Daru was certain that there was something in there.

Yet, he still felt nothing as he gazed into the dark corridor — his heart was totally relaxed.

It was as though the ruined path was beckoning.

'Come…' it whispered directly to his mind, softly.

Daru took a deep breath.

To his bewilderment, the unease returned, and a sudden burst before fading again.

Slowly, until it disappeared completely.

Absolute relaxation.

Daru finally realized what was going on, forcefully tearing his gaze away, and carefully heading over to the huge rubble to the right.

He made sure to stay as quiet as possible.

What he initially felt didn't change, and he sincerely did not want to meet the spawn.

Strangely, his usual passion for combat was gone, snuffed out by the offbeat world.

Barely making it on time, Daru peered from behind the rubble.

The echoes of the footsteps grew louder and louder, and louder still, until finally, a ghastly figure emerged from the dark corridor.

As if explaining the strange, slow pace of its harrowing advance, the Swordspawn — a slim, bony horror of pale-white skin twitched and spasmed for a second, its head, wearing what was similar to a crown of thorns, jerked to the side, revealing its featureless face.

It only had a sewn mouth that struggled to break free but couldn't.

Its long arms that ended in two-pronged, sword-like hands, bent horrifyingly in unnatural angles with every twitch.

'Ahh…is this fear I'm feeling?' Daru wondered, briefly glancing at his trembling self before checking the Swordspawn's nameplate.

His brows curved upwards, and he eased slightly.

==

La Filosa, Whisperer of Lies Lv. 65

==

It was quite weird that there were no hitpoints beneath the ghastly spawn's name, but the level…

Daru thought it wouldn't be long before he could challenge it.

Unfortunately, he only had fifteen minutes for today, and the next time he returned, La Filosa probably wouldn't be as horrifying anymore.

But this didn't change the fact that Daru somehow didn't feel like fighting the ghastly spawn.

He felt like there was no pride, no honor to be gained, and no enjoyment to be had.

La Filosa just seemed…too vile for his tastes.

It was then that the swordspawn began to weep, and alarmingly, it suddenly began looking around.

Daru's heart began racing, and he tore his gaze away from La Filosa, who headed over to the other side of the massive lobby.

He focused on hiding while taking deep breaths as silently as he could.

The swordspawn appeared to be searching for something, or someone…

It stopped weeping the moment he retracted his gaze, but nothing else changed.

It continued scouring through the ruined lobby, sometimes flipping rubble over.

'Did it detect me? How?' he wondered, grasping his trembling hands, half-astonished at his body's state.

How could he be this terrified?

He had three lives.

At most, even if the swordspawn killed him, he would only lose one and would respawn back at the Sword Goddess Statue inside the safe confines of Agaron.

So…why?

Unfortunately, he didn't have the luxury to continue pondering the matter.

The echoes of the footsteps were getting louder and louder.

La Filosa was heading in his direction!

Daru's brows furrowed, perplexed at what was going on with his body.

This was the first time he found himself genuinely afraid of an opponent.

And he didn't know why.

To excel in combat, he had long comprehended that one must not only train one's body and abilities, but also one's mind and heart.

Only then would one be able to fight to the extent of one's abilities.

He understood this on a deep level, and yet, his body continued trembling, and he couldn't stop it no matter how many deep breaths he took and short focus rituals he performed.

Nonetheless, he wasn't completely frozen.

Daru, hearing that the footsteps were coming from the right, circled to the left of the rubble.

As slowly and quietly as he could.

The fear gripping his heart tightly helped him move the way he needed to — as silent as a thief in the night.

It wasn't too hard for him to avoid the ghastly spawn, given that she wasn't making an effort to hide where she was, though the sudden bursts of energy made Daru's heart stop occasionally.

He circled the rubble, creeping in the direction he needed to, all so he could avoid La Filosa.

Daru was succeeding quite easily.

Only, time was ticking. He only had fifteen minutes before the portal would close.

He had to leave the ruins soon…

It was unfortunate that, aside from acquiring a rough idea of what levels of swordspawns reside in the monochrome underworld, he got nothing else of value.

But this was fine.

The future was long, and he would eventually be able to return. He could feel it.

His sword had a connection with this place, and Onimaru Kunitsuna would inevitably bring him back here, one way or another.

For now, he should survive, the mental timer ticking on his head.

'When will this damned thing leave?' Daru couldn't help but inwardly curse, his already thin patience further thinning, allowing him to resist the fear somewhat.

At least for a short while.

Suddenly, La Filosa had yet another sudden burst of energy and enthusiasm, discernible through the sudden explosive increase in the pace of her steps.

She was now right behind him, circling his rubble.

'Hooh…' Daru took another silent deep breath — a desperate and fruitless attempt to calm the terror peaking within him. 'Damn it all, the portal…'

He was a few seconds past the ninth-minute mark, and he should be returning soon.

But things were still fine.

He could make it if he threw caution to the wind a bit and jogged back, though a little more time and he would have to sprint with reckless abandon, or he would have to stay in this god-forsaken place for the entirety of this life.

The priority for now was to focus on surviving the horror that was searching for him.

It was then that the footsteps suddenly stopped.

A moment, two, three…

The fear in Daru's heart only grew until he heard a raspy cackle from the other side of the rubble.

"Uy…There you are, ratito~"

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