Outworld: Awakening

"Hey? Are you still ignoring me? Walking in this place is already boring enough, please don't make it more boring…"

Despite X's coquettish antics, Adam continued to ignore her. Although they had walked for over thirty minutes, Adam had seen nothing that resembled the entrance of a dungeon. It didn't bother him, though. Because, once he entered a dungeon, he knew the system would alert him.

"You're no fun, you know," X said, poking Adam at his sides.

She grinned as Adam glared at her, however, her attempt to draw a reaction didn't end as she expected.

[You have entered a dungeon]

[Potential Sources of Danger Detected]

[Beings in the dungeon have detected a Hated One]

Suddenly, Adam paused in his steps as he stared into the darkness ahead.

'Already?'

Adam donned a faint smile while his eyes gleamed with a mysterious light.

"Hey? What's wrong with you? Why did you suddenly stop?"

Although X did not know what was going through Adam's mind, she too, came to a stop just ahead of him. Her eyes roamed his location, but she couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary.

"How do you when we'll arrive at the dungeon?"

'Oh. Did I reading it wrong? His eyes looked like that of someone ready for battle…'

X cleared her throat twice before pointing towards the black box, "The light will turn red once we enter the dungeon. But don't get your hopes up, though. It needs about three or fours hours for it to adjust to the dungeon. In actuality, we can only know when our scenery changes or if something attacks us." X explained.

"According to what the golem said, he chose this dungeon based on our ranks, right?"

"Yes. As priests, we can only use dungeons below rank C. Anything above that would be suicidal," X said.

'Why is he asking these questions now?'

X could no longer hide her curiosity as she stared at Adam.

"Have you taken this path before? If…"

Before Adam finished his question, X slowly shook her head.

"This is my first time taking this path. If I may ask, of what importance is it to you?"

"I just like to be prepared… since you don't know, then don't worry. Let's move on."

Adam flashed at shallow smile at X, before walking towards the darkness ahead. X, on the other hand, remained motionless.

'He's definitely up to something… but, what could it be?'

"Oh. That reminds me. You never answered my question. It's not too late, though."

"Huh? What question?" X asked, unable to mask her confusion.

"How fast can you run?" Adam asked.

'What does that have to do with anything? Wait… this is really suspicious. Why does he want to know that? Is he planning on ditching me or something?'

"Why are you asking? Is there…"

Before X could finish her statement, her mouth dropped as Adam's body suddenly turned illusionary.

In the twinkle of an eye, she couldn't find any trace of him.

'Huh? Illusion? What the hell is he doing?'

"This is not funny. What the hell do you think…"

As X's words trailed off, she could feel the earth rumbling with slight dust particles falling from the dungeon's ceiling.

'What's that? Is this his attempt to get back at me?'

X countenance turned serious as she assumed a battle stance.

"Ahahaha… c'mon. How many times do you want me to apologize? If you were planning on getting back at me, at least you should have waited a week or—huh?"

Just then, the trembling intensified, accompanied by loud grunts and squeals.

'Is that? No, no… no. It couldn't be… right?'

X's eyes bulged as a pinkish hue illuminated the distance. Unlike before, she could see dozens of creatures charging towards her with blazing fury clouding their eyes.

'Fyro Warthogs? We have entered the dungeon already? Wait… why do they look so angry?'

The smallest of the beasts was four feet tall while the biggest was over five feet. Unlike typical warthogs, they had pink flames covering their bodies while having three eyes instead of two.

At that moment, a sudden realization dawned on X.

'What the hell did that bastard do?'

She finally understood why Adam asked her how fast she could run. Although she expected him to get back at her for the golem incident, she didn't expect he would whip up a frenzy with the Fyro Warthogs of all creatures.

'Damn it. I have to get out of here—'

Mid-thought, a chill went down X's spine as a series of low guttural howls reached her ears. Turning slowly, her eyes widened while her mouth opened in disbelief.

