Chapter 22: The Thousand-Handed Demon

As the Black Crow Squad advanced, the once-endless sea of skeletons seemed to be cut off by an invisible barrier.

Only a deathly silence remained, broken only by the creaking of rotting wooden boards under their feet.

Gray lowered his center of gravity, his long sword half-unsheathed, and his voice was tense.

“Careful. Usually, there are no small fry near a boss battle area because low-level undead instinctively fear the pressure of a high-level Demon Race.”

Katy nodded slightly.

As a former Calamity Pillar, she was all too familiar with this nauseating concentration of Mana — a stench of decay and greed that slowly permeated the air.

And… the girl’s nose twitched, her brow furrowing slightly.

Beneath the thick stench of the demon, there was an extremely faint residue of human magic.

That aura was already very weak, like a flickering candle about to go out; it had clearly been there for some time.

Katy sighed inwardly.

It seemed the Association investigators they were meant to rescue were most likely already dead.

To reinforce her persona as a Light Attribute Priest and to warn Gray, she deliberately clutched the corner of his cloak.

Her voice carried a perfectly timed tremble.

“Mr. Gray, I sense an unsettling aura… and a trace of some other magic fluctuation.”

“Other magic?”

Gray paused, his grip on the hilt tightening.

In this world, although the powers used by humans and the Demon Race were both called “magic,” their underlying logic was completely different.

Magic, as the name implied, was the spellcraft of the Demon Race.

They used the cores inside their bodies to directly drive the most primitive “Mana” in the world, transforming it into other forms.

It was powerful but difficult to control with precision.

Humans, after 300 years of research, had developed a system called “Resonance.”

Through chanting and magical circles, they made the magic within their bodies resonate with the elements of nature to cast spells.

Logically, as an A-rank Hero, his own perception of Mana should have been sharp.

So why was Katy the one who noticed it first?

Was the detection bonus a Priest had against the Dark Element really that exaggerated?

Gray glanced back at the girl, who seemed to be trying her best to suppress her trembling.

As if sensing his gaze, she offered a strained smile that made his heart soften.

‘Tsk, what am I doubting?’

Miss Katy was a rare Light Attribute user.

As opposing elements, Light’s sensitivity to Dark was naturally the highest.

If he couldn’t perceive it, it was his own failing as an A-rank Hero.

Suddenly, a salty sea breeze blew past.

Gray’s nose twitched, and his pupils suddenly constricted.

Within that scent of rotting seaweed was a faint but pungent smell of rust.

No veteran Hero was unfamiliar with the smell of their own kind’s blood.

24 hours after a Hero went missing in a Labyrinth, the Association would declare them officially missing.

If the missing Hero had paid enough insurance, the Association would use it to issue a search-and-rescue commission.

If they were Association staff, a commission would be issued immediately.

From the time the bounty was posted, to Lobelia accepting it, and then Lobelia handing it over to Katy…

Gray’s heart sank.

He knew the people they were looking for were almost certainly dead, but he couldn’t help but offer a brief prayer for his fellow warriors in his heart.

“Stay close. Don’t fall behind.”

The two of them were currently climbing over the wreckage of a brig that had snapped in two.

The moment Gray stepped out of the cabin’s shadow, a sharp sound of breaking air tore through the silence without warning.

Gray’s reaction was incredibly fast.

He didn’t even turn around; he simply swept his unsheathed long sword backward.

Lightning exploded.

Seven black shadows that had shot out from the ruins of the cabin, aimed directly at Katy, were precisely intercepted in midair.

They weren’t arrows or slime-covered tentacles, but seven dark, withered arms.

They landed on the deck with charred, smooth cuts, still twitching like spiders as they tried to crawl before turning to ash in the lightning.

“Get out of the cabin! The terrain is too narrow here!”

Gray roared, grabbing Katy’s hand to rush out.

However, the enemy hiding in the shadows had a very clear target.

Over a dozen more arms emerged from the gaps in the floor and holes in the ceiling, intertwining as they flew toward Katy.

The girl cried out and leapt lightly into the air, attempting to dodge.

But those hands seemed to have eyes, pursuing her relentlessly.

One large, withered hand suddenly snatched out, accurately gripping her right ankle while she was still in midair.

“Tsk!”

A flash of disgust crossed Katy’s eyes.

Using her momentum, she kicked the hand hard.

Snap.

The danger was gone, but the price was that one of her small leather boots had been ripped off by the strange hand as she landed.

Even her white silk stocking had been pulled halfway down, hanging loosely from her heel.

Katy frowned.

Stepping directly onto the damp, cold sand without a shoe felt quite unpleasant.

The strange hand that had snatched the shoe didn’t continue its attack.

Instead, it hovered in the air, shaking the small leather boot that still carried the girl’s warmth, as if checking for something inside.

Finding only the shoe, the hand discarded it dismissively, vanishing into the sea mist.

‘How tasteless. That was a precious lunch box,’ Katy rolled her eyes inwardly.

Despite her inner complaining, the girl didn’t stop her movements.

With a wave of her staff, a golden halo exploded outward.

However, those strange hands seemed completely immune to the deterrence of low-level Light Magic, continuing their assault despite the burning.

“A difference in strength will greatly diminish the advantage of elemental counters!”

Gray moved in front of her, his blade weaving a web of lightning that shredded all the incoming hands.

The young man’s brow was furrowed, his expression solemn.

“Not to mention we are up against a Star Glimmer Level boss…”

Before he could finish, the ground beneath their feet suddenly began to vibrate violently.

The massive wreckage of the sunken ship they had just passed through seemed to suddenly come to life, letting out a piercing, agonizing shriek.

“Mr. Gray! Below us!”

Katy shouted.

No reminder was needed; Gray already sensed the threat coming from underground.

He scooped Katy into his arms and leapt lightly into the air.

Simultaneously, a massive bolt of lightning slammed into the ground, using the recoil to send the two of them to a safe area over 10 meters away.

Where they had just been standing, the brig completely exploded.

Amidst the flying wood chips and sand, a mountain-like, hideous figure slowly rose.

It was a mound of flesh stitched together from thousands of severed arms of humans, the Demon Race, and monsters.

Countless hands crawled, waved, and scratched across its body.

As its body was fully revealed, the pressure of a Star Glimmer Level Magic Monster swept through the Labyrinth — a force strong enough to make low-level Heroes faint on the spot.

Gray landed on a distant reef, holding Katy and shielding her behind him.

His fingers turned white from the force of his grip on his sword.

Although Star Glimmer Level Labyrinths could be cleared by B-rank squads, in a one-on-one fight, a Star Glimmer Level demon was definitely the equivalent of an A-rank Hero.

That wasn’t even considering the fact that he had to protect Katy.

Behind him, Katy straightened her messy clothes.

Peering over Gray’s shoulder, the girl stared at the disgusting thousand-handed monster.

Her originally clear blue eyes instantly turned cold, and a flash of disdain and killing intent flickered in their depths.

‘So it really is you… Slather.’