"Now!"
A speeding bone arrow tore through the air, curving through a corner and striking a beast dead center in its forehead.
The creature didn't whimper or wince; it only slipped as its left foot brought it to the ground all of a sudden.
"Forward," Kara signaled, causing all of them to rush forward.
The beautiful thing about these bone weapons was their ability to kill an infected, without alerting those around with its shared link. With this, they were able to constantly clear a path down the mountain without drawing trouble.
"Keep tight," Thane commanded, as if the sudden leader of the mission, while they pushed forward. His coordination with Kara had become a lot more solid ever since their talk.
It made Enzo all the more cautious. They were definitely walking into a trap. Unfortunately, it was one that was unavoidable.
Taking several twists and turns, they went deeper and deeper into the cave systems, descending until not even a speck of light broke through the darkness.
If not for their attunement to the dark, they would be relatively blind at this point.
"This…" Kara muttered as they reached an open landscape underground that spanned as far as the eye could see.
Somewhere in this subterranean hell, the sentient blood pool could be found, and if they found it, then their friends would be found also.
"There are a lot of these things around." Enzo struck at an eight-legged creature with blood seeping from its maw, killing it instantly.
"Yes, they are the natives here. The infection has all but taken them over," Kara explained.
"Oh?" Enzo smiled bitterly, not pointing out the fact that Kara seemed to know too much about this place for someone coming down here for the first time too.
"Let's go down. If we're lucky, we might be able to break them out without drawing much attention," Thane said, leading them down to the very base of the mountain.
"Lady Victoria."
As they walked, Enzo came to Victoria's side, calling her attention.
"Be careful out there. Things are not as they seem. And well… do not hesitate to kill whatever tries to take your life," Enzo spoke in a flat voice, a hint of worry in his eyes.
That didn't last long, though, as he disengaged and gave Victoria and the group some distance.
"Huh?" She was taken aback, but then nodded.
What Enzo said made sense. What if the people they were going to rescue were already infected? She would have to kill them. This was always a possibility, and she knew this.
—————
"Ready??" A distance away, atop a hill of rocks, a man with the sides of his cheeks deformed said as he caressed the head of a small monstrous insect creature.
He could already see Victoria and the rest make their way down below in a guarded manner.
The monster squirmed, liquid leaking from its eyes as it seemed to enter a state of pleasure.
"Good, now go give our little friends a welcome gift," the man said, pushing the creature off the rocky formation and onto the ground.
-Boom-
As soon as it landed, the body felt the impact and the cells within its body began to multiply. A second later, that one creature turned into two.
-Screeee-
They screamed in agony upon birth and began their rush to the closest living organisms in the area.
"Where's Enzo?"
Back where Victoria's team was, Thane asked a straight question as a look of caution appeared on his face. Enzo wasn't around them anymore.
"Ehnnn, he said something about scouting ahead…" Victoria spoke, backing Enzo instinctively. She had no idea where he was, but she knew he wasn't up to no good.
Everyone had their own reservations, after all.
"Ohh," Thane gritted his teeth. "That's dangerous, you should have stopped him, my lady," he spat out.
Hearing this, Victoria paused and raised an eyebrow.
"He's still young and reckless. What if he unknowingly alerts the sentient blood? That would be a problem," Thane explained, seeing the look on Victoria's face go sour.
They were getting close to the goal. Soon there would be no need for him to hide his true intentions.
"He has the Shadow Step skill. I believe he's a much better scout than you in that respect," Victoria commented without a touch of feeling in her tone.
She was just being factual. Enzo was able to make it through the Great Desert without much trouble; she honestly could not boast of Thane being able to do so even at his level.
"Hmp!!" Hearing that, Thane threw his face away, hate clearly painted on it.
Enzo had overshadowed him in Victoria's heart, and that was clear. But right now wasn't a good time to argue.
In the distance, a gust of dust seemed to be picking up as a horde of beetle monsters made their way over with frightening furiousity.
"We've been noticed, everyone brace!!" Kara barked from the front as she pulled out her bow and jumped into the air.
Simultaneously, Nibbleskin grew in size and stood his ground while Victoria and Thane backed up against him and formed a fortified stance.