Sanguis Scolopendra Lv12

The centipede lunged at Alec with a lightning fast strike. Before Alec could have responded, one of the mandibles dug right through his lungs.

His breathing was labored, tight in his chest as the mandible dug through his ribs. Bile rose to his throat and tears rolled down his face as his throat burned. For a few seconds, pure terror took over his body, as he focused every drop of mana to generate a blood bullet.

I... won't... die here...

Mana swirled around him, before condensing down his throat. Centipede raised it's mandibles high, and proceeded to slam him against the stone wall.

I WON'T DIE HERE!

Just before he was about to slam him off, the blood bullet shot out, digging straight through the it's armoured crimson head. Centipede let out a loud shriek, before violently tossing him off. Alec slammed against the wall, his chest portion, still severely damaged and bleeding.

Centipedes screeched as it charged towards its bleeding victim again. But just in the moment, it's insides expanded and exploded like an inflated balloon. Gore flew, staining the walls and dark floor.

A few meters away, Alec laid against the wall, unmoving. Why? He felt his own blood, warm, as it moved down his belly, forming a small puddle around him. Why? Tears rolled down his emerald eyes.

Why is this... happening to me?

Someone please tell me... what did I do to deserve this?

Please... take me back home... Please...

He tried to stand but his body gave out. Alec cried out as he felt his leg twist under him, sending a sharp pain shooting up his spine.

The black cat now laid there, drenched in his own blood. I... can't... breathe... His vision blurred as he tried to stay conscious. Am I... going to die? Just like that?

Darkness took over his sight as the world turned black.

***

Drayden's POV

Daryden sat heavily behind his desk. His tired eyes shifted as he scratched a scar in his lightly trimmed beard.

Gripped in his long, graceful yet scarred fingers was a folded piece of paper, a letter, covered in angry and insulting scrawl. Another letter of complaint from the Anthea Adventures guild branch leader, Anton Corvus.

Drayden reached inside his leather coat pocket with is free hand, withdrawing a smooth blue jewel embossed within silver, attached to his belt by a chain. Placing down the letter, he used both hands to channel an ounce of his mana inside the jewel.

From within the jewel, a red glow spilled onto the desk and briefly illuminated Drayden's face as a bright red rune surfaced it's way from the center of the jewel, then faded, as Drayden placed it back into his inner pocket.

He opened a draw, removed a fresh piece of paper, collected his pen and began to compose a reply.

"Anton,

as stated in the initial announcement five days ago, ambient mana levels within the Forest of Xuuraxania are climbing and continue to do so, it is the opinion of the Knights Association that door is likely to open within a week, but AS YOU KNOW, these predictions can be inaccurate and it can open with very short notice.

In the interest of keeping your guild members and civilians caught up in dungeon formation alive, we have exercised our right to control dungeon access in the city of Anthea and will be undertaking aggressive action to ensure the safety of the citizens.

If some of your parties are unable to conduct their activities in the forest during this time, I regret to inform you that I DON'T GIVE A DAMN. You know as well as I do, your guild members are mostly a bunch of greedy assholes.

There's no contact from the forest guardian. The Reconnaissance company will be arriving there today to assess the situation.

After we rescue the civilians and adventurers from the dungeon and when ambient mana levels return to normal, your members will once again be granted access to the forest, not before.

Regards,

Drayden De Clare.

Captain, Knights Association, Anthea"

Perhaps not his most diplomatic missive but he was tired of this.

Almost against his will, his eyes slid to the corner of his office where, tucked behind a white cabinet, was an enormous black longsword leaning against the wall. Almost six feet long, unsheathed, the polished thick metal glowing with a blue sheen.

Sighing, Drayden once more turned to his letter, folded it, sealed it with wax and placed it in his mail tray for one of the knights to deliver later in the day.

As he reached for the next letter of complaint, this one from the city Duke, he heard the sound of feet pounding on stone, growing louder as several figures approached his office.

Drayden could feel the blood stirring in his veins.

Ten minutes later Drayden had arrived at the forward garrison, blasting open the massive doors with a single hand, he advanced into the building like a storm. The knights on duty, saluted respectfully as he passed by, fists crashing into armoured chests and heads lowered wherever he went.

Their captain gave them a nod before he moved forward passed the next three posts until he reached the first. Ten knights occupied the wall here, five mages taking turns to charge the barrier crystal that protected the outpost.

As he approached, he found the woman he was looking for inside the guard post, pouring over maps on the table with some of her knights.

She saw him approach and dismissed her people before saluting.

"Ad Astra Sapientiam! Captain Drayden"

"Ad Astra Sapientiam, Lieutenant Emily"

Drayden returned the salute before joining her standing at the table to glance at the maps. All maps of the Forest of Xuuraxania and mana concentration points marked clearly with neat organised writing.

''Any reports from Reconnaissance company?''

''Yes captain! Fifteen minutes ago, a message just arrived this guards station. Our assumption was correct. It was a dungeon formation, but... ''

Drayden looked at her while she tried to force her next words out.

''But what? Lieutenant? Out with it!"

"It's a castle.''

''Castle?'' Drayden grimaced, it was rare for castle dungeons to appear in the forest of Xuuraxania, famous for having one of the lowest mana saturations in entire region.

This was the last thing they needed before a door opened.

''Yes, a castle, even the dungeon barrier had spread twice as usual, nearly one kilometre in radius around the structure, across the northern part of the forest.''

Drayden paused for a moment before continuing.

''Tier?"

"The rating of mana crystals were high tier-3, captain.''

Drayden grimaced knowing what that meant. There was no way that civilians could have survived that. Even if you remove the threat of monsters, such high level of mana exposure, caused by the dungeon formation, itself was poisonous for a normal person. They would have died in the worst possible way, slowly burning themselves out. He gritted his teeth while he controlled his urge to punch the wall.

He waited for a moment before he stormed out of the guard post. Emily followed him.

''Lieutenant, issue the orders, tell Reconnaissance company to forcefully breach the barrier and kill whatever bastard is lurking down there.''

He paused for a moment before shifting his azure gaze towards her.

''And retrieve the corpses, if possible.''