Our Family Has Fallen

A very ordinary room; compared to the places before, there weren’t any over-the-top sculptures, nor any huge dark-gold constructs as decoration. On the contrary, this place looked extremely plain.

But a few things instantly flooded this space with a dangerous aura, because what lurked here wasn’t some random evil cultist, but a Void Demon they’d once crossed paths with—the most terrifying monster hiding in every shadow of Hamlet: the Limping Walker!

Purple-black skin like boundless void, bristling with tentacles of all sizes, each carrying sharp "7"-shaped Bone Spur blades. Its lower abdomen was a cluster of merged tumors; Lance, who’d seen it spew before, knew they released a gas that could easily corrode flesh.

On that hideous Aberrant Demon face were countless black eyeballs, and when its torn-open maw gaped, it seemed to drag its entire head into a grotesque proportion. A row of spines along its back all stood on end.

There was a reason Lance had said what he said; this Limping Walker wasn’t in the same form as the one the evil cult Saintess originally summoned.

Compared to the one they’d seen back then, the "Limping Walker" now appearing in the dungeon had deeper skin, a larger body, and an even more horrifying aura.

More importantly, its entire body was covered in the traces left by that flesh-corruption: tentacles, blood vessels, eyeballs... vast swathes of twisted meat clung to it—more accurately, fused with it—forming a brand-new monster—

the Chaotic Terror!

They’d run into this thing once before; Boudica and Amanda had both been through that battle. Now, seeing it again, a primal pressure rose up from within them, their hands outright trembling.

Only those who’ve faced it know just how terrifying that Void Demon really is—and now it’s been modified and Strengthened on top of that, making it even more monstrous!

"I’m thinking we can’t beat this thing!"

"No~ fate’s playing a joke on us."

Boudica and Amanda’s reactions said it all; subconscious fear had already taken hold of their minds.

"It’s not like we haven’t killed it before, so what’s there to be scared of? Besides, it’s not like we haven’t gotten stronger."

Lance was nervous too, but he couldn’t show it. He hurriedly pulled out a few bottles of Holy Water and shoved them into their hands, urging, "Hurry up and drink."

From prior encounters he knew the Limping Walker’s tricks hit humans hard—bleeding, corrosion, displacement—and Holy Water, which comprehensively boosts physique and resistance, was basically a hard counter. Luckily, he’d prepared.

Lance’s words were blunt, but they worked; Boudica perked right up.

Amanda was still a bit worried—after all, who had been on their team last time? A Mystical Scholar, the powerful Spellcaster Alhazred. Now Audrey was just a Tomb Robber...

But since Lance had said as much, she could only fall silent, quickly taking the Holy Water.

Audrey didn’t know the specifics, but even an idiot could tell how terrifying that monster was, constantly radiating a suffocating pressure.

When the potion was passed to her, she didn’t hesitate and downed it in one gulp; the strength nourishing her body was the only thing letting her force herself to calm down.

The moment Lance and the others broke in, they alerted the Chaotic Terror guarding this place, as well as a Heretic Priest standing to the side.

But before they could react, Lance made the first move.

"Kill them!"

His shout came in sync with the boom of the hand cannon. Flames drove the shell out of the barrel, smashing into the Chaotic Terror in an instant, tearing open a massive wound and blasting most of the pods on its chest and belly to pulp.

Yet the same shells that could punch through evil cultists two at a time couldn’t penetrate the monster’s body, which said a lot about its toughness.

What bothered Lance even more was how the flesh around the wound writhed and proliferated, twisted meat swiftly filling the gap. Apparently the Great Blessing had granted it even stronger vitality.

But Lance had noticed a problem: if this regrowth only happened after it was injured, then what exactly had caused the injuries that resulted in all that corruption covering the Chaotic Terror’s body now?

While Lance was rapidly reloading the hand cannon, Amanda responded to the command, raising her hand and tossing something at the monster.

Only it wasn’t a Flying Dagger, nor a Windmill Blade, but a metal sphere.

A Weakening Bomb!

It slammed into the monster and detonated; the contents splashed all over its body, and with the ritual triggered, the Chaotic Terror’s condition immediately plummeted.

The reason this thing worked so well, of course, was because it contained formidable power.

Which also meant it wasn’t easy to get; unlike Flying Daggers, which you can use up and then re-enchant yourself, only the organization had the capability to make these, and even Amanda didn’t have many.

Against ordinary enemies she’d never be willing to use one, but at a time like this, such scruples didn’t matter.

Boudica was already charging the Chaotic Terror, but don’t forget there was still a Heretic Priest; it floated up and unleashed a Deep Sacrificial Finger.

The Spinal Blade thrust out, but Boudica had been wary; she raised her axe-spear, slammed it aside with a violent impact, and parried the strike.

Boudica was far from satisfied, though. Daring to block her path—that was asking for death!

"Waaagh!!!"

A savage roar ignited her fury; Boudica turned, bringing the axe blade down on the Priest...

Audrey hesitated. She could tell Boudica had originally been charging the monster and had only been intercepted halfway.

She didn’t dare rush in like that, so she tried tossing Flying Daggers and poison darts at the Chaotic Terror, but the effect was obviously poor.