Chapter 109- Discovery
Looking at the dead corpse for a few more seconds, Kai rubbed his temple before he averted his eyes elsewhere. He had too much to think about for him to bother with the sudden absurd thing that got revealed to him.
'I will see what should be done when I finish my other plan.' He thought as he started walking out of the cave. However, at the last second, he stopped before he looked back.
Then, with squinted eyes, he turned around and walked inside the cave again. Kai had almost forgotten detail about this whole encounter. He continued walking deeper and deeper into the cave till there was no light anymore.
At some point, he started to smell something weird. It was a very gut-wrenching smell that would make someone throw up. If Kai had to describe it, it was like that of rotten corpses albeit way worse and way more raw.
The more he got deeper into the cave, the more the smell grew more pronounced to the point where Kai had to use origin to protect his nose from this horrible smell. It was just too much, especially for someone with extremely sharp senses like Kai.
At some point, he reached a rather small entrance that was carved into a wall at the end. The whole didn't seem natural. Its shape and edges were sharp and even or in other words.
"The monster cut this hole." He murmured as he took a step forward and entered the hole. Immediately, Kai was met with a rather warm environment. No, it wasn't just warm, it was very hot.
It was as if he jumped in a sauna or a hot spring. Frowning slightly when he felt the murky air of the place, Kai snapped his fingers to get some light.
The moment the fire was ignited, a sight that Kai expected appeared in front of him.
"A spider nest…"
In front of him was a huge web of cobwebs that were sticking into all the walls and meeting at the center, creating a rather aesthetically mesmerizing fusion. Well, it would've been mesmerizing was it not for the horrible smell and disgusting liquid that was dripping from the webs.
However, Kai ignored all of that and focused on something completely different. Stuck in those webs were countless objects.
"Human corpses…" From a closer look, Kai could see that these things were corpses. However, these bodies were odd. They were hollow, with only bones and skin and no other thing to fill the inside.
It was as if he was looking at fleshy skeletons and that sight was not particularly pleasant to look at.
'These are the members of the expedition. What a mess.'
Then, his eyes shifted to the other things sticking to the cobwebs. They weren't corpses. Instead, they were white yellowish balls of the same size and there were countless of them… More than Kai could even count.
"Eggs…" Murmuring to himself, Kai instinctively got closer to one of the eggs that were hanging low and inspected it and what he discovered made his expression darken slightly.
Inside the eggs were small things that he assumed were the monsters growing quietly. Their bodies were pulsating rhythmically and around them, he could see a visible orange Halo which Kai identified as Origin. All of them had it and it was surprisingly pure. Way purer than any Origin he had ever seen in a human.
"They have Origin… How does that wor-" As he was about to ask himself, his eyes trailed to the cobwebs again and his question was answered instantly.
"They're sucking Origin… from these corpses."
The Origin halo was covering the cobwebs too and was working like a link between the dead corpses and the eggs. It was a nurturing system!
"If these things grow up and hatch…" Realizing what disaster could happen if one of these things was to actually become a full-grown monster.
Stopping to think for a second, Kai could only think of one thing to do. Approaching the cobweb, he put his hand that was on fire close to the web. Upon contact with it, the fire immediately moved to the webs and started spreading at a rapid pace.
Watching the sight of the fire, spreading across countless lines, twists, and turns, growing into a rather beautiful, cursed piece of fire art. His purple eyes flared with a mysterious look. Seeing the dead corpses burn along with the eggs and the creatures inside of them, Kai didn't feel a thing.
His heart was tranquil and so was his mind.
'It's for the better.' He thought to himself.
In a matter of seconds, the whole room was on fire and smoke was taking over. So, Kai decided to leave.
Behind him, the fire continued to grow endlessly engulfing everything around it like a black hole. By the time he reached the entrance of the cave, everything behind him was burnt completely.
Looking around him coldly, the blizzard had already grown even stronger than ever before. Then, he jumped in the air before he landed on a huge rock protruding from the mountain before he jumped again reaching the next level.
Just like that, he climbed the mountain with ease till he reached the peak. He stood there and looked around him. His cold, mysterious eyes scanned the place. Usually, Kai would've enjoyed such a view but he was in no mood for such things.
After what happened today, Kai felt as if he just took a step backward. Logically, he shouldn't feel that way since he accomplished what he came for which was saving Kaya. However, it still didn't feel good. It didn't feel right.
His heart was telling him that he was missing a whole piece of the puzzle and he needed to find it. But, he ignored that feeling and simply kept this matter hidden in a corner of his mind. What did he have to do with any of this? He didn't know and he really wanted to not care but his subconscious mind apparently refuses that option.
Looking at his own hand, he felt it shaking slightly.
"Cough… Cough…" Coughing lightly, Kai felt a warm liquid trickle down his lips. He lifted his hand and touched it before he looked at it.
"I overused Origin…" He murmured before he wiped his mouth and jumped in the air, letting gravity pull him down freely. Each time he felt that pain, Kai realized that his clock was ticking.
Perhaps Kai's worst enemy at the moment was time. Whether he can actually beat it or not is still a question that he needed to find the answer to.
Closing his eyes, he felt the cold wind hit his face. Closing on the ground, he span around before he channeled Origin. At the last second, before he hit the ground, he pointed his hand down.
"Reverse." The moment he said those words, he halted midair before his body was suddenly blasted again into the air at an inclined angle toward the direction he came from before.
The speed he reached was terrifying as he crossed hundreds of meters in a split second.
Straightening his body, Kai stared at the world ahead of him. He could already see glimpses of the Frozen Plains' shores.