That thing was still climbing the stairs—step by step—while the others had already noticed sothing unusual happening around Susan, Jessica, and Fiona.
Jessica was holding up okay. Fiona wasn’t in too bad a shape either, but Susan had already started dry heaving, her body bleeding in strange and unnatural ways. Right next to her, Zara was clearly flustered and shouted, "Susan, if you die, our team loses a third of its combat power!"
Drake, standing off to the side, didn’t let it slide. "How strong is she supposed to count for a third of the team’s combat strength? If she dies, she dies."
Look at his expression—he didn’t even spare Susan a glance. If there were anything that could catch his attention, it’d probably be a mber of his team.
Facing Drake, Fiona quickly said, "That thing... it’s trying to escape from my body. It’s scared, but also excited—I don’t know why..."
"Maybe whatever’s coming is affecting them," Luis said as he pushed up his glasses with certainty.
Bella lightly tapped her magic staff in the air and said softly, "I’m ready. I wouldn’t mind adding a few more candy-sweet warriors to my collection."
The battle with the last monster had cost her too much.
But gradually, everyone realized that the footsteps were far too light and slow. Even the snowstorm outside seed about to clear, yet the "monsters" still hadn’t reached them.
Drake’s eyebrow twitched. He had never accepted being prey.
Without hesitation, he kicked the door open and rushed outside, swinging his blade straight ahead.
And at that mont, the slow-moving monster appeared before all of them.
Long black hair was blown into disarray by the wind following Drake’s charge. Bright golden eyes reflected the massive blade in his hand that stopped just centiters from Prophet’s nose.
"Tsk tsk!"
Tears silently rolled down Prophet’s face, dripping onto the ground.
He stared blankly at Drake. And in that mont, Drake—for the first ti—realized just how horrible he truly was.
At the sa ti, he sensed danger rapidly closing in from behind.
"Bella!" Drake roared, snapping the others out of their stunned daze.
Bella jolted, raised her wand, and absorbed the three dark entities easily.
By now, Susan and the others were damaged. Their bodies looked weakened, their skin shriveled—as if they’d aged ten years instantly. Each of their internal organs seed to be silently screaming in pain.
But what shocked them more than the pain... was the figure standing right in front of them.
"Prophet. It’s Prophet. Why didn’t any announcent co up?" Susan forced out each word, her voice so heavy it felt like she could stop breathing.
anwhile, Drake had hurriedly pulled back his blade and stepped forward, clearly wanting to say sothing—but Prophet only trembled as if even more terrified.
Was this Prophet? So unbelievably timid? A few of them couldn’t help but question it.
Just then, Jessica suddenly stepped forward, her brows tightly furrowed as she looked at Drake in irritation:
"You scared him."
Drake sneered at Jessica. "You’re the one who scared him."
It was only then that Jessica noticed—right after she approached, Prophet had instantly backed away, tears falling like rain. Just monts ago, even when Drake stepped forward, Prophet had trembled but didn’t retreat. Was this the privilege of being his top believer?
Jessica couldn’t help but clench her fists. For so reason, an uncomfortable, almost furious emotion surged within her—a feeling so intense that it didn’t even seem like it belonged to her.
He... he’s watching everything through my eyes. These emotions—they’re his!
Realizing this, Jessica didn’t dare step any closer.
Drake looked at Prophet, still sobbing in the corner, and, despite his concern, couldn’t help but wonder—maybe Prophet had gone blind from crying too much.
He spun around theatrically and said, "Look at , I’m harmless, alright? You used to hate , didn’t you? But you weren’t afraid of . You made do all the things you didn’t want to do. You were domineering and obnoxious like that. So why are you scared of now? I’m your top believer—what must I do to make you believe ?"
Drake stared at Prophet, but Prophet’s gaze felt completely unfamiliar. Even though he didn’t want to admit it, Drake began to consider that maybe Prophet honestly didn’t rember him. Maybe, soday, he’d show up with a new top believer.
Just thinking about it left Drake feeling deeply frustrated. If that were the case... then what was the point of being ordered around like a dog all that ti?
One mont, Drake’s face showed sincere worry; the next, he snapped, raising his voice in frustration. "I’m your top believer. Rember that! You’re not allowed to go find another one!"
[Faith is a terrifying thing. Drake doesn’t even realize how much he’s changed.]
[He’s just one step away from clutching Prophet’s legs and sobbing, LOL.]
[Even now, he says it with the most annoying tone. Does he not understand that Prophet is a fragile, socially anxious mushroom?]
[He’s crying again. Maybe the blindfold earlier was so he wouldn’t have to see anything—then he wouldn’t have to be afraid. At this rate, he really might cry himself blind.]
[Honestly, that person above makes a good point... but I still don’t understand what Prophet’s so scared of.]
[So people are afraid of pigeons, even though they can cook them. Maybe in Prophet’s eyes, anything in human form is especially revolting and ugly.]
[Okay, bro, that theory insults humanity, LMAO.]
"Bang! Boom!"
Right then, a thunderous sound shook the entire mansion. This ti, it wasn’t coming from the blizzard but from beneath the building. A deep sense of foreboding hit all of them:
The real monster had arrived.
At that mont, the floor beneath their feet began to shift. The ground and walls started moving abruptly, like gears clicking into place. Drake didn’t have ti to think. He lunged forward, scooped Prophet up, and tucked him under his arm at his waist. As he did, he moved his hand up and down as if weighing him, then comnted, "You feel lighter than before."
Prophet stared blankly at Drake. He’d even forgotten to keep crying. He struggled a little, but his feeble strength was no match for Drake. Drake even spared him a glance... and smirked mockingly.
Prophet: "..."
[LOL, did Prophet show a new emotion? I’m not seeing things, right?]
[No matter what happens, Drake can’t escape Prophet’s disdain.]
[The reason’s simple: Drake is just too annoying!]
Drake held Prophet at his side, dodging the walls that suddenly lunged at them.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The floor kept shifting—the entire mansion seed to be reassembling itself. It beca clear they were being led downward... to et the true master of this dungeon.
But so couldn’t help thinking:
Was the "true master" really the true master?
As Drake had said, this mansion had far too many falsehoods.
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