CHAPTER 78: [ COMBO ]

The silence was deafening, as if the stadium still debated how to react.

You’re upset you didn’t get your show? Thought Alexander with a slight smile.

The crowd then burst into cheers, the announcer going crazy through the speakers.

"It’s already finished! What a fight! We didn’t see anything!" he said.

The referee stepped onto the stage, waving his hand in the air.

A team of healers came up with stretchers, carrying each member into the medical wing to get them treated.

Alexander turned around ready to leave, but the announcer caught his wrist, stopping him mid-step.

"Wait! Any words?!"

Alexander frowned and yanked his hand out of his grasp while stomping his way off stage.

Instead of being offended by it, the announcer played into it.

"Cultists! You never know what might be their switch... let’s be careful! This other team however..."

He headed toward the tunnel he had taken moments ago, Sunder waiting by its entrance.

"What?" said Alexander.

"How did you do it?" he asked.

Sunder stopped leaning against the wall and walked beside Alexander.

"Come-on, I’m really curious," added Sunder.

Alexander sighed.

"Some of my spells behave differently with eye contact, and they couldn’t stop staring at me."

"That’s it?" he said, raising both eyebrows.

"I used [ The Gift ] for a split second, it overwhelmed their brains with a ton of information making it in at once. I turned up my passive [ The Weight ] to the maximum, and finished with [ Whispers Beyond ]."

Sunder looked at him with amazement, but also slight confusion.

Alexander sighed.

"[ The Weight ] is a passive that brings their minds on the edge of an infinite abyss. Impending doom, dread, fear. [ Whispers Beyond ] is the same thing, but worse. It’s not a passive, but an active spell that attacks their minds directly with whispers from the entity."

Sunder’s eyebrows raised even more, he whistled while slowly clapping his hands.

"I understand why they crumbled so fast."

Alexander glanced at him.

"I thought you would give me a lesson about the dangers of my class, again."

"Oh, no. I’ve done that already. You’re able to make your own decisions."

They turned right at the end of the tunnel, and after a five minute walk through various corridors he made it to his destination, Sunder following him nonchalantly.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

They arrived to a corridor that had large rectangular windows on the walls.

Through the windows he could see the white infirmary rooms. They were simple, with minimal decorations and furniture. They were plain white, with a few beds in each.

He walked through the corridor and passed a group of healers that had just exited a room further to his left.

Their gaze went to him, then Sunder. They remained silent, walking away without uttering a word.

Alexander approached the room they had just left, gazing inside from the window.

"Why are you here?" asked Sunder, his tone still bright.

Alexander ignored his question, looking at the team he had just defeated.

They all lay in a bed, half of them sleeping while the other half remained still, staring at the ceiling.

One of them glanced at Alexander through the window, before turning his head the other way.

Alexander brought his finger to his lip, in thought.

Maybe it’s the duration of the exposure, rather than the strength. Despite how much weight I put into those spells, they’re all fine.

"They’re all fine?" asked Alexander.

"How should I know?" asked Sunder.

"You fought this Xcxul, I assume you can recognize when someone’s mind has been damaged."

Sunder’s smile widened.

"Of course. They’re all fine."

"Good," replied Alexander turning around.

"You brought us here just for that?" said Sunder.

Alexander walked out of the infirmary section, when Sunder suddenly clapped his hands.

"Oh. I forgot, I’m expected at the Adventurer’s Guild. Continue without me!"

Alexander stopped walking and turned to face Sunder, but he vanished.

"How..."

He was nowhere to be seen, he hadn’t heard a word nor a single step. [ Witness of All Paths ] was still active, yet not a single blur made it through his eyes in the moment he turned around.

He shrugged it off. Impatient to leave, he headed for the exit once more.

As he walked through the empty corridors, one thing grabbed his attention further ahead.

It looked like something someone might have dropped, a piece of paper right in the middle of the way.

He leaned down to grab it, but a feeling grew in his chest as his finger brushed against it.

It felt like his heart was clutched, he could hear the distant whispers of the entity coming back, as if it was dragged in by a non-existent breeze.

It was like he was having a heart attack, his eyes staring at the paper as he tried processing what he felt.

He then felt a hand grabbing his right shoulder.

His heart skipped a beat.

"Don’t touch it."

Alexander remained still for a few seconds, then stood back up.

He turned around, only to meet Titan’s gaze.

The young dungeon runner had a tired look on his face, his eyes lazily staring at the paper on the ground.

"I guess he was right," said Titan.

"What’s happening?" asked Alexander, his heart slowly going back to normal as the voices started faded.

"Luckily, nothing. Had you picked that up, you’d be in a pretty bad shape."

Alexander frowned. "This paper is what’s making my heart feel like it’s gonna explode?"

"What? No. Well..."

Titan grabbed his chin, shifting his weight on his right leg.

"I guess if you felt something before picking it up, it could be that as a cultist you could sense something was wrong..." he thought out loud.

It must be Eldritch Perception, my new passive.

"Did you see who left it here?" asked Titan.

"It was there already."

Titan sighed long and hard.

He leaned forward, grabbing the paper and turning it around to look at it himself.

"What is it?" asked Alexander, standing in front of him.

Some smoke was rising from the paper.

Titan turned it around, a sigil was painted in dark burnt ink depicting a symbol beyond recognition.

"A trap. A nightmare sigil."