The insectoid's glowing eyes flared with renewed intensity at his confession. Red guessed this was what passed for an emotional reaction for the creatures. The boy couldn't tell the kind of emotion it represented at the moment, though.

Then silence reigned.

The being didn't immediately fly into a rage like the youth was expecting. It remained still examining the human. Red didn't avert his gaze either. They both waited, trying to look through their adversary's emotionless masks. At one point, though, the wordless confrontation was interrupted by a buzzing noise.

Another creature by the leader's side said something. It sounded eager. The insectoid finally broke eye contact and replied with incomprehensible words of his own. At that, though, a ripple seemed to pass through the other monsters, and one by one they turned to look at Red.

The youth felt the pressure around him increase, but he still couldn't tell whether there was killing intent behind their gazes. A few of them said something to their leader and the group started an energetic discussion. There were different intonations here and there, displaying a change in emotion that the boy was not able to place all the time, but he could gather they were talking about a serious topic from the intensity of the conversation.

It seemed to be pressing enough that it went on for almost a minute. The main-insectoid barely said anything during this whole time, but it was with his own commanding words that the debate came to a stop. The other monsters didn't say a word further and all turned back to stare at the human.

The leader, whose eyes hadn't left Red's figure the whole time, started to mouth some words again.

"Weak..." He understood the first word, but the creature continued. "Liar."

They thought he was lying about killing their companion because he was too weak to do it. It was a fair assessment - the boy was indeed lying about killing the insectoid himself, but he had definitely played a part in its death. What interested him, though, was that the monsters seemed to lack much in the way of concern for the safety of their brother. Perhaps they didn't feel emotion the same way humans did, but it was too early for Red to come to that conclusion.

"You're right, I had help." He replied. "But your brother is dead... I saw him die."

At that, the leader exchanged a few buzzes with the other insectoids, before looking at the human again. It raised its claws, and Red instantly flinched thinking he was about to be struck by a bolt of energy. However, the blow didn't come. Instead, the creature brought one of its sharp fingers up before pointing at its triangular head. More specifically, it tapped a few times at the space between its six eyes, the center of its forehead.

It didn't take much thinking for the boy to figure out what the insectoid was referring to. It was asking about the stone he had gotten from their companion's brain. Yet, he hesitated. He knew there was little to no chance of him making it through this if any kind of fight started, but the gem was still his absolute last line of defense. However, since the youth had come this far in communicating with them, there was no point in hesitating any longer. He would give up ten of these things if it meant he could get away with his life.

He fumbled around his cloth pouch while the insectoids watched in anticipation. Then, he grabbed the strange glowing stone and lifted it up, showing the object to the creatures. Their reaction was almost immediate.

The monsters' eyes flickered in unison and Red saw the Spiritual Energy within their bodies moving outside. Green light gathered in the insectoids' claws as if they were set to strike. However, they didn't move forward. Instead, all of them took a few steps back and raised their guard. Only the leader seemed to maintain his composure, but even then the youth could see its exposed muscle tightening, ready to move.

This attitude they displayed was the first one Red could clearly recognize since he met the creatures. Fear. The boy thought that this might have been an effect of the crimson aura. Yet its distinctive appearance was nowhere to be seen and its effects had worked through the thin clothing before, so there was no reason the monsters would only react when they saw it directly.

No, this wasn't because of the effects of the stone. It was due to the red lines that spread through its surface.

Red recalled how Viran had told him these streaks weren't normal, and if anything strange happened with the item that he should throw it away. However, this same weird phenomenon the man had been referring to was the very thing that saved his life, so the youth would never willingly part with such a useful item. It seemed from the monsters' reaction that there was indeed something unusual with the stone.

He considered threatening them, but most of them seemed to have recovered from the shock and still had Spiritual Energy flowing through their claws. Their fear must have been a reflex. If the crystal was actually activated, then Red would think about risking it, but he wasn't too confident in this kind of bluff.

"What is this stone?" The boy chose to ask instead.

His words were completely ignored. Another bout of discussions began within the insectoid group, while they watched the human - or rather, the stone in his hand. This time the debate was far more vigorous. Were they afraid? Concerned? The youth couldn't exactly tell but he guessed the creatures were discussing what they should do next. None of them stepped forward to take the object from him. The mere fact that they didn't immediately attack Red was already a great victory in his book and gave him some hope.

However, the discussion didn't have any signs of stopping. Their buzzing voices got louder and the boy was able to tell some of the monsters were getting angered. The situation seemed to be far more complicated than he could have guessed, but at this point, he had no choice but to wait for them to be done.

Just as Red thought that the beings were about to come to blows, the leader of the group interrupted the discussion with a shriek that the boy found familiar. Immediately the argument stopped, and all the creatures looked at their companion, waiting for his orders.

