As we dispatched the husks, we immediately made our way deeper down the building. We passed the staircase, ignoring it entirely. Our goal was simple… escape through the back door.
If my assumption was right, every structure like this should have one.
But as we ran, something felt wrong.
My thoughts refused to settle.
What's upstairs?
We weren't planning on going there, but what if...
Before I could finish the thought, the entire building shook violently, as though something massive was tearing through the upper floors, moving with terrifying precision… following our exact movements.
Dust rained from the ceiling.
The walls vibrated so hard my bones ached.
Milo narrowed his gaze.
"What's that?"
I answered immediately.
"Something's coming."
The very next second, raging figures burst through the second floor.
They crashed down between us and the exit doors, their impact sending cracks spiderwebbing through the concrete beneath their feet.
At first glance, they resembled the husk creatures we had fought moments ago.
But something about them forced both of us to stop.
We observed.
Waited.
Everything about them felt visibly wrong.
Their bodies possessed a grotesque, golem-like build… larger, denser, and far more muscular than the husks we had encountered before
And I knew exactly what that meant.
Above Husk in the corruption hierarchy…
Wretched.
Wretched monsters.
There were four of them.
Humanoid abominations standing nearly motionless, yet unlike their weaker variants, their eyes pulsed with something disturbingly alive.
Crimson flames burned within their sockets.
Then they moved.
Without warning.
No hesitation.
The four monsters lunged at us with unbelievable speed.
I reacted instantly, swinging my blade toward the nearest one…
Too slow.
A single split second was all it needed.
The charging creature struck with monstrous force, disarming me so violently that shock exploded through my entire arm.
My sword spun through the air before embedding itself into the floor several meters behind me.
Milo wasn't faring any better.
I turned just in time to watch him clash twice, the sound of his blade meeting dangerous force.
And with only two exchanges, his blade was sent hurtling backward as well.
I grimaced.
Both of us immediately retreated, sliding backward across the broken floor as we desperately created distance.
This was bad.
Far worse than husks.
I rushed back in, a serious frown crossing my face as I studied the weapon of the Wretched Pilgrims.
Its blade looked crudely formed from jagged rock, yet veins of strange minerals pulsed faintly through its surface.
I swept it aside with my chained fist.
Aurum-Null… Hollow.
I seized complete control over the force behind its strike.
The rocky blade instantly shattered into fragments of rubble.
The monster actually frowned, the blade had been part of its own limb.
Without hesitation, I redirected the force I had absorbed and jammed it directly back into its frame.
The impact sent the creature hurtling backward.
Golden light pulsed around my silhouette.
Another one rushed me, it performed the exact same attack I had just used.
For a split second, it felt as though time itself had slowed.
Its fist collided with my kick.
The entire structure shook violently.
Walls imploded inward.
Then, without pause…
I found myself trapped in a barbaric exchange of fists and ceaseless strikes, we pummeled each other in ruthless succession.
I slammed the Pilgrim with its own force again…
Hallow.
And to my shock… It copied me. My movements, my combat style.
On the other side of the battlefield, brilliant blue flames erupted.
Milo…
He had unleashed one of his devastating attacks, probably burning those damn things alive.
The moment my clash intensified, another Pilgrim suddenly bolted upward, digging into the ceiling pavement like some horrific demon.
Then it lunged downward.
I barely dodged…
Its impact carved a massive crater where I had stood moments ago.
By now, the destruction of the building had already begun drawing attention.
Other monsters would come soon.
And with half the structure already collapsing, we no longer needed the back door.
The entire apartment had been torn open so badly it looked less like a building now, and more like some unfinished outdoor ruin.
I dove backward.
The monster followed my jump,
I gritted my teeth because I still hadn't landed.
What I did next consumed more aura… but I had no choice.
Aurum-Vanta… Dominion.
Before my feet touched the ground, my blade flew back toward me.
It clung immediately to the golden chain wrapped around my left hand.
As I moved, the blade cut through the Pilgrim's grotesque frame.
It wasn't meant to kill, but only to force space between us.
I crashed sideways into a wall, immediately switching my sword into my free hand.
The monster slowly emerged from the crater.
Then…
Golden light burst violently from within its body, then it froze.
Completely motionless.
The next second…
Its brethren came for me.
I hadn't noticed.
It was fast.
And I was still disoriented, as though I had taken one too many blows directly to the skull.
Before it could reach me…
Milo invaded its space.
Then, like a tsunami breaking against stone, he swung his blade.
The impact launched the monster straight into the ceiling.
Without wasting a second, he grabbed me.
We escaped with the distraction of massive collapse created above.
And I realized something horrifying.
There had been more Wretched monsters inside, because as we ran for cover…
More than ten of them burst outward, they had changed.
They had wings now.
As though they had copied the structures of flying monsters they had encountered before.
Their grotesquely crafted wings unfolded as they ascended into the crimson sky, searching for the invaders who had trespassed upon their nest.
Fortunately…
We were already hiding several meters away.
The terrain around us had changed entirely.
A narrow, winding path cut through a canyon of ice and hoarfrost, its towering walls sculpted by wind and time into smooth formations that looked almost architectural.
Through the pale serpentine opening far above, fragments of the scarlet sky remained visible.
Crimson lines still flashed across it.
A reminder of where we were.
The sheer scale of the landscape was overwhelming.
As we moved along the frozen valley floor, silence consumed everything around us.
A swallowing silence.
Heavy.
Oppressive.
Ancient stone archways and weathered doorways stood half-buried beneath layers of frost, silent proof that this pale corridor had once been a road leading somewhere inhabited.
Now…
It had been abandoned to time.
The endless palette of whites, grays, and muted black stretched endlessly before us, creating a suffocating sense of isolation.
Endurance.
The quiet hostility of untouched land.
But resting here wasn't an option.
Not this close to our pursuers overhead.
We needed to keep moving.
And quickly.