Ayla hesitated. So, this was the reason he had stayed silent about his trait. If that was the case, it was easily solvable.

"You do not have to fear. I killed that ugly spider. See."

Her hands moved. Blood-red threads shimmered between her fingers, curling like living things and catching the dim light of the tunnel.

She held them out for him the way a child holds out a toy. And with that, she confirmed Kenji’s deepest fear.

"I got its trait."

A dimple appeared on the left side of her cheek. She was genuinely happy to show off. Her eyes sparkled, waiting for praise.

Kenji gulped. "Then my trait..."

Ayla nodded happily. "Yes."

She saw no reason to hide it. He might have already guessed, though she wondered why he acted like he had not.

Perhaps it was a human way of doing things.

Ayla waited for him to reveal his secret in return. When nothing came, even after several minutes, her brows drew together.

Would he go back on his word?

"I am a regressor," he said at last.

Ayla looked unimpressed. "That is not a secret."

"I know the end of this Tunnel."

A smile returned to her face. "That is a secret."

So he really did carry memories she had not been able to read. Her curiosity sharpened at the thought.

"When I first entered this Tunnel, it was only a red quality."

"Red quality?" She tilted her head.

Kenji paused. It was common knowledge to any human. His expression stilled as he caught her genuine confusion. She was not a human; of course, she did not know such terms. That thought raised a different question in his mind.

"You were born here?"

Ayla nodded.

"When?"

"A few hours ago."

Kenji fell silent. Then, he was talking to a newborn monster. No wonder she was so naive while being so terrifying.

"The tunnels are classified by the colors of the rainbow." He paused. "Do you know about rainbows?"

Ayla gave a slow nod. "I got it from Jaxon’s..."

Her mouth sealed shut, stopping from completing her words.

She had seen Jaxon in the memories of Kenji. Although they did not team together at the end, both seemed to be friendly toward each other.

They seemed like friends.

She could not tell him she had eaten his friend’s brain and pulled the memories out. Her gaze lowered to the ground.

"I met some humans and learned from them."

Kenji kept his expression steady. She lowered her gaze when she lied. He learned that from her actions before.

Calm down, Kenji. You will never die. There is nothing to fear.

Still, knowing she could not only steal traits but also pick through memories made his skin crawl.

And there might be limits to what she could see; otherwise, she would already know about Tunnel ranks. That was the only comfort he had.

"Tunnels are ranked by difficulty. Red is the weakest. Violet is the strongest. But there is another kind. We call them Apocalypse."

"Apocalypse?"

"When a Tunnel mutates under certain conditions, it becomes one."

Apocalypse tunnels birthed monsters no one had seen before. Every such tunnel was unique.

Fighting a known tunnel monster was already deadly; facing something no one had ever recorded was worse.

That was why the mortality rate of Apocalypse tunnels sat at ninety-nine percent.

"The end of this Tunnel is a mouth."

Kenji shivered as he said it.

"We are inside the blood vessels of something gigantic."

Whatever they were inside was huge in a way his mind refused to shape—a body with blood vessels that stretched hundreds of miles.

What kind of entity could that be?

"It is sleeping right now. When it wakes, we all die."

He glanced up, expecting her to look pale. Instead, her mouth had fallen open. Kenji sighed. She was only a child, in the end.

She was probably overwhelmed.

"Its brain must be so big," Ayla whispered.

Kenji nodded. "For a body that size to function, yes. It would have to be."

"...And tasty."

"Huh?"

"I wonder how long it will take me to devour it."

She rubbed her palms together, her eyes shining with excitement. Kenji’s lips twitched. So, that was what she had been thinking about the whole time. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He pressed a hand against his temple.

"You do not understand. A creature like that cannot be killed by us. Not now. Maybe not ever. Even the strongest Crusaders on record would not survive standing near it."

"Then I will become stronger."

She said it easily. Kenji studied her face. T

here was no boast in it, no performance. She had simply decided, and the matter was closed in her head.

He wondered if this was how monsters thought, or if this was only how Ayla thought.

"How old are the strongest Crusaders?" she asked.

"Hundreds of years. Some older."

"And I am only a few hours old." Her lips curved. "So I have time."

"You do not actually have time. The monster will awaken in fifteen days." He shook his head, showering cold water over Ayla.

"Oh..." Ayla pouted. "This is bad?" she asked.

"It means everyone here dies. And I will come back." he paused, "now, you too."

"They are also coming back with usd." She pointed at the dead bodies of Daniel and Haiz.

Kenji choked on his saliva. "I mean with memories."

"Is there any difference?" She tilted her head.

"Of course there is."

"But you will still die," she said as a matter of fact.

Kenji could hear his pride cracking inside his body. Did a baby monster just indirectly call him trash?

Ayla patted his shoulder. "From now on, do not worry, son. I will protect you. Daddy is strong."

Kenji glanced at her, mouth agape. Was this not the talking style of Jaxon? It felt weird hearing it from her.

Suddenly, a question appeared in her head.

"Did you see me in any of your loops?"

Kenji became as rigid as a stone. He clenched and unclenched his fists.

"No. This is the first time I am seeing you."

Ayla’s gaze froze. "Does that mean I die before reaching the end?"

Kenji had no answer. There might be a variable that changed the course of actions—a variable that made a monster supposed to be dead become a predator with overwhelming talent.

Ayla knew that variable.

The Goddess.