In the blink of an eye, Gunther leapt back, landing farther away than even those behind him.
His hands trembled, his legs felt feeble, as though they might buckle at any moment.
He could only stare in petrified horror as a flame of darkness slowly rose from the ground and coalesced into a human-like visage…or was it human?
…at least, that was how it appeared to them…until its form was completed.
The entity stood on two legs, with four arms, a curling tail protruding from behind, four crimson eyes glowing with malicious cruelty. And two black horns twisted upwards from its head.
The devil stood between them and Ellis, who quivered uncontrollably. He had tried to look up…only to lay eyes upon a monstrosity.
That monstrosity caused the tendrils of fear to ensnare his entire being. Making what he had felt moments before now seem like child’s play.
In the face of such terror, he couldn’t even muster the courage to raise his head.
Besides, the one moment he glimpsed the monster was enough to comprehend.
Although no one knew…Ellis was special in his own way. And he had kept that very fact a secret.
Because his parents had instructed him to do so.
‘There’s no soul core! But it’s registering as a hellion rank? Plus this air! I can sense its danger is devil level. What is a monster of this caliber searching for here?!!’
With just a glance, Ellis had activated his talent ability ‘See’.
This talent allowed Ellis to peer into the soul of any monster, their rank and danger level information automatically imprinting itself in his mind.
At his current level, it was impossible for him to discern their name.
It also worked with drifters, although sometimes, it proved useless against those above the drifter rank.
It was impossible for him to peer into the souls of drifters stronger than himself.
It also worked with items, although it had its own limitations.
To put it simply, Ellis was a rare gem working diligently to conceal his existence.
Several times he had tried to reveal the secret of his ability.
But the warning his parents had sounded always echoed hauntingly in his mind.
“Ellis…until you find someone you can trust…never show anyone what you can do.”
Ellis had no idea why they insisted on it so adamantly…
…and now it didn’t even matter anymore.
He was probably going to perish in this place…slain by this monster…along with his tormentors.
A satisfied grin spread across his face. ‘At least they get to die too…’
Dark Terror stood motionless for a couple of seconds, awaiting the humans’ reaction.
However, they all shook with fear, one of them – round and robust – even soiling himself.
The devil remained still, crimson eyes burning towards them with cold, menacing indifference.
They all trembled in fear and slowly began to retreat. The gap between them and Dark Terror gradually widened.
And when they reached the edge of the backyard – which branched into an open alley connecting to the front yard, the devil moved.
Before any of them could react, its hand grabbed one’s face and hurled him against the wall, shot forward like a flash of black light, grabbed another, pummeling his stomach with its lower hand.
And as Gunther made a run for it, his leg a step away from reaching the alley, its tail snatched his ankle and flipped him over, smashing him onto the ground.
It repeated the motion several times, mercilessly pounding the muscular man into the ground as though he were a weightless piece of wood.
Then it stopped and slowly stepped forward, leaving webbed cracks in the ground from the previous wreckage with Gunther.
It drew closer to Ellis, looking him in the eye with its menacing, flame-like gaze.
The poor boy’s entire body trembled as he became the object of its scrutiny.
Ellis squeezed his eyes shut, awaiting whatever fate might befall him.
Then, all of a sudden, the oppressive presence vanished.
It was like a veil of dark clouds had been torn away from the atmosphere.
Slowly, he raised his head.
‘It’s gone!’
There was no monster anymore!
Everything had returned to the way it was. No, even better.
The air was fresh and breathable, cool and strangely invigorating.
He looked around. Ahead of him, four of them lay unconscious on the ground.
Three were the handiwork of the devil, and one…well, he was lying in a puddle of his own urine.
‘Just how much did he pee…’ Ellis pondered, casting him an irritated glance as he stepped over the body. He passed the rest and ran for his life.
One thought rang in Ellis’s mind as he dashed through the alley and emerged in the front yard.
‘Dark Terror’
He didn’t know why…but he had a gut feeling.
That was what the strange white-haired boy had meant by saying he should shout Dark Terror.
There was no other explanation. That had to be Dark Terror.
If that was the case, then…
‘Who the hell is this guy? Oh my world, have I not gotten myself into bigger trouble?’
—
Northern lay lazily on his bed, the daylight star high in the sky, bathing the entire estate in a warm glow.
His room, of course, was dark and somewhat neglected from this radiance, but some feeble rays managed to invade through the window, illuminating the center of the room.
He lay with his hands behind his head and eyes closed.
Enjoying the warm temperature of the early afternoon.
‘Gosh, it feels like it’s been centuries since I’ve seen the day… I can’t even remember the last time I’ve been sun-bathed.’
Northern might have entertained the idea of going outside shirtless to bask in the warmth of the daylight star, but he wasn’t in the mood.
His conversation with Raven still left him with some unanswered questions… he kept pondering hard if he was making the right decision by accepting her offer.
Also, what were the things he could do moving forward?
How could he survive in this land?
How could he grow stronger?
While lost in thought, the strangest thing suddenly happened.
[Do you want to copy Talent – Soul Eyes (C-Class) for 100 talent fragments?]
Northern’s eyes flew wide open.
‘Yes!’
[Sorry, you do not have enough Talent Fragments to copy the talent]
‘I don’t know what just happened. But crap!’