CHAPTER 1003: A BIG PROBLEM (5).

Cain took another slow and even step forward as his eyes scanned the stone walls. The {Demon’s Eye} hovered quietly behind him, still mapping the contours of the subterranean space, still occasionally feeding him the pulse of metal-rich signatures buried throughout the earth.

The signals were so erratic, Cain feared the poor magic item would overload and explode.

Which was a relatively good sign.

He tore his attention away and didn’t look at it again.

Instead, his senses had become tight and focused.

Besides the overbearing mana signals, the {Demon’s Eye} has also detected something.

Unlike the relatively stable readings coming from the ore deposits, this one was far more erratic.

That meant it was moving.

And it was moving quickly.

Very quickly towards him in particular.

He sucked in a deep breath. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t coming to give him a warm welcome.

His eyes took on that austere, magical glow again.

He frowned.

’This is... interesting.’

His eyes that could normally see through anything and everything could only see clusters of mana quickly approaching from multiple directions at once.

Or perhaps it was his mind that simply couldn’t comprehend what his eyes were seeing.

’No, that can’t be it.’

A faint vibration filled the space surrounding him.

There was no breeze, neither was there any air. There was no external pressure either. But something in the mana itself had begun to stutter.

Like a brief distortion. Magical feedback that spasmed close to the skin, leaving an uncomfortable feeling behind.

He turned slightly, adjusting his footing over the cracked stone, letting his boots grind slowly into place. The dust slowly settled.

And in that stillness, something strange began.

Just before they broke through the surface, the moving jets of mana seemed to slow down.

A low, slithering grinding sound dragged itself from the far end of the large stone chamber and into his ears.

Like the sound of water running over rocks...

He narrowed his eyes toward the sound, but didn’t move just yet.

His vision adjusted once again, his irises moving and distorting eerily. But not to the darkness—it had already adapted to that. Instead, it was adapting to the strange motion in order to make out what the culprit was.

A geyser? A vent containing molten magma? What exactly was it, and why had it come to almost a halt so abruptly...

Then finally...

The stone floor rippled open in a surprisingly grotesque manner. Dull bulges of mirrored sludge began to swell upward in multiple corners of the chamber simultaneously.

For a second, it looked like liquid mercury to Cain. But as it rose, the strange, oddly metallic mass kept growing, until it had become a strange amalgam of thick cords of it knotting around a center that hadn’t yet defined itself.

It pressed upward against nothing, dragging itself from the rock as if gravity did not exist in this strange underground world.

Then it hit the ground again with a dense, metallic but also wet thud that nearly made him recoil.

Cain took a single step back, his gaze relatively calm as his eyes tried to analyze the nature of this odd... entity.

The creature lurched forward again, reshaping its front into a blunted edge that slammed forward in a low, serpentine sweep across the chamber floor, stiring up dust and debris soundlessly.

Cain exerted some force to his feet as pivoted and let it pass him by.

The edge shattered against the stone behind him, flattening one of the red-veined beryl clusters. A flash of sparks lit the air— sparks that would have easily ignited to create a blazing immolation. But because there was no air, the embers floating in the air died rather quickly.

He raised a hand slightly, focusing on the mana signature now bleeding from the thing.

From what he could tell, the thing had probably been forced to wake up due to his arrival.

A theory quickly formed in his head. One that could very well explain the existence of this strange entity.

’If I’m right, there might be others just like this one scattered throughout the underground of Aderra.’

Just like Enoch, the existence of a Will was crucial in the creation of an elemental.

For Enoch, it was the Will of the City that allowed for his birth.

As for this one, Cain could only speculate.

’Balangol...’

The vibes he was getting from this thing were not normal at all. Perhaps there was a divine hand at play here.

The shifting nature of the elemental entity also closely resembled the black sands of death Balangol had dominion over.

’For now, that is all just my thoughts. I need to deal with it now that it is awake.’

The {Mecurion Manabeast} dragged its bulk back in with a wet shudder, silvery tendrils extending out eerily. Then those tendrils began to grow large, spikey teeth. Those teeth began to branch out and grow even more teeth until...

The thing had turned from a mound of silver sludge into an unholy subterranean nightmarish silver tree abomination.

Cain’s expression tightened a bit,

’Isn’t this escalating too quickly?’

BANG!

His eyes widened as he reflexively shifted his head away.

Behind him, large who had appeared on the stone pillar.

"I’ll be damn—"

Several holes appeared on the structure-like body of the {Mecurion Manabeast}.

To Cain’s amazement and horror, a line slowly appeared dead center of the rolling silver. As the line slowly split open, an enormous eye was reveal. One covered in silver veins, with three irises connected together.

"What the hell?!"

Cain didn’t even get enough time to draw his sword when the eye locked onto him.

He tensed up.

He felt the robot-like coldness lock onto him instantly. There were no desires behind that gaze, neither were there any emotions.

All that was there, all he could feel...

Was the nature of the {Mecurion Manabeast}...

An ice cold intent.

Something so evil and frigid, he wondered what unholy Will birthed such an abomination.

Death.

It was death.

Arcs of lightning surrounded Cain’s form as he exploded into blinding speed.

Silver flashes trailed through the air, biting at his heels as he tilted from side to side to avoid them.

Those silver flashes were molten hot balls of liquid metal that could vaporize stone and would have no problem tearing holes through his body, regardless of how high his defensive stats currently were.

’This thing is dangerous.’

Despite that, Cain didn’t want to attack it just yet.

He had no idea why this thing had decided to being attacking him outright. He had no idea what its composition was as well, even after reading its mana signatures.

That meant it was best to observe it as it was. Ideally, it would have been better if he could observe it when it was docile, but this would have to do.

Suddenly, his nerves tensed and he leapt off the ground.

Two silver spikes with extremely pointy tips jutted out of the ground, just inches away from impaling him through his rear end.

A bead of nervous sweat rolled off his forehead.

’This thing... Is rather sinister.’

Dodging another ray of silver plasma, Cain shifted his gaze back to the strange entity.

How had it suddenly grown an eye? Everything it had done so far seemed random. For it to suddenly grow an eye especially since it seemed capable of sensing him without it...

It was simply too strange!