CHAPTER 78: A BEAST IN THE CASTLE’S HALLWAYS

"Okay..." Hesitantly, they stepped forward. As they reached the guards, they paused to observe for a moment, then gathered their courage.

"Moving them all will take too long. We should get help."

Willard declared firmly, "We must tell the lord. He’s the only one who’ll know what to do."

Carlos nodded. "Agreed. But someone has to stay here." He added, "I’m the strongest, so I’ll stay. You two go get help."

"Got it." Determined, their fear faded. They chose to handle the situation as best they could.

SCREEEEECH!

Suddenly, they all froze, eyes locked on the long hallway ahead. A horrible, high-pitched sound echoed.

Then they saw them—dozens of rats fleeing toward them. Behind them was a massive, hazy shape.

AHH!"

"Shit!"

"RUN!"

Without a second of hesitation, they turned and fled with all their might. Fighting wasn’t even a thought. Their bravery vanished, replaced by raw fear. They ran faster than ever, racing through countless corridors and stairways.

Within two minutes, they had reached a distant, dark part of the fortress. Sweat poured off them. They gasped for breath.

Willard groaned his joints, already sore, now ached even worse. "What was that thing?" he said, voice shaking.

"I... I don’t know," Aveline said, face pale. "It looked like a monster..."

Carlos, calmer than the others, spoke with resolve. "We need to arm ourselves and get out of here. There’s a monster loose in the fortress. We have to tell the others."

His words calmed the others, helping them steady themselves. But as Willard looked around, he asked nervously, "Guys... where are we? And which way is out?"

Upon hearing what he said, Carlos began checking their surroundings. His expression twisted. He sighed. "We’re lost."

But he quickly encouraged them. "Don’t panic. Let’s find the way back."

After a short pause, they began searching. This time, they moved slowly, checking every direction, staying quiet, ready to flee if anything strange appeared.

But as time passed, their anxiety increased, and their expressions became more distorted, as they could not find a way out.

Unknowingly, they entered the forbidden area the one Arthur had ordered everyone to avoid.

They came upon a fork in the underground halls. Two paths stretched before them. Uncertain where either led, they stopped to think.

"Let’s go left," Willard said.

"No, no," Aveline disagreed. "I think we already went that way before. Let’s go right."

Carlos, realizing the debate was pointless, interrupted. "Enough. We’ll flip a coin." Calmly, he pulled out a silver coin. "If it lands on the tails side, we go left. If it lands on the heads, we go right."

Both stared at the coin with strange expressions and said together, "You have a silver coin? You rich bastard."

"Tch. Not the time." Ignoring them, he flipped the coin. It spun through the air and landed on the tails.

"Left it is. Let’s go."

They entered the left corridor, unaware they were heading straight toward the prison cell of the real Arvan.

And after a few minutes, when they neared Arvan’s cell, they heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming from behind them. They all turned around at the same time, and there they saw a large, hazy figure running toward them. As it drew close enough for them to see its shape which resembled a thickly furred bear with claws and glowing eyes it roared fiercely, "Stop!"

They didn’t know what was more terrifying the creature’s furry shape and sharp fangs, or the fact that it had just spoken human words.

"Ahhhh!"

They all screamed in terror and nearly wet themselves, then quickly turned and fled.

"You filthy insects!" the beast roared again with even more savagery, then increased its speed and reached them within a single second.

"Get away from us!" they all cried, tears streaming down their faces as they deeply regretted the moment they thought of getting a little adventurous and checking the source of the sound.

Suddenly, a sharp look appeared on Carlos’s face, and with a voice full of selflessness he said, "Guys, you’re truly great friends. Go and tell the lord there’s a disgusting speaking monster in the dungeon. I’ll delay it as much as I can."

Without waiting for their replies, he stopped and turned toward the beast, wearing a strange smile and a complicated expression. "Father, forgive me for my stupidity."

"Carlos, no, don’t do it! We all have to run!" Willard shouted at the top of his lungs, trying to stop him, but was paralyzed by fear.

As for Aveline, she couldn’t say a word, but a cold look full of hatred appeared in her gentle eyes. Deep inside, she swore to become stronger and kill that cursed monster.

As soon as the beast reached Carlos,

Carlos cursed, "Fate’s a bitch" and threw a strong punch toward the monster’s face. But suddenly, without understanding what had happened, the beast struck him hard on the head, causing him to lose consciousness immediately.

Without stopping, the beast charged forward and reached Aveline, then struck her with such force that she slammed into the wall violently, knocking her out as well.

Only Willard remained, who continued running forward. But suddenly, he saw a strange cell at the end of the hallway. A mysterious look of joy appeared on his face, and he thought he was nearing the stairs leading to the first floor of the dungeons.

But suddenly, the beast leapt and in an unbelievable move, it ran along the walls, passed beside Willard, and in a moment overtook him and stood in his path.

"Damn it!" Willard’s fear grew. He tried to stop himself from running, but his speed was too great, and he failed to brake in time. He crashed into the beast’s wall-like body but felt no pain, because his head had hit something soft, like a pillow. He quickly backed away, staring first at the two massive, furry orbs, then lifted his head to look at the creature’s face which wasn’t as hideous as he’d imagined. In fact, it was somewhat feminine. For some reason, a certain name popped into his mind: "Lady Thalia."

But Thalia paid no attention to what he said and growled, "You bastard, I told you to stop!" And without mercy, she attacked him.

Willard wanted to retreat, but he was too slow and couldn’t keep up with what was happening. But suddenly, hundreds of roots burst from the ground and grabbed Thalia.

More thorny roots emerged and wrapped around both his body and Thalia’s, imprisoning them in place.

And calmly, Arthur appeared beside her, sighing in disappointment, "Alright, that’s enough."