Chapter 57: The Devil Who Toys with Hearts
Chapter 57: The Devil Who Toys with Hearts
"Damn it! There’s no end to these monsters!"
Ken swung his scythe at the spirit monsters, but his attack passed right through their transparent bodies.
As the monsters attacked him, he quickly backed away.
It wasn’t just Ken. Tristan, Mona, Troy, and the others were facing the same problem.
"Damn you, Tristan! Didn’t I tell you this was a waste of time? You’re so stubborn about wanting to defeat them!"
The speaker was a short woman with the right side of her face badly scarred.
Her name was Fey, and she led the Fey Group, which ranked 50th.
Because Tristan kept insisting on attacking the hall, Fey had already lost one of her members, leaving the group much weaker.
Tristan swung his greatsword at the monsters, but every attack passed right through them.
Hearing Fey’s words, his expression darkened.
But he didn’t argue because Fey was right. It was all his fault for making such a selfish decision.
Even so, he refused to admit it. Doing so would only make it harder for him to make decisions in the future.
"Stop talking so much! Keep attacking them!" Mona said coldly.
"How are we supposed to attack them?" Fey demanded irritably.
She struggled to dodge the spirits as they attacked from all directions.
"They’re immune to magic and physical attacks. What can we even do?"
Mona pursed her lips, unable to come up with a reply. That was indeed the reality they were facing.
Just as they struggled to fend off the spirits’ attacks, a teasing voice suddenly rang out from behind them.
"How pitiful. You can’t even defeat such weak monsters."
All eleven of them froze and instinctively turned around.
Raven was walking toward them casually, with Claire and Reyna following behind him.
"You..."
Tristan narrowed his eyes and stared warily at Raven.
"What do you want?" he asked coldly as he parried the monsters’ attacks.
Raven stopped twenty meters from the center of the battle and smiled faintly.
"I’ve come to help, of course."
Tristan frowned.
"Help, you say? Do you think we’re stupid?"
He and Raven didn’t know each other.
How could he possibly trust him?
Raven chuckled softly.
"In that case, let all of you struggle. When you’re about to die, I’ll finish you off."
Once a group entered a hall and attacked the monsters inside, they were naturally bound by the rule that they couldn’t leave until the battle was over.
"You..."
Tristan was furious and was about to attack Raven, but the spirit monsters wouldn’t let him lower his guard for even a moment.
Raven pulled Reyna and Claire back.
"Are we just going to watch from the sidelines?" Reyna asked.
Raven nodded.
"I’m just trying to provoke them. I don’t actually plan on helping them. After all, physical attacks and magic don’t work on spirits, so there’s no point in teaming up with them."
Reyna and Claire finally understood. Still, they couldn’t help wondering why Raven was doing this.
"By the way, it seems like they haven’t noticed you, Reyna," Raven said jokingly.
Reyna gasped as she realized what he meant.
"You’re right."
She smiled mockingly.
"Anyway, I was wearing a mask at the time, so they couldn’t see my true appearance."
Claire didn’t understand what they were talking about and was about to ask when a scream rang out from ahead.
She and the other two turned and saw one of the eleven people being devoured by a spirit monster, half of his body already gone.
"Jack!" Tristan cried out in horror.
He wanted to help him, but more and more monsters were closing in on him, trapping him in place.
"Damn it!" Tristan cursed.
Jack was one of the strongest members of the team, at Level 14. Losing him was a huge blow to the group.
After Jack fell, the others slowly began losing their morale and strength.
The spirit monsters became even more aggressive, attacking them without holding back.
"Mikail!"
"Damn it! John, don’t die!"
Scream after scream echoed through the hall.
At least four people had already been devoured by the monsters, leaving only seven survivors.
"Damn it!" Tristan roared.
"Hey, help us!"
Fey turned to Raven with a desperate look on her face.
"I’m begging you... please help us!"
Tristan was stunned by her words.
"F-Fey, what are you saying!? Are you crazy!?"
"You’re the one who’s crazy!" Fey snapped, her face flushing red.
While dodging the spirits’ attacks, she gritted her teeth and shouted angrily, "Because of your stupidity, we’re trapped here! And because you refused to listen, I lost two of my friends! Damn you, Tristan!"
Ken, caught in the middle of the argument, glared at Tristan with hatred.
"Fey’s right—you’re a jerk! This is all your fault!"
Accused by both of them, Tristan staggered backward. His breath came in short gasps as hatred welled up inside him.
"What the hell is wrong with all of you!? I did it for your own safety!" he shouted.
But the two ignored him. They already hated Tristan for his selfishness, especially for putting his own decisions before the team’s safety.
From that moment on, the bond between them was shattered, and it would be nearly impossible to repair.
"I beg you! Help us!" Fey said, sobbing uncontrollably.
Her friends were already dead. She was the only one left, and she didn’t want to die too.
The same went for Ken. He had already lost one friend, and losing another would make it even harder for him to complete the remaining missions in the future.
Raven remained calm as he looked at each of them.
"All right. But on one condition—I want you to hand over all your points."
Hearing that, everyone’s expressions changed.
"W-What did you say...!? Hand over our points!?" Ken exclaimed.
Raven nodded casually.
"You have only two choices—accept or die. That’s it."
Fey and Ken were caught in a difficult dilemma. But they didn’t have much time to decide, as the spirit monsters continued to attack them mercilessly.
"I—"
"Don’t!"
Tristan’s loud voice cut Ken off.
"Oh? Why? Do you still want to be stubborn and wait for them to die?" Raven sneered.
Tristan narrowed his eyes at him. If looks could kill, Raven would have died a thousand times over by now.
"You must be lying! You just want to take their points and run, don’t you?"
Faced with the accusation, Raven wasn’t bothered. He simply shrugged and said, "It’s up to you if you don’t believe me. I’m not forcing you. Reyna, Claire, let’s go."
He turned and led the two of them away.
Watching them leave, Fey couldn’t take it anymore and shouted, "Wait! I’ll give you all my points!"
"Fey!"
"Enough, Tristan!" Fey snapped, glaring at him. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she said in a hoarse voice, "I... don’t want to die!"
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