"What the hell is that?" Lee looked up in half-horror, and half-disgust. He had never seen something like this.
"Is that… a centipede? What are those arms?" Kim couldn't help but ask.
"How are you guys seeing anything? This goddamn haze won't let me see much," Park said.
"Are those… dragon scales? Those look just like the thing that damn Aaron grows when he fights, doesn't it?" Bak asked while remaining inside of his barrier.
"Those are indeed Dragon scales," Ning said. "That's a Dragonborn Centipede, which is only capable of appearing in places where a dragon has bled. Be careful now, this is a Dragon's dungeon."
While the others looked scared and confused, Ning remembered back to the fond memory of being around the dragon that called him a 'worm'. He wondered if this dragon was anything like her.
Since they were both dragons that used mana, they had to be at least similar in some ways.
"How the hell do you know that?" Lee asked from the side.
"I can tell you either about the centipede or about how I have the knowledge I do. Choose one," Ning said.
The 5 Apostles grumbled, and some muttered a few words, one of which was 'system'.
"Tell us about the centipede," Soo-Yun said while floating atop the water and looking at the centipede.
"Dragons never stop growing," Ning said. "They are in some ways immortal creatures, and as such as long as they are alive, they continue getting bigger. The same is true for any creature that has dragon blood in it."
"Only difference is, the creature will only have a limited lifespan and will have no control over its own size, which dragons can freely manipulate."
The Apostles looked confused.
"What the hell does that have to do with the current situation?" Kim asked with a bit of anger in her voice.
"What I'm trying to say is, a dragon-blooded beast's strength can be judged by its size," Ning said. "Judging as such, the centipede is a high SS-ranked beast for certain. You will have to be ready for it."
The people suddenly grew tense and looked at the beast that rose high in the air.
"Don't move just yet," Ning said. "It lacks proper vision, and can only identify moving objects. Since we are mostly motionless at the moment, it can't see us. But, the moment we start moving, it will attack."
"Then let's attack it," Lee said.
"We should, but there is something else you need to know, which thinking about now, I should have led with this information," Ning said.
"What information?" Soo-Yun asked.
"That centipede, it's poisonous. With dragon blood in it, its poison generation is so high that it can't keep it contained. More than likely, you will find its entire face clad in poison," Ning said.
"I see," Bak said. "Then let me begin with my magic."
"AND… " Ning continued, stopping Bak in his tracks. "Since the beast continues to secrete poison even while sleeping, the place it stays in is usually poisonous as well."
The Apostles grew tense as they looked below them at the swamp that was there from the moment they had arrived.
"It's poisonous?" they asked.
"Yes," Ning said. "And you might want to know that it is not just the water in the swamp that is poisonous, but also the water that evaporates from it and condenses in the air."
"What are you…" The others got suspicious of his line of information.
"It's a slow-acting poison though, and it won't affect you if you have either a strong body or a dense amount of mana in your body."
"However, if you do have a body that is neither strong nor full of mana, you will start seeing the symptoms," Ning said. "Your body will itch, your scalp will tingle, and… " he turned towards Park. "Your vision will get cloudier by the second, making you think this haze is only growing thicker by the second."
The 4 Apostles suddenly moved their eyes to look at Park as well whose eyes moved around, but due to how cloudy it looked for him, he could barely see anything.
"No way…" Park said. "Am I… going blind?"
The others waited for Ning to answer.
"Not really," Ning said. "Just have someone use a cleansing spell on you. As long as it is a high-tier spell, or used multiple times, the poison will be purged from your body."
"In fact, let me do it right now," Ning said and moved his arms. The moment his arm moved, the centipede did too. It saw the motion and came to attack.
However, Ning didn't dodge or do anything. A spell circle grew in front of his arm as a radiant yellow light fell on Park, healing him instantly.
The centipede's massive, purple-colored face showed itself as it barely its fangs at Ning.
The beast crashed onto Ning, sending shockwaves through the water and air, pushing all but Bak, who was inside a barrier, away.
The skeleton orc fell, but it was large enough that Kim didn't fall onto the water. Soo-Yun simply floated behind, and Lee's body was strong enough to fight off the little poison in him for now.
Bak managed to catch Park in another barrier before he was pushed away too far.
They all quickly turned to look at Ning to see his situation. Lee was even hoping to see him hurt.
However, they saw a person who stopped the massive beast with a single arm.
"I've wasted too much time, explaining about a single beast, haven't I?" Ning asked. "My apologies. I usually can't keep track of time as well without help from someone else."
He turned around towards the centipede and used some sort of power. As the group watched, the centipede grew bigger and bigger, until it was so big that it died and then started rotting.
The centipede's body fell onto the ground, with its mana stone being the only thing that remained.
Ning picked up the stone and looked ahead. A smile formed on his face.
"The Dragon is waiting for us."
