Elianor was completely relaxed and even started having fun breaking into houses.
After a few exciting ventures, she neared the village gate.
She then noticed a sturdy-looking, multi-story building that resembled a guard tower. Her adventurous spirit ignited, and she playfully sneaked toward it, snickering to herself.
Seeing no windows on the ground floor, she convinced herself that it was better to just barge right in, as she had been doing until now.
When she reached for the door handle, she noticed it wasn't locked. This was not too surprising, as guards were usually stationed in such buildings and rarely locked the doors.
Elianor slowly pushed open the door and noticed how pitch-black it was inside. She suddenly started to get a bad feeling about this, but then she recalled that there were no windows, which explained the darkness.
Accepting her own logic, she nodded to herself, pushed the door wide open, and slowly sneaked inside on tiptoe.
The air inside the room was strangely cold. A sudden chill prickled her skin despite it being a summer evening, but Elianor convinced herself that it was just her imagination, lingering from her previous fears.
She stepped inside bravely to prove there was nothing to fear, and indeed, nothing happened.
With the door left wide open, moonlight streamed into the room, brightening it enough for her to see.
Elianor was certain that this building was empty just like every other house, so she wasn't worried and confidently walked further inside.
She noticed some swords and shields hanging on the wall, which confirmed her previous guess that this was indeed the guard tower of the village.
Seeing that everything was calm, Elianor straightened her posture and explored, observing whether anything was out of place.
When she came close to the far end of the room, she suddenly heard strange, unrecognizable noises coming from behind a wooden barricade in front of her.
Such a barricade was mainly used to separate sections within a single room without needing to build a complete wall, and it could be moved around easily.
Curious, she wondered if it was some wild animal, like a rat or a coyote, that had stumbled into the empty village and found some food. She slowly peeked over the wooden barricade, which stood just over a meter high.
What she saw made her breath hitch instantly in her throat, and she froze in horror.
Behind the barricade was something massive—perhaps two or three times her height—bending forward, almost crawling.
It was a woman, or perhaps a demon—a grotesque fusion of both. Eight impossibly long, spindly arms, like blackened branches, sprouted from a torso that resembled a broken, skeletal cage. Her ribs, stark white and almost glowing, formed a grim cage around an emaciated upper body. Her head hung down, long dark hair obscuring her face, but even a glimpse of that pale, skeletal neck sent a freezing shiver down Elianor's spine.
The most horrifying thing was the creature's back. Where a spine should have been, there was a grotesque, gaping cavity—a chasm of darkness seemingly leading into its very soul. Elianor could almost see something faint flickering inside.
Elianor's eyes subconsciously drew toward what the creature was doing, and she noticed a partially consumed body, still vaguely human in shape.
The creature was feeding on a corpse!
Elianor's heart started hammering heavily against her ribs, a frantic drumbeat against the unnatural silence.
While she stood frozen in horror, the creature slowly raised its head.
A face of pallid, decaying flesh contorted into a rictus grin, revealing rows of needle-sharp, blackened teeth filled with dried blood—far too numerous for a human mouth. Its eyes were shadowed pits devoid of light, containing only a horrifying emptiness.
Elianor's body trembled with panic and dread.
She wanted to turn and flee, but no matter how much she tried, her body refused to take instructions and continued to shake uncontrollably.
The creature slowly shifted its abnormally long arms and stood up. It was a creature of the darkest nights, an absolute nightmare for any human.
The creature's body was that of a naked woman—an abnormally tall, skinny figure with gray skin.
The moment it stood up, it measured no less than five to six meters in height, surpassing even the tall ceiling so much that it had to lean forward.
Once on its feet, it suddenly opened its mouth wide and screeched loudly, sending a tremor through Elianor's entire body that nearly burst her eardrums.
Elianor stared helplessly as the creature raised one of its claws—which was as long and sharp as a knife—about to decapitate her.
Elianor knew she should dodge, or use her dagger to deflect the claw, or at least try to move, but her body wasn't listening to her at all. She stood perfectly still, paralyzed on the spot.
Just as the creature's claw was about to reach her, the wooden barricade in front of her burst forward toward the monster out of nowhere. At the same time, someone grabbed her shoulder tightly, pulling her away rapidly.
Only then did Elianor come back to her senses and turn toward her rescuer; it was Thorne.
She burst into tears, "That... That..." She couldn't complete a single sentence; her throat felt completely frozen.
