I could maintain myself at forty percent the speed of sound like this.
With a bloody bite on my lower lip to avoid crying with pain, I turned on [Eye of Sanguine] and itchiness spread immediately.
Vanitas told me something odd, but really useful; I could gauge if someone could use Arcana or not by specifically checking the temperature of their nerves and comparing them with their body. The hotter the nerves, the stronger their Arcana. That's how I was able to release everyone with so much confidence.
But, I also learned something interesting… Arcana had something to do with nerves, huh. I thought casually, checking the shape of its thermal temperature.
Oh, a woman. Is she also a sex slave? Most likely… The women I met were these ordinary folks of different races with no special abilities, all sex slaves.
But I was still cautious enough to check and zoom in on her nerves.
So far, no one had Arcana besides Kael, and after confirming his ways after a small chat, I knew him enough to trust that much. That's why my guard has been fairly down….
That was a mistake.
"AHHH!"
My pupils dilated unnaturally upwards under my temples, leaving white space where pupils should be, as out-of-the-world pain, worse than anything I felt, took over my nerves.
Next second, the pupils completely twisted upwards in the opposite direction. Somehow, I could still see through them, and I saw something that was permanently etched in the depths of my mind. The gushy mush of the insides of my brain.
Painfully, they rolled even further, and got back to there original position, only for the torturous action to repeat again, three times more.
"Ahhh! Gahh!" I screamed, clawing at the cold bricks below, grinding my teeth as my body shook intensely.
My pupils finally stopped rolling, but everything I could see was a deep red shade, even redder than that of [Eye of Sanguine]. Like, the only colour I could see was red, and I couldn't see half of what was in front of me.
But, it was just the beginning…
My skin prickled aggressively, my limbs limped, then boiling burns, exactly like if my body caught fire out of thin air, spread across my entire body.
I couldn't even register what was happening because of the intense, overwhelming pain of being burned alive, but I did notice one thing.
Tiny beads of blood welled up from every pore of my skin, from feet to head.
Gahhh!
From my eyes, to my mouth, to my nose, ears, and every little pore of my body, was bleeding.
My pelvis rose on its own, trying to lessen the pain in any way, as I panted hard from my bleeding lungs, and then choking on that blood.
They were hot… Her nerves. So hot.
As I zoomed in on them, my instincts had screamed. I had made a mistake.
I realised… It wasn't something that was meant to be seen.
It was something otherworldly. Beyond human... It was visible to me, the nerves. I could register it in my mind; they looked like any nerves at first, but when I actually understood what they were storing, my consciousness wasn't ready for it.
[Deadly Danger sensed]
[Body damaged: 90%]
[Vitality: 80/80]
[Recovering body… Possible]
[Cost: 40 Vit]
I could, after what felt like such a long while, hear the robotic voice of the system again. It wasn't this robotic normally. It had way more emotion. But it felt familiar nonetheless. The content of it lessened my pain a lot, somehow.
My vision started to go black.
What the hell was behind that door? That was my last thought before I spasmed on the ground.
But, as the system voice vanished, and I could fall unconscious… I felt warmth push inside my body like it was life force itself.
I felt weaker in general, but my nerves, muscles, skin, and brain were all recovering rapidly.
I really did have incredible Vit by being a vampire.
Recovering from 90% damage… it only costs 40 vitality.
I was still able to think. Instantly, I tried my best to stabilize my pain, ignore the pain as my bones sew themselves together.
Taking in the heavy cold hair through the taste of iron, and blood, a thought rose—
I can't release that thing… No way. No matter what!
But.
If she were an Arcana user, which she was most definitely. She should have that Arcane blocking, body-weakening cuff, like the ones on Vanitas, and Kael…
Is she even dangerous?
…Obviously. I almost died from just looking at her, even when in that condition.
But… If she was released, she could singlehandedly handle every guard, no? It could cause more than enough chaos for us to escape even more easily…
Light started to return in my eyes. I am sorta her saviour, hmm… If I leave, she will be rotting here forever. And it's no joke to think that she might even be treated as a sex slave, or at least tortured a bit.
She couldn't attack her ultimate, heroic saviour like this… Or could she?
I could never know.
Maybe she wants to leave no witnesses to her leaving. Who knows what's going on in her mind? With that power, no doubt she's a powerful or influential figure.
I refuse to believe that thing is the norm!
As some strength returned back to my body with the intense warmth, I pushed my hand inside the inner pocket of my robe, the wet fabric sticking blood to my fingers.
It quickly found its target.
The card, with a very detailed texture that put the picture of a Samurai, I grabbed it.
High risk, high reward, eh?