Chapter 291: Athena’s Unease
Ah!
Athena’s scream echoed through the cave.
Even with her strength and composure, the sight of Muse had startled her, forcing her to retreat until her back hit the cold stone wall.
She almost didn’t recognize him. If not for the axe and his signature messy hair, she would have thought it was someone else.
Muse was a madman.
His title, Muse the Mad, wasn’t unearned. His face was usually dark and flushed, but now it was pale and bruised, his lips almost black.
That alone wouldn’t have frightened her. It was the things on his skin.
His face was covered in blisters, small as sesame seeds and large as peanuts, clustered like a honeycomb, leaving no skin visible.
The sight filled Athena with disgust and revulsion, goosebumps erupting on her skin.
She remembered the First Hero, Jie Luo, mentioning phobias like claustrophobia, acrophobia, and trypophobia… was this trypophobia?
She suspected Muse’s current appearance would be a textbook example.
Muse stirred in his sleep, scratching at his skin.
Pop, pop, pop…
Blisters burst, releasing a clear, viscous fluid.
That was the source of the stench of decay.
It made Athena even more nauseous.
She couldn’t believe Muse had become this… thing.
She had never been close to him. They were members of the same Hero Squad, but that was the extent of their relationship. Now, his appearance made her want to flee, to put as much distance between them as possible.
What had happened to him?
Was he sick?
Fighting back her nausea, she flicked a small fireball at his hand, bursting a few blisters.
Muse, startled by the burning sensation, sat up abruptly, reaching for his axe.
Despite his weakened state and unsteady movements, his combat instincts were ingrained. He was instantly ready for a fight.
Even in his weakened state, he exuded a ferocious aura.
He relaxed his grip on the axe as he saw Athena: “Athena, it’s you. You’re finally here… cough… cough…”
His voice surprised her. It was raspy and dry, as if his throat was clogged with something.
He broke into a violent coughing fit, spitting a dark glob of phlegm onto the wall.
Athena felt even more nauseous, barely suppressing her revulsion: “Muse, are you sick?”
Muse managed a weak smile: “Lately… I haven’t been feeling well… damn it… probably just a cold.”
“And these blisters… I’ll have to visit the church for healing later.”
Just blisters? As he stood up, his bare chest was as covered in blisters as his face.
Was this some kind of skin disease?
She had never seen anything this severe.
“Let’s get this over with and leave this damned place,” Muse said, his voice raspy.
The once ferocious berserker was now weak and frail, a shadow of his former self.
“Although my healing magic isn’t as potent as the church’s… I can still try to heal you. It might make you feel better,” Athena offered.
“Really? Thanks,” Muse said, accepting her offer. While he didn’t like her, he wouldn’t refuse any relief from the itching and pain.
Athena’s face was still pale, her unease intensifying.
She felt a deep sense of foreboding.
Steeling herself, she waved her staff, casting a healing spell on Muse.
It was a mid-level water spell, one of the few that could heal injuries.
It couldn’t cure diseases, but it could at least mend his broken skin.
As for the disease itself, the Holy See’s Holy Light magic or the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess’s specialized potions might be effective.
After a moment of hesitation, she used a Holy Light scroll, bathing Muse in a soft glow.
His voice improved slightly, the blisters seeming to shrink.
The combined healing magic had helped, but he would need more potent treatment from the Holy See or specialized potions from the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess for a full recovery. While Athena had some potions with her, she didn’t know what ailed him, and potions weren’t to be used indiscriminately.
Muse swung his axe experimentally, the blade whistling through the air. He seemed to have regained some of his strength.
A grin spread across his face: “Thanks, Athena!”
Despite his dislike for her, his gratitude was genuine.
He pointed towards a section of the cave wall: “There’s the chamber… that damned magical barrier is blocking the entrance. I can’t break it.”
Athena sent a fireball towards the indicated spot, revealing a dark purple barrier.
That must be the magical seal.
Taking a deep breath, she walked towards it. She wanted to unlock the barrier, retrieve Jie Luo’s soul fragment, and leave this unsettling place. While they were alone, a lingering sense of dread clung to her.
Muse’s condition had improved, but the stench emanating from him was still unbearable, so she maintained her magical shield.
Crackle… crackle…
As she approached the barrier, her shield flickered, as if something was colliding with it, burning in the heat.
Her brow furrowed, her vigilance increasing.
“Can you… unlock it?” Muse asked impatiently.
He couldn’t wait to leave this place.
But Athena didn’t rush. She peered through the barrier…
A stone slab covered in tiny runes, blackened and corroded. A skeleton, clearly having suffered greatly before death. Jie Luo’s soul fragment, set in a ring on one of the skeletal fingers.
A glass vial containing a dark red liquid.
A strange skull…
Metal tools inscribed with unfamiliar runes.
A clay pot… filled with writhing black worms.
The stench of decay was overpowering.
The scene within the chamber was unsettling. Was the skeleton that of an alchemist? Or a potion master?
Regardless, the materials within seemed strangely out of place.
Especially the writhing black worms in the clay pot… how could they still be alive after all these years, while the skeleton’s flesh had long since decayed?
The pot seemed to contain something else as well, a faint, dark aura emanating from it.
The strange objects within the chamber seemed to draw Athena’s attention even more than Jie Luo’s soul fragment.
“Athena, what are you waiting for? Unlock the barrier!”
Seeing her inaction, Muse grew impatient. What was she doing?
Snapping out of her trance, Athena suppressed her unease and began studying the barrier.
It wasn’t particularly powerful, but it was cleverly designed. The entrance was linked to traps within the chamber. Fortunately, Muse had refrained from using brute force. Destroying the entrance would have triggered a chain reaction, obliterating the entire chamber.
And potentially destroying Jie Luo’s soul fragment.
After some manipulation, the dark purple barrier flickered, then vanished with a crackling sound.
Muse cheered, rushing into the chamber without waiting for Athena.
His eyes, fixated on the soul fragment, didn’t notice the chamber’s true color, now revealed: a sickly green mist filled the air.
As he entered, the mist clung to him, turning him a ghastly green…
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