The whole castle was a labyrinth in itself. If Oliver wasn't careful, even alone, he could lose himself within its vast entirety. It was truly magnificent.
The young man followed closely behind the female slaver as he was led through a desolate hallway. Numerous frames hung upon the walls, all devoid of paintings, and large, shuttered windows were laden with thick dust.
Everywhere lay in neglect.
Oliver shook his head.
'Teresa and Kaden should have arrived by now. It's almost time for everything to descend into chaos, amusing how they didn't even last up to a week in here before that happened.'
In a few days' time, the recorded event between the two major characters and the Settlement would commence, and during that period, Oliver would slip away from the settlement and enact his little side revenge before continuing his journey to find his younger brother and escape the Garden of Death.
Of course, he was entirely free to dispose of extras like the female slaver if he wished, as they held no significance to the story.
More importantly, Oliver loathed being treated like a dog.
In his past life, he had endured something similar, and yes, it had not ended well.
As such, he had no intention of letting this slide again.
Patience is a master key, after all.
A couple of minutes later, they arrived at the end of the hallway.
The female slaver, of whom he had yet to learn anything about, eased the door open.
The wooden door creaked ajar, and instantly a sharp sound reverberated from within the room, slicing cleanly through the air toward them.
Ducking her head, the woman said:
"Get your head down, boy."
Already aware of the sound moments before the woman, Oliver reacted instantly without hesitation, lowering his head just enough to evade the incoming impact.
A black, acidic spike shot right above their heads and across the hallway before losing momentum and crashing onto the ground far from them with a heavy thud.
Oliver gritted his teeth.
'Damn it. What was that?'
Glancing into the room as the woman stepped in, Oliver caught sight of a massive spider-like beast clinging to the wall before it scurried into a tiny aperture in the ceiling, the space above shrouded in darkness.
He hadn't managed to observe it in full, but he could already discern that it was a potentially lethal creature, especially judging by its long range barrage of acidic spikes.
Had he been a second slower in evading the attack, he would have been dead by now.
The sight of the spider-like beast immediately brought Rook to mind.
At present, he still had no idea where the small creature was.
Although, if he ever found it or if it managed to find him one way or another, Oliver had already resolved to use his Fragments to evolve the creature.
Furthermore, there was no way an infant beast could survive the Garden of Death alone, so the only plausible way for them to reunite would be if it had been captured by the slavers, or if it had secretly followed along the journey and had yet to reveal itself.
Either way, he had no answers for now, but one thing was certain.
He wasn't leaving this place without reconnecting with Rook. The creature was a crucial key to his survival.
"Come in. Don't mind that little cunt. She gets feisty from time to time, but she won't bite."
Oliver grimaced faintly, momentarily taken aback by her casual assurance in the aftermath of such a lethal attack.
Nonetheless, the young man stepped forward and entered the room.
It was considerably smaller in size, with a single wooden bed positioned on one side and a clean white mattress laid upon it, though tears were visible all around it.
A table stood near the bed with an empty jar resting on it, while a collection of useless, unnamed trinkets littered the ground in another part of the room.
A small, lifeless chandelier hung loosely from the ceiling, just beside the hole created by the spider-like beast.
One large window on the left side of the room revealed the outside world, and through it, Oliver was only able to make out a fog-laden expanse several meters away from the castle.
That was the route the original Oliver had mentioned using to escape the castle. However, he had encountered an even more perilous ordeal on his own and had only managed to survive with the help of Teresa and Kaden.
After using them to escape the foggy expanse, he abandoned them, and they did not cross paths again for quite some time.
As always emphasized, the character Oliver was a lone wolf throughout the entire story and an admired douchebag whom readers gradually grew to love as the story progressed.
Oliver sighed.
Taking a seat on the bed, the female slaver crossed her legs and removed her dark cloak, revealing a red gown beneath and flawless skin. She then smirked at the young man, who slowly averted his gaze from her body while standing by the closed door.
The woman placed a hand on her face and chuckled.
"Silly me, we didn't exchange names. How could I be so oblivious to my errand boy's name? Tell me your name, boy. You can call me Lady Mara."
Oliver blinked twice.
"Oh. Lady Mara, my name is Oliver. Pleased to be at your service," he said.
Finally, he knew her name.
Mara stood up and walked closer to the window, pressing her palm against the dirty pane and falling silent for a while before turning back to Oliver with an even more delighted smile.
"Oliver, you say. By any chance, am I speaking to Oliver Rothyl of House Rothyl? The special yet heavily ignored elder son of the great House? Your sword already speaks volumes about your status, but I never expected you to belong to the family I hated the most when I was in the real world. This is so pleasant!"
Oliver's eyes widened in shock. He took two steps backward, but his back collided with the shut door, forcing him to halt.
'What the hell is this insane extra character going on about?'
Within a fraction of a second, she dashed right in front of Oliver's face with a menacing smile.
"Guess what? Your brother is dead! Ha. I killed him, and now I want to kill you, bastard of House Rothyl! You are all betrayals!"
She rushed to pick up a baton hidden among the useless trinkets in a single swift motion and was about to slam it onto Oliver's head.