Chapter 21

Flutter.

Isaac draped himself in the thick robe typically worn by monks. With his near-adult height and the hood deeply drawn over his face, it was difficult to recognize him.

At his waist, he equipped the Sword of Judgment that he had yet to return to Isolde.

The task ahead was something that must remain undiscovered.

Isaac stepped into the shadow-drenched corridor. Focusing on one corner, the offspring of chaos wriggled out from a crack in the wall.

"Let's go."

Leading the offspring of chaos, Isaac headed toward the source of the plague it had found.

Over the past few days, Isaac had released chaos offspring to track down the plague's origin. Finally, their efforts were bearing fruit.

'Was it two years ago when I first saw the plague-infested boar?'

Back then, he had thought of it as just a local disease.

But considering the current situation, it was clear this was no ordinary plague. Isaac sensed schemes and conspiracies emanating from it.

At least some entity with intelligence had been targeting the monastery for years, waiting for the right moment to strike.

And now, at the brink of success, the perpetrator was likely preparing for the final blow.

The leading offspring of chaos suddenly changed direction, slipping through a gap boarded up with planks and heading inside.

'Huh?'

Isaac stopped, puzzled.

This boarded-up area was meant to seal off an abandoned cellar.

Considering the attack originated from outside the monastery, he had assumed the perpetrator would also be external. But now, the offspring of chaos was definitely heading underground, within the monastery.

After a moment of thought, Isaac used the sword as a lever to dismantle the makeshift wall. There was no choice but to check. He stepped through the debris and descended the stairs.

At that moment, a message from the Nameless Chaos came.

[The Nameless Chaos watches over you.]

[The Nameless Chaos finds this sanctuary abhorrent.]

[The Nameless Chaos desires the 'purification' of this desecrated sanctuary.]

[Award from Chaos awaits you.]

'Sanctuary?'

Isaac paid attention to the message. It was something he had never heard before.

The Nameless Chaos had never paid attention when Isaac prayed to the Codex of Light or studied its sacred texts.

Even when openly criticizing or despising the tentacles, there was no reaction. But now, the Nameless Chaos seemed more disgusted by something beneath these stairs than ever before.

'There must be something.'

***

A tepid, sticky breeze flowed up from the bottom of the stairs. Despite it being winter, Isaac wrinkled his nose at the subtly warm air.

It felt like being enveloped in sweaty, obese flesh.

Suddenly, Isaac felt his left-hand tentacle wriggle. Reflexively, his hand moved, and he swung the sword.

Snick! A rat, almost the size of a small puppy, leaped down from a pillar towards Isaac, only to be sliced in half by his sword.

"What a pig-like creature..."

Again, a tentacle writhed.

Thump.

A rat kicked by his foot squealed loudly and scurried away. Its scream seemed to awaken others in the darkness. Glowing red eyes started to emerge from the shadows. Isaac, accustomed to hunting rats for years, knew they were all rats.

"Ha, these damned rats. No end to them, and now they are pouring out from here?"

Isaac realized why there seemed to be an endless supply of rats. Something in the monastery's underground was continuously producing them. Unbeknownst to Isaac and Gebel, they had been preventing the plague's attack all along.

Rustling noises began to spread around him. Countless rats moved in unison, like grass swaying in the wind. Isaac readied his sword as they surged forward.

The rats, insignificant alone but formidable in numbers, fearlessly attacked. While individually weak, they could be relentless, even against larger foes.

And they had used the impenetrable darkness to their advantage before, turning wolves, bears, and boars into their prey.

But this time, they faced a different opponent.

Thump, crack!

With a swing of his sword, like a golf club, a whirlwind sent several rats flying. The rats that bounced off the walls turned into bloody stains. Yet, driven by frenzy, they failed to grasp what was happening.

Isaac calmly retreated, methodically slashing, stabbing, and dismembering the charging rats. Despite the onslaught of glowing red eyes, his swordplay showed no hesitation or delay.

Snick, snick!

Only when the smell of blood overpowered the stench of decay and the rats began to hesitate did they stop attacking. Despite the multitude of rats, not a single one managed to leave a bite mark on Isaac.

Even those that climbed on him were thwarted by the thick robe tied around his limbs, preventing them from penetrating inside. Isaac had anticipated the rat swarm's attack as he ventured to confront the plague's source.

'Rats are no problem, no matter their number.'

Even after several sword swings, Isaac's breathing was almost unchanged. There was no need to use sword techniques or concentrate when dealing with mere rats.

It was thanks to a perk he had gained when he was 14.

[You can devour lowly beasts at any time.]

This didn't simply mean that Isaac could eat rats using his tentacles. It meant that the relationship between Isaac and the rats was as disparate as that between a lion and a chick.

To a perfect apex predator.

Whether it's a hundred chicks or a thousand, it makes no difference to a lion. Isaac saw every movement of the rat swarm, unafraid of their vast numbers.

Moreover, Isaac had other blessings.

[You demonstrate great strength with the 'Devour' perk of the plague giant bear.]

[Your ability to track weaknesses is enhanced with the 'Devour' perk of the plague wolf.]

