After Leon realized the weight of the situation, he tried to hurry their journey along. Red, however, had other plans.

“We can’t rush ahead. We’re still dealing with a formation expert who can set traps anywhere along our path.”

“But Emer might be in trouble!” Leon said.

“You told me he can handle himself. Besides, these cultists don’t know the direction we are coming from, so unless he made a point of rushing ahead by himself, they wouldn’t have found him.”

Leon gave him an awkward smile at these words. Red frowned.

“Is he stupid?”

“No, such thing!” Leon shook his head. “It’s just that since we are taking longer than normal, he might try to meet us on the way over.”

‘So he is stupid…’

Red sighed.

“We keep to our course.” he said. “There’s no point in rushing ahead to help him if that gets us in trouble.”

His words were more like a decision than a suggestion. Leon still seemed conflicted, but he nodded.

“We’ll do as you say.”

With his companion’s agreement, Red started to scout the path ahead again. Still, it seemed his caution was unwarranted, as they didn’t find any signs of cultists or traps to their meeting place.

“The meeting spot should be right up ahead.” Leon said.

‘Is it?’

Red’s crimson sense already told him what to expect before they turned around the bend. They came across an entrance very familiar to the one they exited from. The door was open, but there was no sign of the partner they were supposed to meet.

Leon’s expression fell.

“He’s not here.” Red said.

Leon’s mind seemed to go through multiple scenarios. “Was he ambushed?”

Red looked around. “There are no signs of conflict. However, the fact he didn’t even bother to close the door before leaving tells me that he was in a hurry.”

“We didn’t meet him on the way over, so…”

“He rushed ahead?”

“… He wouldn’t have done that for no reason. Something must have happened.”

“Perhaps he was kidnapped.”

Leon jumped. “That is highly unlikely! Emeric is a powerful warrior!”

“So you say…” Red shook his head. “In either case, that means we can only find him ahead.”

‘Whether he’s dead or alive.’

Leon nodded. “Let’s hurr-… I mean, let’s go as quickly as possible.”

Red didn’t respond. He closed the door and continued to scout ahead.

He had already memorized the route they were supposed to be taking, but even still they kept coming across tunnels and alcoves that weren’t supposed to be there according to official maps. These discoveries made him realize how much of a maze this place could be if one didn’t have guidance.

As they moved forward, however, they still failed to find signs of Emeric. They did find other things, though.

“There were other gatherings.” Red said. “Probably more cultists.”

They could eliminate the traces of corruption from the air, but it was hard to cover the evidence of a gathering of dozens of people. Regardless, these supposed cultists were not here any longer.

“Either they completed the ritual, or something forced them to move.” Red said. “Perhaps it was Emeric himself.”

Leon looked puzzled. “There are still no signs of fights. Emeric must not have met with them in that case… I wonder what caused him to rush ahead, then.”

‘… He’s still ignoring the other possibility.’

Red was about to speak, but something made him stop. A rumbling sound, distant, but still there. Their gazes met.

“You felt it too?” Leon asked.

Red nodded. “It’s not coming from the direction of our objective.”

“We still need to investigate it! What if Emeric’s in trouble?”

Red thought to question where his partner’s priorities lay in this mission, but he held back. Leon already made it clear what kind of person he was in their previous interactions. There was likely no convincing him on that front.

“I am here to help you with the investigation.” Red said. “You’re the one who chooses how we proceed.”

Leon seemed surprise at his words, but he still nodded. “In that case, please lead us to the sound.”

Red didn’t respond. He made a turn at the nearest intersection, heading towards the origin of the rumbling. In the meantime, the sound kept repeating, getting louder and louder with each step.

Soon enough, they could also feel the ground shaking with each rumble.

“Someone’s fighting.” Red said with certainty.

Leon frowned and took out his flute.

“I’m behind you.”

As they approached the source of the sound, a sulphuric smell reached their nostrils.

“It’s Emeric!”

Leon shouted in alarm and ran ahead.

‘Wait, damn it!’

Red could only follow behind as his companion seemed to throw caution to the wind.

His crimson sense could tell him what was happening ahead before they even laid eyes on it. Sparks and gouts of flames spewed from a figure whom Red recognized as Emeric, who was clashing against two less-than-human opponents. Their bodies were mostly humanoid, wearing torn rags, but green scales sprouted from where the skin should be, and in place of a human head there was instead a giant snake head, fangs exposed and hissing at their target. Dark-green demonic energy surrounded their bodies as they bit and clawed at Emeric, the air sizzling from the clash of fire against this mysterious energy.

Both of them were at the Lesser Ring Realm, and there was already one burnt corpse of a similar creature near the current location of the fight.

“Emeric!”

Leon screamed in worry at seeing his friend, who was evidently on the back foot against these two monsters. Their arrival immediately caught the attention of the engaged fighters. Emeric’s struggling face brightened. The two snakemen, however, simply glanced at them and resumed their attacks with renewed fierceness.

Emeric did not even have a chance to feel relieved before being forced to defend himself again.