'How? Necros Jackals and black spiders, too?'

A few meters away, she could see a pack of decomposing jackals and large black spiders heading towards her direction.

'How is this possible? What did that bastard do to make these territorial enemies work together?'

X couldn't stop her hands or legs from trembling. Faced with only one group of adversaries, she was confident of escaping with no harm. However, she knew she had little or no chances of survival in her current dilemma.

'F.u.c.k! I'm just an Illusionist. I can't fight this many of them. That bastard left me to die… I hope he gets a stoke while he's running.'

X had nothing but hate for Adam brewing her heart. She suddenly closed her eyes, a moment later, they had turned plain white. At that same moment, she made a series of hand gestures. Within seconds, a gray barrier formed around her body, and seven illusionary figures surrounded the barrier.

Just then, a bestial howl emerged from the seven figures. The approaching beasts suddenly paused in their steps, with their rage filled eyes staring at the rapidly transforming illusions. With each passing second, the illusions became more corporeal while slowly enlarging. The seven figures in the form of medieval executioners held different weapons while starring at the beasts with bloodshot eyes. They towered over the barrier enclosing X which had turned pitch-black.

For the first time since they arrived, some beast showed signs of fear as they stared at the executioners. However, a few were unrelenting in their quest for blood.

Two large Fyro warthogs charged towards the barrier with wanton abandon, while three necros jackals and one black spider attacked on the other side. The flames on the warthogs had turned red, meanwhile an acidic liquid poured out from the decomposing flesh of the jackals. Unlike the warthog and jackal, the black spider climbed the ceiling, before shooting its web towards the barrier.

Despite the actions of the creatures, the executions remained inactive, with their eyes shining like a bloody lantern lost in a sea of darkness.

With less than two meters separating the creatures for the barrier, the seven executions unleashed a bestial war cry and their bodies bulged three times its actual size. A split second later, they charged towards the creatures with their weapons in tow.

Fear covered the faces of the beasts as the executions appeared before them like ghosts. Before they could react, the massive weapons of the hulking beings came crashing on their bodies. In that split second before impact, unseen by any of the creatures, several projectiles exited the barrier. Within seconds, the corpses of warthogs, jackals and the lone spider lay on the ground with blood gushing from various parts of their bodies.

The seven executioners had already returned to the side of the barrier, still passively staring at the other beasts.

For a moment, a brief silence followed. A second later, the remaining beasts unleashed a sickening howl which shook the walls of the dungeon. Wasting no time, the beasts charged towards the barrier. The executions didn't wait for the beasts to get closer. They actively went to prevent the creatures from reaching the barrier.

At that same moment, the barrier ejected dozens of needle like projectiles towards the beasts.

However, its numbers were paltry compared to that of the beasts.

Shrieks and screams echoed in all directions as several beasts fell on the ground. Blood dyed the ground and walls of the area, with the corpses of the beasts resembling perforated steel. Using the corpses of the fallen as shields, the surviving creatures inched closer to the barrier while ignoring the executioners. From the sacrifice of their kin, they knew the barrier was their main threat.

Like a receding tidal wave gathering momentum before impact, the warthogs smashed against the barrier with their tusks in a coordinate act of savagery. Meanwhile, the jackals spewed a greenish liquid from their mouths which melted sections of the barriers on impact.

Using the webs of the black spiders to gather momentum, the attacks of the warthogs increased in ferocity. Although the barrier healed itself, it wasn't able to keep up with the level of destruction. A second later, seven warthogs smashed the surface of the barrier simultaneously, and the barrier crashed instantly. At that same moment, the seven executions turned illusionary, before disappearing like a puff of smoke.

The warthogs, jackals and spiders could not hide their disbelief as they stared at the barrier. No matter how much they searched, they couldn't see anything. After sacrificing several of their kin to crack its surface, they didn't want to believe that a mere human had deceived them.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the dungeon, X sprinted with all her might while cursing Adam within her mind.

