Reawakened with a Dual Survival System in the Apocalypse.-Chapter 51: Unsettling Leech

"Do I fit what you are looking for, then? Since you haven’t killed me and all," Jayhan asked.

The Leech’s bizarre grin sent chills down Jayhan’s spine.

<<I am yet to figure that out. Only after I have scarred you will I know.>>

’Yeah, no thanks.’

"Kara! Do it!!!" he clamored.

The Leech was immediately alerted, turning around to check. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

As soon as it veered around, it caught Kara charging towards it.

Behind her, the other lizards were pursuing her, but unfortunately, they were slow in comparison.

<<Insect!>>

The Leech threw his fist forward, its size increasing with the distance.

Kara didn’t stop.

Infusing her blade with mana, she made a vertical slice, cutting the arm in two as she moved.

Once she had slivered it to a certain point, she took a sharp step to the side and pitched the sword like a dart.

Before the monster could respond, the blade went through its head, purple blood slopping everywhere.

<<NOOO! Not this body!!!>>

In a fit of despair, it released its hold on Jayhan.

Free, Jayhan made his move.

With his fist wrapped in flames, he gave a powerful yell, sending an assertive punch right through the monster’s chest.

Yet another spurt of purple blood streamed onto the forest ground.

<<NO! NO NO NO!!!>>

The monster pushed Jayhan away, dropping to the ground and creeping towards the bushes while hollering.

Not long after, Kara made her way toward Jayhan.

Trampling the monster’s head into the ground midway, the blade descended deeper into its head, splitting it open.

And then, she fell into Jayhan’s arms.

"Are you alright?" Jayhan rubbed her cheeks.

To which Kara nodded with a smile.

Acknowledging that she was not hurt during the fight, Jayhan turned his focus elsewhere.

The lizards that were once chasing Kara stood as a wall in front of the Leech’s body.

’They are protecting it.’

Of course, Jayhan didn’t care; he was still going to kill it.

Something about the monster itself was off.

Leaving it alive would definitely cause difficulties for him later on.

While embracing Kara with one hand, he held his dagger in the other.

But before he could move, he witnessed something play out in front of him.

One of the lizardmen had begun to devour the Leech’s head while the others stood guard.

It was nauseating, to say the least.

In a matter of seconds, the lizard had gobbled the Leech’s whole head, leaving only its dead body and muscleless arm behind.

After that, they sauntered away into the forest, paying no mind to the two humans present at the scene.

Kara and Jayhan goggled at the corpse for a while.

"If there are more monsters like that in this world, I think I’ll just stay in the cave instead."

Jayhan sighed at Kara’s words.

"Come on, let’s go."

...

It took them a while to make their way to the temple on the map.

Throughout, Jayhan couldn’t help but think about the Leech.

A disconcerting feeling that he was being observed and monitored.

He was constantly using his Radar skill to scan all around him, and it was then he realized his skill was of no use in a place with multiple monsters roaming about in every corner.

Finally reaching their destination, Jayhan and Kara stood in front of the temple.

"It’s bigger than I expected," said Kara.

Jayhan also agreed with that fact.

The temple was immense, having a prism-like structure with statues of all kinds mounted on different sides of the wall.

Its entrance was extravagant, with long stairs stretching miles up, all the way into the temple.

Even though it was encircled by trees and bushes, it still managed to stand out.

So much so that it could even be spotted from far away.

Seeing as no guards were standing outside, Jayhan presumed it was safe to go in.

They both walked up the stairs, taking slow, steady steps in order not to exhaust themselves.

The sounds of birds flying over their heads could be heard, set apart from the forlorn silence that washed over the forest.

Soon, they both stood before the entrance of the temple, gazing into the dark hall, untouched by the warm sun outside.

"You wait here; I’ll take a look first."

Jayhan freed his grip on her hand and took a couple of steps forward.

Although Kara had already planned to be the one to go before Jayhan suggested it.

Reaching inside the temple, he inspected the surroundings for a while.

It was empty—a grand hall with multiple pillars stretched far deeper into the building.

From where he stood, he could not see the end.

On both sides of the temple were different pathways leading to other rooms within the establishment, some of which would either lead to death or riches.

Standing still for a while, Jayhan darted toward the screen that popped up.

[The skill Game Log has been activated.]

[Past logs have been retrieved.]

[Game Log: A group of survivors made their way into the temple after escaping a monster attack. After seeing the two individuals approach the temple, they decided to hide, unsure of their intentions.]

Jayhan couldn’t help but wear an unimpressed look on his face.

’Hiding when you outnumber us is pretty sad.’

There was also the fact that people had found the temple before him.

Could they have already gathered all the artifacts?

Sighing, he raised both his hands.

"We mean no harm. We are also survivors, like you."

There were no responses.

Looking to the far right of the temple, he noticed a small pink fabric on the floor, directly behind one of the columns.

’Found one.’

He shifted his gaze higher, noticing a small glimpse of someone’s hair hidden behind a massive box.

’Doesn’t seem like they intend on showing themselves. That would normally not be an issue for me, but the truth is, if I want to survive this quest, just my group won’t suffice. I don’t plan on any of them dying. I need victims.’

Just as he wanted to speak—

In the blink of an eye, Kara dashed past him, moved toward the pillar, and in one motion, dragged the lady hiding by the arm.

The terrified look on the woman’s face as she noticed her feet were no longer touching the ground was evident.

"Babe, look. She was hiding in here the whole time, and there are more of them, too."

Kara announced with a smile on her face.

Not once did she look at the woman who was quivering with fear.

’Not how I wanted to handle it, but I guess this works too. If they are a group, the rest should come out soon.’

Almost on cue, one of the group members stood up from behind the giant box.

In his hand was a black pistol, aimed at Kara.

"L-Let her go."

Even though the boy was just as skittish, he still never lowered the gun.

Jayhan took caution of it.

’He looks like he is still 15 or so.’

Kara, on the other hand, gave the boy a hostile regard.

"Are you threatening me?"

Still holding the woman up, she concentrated on the boy.

"N-no, we don’t want any trouble..." Just let her go."

Kara glowered for a while, and then she grunted.

"The rest of you hiding are cowards, I hope you know this. Having a kid stand up for you while you hide like rats in front of a woman? Disgraceful," she spat.

"I know where you’re all hiding, and I promise you, if I don’t kill this girl, I’m definitely killing you cowards. You deserve every bit of pain I give you. Best believe I am not jo—"

Pa!

Jayhan struck her on the head with the side of his hand.

"Don’t make the issue worse."

Kara dropped the girl to the ground, using both her hands to cover where she was smacked while pouting.

Jayhan then knelt in front of the scared woman.

The woman was dressed in black office wear, her black tights already ripped from running too much.

Around her arm was a pink scarf, used to stop the bleeding on her right arm.

With a gentle voice, Jayhan spoke—

"Sorry, my partner scared you. I promise we are not here to harm any of you."

The office woman was too scared to say anything; instead, she stared at him, her lips quivering.

’I see, she must have had some bad experience with some people before I came here.’

Now, he pointed at her injured arm.

"Do you mind? I can make the pain go away."

Pinkscarf was hesitant, so she didn’t really give any response.

Jayhan was going to do it anyway.

He placed one hand on her leg, and then—

[You are currently using the Child of Flames.]

Purple flames burst out of his hands, engulfing the woman’s entire body.

Scared, Pinkscarf screamed, curling into a ball on the floor and crying.

"No! What did you do to her?!"

The boy yelled.

To which Jayhan replied,

"I simply healed her. Do you have any more injured?"