The plague beasts that Isaac had consumed thus far had now become his strength.

Using his ability to track weaknesses, Isaac found gaps in the rat swarm and, with his tireless strength, dispatched them all at once. He felt no need to display proper swordsmanship against such lowly creatures.

Had it been anyone else, entering the plague's den would have shown signs of coughing or weakening by now. However, thanks to his resistance to the plague, Isaac was unaffected.

'They're starting to hesitate.'

The rat swarm soon realized that there were more corpses of their own kind around them than themselves.

Rats are cunning creatures. They charge fearlessly at stronger opponents when in numbers, but if they think they cannot win, they abandon their comrades and flee. Soon, fear and panic spread among the rats. At that moment, Isaac's eyes caught the gaps in the rat swarm.

Thump.

Isaac charged forward in a single breath, swinging his tentacles.

The tentacles split into several strands, wrapping around the rat swarm like claws.

Pffft!

Rats pinned against the wall burst like mosquitoes.

The tentacles greedily devoured and swallowed the rats. The descendant of chaos that had come with Isaac also took the opportunity to catch and suck the fluids from the rats vigorously.

Caught in the sudden slaughterous feast, the rats fell into complete terror and fled through the gaps in the walls. However, Isaac had no intention of letting them go.

'Today, it ends for good.'

Isaac implanted parasites in the rats that were still squirming on the ground. The rats infected by the parasites convulsed and soon burst open with a pop. From their carcasses, half a dozen descendants of chaos were born.

"Eat all the rats."

The descendants of chaos born from rats were not particularly strong. But they had enough power to comfortably deal with about ten rats each. After all, the lifespan of a descendant of chaos was at most a week. The descendants of chaos that Isaac had previously released into the mountains also began to move on the same command.

The descendants of chaos disappeared into the wall crevices, leaving behind a thick scent of blood and silence.

Isaac felt a sudden hunger.

Using the tentacles' abilities, like a 'flesh storage', quickly digests what has already been consumed. And if the tentacles' abilities are used without sufficient predation, it consumes Isaac's own energy.

For the past few days, Isaac had been focusing on quarantine and treatment, unable to properly feast. The reason he could still sustain himself was thanks to the tentacles having previously gorged on wolves and bears.

Of course, the hunger he felt now wasn't because the beasts he had consumed were depleted. It was an emotional emptiness felt with each use of his abilities.

'Enough.'

Chirp.

Then, a rat appeared from the darkness. It was a half-rotten rat with two heads.

Isaac instinctively realized that this was no ordinary rat.

[Follow me.]

A message came into Isaac's mind. Then, the two-headed rat turned and disappeared into the darkness. It was neither the voice of the nameless chaos nor that of the descendants of chaos.

Isaac smiled, thinking his suspicions had been confirmed.

He had figured out what being was unleashing the plague and controlling the infected beasts.

Isaac obediently followed as the other had said.

He licked his lips in anticipation of the opponent that would soon appear.

He was already fiercely hungry.

***

The path leading underground became increasingly rough and crude. Isaac soon felt the architectural style around him change. It wasn't the monastery's neatly and solidly built architecture but an older, cruder style that felt somewhat ancient.

Examining the engravings and patterns on the walls, Isaac realized that the monastery was built over some ancient structure.

'Just as I thought.'

Isaac had been here before.

More precisely, he had visited this place while playing 'Nameless Chaos.'

And it felt all too familiar.

Thud. Isaac reached the bottom of the staircase. The cellar at the bottom revealed a considerably large space, now a crumbling ruin. However, the size and scale of the altar indicated that something significant was once revered here.

And atop that altar lay what once basked in glory here.

It was a gigantic rat.

The rat was as big as the enormous bear Gebel had fought. However, its body was disproportionately large compared to its limbs, making movement difficult. Only its belly was grotesquely swollen, emitting a sickly green glow.

The giant rat's green eyes glowed as it fixed its gaze on Isaac.

[How dare a mere creature disrupt the plans of the great one... What are you?]

Isaac chuckled at the giant rat's words. Just as he was about to speak, the giant rat burst out angrily.

[Silence, creature. It's not you I question. Surely a feeble creature like you cannot detect and interfere with my plans. There must be someone behind you. Show yourself.]

"Quite the talker for a rat piglet, huh?"

Silence engulfed the dungeon. The giant rat stared at Isaac, then spoke.

[Do you know who you are speaking to? I am...]

"The Rat Mother Zihilrat, right?"

The Rat Mother Zihilrat.

The Plague Deity, the mother of a myriad of rats.

Nicknamed 'Rat Pig' by players.

Isaac finally realized the true identity of this place. The monastery where he had lived for the past years was actually a well-known dungeon in 'Nameless Chaos.'

A den swarming with the ungodly Plague Deity and its apostles.

Meaning, if things had gone as initially intended, in two years, the monastery would be devastated by the plague, either becoming desolate or entirely abandoned.

'But not anymore.'

Isaac, who had slain Zihilrat hundreds of times in the game, looked at her leisurely.

'If I eat that, I'll be bursting at the seams.'