Chapter 131: Blood Gallery
They continued forward, leaving the wax room behind, and their boots made wet squelching sounds as wax released its grip with each step.
The corridor beyond opened into another large space, and this one was immediately worse.
Blood covered everything.
Floor, walls, and even parts of the ceiling were all coated in dried blood that had turned brown and crusty with age. The smell hit them hard, a combination of iron and rot that made stomachs turn and threatened to trigger gag reflexes.
Dozens of mannequins stood positioned across the space like actors on a stage frozen mid-performance. They wore elaborate costumes of dressed clothing, fancy dresses, and formal suits, which would look beautiful.
But everything was soaked in that same dried blood, the fabric stiff and dark with it.
At the center of the room was a mannequin in royal robes standing with arms outstretched in a dramatic gesture. Others were positioned around it in poses of submission or terror, they were subjects before a mad king.
Behind them all, a large pair of stairs descended to the next level.
Scáth laughed, but the sound carried an edge of genuine disturbance. "We’re doing bloody mannequins this time?"
Roana frowned deeply, her golden eyes showing revulsion. "This isn’t funny. What a crazy person."
The mannequins’ heads turned.
The motion was mechanical, wood creaking as joints rotated further than natural anatomy should allow. Every head swiveled toward the intruders simultaneously, the synchronized movement making it clear they were all controlled.
Then their bodies turned too, torsos rotating with that same creaking sound. Hands that had been positioned dramatically now reached forward. They pulled weapons from behind their bodies, where they’d been hidden, such as steel swords, axes, and clubs. The blood coating the weapons suggested they’d been used before, perhaps on the people whose blood now covered this room.
The mannequins rushed forward with the royal-robed mannequin leading the charge. Its wooden crown bobbed as it moved with surprising speed. It swung its wooden scepter like a club.
Zenuken swiftly intercepted the scepter, with the scepter slightly cracking, but it didn’t break completely. Reinhard followed through with a horizontal slash that cut through the mannequin’s midsection.
But it continued fighting.
The upper half fell forward, landing on its hands. It used its arms to propel itself toward Reinhard’s legs while the lower half’s legs kicked independently, trying to trip him. Reinhard jumped over the upper half, came down on the lower half with enough force to shatter it, then turned and brought his sword down on the upper half three times in rapid succession.
Finally, it stopped moving, reduced to splinters too damaged for threads to manipulate.
Marie faced seven of them advancing in perfect synchronization as their wooden feet struck the blood-covered floor and they attacked simultaneously, all seven swinging wooden weapons from identical angles.
Longinus spun in Marie’s hands before she swept the weapon in a wide horizontal arc that intercepted all seven attacks. Three mannequins lost their weapons while four maintained their grip.
But then Marie reversed her spear’s direction immediately, the return swing catching two mannequins in their torsos. They shattered into pieces before stepping forward into the gap their destruction created, using it to break the formation’s unity.
The remaining five tried to reorganize, but she didn’t give them time. Longinus thrust forward one, two, three, four, five times in rapid succession. Each thrust found a mannequin’s head, piercing through their head and severing the golden thread.
All five collapsed within seconds.
Scáth faced a group of mannequins dressed as servants, their humble clothing soaked in blood. They attacked with improvised weapons of wooden rakes, brooms, and serving trays. Her weapon became a crimson-black war hammer that she swung in a full circle, the massive head pulverizing the first three mannequins that got close.
Wood fragments exploded outward, catching two more mannequins and damaging them severely. Her Beast Spirit Scathach was thriving in this battlefield where she can destroy and crush everything around her.
Then one mannequin tried to stab her with a wooden rake. She caught the rake’s handle with her free hand, yanked it forward, and brought the hammer down on the mannequin’s head.
The head exploded into splinters.
Then Scath’s weapon shifted to a spear, which she swept in a wide arc at ground level. All three mannequins that tried to rush her were split in half before she finished them with precise thrusts through their torsos.
Gran faced mannequins dressed as guards, their wooden armor painted to look like metal. His Vector Path showed him every movement three seconds before it happened, making their tactics irrelevant.
A guard mannequin swung a wooden sword at his head, but Gran ducked, his fist driving upward into the mannequin’s chin. The head snapped back, tearing free from the body, and both pieces fell separately.
None of them could handle his terrifying strength, which was further enhanced by the benefit of having Hercules as a Beast Spirit. Two guards tried to tackle him from opposite sides, but Gran jumped straight up and lashed down with two kicks. His leg smashed into the guard’s chest and sent them flying into the walls.
The battle continued with eerie consistency, with the mannequins showing no fear or pain. They simply attacked until destroyed, their wooden bodies moving with puppet-like jerks guided by golden threads.
Reinhard carved through a group of three mannequins dressed as musicians, their wooden instruments now used as improvised weapons. His sword chopped and hacked them apart before moving to the next.
Marie punctured through five mannequins dressed as dancers, their frozen poses broken as they attacked. Her spear blasted holes in their chest or smashed their heads into pieces and reduced them to splinters.
Joseph’s lance impaled mannequins dressed as merchants, their wooden counting boards and ledgers now wielded like clubs. He destroyed each one methodically, his strikes precise and devastating.
Scáth laughed as she fought mannequins dressed as soldiers, her weapon shifting between forms to counter each attack style. The variety kept her entertained despite the disturbing nature of their opponents.
Gran’s fists pulverized mannequins dressed as workers, their wooden tools now weapons. His Vector Path made their attacks irrelevant, allowing perfect defense while he systematically destroyed each one.
Roana’s ice rapier found mannequins dressed as clergy, their wooden holy symbols now bludgeons. She struck with elegant precision, each thrust severing threads and ending artificial life.
Her Beast Spirit Skadi allowed her to increase her body temperature, leading to frost appearing on the mannequins when they got too close.
Niki’s flames consumed mannequins dressed as children, which was the most disturbing of all. Their small wooden bodies move with the same puppet-like jerks as the larger ones. But she showed no mercy, burning them as she only saw them as enemies and constructs that should be destroyed.
Finally, the last mannequin fell. It was dressed as a jester, its wooden face carved in a permanent smile. Reinhard’s sword bisected it vertically, both halves falling to either side. They twitched once, twice, then went still as the golden threads lost purchase.
Silence fell over the blood-covered room.
They stood among the wreckage of dozens of shattered mannequins, blood and wood fragments covering every surface.
"I wonder what the next floor will bring." Scath says as she rolls her shoulder.
"Hopefully nothing too drastic... This one was pushing it." Marie frowned as she continued moving forward.
Reinhard followed behind her as his gaze moved away from the broken puppets. But his thought drifted to how each floor had an odd challenge, controlled people, dead Phantasm Beasts, wax figures, and now bloody mannequins.
They walked toward the stairs, their boots sticking slightly to the blood-covered floor with each step.
The sound was wet and revolting, but they pushed through.