'Damn it. If they hadn't given me that small opening, I would be a dead by now. I didn't plan on using the twilight needles this soon... That bastard better pray I don't find him…'

From the very beginning, she had no intentions of fighting the beast horde. The moment the first wave attacked, she made her move. Being a low-ranked Illusionist, she didn't have the combat prowess to overcome the horde. Instead, she waited for the moment when the beasts were less hostile to make her escape.

Blood flowed from an injury on her right arm while several small cuts covered her beautiful face. She continued to hold the black box from earlier, and its size had reduced somewhat. Unlike before, it shown with a red luminescence.

'By now, they should have found out I deceived them. I have to get out of here before they catch up to me. Where is the dungeon's exit?'

X suddenly came to a stop as two paths opened before her. She raised the box towards the first path, however, no changes occurred. Then, she raised the box towards the second path. At that moment, the light changed to yellow.

'This is the way. Let's—'

Mid-thought, X suddenly saw a red streak rapidly approaching her. However, no matter what she did, she knew there was no way she could dodge it.

'Is this how I will die? Ash... I'm sorry. It seems I won't be able to see you again…'

X subconsciously closed her tear-filled eyes. Just then, she heard a sickening scream and the sound of tearing flesh and breaking bones.

'Huh? I'm alive? What happened?'

Slowly, X opened her eyes, only to realized that she stood in a pool of blood. Unable to hide her confusion, X turned towards the origin of the pool.

X shuddered as she stared at the corpse of a multicolored chameleon laying just a few inches away from her. That a section of the chameleon remained invisible left her horrified.

'When did it get here? Wait… this isn't good. They always hunt in packs of—'

As if a blanket had been pull out from the walls of the dungeons, six chameleons revealed themselves. Unlike normal chameleons, their lengths ranged from a meter to over two meters, with razor-sharp teeth decorating their opened mouths. Typically called the rainbow chameleons, they preyed off unsuspecting Awakened and beasts who wandered into their territory.

Just like the horde prior, X found herself surrounded by the rainbow chameleons.

With her path of retreat and advancement blocked, X's eyes shown with a murderous light while her grip around the black box tightened.

Just then, the ground trembled and a cacophony of howls and squeals followed. X's eyes reddened while she bit her lower lip.

'I don't care anymore. Even if I die here, I'll make sure they all join me.'

Prepared to meet the beasts in combat, X suddenly noticed two reddish blur streak past her. At that same moment, she felt a hand land on her left shoulder. Before she could react, she heard a familiar voice, "Leave them to me. You can go ahead."

'Huh? This bastard. He didn't escape?'

X didn't know why, but she felt somewhat relieved as she saw Adam's face again. However, anger soon overwhelmed her.

"You bastard! How could you—"

"X, please leave! If you delay any longer, don't blame me for what will happen!"

X shuddered as she heard Adam's icy cold voice. She wondered why he covered his eyes with his hands, and she could see a section of his hair slowly turning white. Although she didn't know why, her instincts screamed at her. It told her the youth in front of her was a hundred times more dangerous than any of the beasts.

X hesitated for a moment or two, however, she quickly organized her thought before sprinting towards path on the right.

"Hey! Don't die. You still have to pay for abandoning me earlier…!"

As X words echoed, Adam's appearance returned to normal. He donned a sickening smile as he stared at the rapidly approaching beasts. Cataclysm floated around him, with the occasional drop of blood falling from its blade. The mummified corpses of the rainbow chameleons surrounded Adam, however, he could sense several more approaching via the passage behind him.

[Title: Devourer Activated!]

"Come out."

Instantly, Salma, Nokum and the rest of Adam's Familiars emerged.

"Oh yes, Adam. Let's feasts on these inconsequential beings who dare consider us prey. Let's break their necks, s.u.c.k.i.n.g the blood out of their pitiful vessels, while we enjoy the taste of their marrows. I can feel it, Adam. You what this, too. Hahahaha…"