Although Leon and Emeric let Red lead the way, their fidgeting steps and anxious gazes displayed their anxiousness, as if another demon would spring up on them at any moment. A few minutes later, their worries were proven right.

“Wait.”

Red held his hand up and called for a stop. His companions froze in their steps and looked at him with concern.

“What is it?” Leon asked, grabbing the spiritual flute from his waist.

Red pointed at a spot on the wall ahead of them.

“There’s a trap ahead.”

“A trap?!” Emeric jumped in fright. “More of those snakes?!”

“Be quiet!” Leon glared at him.

“A-Ah… Right.”

After admonishing his companion, Leon squinted and stared at the spot Red pointed out.

“I can’t see anything,” He frowned. “Is it more of those demons?”

“No,” Red shook his head. “It’s a formation, another one of those traps that expert drew in the body of that snake demon.”

“Really?” Leon seemed surprised. “How can you tell?”

“I can see in the dark better than other cultivators, and I can tell that someone made an attempt to cover their tracks there. Unfortunately, it seems like they were in a hurry, so their disguise is sloppy.”

“Should we find a different path, then?”

“No need. Just step back and let me handle it.”

Leon and Emeric exchanged glances, but they didn’t hesitate to step out of Red’s way. His abilities seemed to have earned him the trust of his companions, which made things easier for him.

He walked forward, focusing on the disguised formation drawn on the wall. A normal person, or even an average cultivator, would only notice the grime and muck covering that spot of the stone surface. Yet, in the small areas where the dirt failed to cover, Red could see textures and colors that did not fit with the damp environment of the sewers. After he compared this image with the formation he saw earlier, it became simple to figure out a trap awaited them.

Red, however, kept approaching it with no hesitation. Behind him, he heard Emeric speak.

“Hey, isn’t he going to activate the formation if he approaches it like that?”

“You think he doesn’t know that? If he’s approaching it, then he has a plan.”

Leon was correct that he had a plan, though it wasn’t as complex as they might have been thinking.

Red regulated his breath and kept approaching until he was right next to the formation. The trap didn’t activate.

From up close, he could discern the design properly. It was dangerous to swipe the dirt to get a better look at the formation, but the mere glimpses Red could catch from it were enough. He compared it with the formation from earlier, as well as the hundreds of runes he memorized in the past, and the image and purpose of the formation quickly came to him.

‘Exploding formation.’

A variation of it, at the very least. The lines were drawn with fire infused paint, so there was no need for supplementary materials and the formation worked with bare minimum effort. That being said, its effectiveness was also limited, and the explosion would not be enough to kill a Lesser Ring Realm cultivator.

Red pointed at a spot in the formation. A small blade of wind shot out from his finger and struck the wall, causing some rock splinters and a small spark to appear. The formation glowed from a moment before falling silent again.

He turned around and looked at his companions.

“It’s done.”

They stared at him in disbelief.

“Just like that?” Emeric asked.

“There’s nothing difficult about disabling such a simple formation.” Red said.

The young noble still seemed somewhat skeptical, but Leon was already walking ahead. After seeing nothing else happen, Emeric followed behind his friend.

“Why didn’t the formation activate when you approached it?” Leon asked with a surprised expression.

“It detects people based on their presence,” Red said. “If you are able to hide your presence and minimize your Spiritual Energy emission, then it’s a simple matter to pass by it undetected.”

This was something he learned how to do before opening his Spiritual Sea. The Tranquil Beak Weapon art that Domeron taught him was an assassination technique, and it could only work when someone could hide their presence and intention. However, the applications of this technique went far beyond just assassination, as Red had just shown.

Leon gave him an odd look and smiled.

“You make it sound simple, but I’ve never seen a cultivator do something like that without the assistance of a Spiritual Art.”

Red shrugged.

“We all have different skills.”

“Right,” Leon nodded and looked over at the formation. “Could you tell what the formation was?”

“It’s an exploding formation. Too weak to cause damage to us, but it might have caused this tunnel to cave in if it went off.”

