SSS-Rank Awakening: My Talent Multiplies Everything novel Chapter 199

Chapter 199: Mental Attack.

Darkness slowly peeled away as Kael’s vision returned, and the first thing he noticed was that the snow was gone.

He wasn’t standing outside anymore.

He was inside a cave.

The ceiling stretched high above him, disappearing into the darkness, while strange glowing crystals had been embedded throughout the walls. Their pale light illuminated the enormous cavern well enough for Kael to make out his surroundings.

Then he saw them.

His expression immediately changed.

Countless cocoons covered the cavern.

They were everywhere.

The strange structures appeared to have been formed from some kind of translucent, gel-like substance, their surfaces constantly shifting as though they were still alive. But the substance itself wasn’t what caught Kael’s attention.

It was what was inside them.

Humans. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Kael’s pupils contracted.

They were the exploration teams.

The same Hunters he had been working alongside for the past several days were trapped inside those disgusting cocoons. Their bodies were completely submerged within the strange gel, with only their faces exposed.

None of them moved.

Kael couldn’t tell whether they were unconscious or dead.

His gaze moved from one face to another, desperately searching for some indication that they were still alive.

Then he noticed the tubes.

Long, pipe-like appendages were attached to the heads of the trapped Hunters. They disappeared into the ceiling before spreading throughout the cave, each one connected directly to a person’s skull. Thick liquid slowly traveled through them, disappearing somewhere beyond Kael’s field of vision.

It looked as though something was being extracted from their heads.

Kael’s mind struggled to process what he was seeing.

What the hell was happening? How had he gotten here? Where was everyone else? His body instinctively tried to move, but nothing happened.

Kael frowned and looked down. Only then did he realize the truth... he was trapped as well.

The same translucent gel surrounded his entire body, holding him firmly in place. A tube was attached to his head, and something was slowly being pulled from him through it.

The moment he realized that, an intense headache struck him.

Kael clenched his teeth.

The sensation was horrible.

It felt as though something was reaching directly into his brain and slowly tearing pieces out of it. His body had also become frighteningly weak. Every ounce of strength seemed to have been drained away, leaving his muscles barely capable of responding to his commands.

"Fuck."

Kael tried to force himself free but nothing happened.

It felt as though every drop of energy and life force had been sucked from his body.

Then a voice suddenly echoed through the cavern.

"Impossible."

Kael froze.

"You..."

The voice sounded genuinely shocked.

"How did you wake up?"

Kael’s eyes narrowed as he tried to locate the source.

The voice wasn’t coming from any of the trapped Hunters.

He slowly raised his head.

Then he looked toward the ceiling.

The instant he saw what was there, Kael wished he hadn’t looked.

Something was attached to the ceiling.

At first glance, it resembled a gigantic brain.

But that comparison wasn’t enough.

The thing was enormous, several feet across, its grotesque mass spread across the stone ceiling like some biological growth that had infested the entire cavern. Thick, viscous liquid constantly oozed from its surface, dripping down in slow strands.

The mass pulsed.

Once.

Twice.

Like a gigantic heartbeat.

Kael’s stomach churned.

Countless pipe-like tentacles extended from the creature, spreading throughout the cave before connecting to the heads of every Hunter trapped inside the translucent cocoons.

The realization hit him immediately.

This thing was feeding on them.

Kael stared at the creature.

His brain seemed to ripple from the sight.

A strange pressure spread through his skull, and the longer he looked at the brain-like monster, the worse his headache became. It wasn’t simply disgust.

Something about looking at the creature itself was causing damage to his mind.

Kael’s expression twisted.

Then a system notification suddenly appeared before him.

[Full Body Scan Beginning.]

Kael’s vision flickered.

[Full Body Scan Completed.]

[Host has sustained Physical Damage.]

[Host has sustained Mental Damage.]

[Recovering Condition.]

A new window appeared.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify