forced laughter died instantly as a deafening roar echoed through the cavern.
SCREECH!!!
It was a sound they knew all too well, one they had heard since entering the cave—the cry of a bat. But this one was far, far larger.
It descended from above, its shimmering form becoming solid. It had been invisible. Its body was encrusted with millions of insects and parasites.
[Algeda Slain: The Dungeon Boss has awakened from hibernation.]
[You have encountered a Mammalian De-von: Giant Cave Guardian Bat.][Status: Fully Awakened / Mutated]
The makeshift clear-team looked up and immediately bolted toward the predicted exit.
"RUN! RUN! RUN!!!"