“So they’re trying to delay us,” Emeric frowned. “Still, finding formations like these means that we are on the right track! They’re getting desperate to stop us.”

“Whatever the case, we are still a step behind, and there’s no telling if we can stop them in time,” Leon looked at Red. “I assume these traps won’t be a problem for you?”

“If they’re all as clumsy as this one, then no,” He said.

“Good. Then let’s be on our way.”

They restarted their journey, and it didn’t take long for Red’s skills to be tested again. It wasn’t just once either, but multiple times.

Unfortunately for the demonic expert, his rushed work wasn’t enough to even give him pause. No matter the type of formation or camouflage, he could see through and deactivate them with little effort and all attempts to slow the group down ended in failure. Perhaps if their opponent had more time to set up these traps, it would have been much more troublesome for Red, but their actions were rushed and desperate. They were far from enough to trick a formation expert as skilled and attentive as him.

Instead, these attempts at slowing them down only served as confirmation they were on the right path. Soon enough, the environment of the sewer seemed to undergo a gradual change.

“Ugh, what’s this smell?” Emeric held his hand up to block his nose.

Red was also having a hard time breathing in. The smells of the tunnels were unpleasant already, but as they moved forward, a more pungent and powerful odor was brought with the wind, violating their senses. It overwhelmed even the foul stench of the sewers and was enough to give the three Lesser Ring Realm cultivators pause.

“We can’t breathe this in.” Red said.

He wasn’t sure if this odor was toxic, but he knew that nothing good would come out of filling their lungs with this air.

“Stay close.” Leon said and pulled out his flute.

He blew a couple of long and melodious notes through the instrument, and a bright white aura expanded from the artifact. It surrounded the group, and an earthy and natural smell replaced the strange stench.

“Thank gods.” Emeric let go of his nose in relief.

Red, however, stared at Leon with a frown.

“How long can you keep this barrier up?”

“Half an hour at most,” Leon said as he lowered the flute. “And that’s if I don’t use my energy for anything else. I have some pills to help me, but…”

He didn’t sound confident.

“That should be fine, right?” Emeric asked with some worry. “I mean, this smell means we’re probably getting close to… something.”

There was a grave silence as he said this.

“Just focus on keeping the barrier up.” Red said. “This odor is bound to get stronger as we move forward.”

Leon nodded with a serious expression and tightened his grip around the flute. The artifact continued to glow, absorbing its wielder’s energy to keep the barrier functioning.

They continued to walk forward. Soon they could see strands of green mist in the surrounding air, similar to those from the exploding snakeman from earlier, though Leon’s barrier kept them from touching the group. It wasn’t just the air that changed, though, as the tunnel also seemed to change as they walked into this toxic domain.

The water moving through the sewer turned dark green, becoming more viscous as its flow slowed down. The stone walls seemed to have lost their texture, corroded by the air, and even the ground the group threaded on gradually lost its consistency. Soon enough, it was as if they were walking on dirt, and the soles of their shoes start to deteriorate from the contact with the corroded surface.

“Cover your feet with Spiritual Energy.” Leon said. “My barrier can’t protect us from solid matter.”

Red and Emeric did as much, though the situation continued to worsen as they walked ahead. Soon enough, Leon wore a strained expression as the toxic fumes grew denser and the energy expenditure to keep the barrier up increased. Upon recognizing the severity of the situation, he pulled a white pill out of his pouch and swallowed it. This seemed to alleviate his struggle somewhat, but his expression was still troubled.

“I don’t know how long I can keep this up,” He shook his head. “If it comes down to a fight, I don’t know if I’ll be of any help.”

Red frowned at this. He could use his wind Spiritual Energy to clear the surrounding area in a pinch, but that wouldn’t stop the incessant stream of toxic fumes and it wouldn’t be nearly as effective as Leon’s barrier. Overall, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself safe for long without the barrier’s help, and he wasn’t sure any of his talismans would help him either.