The creature was pushed back by the force of Thorne's kick. As the wooden barricade shattered, the monster shoved the remains aside with its long arms and chased after them.
Thorne moved at his fastest speed and burst out of the wide-open door, barely avoiding being grabbed by the creature.
The creature was too tall and wide to fit through the door normally, but that didn't stop it; it rammed through the doorway, completely destroying the wall.
Dust and debris flew as the creature promptly chased after both humans.
Thorne hoisted Elianor onto his shoulder, speeding toward Brunhild so she could get a proper aim with her bow.
"Come to your senses, Elianor! It's an Adult-stage Rank 1 creature! I cannot fight it alone, nor can we run away if you stay like this!" Thorne roared at her as he ran.
Elianor's eyes quivered. She raised her head slightly to peek at the monster behind them.
As she looked, all the hairs on her neck stood on end. The creature was chasing them on all limbs, and one of its long, gray arms was just a few feet away from grabbing them.
She stammered and screamed with all her strength, "J-Jump!"
Thorne immediately used a broken wall in front of him to jump as high as he could, dodging the creature's claw by a hair's breadth once again.
He had greatly underestimated the creature's speed and had truly been just one step away from being sliced in half. Thanks to Elianor's quick warning, he managed to evade, but now they were cornered in mid-air.
The creature jumped after them upon noticing it had missed.
Since there was no tall building nearby to use as a foothold to dodge, Thorne knew he had to fight. He hastily spun around in mid-air, dropping Elianor toward a thatched hut below.
In a flash, he pulled his two swords from his back and used his full strength to clash against the creature's left claw, which was a split second away from slicing him.
He had no doubt of the creature's strength, so he swiftly covered himself and his swords with mana.
As Thorne clashed against its claw, the creature's attack didn't even slow down, throwing him away with unimaginable force.
Thorne was propelled through the air like a shot arrow. He crashed through multiple huts, hurtling toward the center of the village.
Brunhild, Garrick, and Eilif were already rushing toward the creature's presence.
The moment the creature had screeched inside the guard tower, it had wildly released its Adult-stage Rank 1 aura. They all knew that Elianor and Thorne were in danger, so without any hesitation, they dashed toward the source.
To kill an Adult-stage Rank 1 creature, a group of five mid-stage Rank 2 Mana Wielders was generally required. Numbers played an important role in any battle against a Mana Beast; having a single early-stage Rank 3 didn't mean they could easily handle it alone.
On the other side of the village, just as Caius was about to rush toward the sinister presence, his eyes widened. He quickly turned to notice a javelin made of white bone plummeting toward him from the roof of the tall wooden building beside him, which served as the village's community hall.
He swiftly rolled and dodged, pulling out his longsword at the same time.
His expression was grave as he stared toward the roof where the spear had originated. He had already recognized the spell—Bone Javelin, a Tier 2 Necromancer Spell!
A strange man clad in a hooded black cloak and carrying a staff made of bones jumped off the roof. After landing, he raised both hands wide and cackled loudly; his laughter sounded like a broken musical instrument.
"Kekeke! Now that you have all arrived, there is no escape. Each one of you will become nutrition for my Night Hag Arachnid to help it reach Rank 2!"
"Morbus, Mortisia, Gravis, Vellara! Release our hungry hounds!" he shouted, his voice echoing throughout the silent village.
"Yes!" four unknown voices responded from four different directions.
Caius' expression changed. He jumped and rapidly climbed to the roof from which the hooded man had just leaped.
Rottgar, who was a late-stage Rank 3 necromancer mage, allowed Caius to climb up, knowing the man was just checking on his "hounds."
There was no escape for anyone caught in his net.
After taking in the situation, Caius' face turned ugly, his expression boiling with rage.
From three corners of the village, nearly 200 people appeared. They were not living humans, but zombies!
He turned toward Rottgar and roared ragefully, "You killed all the villagers and turned them into zombies?!"
Rottgar laughed loudly, "Kekeke! Not only them, but also the low-life bandits who were taking over this poor village. Their Mana Wielders have at least provided my cute Night Hag Arachnid with some high-nutrient food."
While Rottgar was speaking, the creature that had attacked Elianor and Thorne appeared and scrambled up to stand beside him.
She balanced on all her limbs, letting Rottgar caress her pale cheeks.
Caius frowned gravely, staring at the monster. He could only hope that the others were still alive and intact.