23 Chapter 23: Silent Chaos

Knife gone.

Two words that Rhys definitely did not want to hear with his current predicament. He subtly started scanning the floor if maybe he dropped it somewhere, but the only thing he could see dropping beneath his feet was the blood dripping from his right arm, as well as the blood of the arachne that sprayed on him like a fountain.

"..." Rhys then turned his eye to the arachne in front of him, before carefully glancing at the one behind him. And with the way they were just standing there, it would seem he wasn't the only one that was aloof—their seemingly lifeless eyes, squinting as they watched his every movement.

Were they wary of him because he was covered in the blood of their kin? Although the intelligence of these spiderladies was obviously lower than Arachnea, they should still have enough brains to recognize him as a threat.

But the thing is, Rhys wasn't exactly a threat right now. Like these arachnes, he wasn't that stupid—he knew he'd definitely die or at the very least be gravely injured if he tried fighting like this even with his newfound superhuman senses; his arm already almost got cut off just by fighting one of them—he wasn't ready.

"..." Rhys then turned to look at the classroom to see if there was a way out but quickly removed any notion of going there as the chances of being trapped were high. And so, Rhys just moved toward the only direction he could really go right now—the window.

His steps were as light as they could be, but the broken shards of glass beneath his feet made each of his steps whisper and ring in the air. The arachnes also very slowly approached him, still completely wary of Rhys and seemingly just waiting to see who will lunge first.

And even as Rhys's waist hit the ledge, the arachnes remained vigilant.

"..." Rhys then very carefully looked down the window, and as soon as he saw several arachnes still latched on the walls of the building… he quickly leaped over the window without any hesitation whatsoever.

After all, his destination was two floors down—and the fastest way he knew how to go down is to fall. And as a veteran in jumping from high places, there was no need for Rhys to think twice.

His eyes were completely calm as he looked down at the arachnes hanging and climbing on the walls. He already passed by several spiders, but his eyes were only focused on one—the one hanging just below the floor he needed to go.

And as soon as it was within reach, Rhys stretched out his hands and grabbed the arachne's hair… only for it to scream as whatever hair it had left snapped from its scalp.

"!!!"

Rhys quickly hugged the arachne, wrapping his arms around its waist as he stepped on its spider back.

"Hm…" Rhys grunted as the arachne started flailing around—it didn't last long, however, as Rhys slammed his knee on its back, causing it to flinch and freeze for a second.

A second was the only thing that Rhys needed, however, as he quickly pushed himself up—grabbing the arachne by the head before stepping on its shoulder and kicking away straight through the already shattered window and onto the floor.

He could feel the shards of glass tearing his skin as he rolled across the floor, but Rhys didn't mind as he quickly scanned the hallway—and there, an image that he could only describe as chaos.

A silent chaos, however, as all that remained were corpses. He could see several students mangled and torn to pieces…there were, however, more arachne corpses littered in the hallway than people.

"..." They did say the Hole was only a Threat Level 1—only the weakest of monsters would come out of it. Monsters that even Lowborns like Rhys could kill with enough luck and effort—but then again, factor in the panic, his schoolmates probably got slaughtered.

But then… why were the monsters back in the first place if the Hole was already covered? Were they not even to fully close it?

"..." And before Rhys could get lost in his own thoughts, he heard the sound of arachnes chittering from outside the window; none of them, however, seemed to want to enter the floor.

Perhaps his assessment was right? Since there were a lot of arachne corpses here, the monsters were warier. Rhys did not stay to find out, however, as he rushed through the hallway, leaping and jumping over the corpses—not stopping until he opened the door to the clinic.

"Dr. Lopez!?"

And as Rhys saw the scenery inside; his breaths that never faltered and his eyes that have always remained calm started to tremble as he saw the curtains of the clinic painted with red.

"...Katarina?" Rhys then whispered as he saw a silhouette behind the curtains—unmoving and lifeless.

"No… no. Not you too… please, not you…" none of his previous calmness could be heard from his voice as he very slowly approached the curtains; his hand, trembling as it pushed open the sheets.

Rhys then took gasped as he saw a body completely ripped in half; his heavy breaths, however, once again quickly returned to normal as he noticed the unusually gray skin of the dismembered torso.

It was an arachne, ripped apart in half; separating its human and spider parts completely.

"Kya!"

And before Rhys could fully calm down, he heard a sharp screaming coming from the hallways. He quickly scanned the clinic, before grabbing a scalpel from one of the cabinets and rushing out of the room.

He ran toward the direction of the stairs as the screams resounded there—and there, he saw an arachne very slowly making its way down the steps toward a girl. And as soon as he saw this, Rhys jumped down the stairs without any hesitation, leaping straight toward the back of the arachne and pushing the scalpel straight through its spine.

"..." And surprisingly, the scalpel penetrated through the arachne's flesh and bone without any resistance, unlike the missing knife he had used earlier. Rhys didn't really think too much about this as he pulled the scalpel, before stabbing it on the back of the arachne's neck.

The arachne did not even have the chance to shriek or scream; it just fell like a marionette that had its strings cut.

"Dr. Lopez!?" Rhys then quickly stepped down the arachne as he looked at the woman, only to see a familiar student kneeling on the floor.

"...You again?"

"...Eh?"

It was the girl she saved earlier. This time, however…

…one of the five hearts floating above her head was already filled.