“Can you expand the barrier if we get into a fight?” He asked.

“I can,” Leon nodded. “But that will cause me to spend more Spiritual Energy.”

“Just keep us informed about how long you can last and be ready to expand the barrier when we start a fight,” Red looked over at Emeric. “We can’t entertain the thought of a lengthy confrontation under these conditions, so we’ll need to finish any combat as quickly as we can. Can you still use that same technique you used against the snakes?”

“I can use it again, but it’s a Spiritual Art where I pour out almost all the Fire Spiritual Energy in my body. It’s a last resort, if I can help it,” Emeric said. “Besides, it’s not like I can differentiate between friend and enemy when I use it.”

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“Ugh, I mean… I can use it again, but you guys will probably need to carry me on your back when we are leaving.”

“That’s fine,” Red nodded. “Just be ready to use it when the time comes. I don’t know what we will find up ahead, but I’m certain that if we don’t coordinate our efforts properly, all of us will die here. Since that’s not something I would like to do, the only way we’ll go forward is if the two of you stick to the plan and follow my lead. Do you understand that?”

Red wasn’t used to ordering others around, and neither did he want to. He would rather rely on his own skills, but he wasn’t arrogant to the point of thinking he could deal with this situation all by himself. Since his survival and success in the mission depended on their cooperation, then he needed to be certain they would all stick to the plan, or else he would rather turn back and escape while he still could.

It was clear his sudden ultimatum left Leon and Emeric taken aback. Leon was the first to recover his composure and nod with conviction.

“I didn’t expect to have to rely on you to spearhead our operation, master Viran,” He said with some regret. “I won’t try to dissuade you at this point, so I can only promise you that we will follow your lead.”

“Hey, I can still fight, you know?” Emeric interjected.

“And you will follow master Viran’s lead in combat, right?”

“Uh, I mean… I suppose that’s the smart thing to do.”

Leon turned back to Red.

“You do not need to worry about the toxic fumes. As long as I have any energy remaining, they won’t touch any of us.”

Red nodded, and they resumed their journey.

At this point, they couldn’t see too far ahead because of the thick toxic fog blocking their view. Red, however, wasn’t worried about any more traps, considering it would be almost impossible to draw anything on the corroded rock surfaces.

It didn’t take too long for his crimson sense to pick up some fluctuations. However, he immediately noticed something strange and froze in his steps.

“Is there a problem, master Viran?” Leon asked as he notice his sudden pause.

“We’re getting near,” Red said. “They should be right up ahead.”

Emeric looked at him in surprise.

“How can you-?”

“Are they waiting for us?” Leon asked, cutting his companion off.

“No, but… There’s something strange going on, that’s all I can feel.”

More specifically, there was something strange with his crimson sense. He felt dozens of fluctuations up ahead, yet they seemed to be constantly changing in intensity, being extremely faint at one time before suddenly flaring with power at the other. It was the first time he had ever come across such a situation and it felt as if his crimson sense was unable to parse through this information.

This made it impossible for Red to assess the level of danger waiting for them up ahead.

‘It’s like they’re constantly transferring life force between each other…’

“Let’s move on,” He said. “Be careful.”

Soon enough, the tunnel they were walking on changed. The passage widened, much like the caves Red was used to, and the path opened up into an enormous cavern that seemed to have been carved out by the corroding toxins. The space was wide enough that their view was no longer blocked by the green mist, and this gave them a glimpse of many other openings along the perimeter of the chamber - other tunnels that ultimately led to this place. Waterfalls of viscous, green liquid poured out of these tunnels, pooling towards the bottom of this cavernous chamber alongside a curtain of toxic fumes that settled down and made it impossible for one to tell how far the ground was.

Yet, at the center of the chamber, the shadow of an enormous shape peaked out above the mist. Only its round tip was in full view, and it took a few seconds for Red to recognize what this shape was.

Emeric pointed a trembling finger at it.

“Is that… an egg?!”