BXBX NOVEL Chapter 42: The castle
A soft chime rang in his mind.
**DING!**
**[Host has acquired the Realm\'s Key]**
His tired eyes focused on the red notification window that blinked to life before him, illuminating the darkened space around him with a faint glow.
**[Realm\'s Key: Allows instant exit from the realm. All rewards will be lost, and the evolution quest will be canceled. No improvements to stats.]**
Silas blinked at the message. An exit, right here in front of him. He could leave this hellish place behind. His tired muscles screamed for him to take the offer, to use the key and be done with it. But as he read the last line of the message again, a sharp pang of regret struck him. If he left, all his efforts would be for nothing.
"An instant exit… just like that?" he muttered under his breath, his voice barely more than a rasp. "But no rewards, no evolution."
His hand hovered in the air, fingers twitching as if to select the key and leave this nightmare behind. He had been fighting mutants, one after another, since the moment he had arrived in this forsaken realm. His soul points were running dangerously low. Each time he used his abilities, his life force drained further, and he hadn\'t even reached the final challenge: the god of the realm.
The threat of death hung over him like a sword, yet his ambition tugged at him. To leave now would be to throw away everything he had worked for.
Silas clenched his fists, his knuckles turning white. "I can\'t… I won\'t turn back now." His voice was steady, though laced with exhaustion. "If I quit, then everything I\'ve done so far will have been in vain."
Determination blazed in his eyes as he swiped the screen away, dismissing the notification. He would see this through to the end. He had no choice now.
His gaze shifted to the massive corpse lying at his feet. The Crazed Chimptant King had been a fearsome foe, but now it was nothing more than a valuable carcass. Silas knelt beside the body, his mind quickly calculating the worth of the creature\'s parts. A Grade 4 mutant was rare, and its remains would fetch a hefty price in the black market.
"I can\'t just leave all of this behind," he murmured to himself. "This much could set me up for a long time."
With practiced precision, he pulled out a small, wickedly sharp blade and began carving away at the Chimptant King\'s body. First, he sliced through the thick hide, peeling back layers of fur and muscle to reach the valuable components beneath. He removed the claws—each one as long as his forearm—and carefully stowed them in his pouch.
Next came the teeth, sharp and jagged, perfect for crafting weapons or talismans. He worked quickly, his hands steady despite his fatigue, slicing away parts of the creature with clinical efficiency. The glowing eyes, still faintly lit with the last remnants of the mutant\'s life force, were the last to go. He placed them gently in his pouch alongside the other parts.
Once he had finished with the Chimptant King, Silas moved to the bodies of the Grade 2 Crazed Chimptants that littered the area. Their parts weren\'t as valuable, but every bit helped. He swiftly gathered their fangs and claws, stuffing them into his pouch before finally rising to his feet, his collection complete.
The forest around him was still. The oppressive atmosphere that had weighed on him since his arrival remained, but something was different now. As he made his way through the thick underbrush, hacking away at the branches and vines that blocked his path, a strange sense of calm settled over the area.
After walking for what felt like hours, Silas began to notice something unusual.
"I haven\'t seen a single mutant since the fight with the Chimptant King," he muttered to himself, his grip tightening on his scythe. His instincts screamed that something was off. The forest had been crawling with mutants before, yet now it was eerily quiet. It was as though the entire realm had gone into hiding.
He pressed on, moving forward with a growing sense of unease. The trees began to thin as he continued, the dense canopy of leaves giving way to open sky. And then, in the distance, he saw it.
A castle.
The structure loomed ahead of him, dark and foreboding. Its stone walls were ancient, covered in creeping vines and moss, but the energy that radiated from it was undeniable. Silas could feel it even from this distance—a powerful force, pulsing through the air like a living thing.
"That must be the god\'s residence," he muttered, wiping the sweat from his brow with a trembling hand. His eyes flicked to the countdown in his system. Less than three hours remained.
"Time to end this," he whispered, though the words felt hollow in his mouth. His heart was pounding in his chest, his hands shaking as he gripped his scythe tighter. The castle loomed larger with every step, its dark silhouette framed against the dying light of the realm\'s sky.
As he drew closer to the entrance, something on the ground caught his eye—bodies. Mutants, scattered across the path, their corpses mangled and broken. Dark purple blood soaked the ground beneath them, a thick, viscous fluid that pooled in the cracks of the stone. The sight made Silas\'s stomach churn.
"What… the hell happened here?" he muttered, stepping over the lifeless bodies. Each one was mutilated beyond recognition, their flesh torn open, their bones shattered. Some had been dead for hours, their bodies stiff with rigor mortis. Others were fresher, their blood still seeping from open wounds.
Silas pressed on, his mind racing as he made his way through the carnage. The castle doors were wide open, a gaping maw that seemed to swallow the light. Silas hesitated for only a moment before stepping inside.
The air inside the castle was thick, almost suffocating. The stench of blood and decay was overwhelming, filling Silas\'s lungs with every breath. More bodies littered the floor, scattered haphazardly across the stone. Mutants of all shapes and sizes, each one slaughtered in a gruesome display of violence.
"This is… worse than I thought," Silas whispered, his voice barely audible over the deafening silence that filled the castle. His gaze darted around the room as he stepped forward, his scythe raised and ready. Every step echoed in the cavernous hall, the sound bouncing off the cold stone walls.
At the far end of the hall, a massive staircase led upward, spiraling into the upper levels of the castle. Silas climbed, his heart racing with every step. When he reached the top, he found himself in a vast, open room—one that could only be the throne room.
His eyes fell on the large, imposing throne at the far end of the room. For a moment, everything was still. Then, movement behind the throne caught his attention.
Silas froze.
Behind the throne, a massive figure hunched over, its face buried in the flesh of another mutant. Blood dripped from its fangs as it fed, the sound of bones cracking and flesh tearing filling the otherwise silent hall.
Silas\'s breath caught in his throat. His mind raced as he pieced together what had happened. The dead mutants outside, the empty forest, the bodies littering the castle—it was all because of this creature.
"It… killed them all?" he whispered, his voice trembling. Why is a mutant feeding from its fellow mutant? Wait...the system informed me that once the evolution quest is completed I\'ll evolve into a Soul Devourer mutant...a mutant that feeds on other mutant to get stronger.."
"This particular mutant has fed from all its comrades, does it mean its a Soul Devourer type mutant and as it feeds on them it gets stronger? That\'s definitely it...this is the god of the realm!" Silas\'s eyes widened in fear upon realization.
He saw at least a hundred dead mutants outside, and if the mutant fed from all of them it meant that each one increased its strength...
"This is bad." Silas swallowed hard. "Kill a Soul Devourer mutant to become a Soul Devourer mutant..do I even stand a chance with my current stats?"
Standing there with his thoughts, part of Silas was now regretting not using the Realm\'s Key to escape. But it was already too late. He was now in the god\'s territory and it would only end when he\'s dead or victorious.
"Only 47 Soul points left...if I get injured at least three times it\'s over. I have to give it my best shot." Silas readied his fighting stance as he waited for the mutant to finish up with its dinner and notice his presence.
The creature slowly rose to its feet, turning to face Silas. The sheer size of it took his breath away. It was massive, its body covered in thick, dark scales that glistened with blood. Its eyes, glowing a deep crimson, locked onto Silas with a hunger that made his blood run cold.