The monster's attention shifted from the stone to the human, and Red took the opportunity to ask the same question.

"What is this?"

The insectoid deliberated for a few seconds before pointing at itself.

"Power."

'So it's connected to their abilities?'

It was the conclusion the boy came to. It was likely each and every one of them had a similar stone in their head, but he knew that it would be impossible to get any kind of specific information with the creature's limited vocabulary.

"And these red lines?" He pointed at the streaks, which he thought to be the cause of their fear. "What are they?"

This time the insectoid took longer to respond.

"Danger..." It continued. "Disease."

Red had already figured out the lines were dangerous from the creature's reaction, but it was the other word that disturbed him. Did they mean to say these red lines were some sign of an infectious illness? It would explain why they looked so afraid of the stone. However, when Red thought about it, the same insectoid that was originally carrying the tainted crystal in its own head didn't seem any different from the ones standing in front of him.

'No, that's not right.'

What was it doing in that part of the mine in the first place? Why had it chosen to attack the slaves? What could it possibly gain in that part of the mine, which was scarce on moonstones to consume for power or giant insects to consume as food? However, Red knew that this wasn't the most important part.

Didn't he directly inject the power of the crimson crystal into his spiritual veins? If it was really some form of virus, what kind of effects would it have on him now?

"W-what do you mean by disease?" The boy asked, his voice trembling from exhaustion. "What does it do?"

"...Spread." It responded in its buzzing noises. "...Transform. Control. Recover."

The youth felt a shiver run up his spine. This explained the insectoid's erratic behavior, while it also raised other questions - but none which Red felt compelled to ask right now. Knowing that this crimson line could have entered into his body and been changing him from the inside, suddenly death didn't feel like the biggest of his concerns.

"Am I infected?" He asked bluntly, seeing no point in dancing around with his words anymore.

"...Unsure. Early." The creature responded and pointed at him. "...Human. Weak."

The boy knew it was trying to display its uncertainty. None of this was comforting, though. He preferred a definitive answer, even if it was a confirmation. The uncertainty would eat him from the inside. He knew that.

However, this also meant he had no reason to give up hope yet. The insectoid's cooperative behavior didn't go unnoticed by him and an idea gradually formed in his head.

"I can take the stone away," Red said between heavy breaths. "To the surface."

The leader didn't seem surprised by his suggestion. It was likely that this was what they were arguing about in the first place.

The arguments the creatures had, the willingness to talk to this weak and wounded human. It all started to make sense in his mind.

They were afraid and didn't know what to do.

Or perhaps, they did know what to do, but some of them weren't willing to do it.

Red wasn't aware of how this crimson virus could infect other living beings. However, if it was as dangerous as the leader made it sound then it was reasonable that they didn't want to interact with it. Destroying it might not work, or else they would not be hesitating so much. Perhaps they needed to contain it at risk of infection to themselves. It didn't matter.

What did matter was that a handful of them were not eager to put their own life on the line. Not when a far better solution was in front of them.

The leader looked around at its subordinates. They met its gaze, but none of them said anything. Right at this moment, everything hinged on the insectoid's decision. The group was most likely divided into those who wanted to do as they were told - take the crystal and kill the infected — and those who didn't want to risk their lives for this — letting the still sane human take the stone to the surface. Red didn't know with which of them this insectoid stood.

Eventually, its gaze came to rest on him again.

"...Why. Escape."

The boy was taken aback by the sudden question. For the first time, the creature was asking him about something personal rather than the problem at hand. He had never told the monster what his goals were, but it was still able to guess it. It was not something difficult to figure out considering his route, but the fact the insectoid was giving thought to this took the youth by surprise.

The answer, however, was never profound.

"...I want to see what it looks like."

It was as simple as that. He had no deep reasons, no grand quests he wanted to undergo. He was curious to see the sights he had heard so much about and that curiosity was what made him partake in this journey with no return. It was what drove him forward, through bruises and cuts, through monsters he didn't have any hope of winning against. Even if he was forced to do it by circumstance, it did not matter. Red knew that one day he would have traced the same steps, undergone the same risks, and maybe still failed in the end.

It was just what he wanted to do, and any struggle going through it would be worth it in the end.

It was the insectoid's turn to be taken aback.

"...Surface. Danger." It responded after a long time. "Pain."

Red shook his head.

"...I am already in pain."

Whatever awaited him there, the boy doubted it could be any worse than the underground.

At that, the insectoid didn't respond. It looked around at its companions and said something in its buzzing voice. It was immediately met by loud noises of protest in return, but they were swiftly cut short by an authoritative shriek.

The creatures started to move back towards the walls of the passage. Some of them hesitated, but eventually, they all stepped out of the way.

Red looked at the insectoid's leader.

"...Go." The monster said. "No. Return."

The boy looked ahead, further up the tunnel.

The path forward was finally clear.