Endless Debt Chapter 1329 - 101: Containment of Living Specimens_2

Aimou followed Bologue’s gaze, but too many years had passed; she couldn’t make any certain judgment either.

Bologue carefully examined the corpse again, and at the collar of the black robe he found a golden badge, imprinted with a strange symbol.

A sword and a key.

"Do you know what this is?" Bologue asked.

Aimou studied it closely. "It should be a symbol representing rank or identity."

"More specifically?"

"I’m not sure," Aimou said. "Raymond Gaudent is too mysterious. It’s like... like a monopoly on technology. They rarely communicate with the outside world, and the only time they ever made large-scale contact was during the Fall of the Holy City.

Even the Order Bureau only has a vague understanding of them, as if someone deliberately destroyed everything about King Solomon, trying to erase every trace that he ever existed."

The banquet hall was large, with several long tables arranged in rows, enough to seat thousands dining here at once. Bologue continued his inspection and discovered many more corpses positioned like they had been holding hands for a pre-meal prayer. He picked out several more black-robed bodies and plucked different badges from their chests.

After a series of selections, Bologue kept the most ornate badge. It not only bore the sword and key, but also a ring of laurel leaves encircling the symbol.

Bologue pinned the badge to his own collar. Since this was likely some form of identification, judging from the seating order of the corpses and the lavishness of the badge, the rank it represented should not be low.

This might help Bologue get out of this labyrinth—preferably straight to the Golden Palace. Unless absolutely necessary, Bologue had no desire to try to break through from the outside, facing both Calamity and searing light.

Aimou suddenly asked, "Bologue, do you smell anything?"

Bologue took a deep sniff. Aside from the pervasive ashen air that made it hard to breathe, he didn’t smell anything.

"What is it?"

Aimou didn’t answer. Instead, she released the Heart Overlapping Shadow and separated from Bologue’s body. She shifted into her Steel Body; the halos in her eyes slowly contracted, as if scanning for something.

Flesh and steel, each had its strengths and weaknesses. Flesh allowed Aimou to become more human-like, to experience the full range of human senses, while steel allowed her to surpass human limitations to a certain extent.

"There’s a scent of blood." Aimou keenly detected the subtle composition in the air.

"Is it the Calamity of this world?"

Bologue asked in return. That twisted lump of flesh-wrought abomination was the source of all blood.

"I don’t know," Aimou said warily, looking around. "But the concentration of blood in the air is rising... something’s coming!"

As Aimou cried out, Bologue spread his own Ether. He couldn’t perceive as precisely as Aimou did, but by sending out an indiscriminate Ether baptism, he could sense the "echoes" produced when it brushed against foreign entities.

Like a calm water surface suddenly whipped into a thousandfold surge, the waves then struck countless reefs.

Bologue snapped his head up, looking into the shadows of the vaulted ceiling. Countless echoes were coming from within those shadows, and then innumerable Ether reactions swelled up all at once.

The Rhombus Shields ignited and stretched into Fire Swords, streaking toward the shadows. Thunderous explosions erupted overhead, scattering dust, toppling swathes of tables and chairs, sending the corpses flying.

Raging flames lit up the shadows, and also illuminated the horrific aberration coiled upon the vault.

Only now did Bologue realize that up above the massive crystal chandelier and vaulted ceiling, the structure had long since broken decades ago, splitting open a fissure. That gap had been plugged by a mass of crimson meat, warped roots extending from it, spreading like rampantly growing fungi.

The Calamity of this world?

Seeing that snarling cluster of flesh, Bologue couldn’t help but suspect it, but then he noticed that the meat was riddled with countless blood-red holes, like evil eyes. Sensing the presence of living beings, it awoke from its dormancy.

A sound like gurgling water rang out. From the myriad holes oozed drip after drip of fresh blood, each drop hissing corrosively as it hit the floor.

The blood was unusually viscous, trailing scarlet filaments that tangled and crossed like spiderwebs, exuding an indescribable malice and madness. They drifted lightly, whispering in strange, eerie tones.

"Do you remember those living specimens that fled into Raymond Gaudent? Those runaway alchemical organisms."

Bologue spoke as he tightened his grip on Grudge-Bite. "Actually, before we came in, I kept thinking: even they need energy intake. Even if they slipped past all the traps, how are they supposed to eke out a living in here?"

Aimou understood what Bologue meant and overlapped with him again. Her voice echoed in Bologue’s mind. "There’s a Calamity of this world here. It’s basically a self-service buffet that never closes."

Bologue drew in a deep breath. The next moment, a shrill buzzing filled the entire banquet hall, like Demon whispers entwined with the cries of death.

One after another, gigantic crimson venom-bees crawled out of the blood-red holes. This was not the Calamity of this world, but a blood-flesh hive the venom-bees had remodeled for themselves. Their bodies were covered in blood-slick, razor-sharp bristles, reeking of suffocating toxins.

The crimson venom-bees were as dense as a cloud of blood, blotting out the sky, like a blood-colored hurricane twisting in the air. Their beating wings gave off piercing shrieks as they swarmed at Bologue like berserk beasts.

Bologue stood his ground, unmoving. The Rhombus Shields circling around him suddenly accelerated, shooting straight into the oncoming swarm.

Like artillery bombardment, every impact came with violent detonations and fierce tremors. The Rhombus Shields burst into dazzling sparks midair and almost simultaneously shattered into innumerable fragments. These whistling shards flew like agile arrows, tearing through the air to precisely strike the charging venom-bees.

One by one, the venom-bees dropped, letting out soul-rending screeches. Their bodies were pierced through, venom splattering everywhere. But it still wasn’t over—sparks flickered amid the rain of arrows, and then a chain of flames roared to life, engulfing the venom-bees and vaporizing their poison, forming a deadly sea of fire.

Amid the blaze came the crackle and pop of roasting flesh. In the stinging stench of char, the venom-bee corpses fell one after another, a rotten miasma shrouding the entire battlefield.

Yet this was not the end. The scene at the vault was even more horrific. The flesh hive kept writhing, like an enormous living meat-ball composed of lump upon lump of twisted fattened bodies. Venom-bees pushed against the swollen flesh, forcing the blood-red holes wider, turning them into terrifying exits.

From those crimson apertures, more venom-bees crawled out. Their bodies were bloated and grotesque, clad in a glossy crimson carapace. Their blood-streaked wings glinted with uncanny light in the fire, droning in a low, ominous hum. Their eyes were full and scarlet, brimming with feral savagery.

If it were only these enemies, they would still be manageable. But then Bologue noticed that the fallen skeletons were creaking, slowly clambering to their feet.

These incomplete skeletons wore tattered robes, barely more than rotten rags. Through the holes in the fabric, jagged bones were exposed, carrying a grotesque, uncanny beauty. Some nauseating maggots crawled over them, weaving in and out of the Scholars’ remains.

These Scholars had been dead for many years; their gaze had vanished, replaced by darkness and void. Their faces were steeped in decay and desolation, like remnants utterly drained of Life Force. Yet they stood in twisted postures, as if driven by some lightless, abyssal power, feet grinding on ashes, swaying unsteadily as they rose.

Bologique did not retreat in the slightest. This time he gripped the Vengeful Saw Axe tight and swung in silence at all his enemies.