“We need to help him!”

Leon shouted at Red before rushing ahead to join the fight. Red frowned and followed behind his companion. However, after taking a few steps, he felt an almost imperceptible surge of spiritual energy. His eyes immediately dashed to the source - the corpse of the dead snakeman that lay between them and the fight.

“Wait!”

He grabbed Leon by the scruff of his shirt and yanked him back. At the very next moment, something glowed in the creature’s exposed belly - a small formation circle. The snakeman’s belly suddenly engorged to an obscene size before exploding.

A gory mess of blood and entrails shot all around the body, but the red spectacle was quickly overwhelmed by an expanding green gas. It quickly covered the tunnel, rushing towards the duo.

Red was quick to realize they couldn’t outrun it.

‘I noticed it too late!’

He didn’t bother trying to retreat any further. He seized the spiritual energy from his sea and focused it around his palms, creating a wind to blow against the approaching gas. It was not a spell or technique, but it was the quickest counter that he could execute.

Some of the gas was redirected, but it started to reach around Red’s improvised shield, as if it had a life of its own. It threatened to slip through the cracks in his defense and surround him, but before he could devise what to do, a calming whistle came from behind him.

‘Leon.’

Before Red could even turn around to see what the man was doing, a bright white wave of energy washed past him before clashing against the green smoke. The gas started to dissipate like it had met its nemesis, and a few moments later, it had completely disappeared from in front of them.

This, however, only applied to the wave that came in their direction. The gas kept flowing unabated towards Emeric and the two snakemen, about to swallow them whole.

Seeing this, Leon dashed ahead with a worried expression.

“Emeric, burn it all!”

Red did not know what this meant, and he couldn’t see Emeric’s response through the thick gas. At the next moment, however, he felt a sudden explosion of spiritual energy from beyond the green veil, followed by a rumble and a wave of fire that washed towards them.

It burned away at the green gas without resistance, and both Red and Leon were blown away by the sudden force of the explosion.

Red fought through the sudden impact and heat, returning to his feet with a practiced roll. Leon didn’t seem to recover with the same grace, but Red’s gaze instead focused on the scene ahead.

Emeric was kneeling there, holding onto his chest with a pained expression. The two snakeman were tossing and turning on the ground, wailing in inhuman voices as their flesh burned away. Still, they were not dead, and much to Emeric’s surprise, they tried to stand up and crawl their way to him, as green energy surged from their bodies.

The young noble’s expression fell, but before the snakes could reach him, Red was already on the move. With a single step, he rushed ahead and seized upon a gale path to arrive at Emeric and the snakemen. Although the winds were blowing against him, he managed to force his way through and land at his destination before his slowed down enemies could do anything.

The snakemen noticed his approach, turning to face him and hissing through their melting jaws.

“Their energy is corrosive!”

Emeric’s warning reached Red’s ears, but considering the situation, he didn’t have a choice but to engage in melee combat. One of the snakeman swiped at him with their only good arm, covered by the dark green energy. Its movements were slowed, however, and in a single movement, Red dove under its attack and drew his sword in a wide arc.

The weapon met no resistance against the weakened flesh of the monster, cutting halfway into its midsection and through the spine in a clean motion. The snakemen immediately threatened to collapse, and its companion rushed forward to strike at Red.

It did not have the chance, though, as Red pushed its falling ally into it with a kick, causing the snakemen to crash into each other. This moment of distraction was all he needed, as he seized upon another wind path to rush towards them with increased speed.

His sword swung high, and with a single swipe, Red cut both of the creatures’ heads off. Their bodies collapse to the ground as dark blood spewed from their necks. Despite all their wounds, though, their separated body parts still twitched and moved about.

Red watched them from a safe distance as they bled out, keeping close attention to their stomachs. To his surprise and relief, he didn’t see any signs of a formation or explosion, and almost twenty seconds later, the snakemen stopped moving.

Leon, who also observed the situation from behind, finally rushed ahead after the monsters died, helping Emeric to his feet. He looked at Red and his friend with a worried expression.

“Are you both alright? Did they wound any of you?”

Red shook his head. “They didn’t have the opportunity.”

“T-They… Didn’t…” Emeric tried to catch his breath.

Leon looked as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulder after hearing this. “Good, good… I don’t need to tell you that their powers were probably poisonous, right?”

Emeric hissed at Leon. “M-Motherfucker, why do you think I was having so much trouble?”

As Leon tended to his friend, Red looked around, observing his surroundings with his crimson sense. He didn’t find any other enemies waiting for them, though.

His attention then turned to Emeric. He regarded the young noble with an icy gaze.

“What happened?”

Emeric seemed taken aback by the intensity of the eyes behind the mask, but he tried to keep his composure.

“I saw… some vagrants rushing past me. They seemed weird, so I followed them… I ended up coming across a bunch of cultists there, and I think their leader too. And then…” He fell silent.

“And then what?” Leon asked.

“Then they started fusing together.” He pointed at the dead snakemen. “And turned into this.”

For a moment, no one knew how to respond.