Drip...
The icy water droplets fell like sharp knives, easily seeping into his already-rotten flesh.
The stench and stabbing pain roused Alosia from his dazed state once more.
Drip...
Pain... or perhaps it was just another hallucination...
Alosia struggled to move his body and looked toward the sky outside the cave.
He no longer knew how much time had passed. Every time he woke, it was a different hour.
"This time... it's the dead of night... Haha..."
A hoarse, bitter laugh, like the wail of a dead man, echoed through the silence.
Alosia's gaze slowly returned to the cave.
The cold, damp cave seemed to have swallowed all the darkness.
He couldn't see anything...
But relying on his ears, which had not yet failed him, Alosia still heard several breaths so faint they were nearly imperceptible.
How many more had died...?
Ever since escaping that hell, his condition had grown worse and worse.
A bone-deep pain constantly spread through his entire body, while his numb limbs gradually festered and rotted.
Until everyone had fallen and struggled to die in agony...
Still, Alosia did not regret it.
Perhaps... the moment he had stepped into hell, he had already died.
All that remained was a monster that still possessed consciousness.
Dying like this... might not be so bad.
Alosia said nothing. He silently waited for death to arrive.
Rustle...
A faint frictional sound slowly reached him, causing Alosia, who had closed his eyes, to open them again.
"Alosia..."
A hoarse, low voice thick with exhaustion sounded as a slowly crawling figure drew near.
"You're not dead yet."
The person raised his hand and struggled to throw the object he was holding at Alosia's face.
A bloody stench mixed with the smell of decay rushed into Alosia's nose.
He recognized it immediately... It