Fight

Leo, still in shock, suddenly felt a penetrating gaze fixed upon him. He hastily released his bag filled with Monster Cores and Parts, attempting to move in another direction.

But to his dismay, something bound his leg to the ground, a rope-like tentacle emerging from beneath. He stared down, wide-eyed, as the tentacle seemed to rot his leg on contact.

Reacting quickly, Leo grabbed his dagger and cut the green tentacle that encircled his leg. He stumbled backward toward the cave wall, his leg throbbing with pain, and the blood in his hand strangely paled.

"What the hell is happening?" Bewildered and in agony, Leo couldn't comprehend what was happening.

The cave grew darker, but Leo's eyes adjusted enough to perceive countless wriggling tentacles emerging from the ground like sinister insects. Before he could react, one of the tentacles lunged toward his head.

He felt powerless to dodge it, but in a desperate move, he managed to slash it with his dagger, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Suddenly, the ground shook as countless tentacles emerged from the ground.

Leo jumped, but the moment he leaped, tens of tentacles shot towards him like bullets.

'Fu*k-!!! I will die at this rate.'

Leo skillfully slashed through all the tentacles.

Just as he was landing, as if sensing it, all the tentacles disappeared?

Leo didn't let his guard down as he looked around his surroundings.

KEKEKEKEKE.

A strange laughter echoed from the depths of the cave. More tentacles surged forth, this time accompanied by a monstrous entity composed of entwined tentacles with a flower-like head. The creature's red petals opened, revealing eerie yellow eyes that sent shivers down Leo's spine.

To his surprise, he felt a strange connection, almost like a resonance, with the creature—an overwhelming urge to destroy it. Leo recognized it as the

"Devouring Bloodline."

However, he sensed that the creature shared the same impulse to devour him.

A fierce battle ensued, where Leo and the monster fought with unyielding determination.

The tentacles seemed to have a mind of their own, constantly regenerating and attacking relentlessly. But this time, they were not rotting Leo's body.

'DAMN. This thing must want to preserve me as much as it wants to get the most benefits.' Leo thought desperately as he found the situation getting worse by the second.

The struggle became a battle of survival, both Leo and the monster seeking to consume the other.

With each passing moment, Leo's strength waned, and he sustained numerous injuries. His clothes were torn, his body covered in blood, and his energy depleting. Leo knew that if he didn't end it now, he might never be able to again.

Summoning all his power, he launched a final attack, slashing through the monster with all his might. But at the same time, a tentacle pierced through his hand.

The surprise attack made Leo's attack's power decrease.

Leo could see the monster's rapid healing from the injuries he had just inflicted.

Losing his grip on the dagger, Leo fell to his knees, his vision blurring. With the last of his strength, he delivered a final, devastating slash, causing the monster to collapse.

As the monster's blood splattered everywhere, Leo, on the brink of fainting, did something desperate—he gulped down the monster's blood and core. The last thing he saw was countless worms eating the body of human beings from the hole the monster has came out from. Then darkness consumed him as he lost consciousness.