Transcendent Gene
Chapter 258: Bloodless Crypt [2]

Chapter 258: Bloodless Crypt [2]

Gio had crossed the entire chamber in pursuit of the girl, so conveniently enough, their battle took place near one of the exit tunnels.

Gio’s party dragged him into that tunnel and away from the ongoing fights before throwing him against the wall.

Shiro held him there with a look of anger in his eyes. Neriah’s expression was calm, while Serene’s eyes showcased worry.

"What the hell was that, dude?" Shiro spat, pushing him against the wall.

"Since when did you randomly go around trying to kill people? I’ve never seen you fight like that before!"

They all knew that Gio was strong because they’d fought against him several times. However, they’d never seen him use lethal force.

This time, his every attack was meant to kill. If that girl failed to dodge even once, she was guaranteed to be left with a crippled body that would soon become Gio’s prey.

They saw his eyes when they grabbed him. He was as icy as a glacier, looking at them like strangers, while also possessing the fury and heat of a wild beast.

It was something they’d never seen from him. Anyone exhibiting such behavior would be strange, but it was especially so for someone who was usually as composed as Gio.

He was thinking properly again, not that it changed anything. His rational mind was of the same opinion as its irrational counterpart.

"I don’t randomly try to kill people," he said, shaking off Shiro’s grip.

"I have a personal grudge with that person. Whether you like it or not, it’s a blood debt and it’ll be a blood debt until one of us is dead."

He wasn’t in the mood to sugarcoat and convince. He told them exactly how he felt.

Serene said nothing. Neriah’s expression was vague as she analyzed his actions. Shiro was the only one who spoke up.

"Blood debt...?" he muttered.

"After all of that shit you were talking about not killing someone who’s a danger to yourself or others..."

"She is both of those things and more. I don’t expect you to understand me, and I don’t want you to follow me, but I’m going to chase her."

Gio made his stance even clearer. Disregarding his personal grudges, they were still a team from VNGRD. Letting them go simply wasn’t a thought to be considered.

"If you’re going, then we’re coming with yo–"

"You’re not coming with me unless you want to attract the attention of forces that you can’t imagine. This time, it’s best for me to go alo–"

"Okay, but what does that mean for us?!"

Shiro yelled, not letting Gio make excuses.

"You think we know what to do?! Neriah can pathfind us to safety, but you want us to just sit there and wait for you to come back? Are we just puppets to you?!"

They were people. They wouldn’t stop caring about his sudden shift in attitude because he told them to.

"Listen," Shiro said, looking to Serene and Neriah.

"We won’t try to stop you. We don’t know enough and we aren’t strong enough to stand in your way, so there’s no point in any of that. If you want to chase her, though, you’re going to have to bring us along with you. You can’t worm your way out of this."

It was that simple. If they could be present to at least know what was happening, they would be content. If he didn’t want them to butt in, then they would stay as uninvolved as possible, but they would still be watching.

Gio’s teeth gritted harder. This was not what he wanted.

’It would be easier to just ditch them.’

He was confident in escaping, but...

’Shiro’s right. I can’t run away from this. I’m the one who decided to bring them, so I can’t avoid responsibility.’

They were looking at him with eyes that said they’d follow him regardless of his desires. He didn’t want to leave them alone to rush through this dangerous space without guidance.

His main priority in this life as a whole was never revenge. It was always meant to be the people he held dear.

"...fine."

He gave in.

"You can come, but if you act out, I’m chaining you to a wall and leaving you there until I’m done. Understood?"

All three of them nodded.

With a nod back, Gio rushed off in the direction that the girl and her group went.

They had used the second tunnel out of the chamber to leave the action, and Gio’s party did the same. They crossed another bright green lake of acid and several obstacles before reaching what was hidden behind the far wall.

Their steps slowed when they crossed the line into the new area.

They were suddenly faced with a dampness that wasn’t present before. The floor returned to the rough cobbled texture it had when they first spawned, and the environment took on a much darker and more decrepit appearance.

There were two columns directly to their front that were shattered and no longer connected to the ceiling. They surrounded a staircase leading into a lowered area where a tall statue and an altar were present. The rest of the space was empty, meant to be used for prayer.

There was an upper balcony surrounding the main prayer area on three sides. There wasn’t anything on this balcony but dried blood and moisture. The blood remained stained on the ground despite the water constantly dripping from the ceiling, making it look more than just a little unnatural.

The only thing that could be called a clue as to the nature of this location was the assortment of broken wooden boards on the ground.

When they walked into the room with no obvious exits, Serene went forth and gathered those pieces, fitting them together in minutes like they were a puzzle.

She thought she would find the monster language again.

She was wrong.

Though this was a location undoubtedly in the monsters’ part of the quest, these words were definitely written in an ancient human language.

"Bloodless Crypt."

Serene’s voice brought the other three over to her.

"You know what that says?" Shiro asked.

Serene nodded.

"I like investigating. I’ve tried learning a lot of ancient languages, but I could only figure a few of them out. We’re lucky that this is from around three hundred years ago, because all the languages before that time are gone for good."

"Bloodless Crypt, then...what does that mean?"

"I don’t know, but it doesn’t look very ’bloodless’ to me."

Gio nodded at his comrades’ words.

"We’ll figure it out as we go. The lack of obvious exits makes me think this is another challenge. If that’s the case, then the ones I’m hunting are solving puzzles ahead of us."

They were playing a game of catch-up. They were five minutes behind at most, so it really could be considered a matter of who completed the puzzles faster.

The change of scenery hinted at the shift into a quest location. If that was the case, then Gio had to be content with killing two birds at once.

’As long as I can catch the second bird before we get to the end of the crypt...’

He contained his killing intent so as to not alarm his comrades a second time.

The rest of that thought could be entertained when he got there.