Her black hair, which seemed even darker because of the sticky ichor, seemed to fall down in heavy waves. She walked towards the fallen beast without stumbling, clearly still in good enough shape, though Leonidas knew she was down a little Insenium, nothing that wouldn’t recover quickly.

Instead of just staring at her back, Leonidas decided to walk with her, and he, too, didn’t stumble. The mild headache he had gotten from Chicken Eye had already subsided, and his internal injuries from the poison were mostly healed, as well.

As for his right arm...skin had fully covered the stump, and there was no bandage wrapped around it. The sleeve of his coat fluttered wildly whenever he moved, since there was no support to hold it still.

Leonidas kneeled down beside Willow, who was expertly removing the hand-sized scales from the dead pilgrim’s body with an arm-length dagger.

A small pile had already formed, a dozen obsidian plates waiting to be used. But what was she going to use them on?

"There might still be more pilgrims nearby, you know. Who knows, it might already be stalking us."

Willow just shook her head at his question, not bothering to look at him, engrossed in her work.

"Why ask questions you already know the answer to? If there is another pilgrim nearby, we either kill it or we’ll run away, simple as that. Instead of making useless small talk, just ask what you want to ask, or go carve up the backside of this thing."

Was it that obvious? I seriously need to work on my facial expressions.

Leonidas thought with a sigh, then decided to indulge in his curiosity.

"Just wondering what you’re going to use those scales for?"

Willow stopped mid-carve and looked at Leonidas with a deadpan stare, "Seriously? It’s obviously for your clothes, you uneducated moron. Did you really think I would use those on my armor? The one that’s a dozen times better than those scales would ever be?"

"How touching...now if you don’t mind, I’m gonna go carve up its backside...where the meat is soft and tender..."

He made a disgusted face just imagining eating a monster’s ass. If not for survival’s sake, he would have never done something so desperate. He shivered once more and set out on crossing the multitude of legs without stepping on one.

Still it was better than eating its eye...that would be truly disgusting, he would rather prefer death than a fate that cruel.

Leonidas arrived at the backside a few moments later and unsheathed Blush. The pink blade came free with a beautiful harmony, and at that exact moment, Leonidas’s hair was ruffled by the wind. The haunting sound of a siren’s flute followed, flowing into his ears like warm butter would on a fresh piece of bread.

I hate that sound...nothing is more creepy, excluding the bell that is.

The Realm of Madness was, quite literally, full of all kinds of mad phenomena. A pinwheel for a sun, a melody replacing the sound of wind, occasional black rain that never touched you, obsidian clouds covering every inch of the sky. And, worth of all, the bell that rang every 24 hours, changing the rules of the realm itself.

Leonidas stared at the sun, which was one part red, while the rest pink. Every time the bell rang, the sun would change color, either back to fully pink—where nothing would attack—or one part red, the hostile zone.

Basically, the next time the bell rang, instead of becoming two parts red and the rest pink, the color will change back to completely pink, marking the arrival of the safe zone.

Leonidas shook his head and got to work. He stepped back and swung the sword at the tiny gaps between each scale. The blade struck true, sinking deep into the soft flesh of Chicken Eye’s backside.

A torrent of blood spewed with the force of an exploding geyser, nearly hitting Leonidas’ face first. Thankfully, he stepped aside and dodged with a clean spin.

With a single flick, Blush wrung free of all the filth that was staining her, but the gesture was entirely useless. He struck a different spot this time, and then three more times and three different locations.

Each move carved a deep line into the chitinous hide of the abomination and brought forth a sea of ichor. His final strike completed his carving, a near-perfect pentagon.

Leonidas smiled in satisfaction at his handiwork. Despite not having his main arm, he still got it. How amazing he was.

Now for the disgusting bit.

With clear hesitation, Leonidas pulled out a singular crimson glove from an inner pocket his coat, courtesy of Willow. He pulled them over his hand with slow movements, as if letting his fingers have one final breath before choking them with velvet.

Mind you, it was a near-impossible task to wear gloves with a single hand; thankfully, Leonidas wasn’t ordinary.

He walked closer to the corpse, sword already sheathed. The wind was still bellowing wildly, and the haunting sound of the flute never ceased. Whoever blew it must have had some pretty powerful lungs. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

The crimson fabric of the glove came into contact with the obsidian mantle of the pilgrim. It felt like cool metal, firm and unbendable. Then it slid slightly, moving into the cut like a parasite.

He had to somehow pull out the piece he had carved without ruining it, and manually pulling it out was his best bet. Willow had done the same with the last pilgrim they had fought, so it was only natural that he did it this time.

His hand moved inside the warm body, blood seeping through the fabric. Leonidas carved his fingers into the best hold he could find, then pulled.

Nothing happened at first, but then slowly, the chunk of meat started sliding. It was unusually heavy, but maybe the muscles were just dense?

Without much thought, Leonidas applied a little more force, careful not to damage the piece...or himself. The piece he had carved out was larger than him after all.

Thuck—!

The slab fell onto the ground with a loud "thud", while Leonidas just stared at his blood-soaked hand. He was definitely going to get Willow to clean it.

Just as he was about to move, something else slipped from inside the hole...a shimmering circle of light, almost the same size as the piece of meat he had pulled.

Wait a minute...

Upon a close look, it wasn’t a ball of white light.

What in the good name of God...

"Ah Willow...we might have a slight problem here."

It was a barrier holding two humans within it...

A/N: Illustrations of Leonidas’s newest look and Chicken Eye on discord. Link is in synopsis