Chapter 85: Luck

Nanoe reacted the fastest, immediately flinging a long bench up to perfectly shield Laura and Jonathan, while she retreated and ducked behind a table.

The wave of fire came fast and left just as fast. Luckily, all three of them were fine, aside from Jonathan and Laura getting slightly burned. Still, compared to death, this was nothing.

Crop! Crop!

At that moment, footsteps outside rang out again, then stopped right in front of the room’s door.

Inside the room, the bizarre creature slowly moved toward Jonathan and Laura.

“Damn it! Are we really going to die here?” Jonathan ground his teeth, his eyes filled with unwillingness as he looked at Nanoe.

Nanoe was different. She didn’t give up at all, gripping the gun as she fired at the bizarre humanoid.

BANG!

BOOM!

Another loud explosion sounded, but this time the creature wasn’t engulfed by flames. Instead, the fire around it transformed into countless tentacles, stretching out in every direction.

Whoosh!

Nanoe jolted, dodging a fire-tentacle whipping at her like a lash.

BAM!

The tentacle slammed down, instantly splitting the nearby sofa in half. The cut edge was still burning, leaving a long streak of fire across the floor.

[Too hot… but… still not enough…]

“Heh?!” Nanoe startled, her gaze locking onto that bizarre humanoid. She felt like she’d just heard a voice coming from it.

“You…”

Whoosh!

Before Nanoe could say anything, the fire-tentacle struck at her again.

She hurriedly dodged. Fortunately, its attack speed wasn’t high. With her current physique and reflexes, she could avoid them easily.

BAM!

The fire-tentacle smashed into the floor with a loud blast, leaving another burning line of fire behind.

[Not enough! Fire… this flame… is still not enough…]

“Are you talking?” Nanoe frowned, asking.

The creature’s body continued twisting inside the raging fire. Jonathan and Laura looked confused as they glanced at her.

BAM!

Suddenly, something slammed hard into the door, making them all flinch.

“This is bad!” Jonathan frowned. “Hold the door. Don’t let whatever’s outside get in!”

Laura was terrified, but she had no choice other than to brace the door.

Nanoe glanced at Jonathan and Laura, then back at the creature in front of her. It wasn’t hard for her to realize she was the only one who could hear that strange voice.

It sounded like a howl, yet carried a bleakness, not pain, but failure and despair. And yet, within that voice was a kind of hope.

[I haven’t… failed… there’s still a chance… I… still have… a chance…]

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

At that moment, countless fire-tentacles surged out from the creature’s body like a swarm of writhing snakes.

[Fire… I need to… perfect… it…]

“Fire?!” Nanoe frowned, raising the gun again and firing at it.

BAM!

The piercing blast rang out, and it was as if the flame vanished the instant it touched the creature’s body.

[Too little… too weak…]

Whoosh! Whoosh!

The fire-tentacles immediately closed in around Nanoe, making her jolt. They formed a cage around her, sealing off every escape route.

The creature stepped toward her, arms reaching out as if to grab her.

[More… more fire…]

Nanoe suddenly felt the blood in her body heating up, so hot she could almost feel as if her body itself were catching fire.

Seeing this, countless thoughts flashed through Jonathan’s mind. Then he said, “Laura, hold the door for me.”

“Heh?! What are you trying to do?” Laura startled and hurriedly asked.

Jonathan didn’t answer. He lunged toward Nanoe, pulled a round sphere from his backpack, and shouted, “Bastard!!!”

Whoosh!

He used all his strength to hurl the sphere at the bizarre creature. In that instant, the sphere split apart, revealing a gap in the middle. From that gap, freezing cold sprayed out, low enough to ice over anything it touched.

But…

Whoosh!

A fire-tentacle snapped out in a blink, wrapped around the sphere, then tightened hard.

BAM!

A burst of cold mist sprayed out, but it was quickly heated away. The sphere melted, dripping onto the floor.

“What?!” Jonathan jolted, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He’d paid 500 gold coins for that special item from the “Supermarket”, one that could temporarily freeze any creature for one minute.

But he hadn’t expected that… it would be completely useless.

Whoosh!

Right then, a fire-tentacle shot forward, wrapping around Jonathan’s injured arm, and then…

CRACK!!

“AGH!!!”

Jonathan screamed. Fresh blood sprayed like a fountain from the severed stump, the flesh around it charred into black coal. His arm hit the ground and, at a horrifying pace, slowly turned into a lump of blackened ash.

“AGH!! My arm… my arm…” Jonathan gritted his teeth.

That fire-tentacle didn’t let him off. It lunged again, trying to coil around his neck.

In that tiny instant, Jonathan suddenly remembered so many things from his past. He clenched his teeth, unwilling to accept it.

He’d made it this far, so why… why did he still have to face death?

If… if his Class could work here… if this place allowed him to use magic, he definitely wouldn’t die like this.

“Damn it!” Jonathan muttered.

BAM!

“Agh!!!”

At that moment, the door was smashed open with brutal force. Laura, bracing her back against it, was sent flying forward and crashed onto the floor.

WHOONG!

In that split second, a beam of light shone in from outside, instantly focusing on the bizarre creature.

“GAH!!!”

That light was like highly concentrated acid. The moment it hit the creature, it began smoking as if it were about to melt.

The tentacles withdrew. It wrapped its arms around its body, then slowly sank into the floor and disappeared.

Everything happened too fast. No one even knew what had just happened.

Jonathan was still kneeling on the floor, clutching his severed stump. Laura stared blankly at the spot where the monster vanished, then looked toward the door.

Nanoe panted, staring at the doorway. The worry in her eyes instantly turned into surprise, then joy.

Rover stood at the door, the [Eye of Truth] floating beside him. He looked into the room and asked softly, “Am I too late?”

….

“Ah! Your wound…” Rover stared at Jonathan’s arm, frowning. “It can’t be healed.”

Jonathan: “…”

“Motherfucker! Do you think anyone missing an arm can have it healed? And besides, my arm got burned into charcoal. How the hell am I supposed to reattach it?” he shouted in rage.

Losing an arm wasn’t the end of the world. As long as he was alive, he was sure he could find an item later that would restore it.

It was just… he’d shown weakness in front of Nanoe, and Rover too. That made him so disappointed and ashamed he wanted to vanish somewhere else. But where could he go, when this place was a gigantic cage?

Jonathan glanced at Nanoe. She was clinging tightly to Rover’s arm, her gaze never leaving him, filled with tenderness and endless love.

He let out a long breath. The pain of losing his arm didn’t hurt as much as the pain in his heart.

Why was Rover so lucky?

“Rover!” Laura suddenly spoke up. “You… why are you here? And also… what is that thing?”

As she asked, she pointed at the [Eye of Truth].

Rover shrugged. “No idea. When I woke up, I was already here. As for it… some bizarre creature came into my room, then tossed this to me.”

“At first I thought it was useless, just for lighting things up. Didn’t expect it could even kill monsters, hahahaha… weird as hell.”

Jonathan, Laura: “…”

Both of them wanted to curse at Rover, but right now they could only rely on him to keep surviving, so they could only stay silent.

But damn it! It was seriously infuriating. A monster gives him a terrifying weapon like that? If you’re going to lie, at least pick a story that makes sense.

Rover glanced at Laura and Jonathan. He knew they didn’t believe him, but he was telling the truth. He just didn’t mention that he’d upgraded the flashlight into the [Eye of Truth].

And he had no intention of explaining.

“But…” Laura continued, “were you the one walking around outside this whole time?”

“Yeah.” Rover replied indifferently. “I started on the first floor, then went up to the second. I searched every room, but only this one was locked. I was looking for clues to get to the third floor in the other rooms when I heard an explosion, so I came back.”

Jonathan frowned. “You didn’t run into monsters?”

Rover chuckled. “Ah! Of course I ran into a lot of monsters, but before I even got a good look at them, the [Eye of Truth] already took care of all of them. Only the thing just now managed to escape.”

Hearing that, Jonathan glanced at the [Eye of Truth], jealousy surging to the extreme. Not only Nanoe, but Rover also had that terrifying weapon. Why was life so unfair?

He clenched the stump of his arm. It was already charred black, but luckily he still had recovery drugs. Even if he couldn’t restore it, at least he could stop the bleeding and seal the wound.

“So… what clues did you find?” Rover asked softly.

Nanoe told Rover everything they’d learned.

After listening, Rover rubbed his chin and pursed his lips. “So as long as we find the church, that’s it, right?”

Jonathan shook his head. “You’re making it sound ridiculously simple. If it was that simple, me and them wouldn’t be stuck here.”

Rover shrugged. “It really is that simple.”

“What do you mean…”

….

Crack!

The sound of a lock clicking open rang out. The door leading to the third floor was gently pushed open by Rover.

Laura and Jonathan’s mouths fell open, faces filled with disbelief.

They knew earlier that this door was wrapped in a layer of dried lava, and the lock was badly damaged. That was why they’d thought there had to be another route, or some other clue on this floor.

And in the end… Rover just flicked his hand, restored the entire door to its original state, then opened it as easily as turning his palm.

Jonathan clenched his teeth and muttered, “You… how could you do that?”

Rover smiled. “Luck.”

Jonathan: “…”

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