33 Book 3 Chapter 29 (2/2)

You are being suppressed. All stats have dropped by 20%.

Your willpower has allowed you to partially resist!

Ebba led Sam and his team east. While Sam's specialized skills allowed him to detect danger, Ebba's minions were the perfect scouts. As a renowned scout himself, Sam wasn't frustrated – his team had many things a necromancer couldn't replicate.

It wasn't long before they left the save zone designated to their haven. The constant howling and stench of blood gave it away.

Under Ebba's direction, she steered the team away from ongoing brawls, keeping them safe. She couldn't see anything in the dark, but the death of her minions was a good enough indication of danger. Although a few demons ran into them, Sam and his team were able to bait the intruding monsters away from the party, preventing a fight to the death.

The night dragged on. What was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance mission was instead a fight against oneself. The combination of mental suppression, darkness, howling, and inability to use the communication necklace left the team tense and on edge. Even their battle-hardened wills were left strained. Any weak-willed ascender would have found themselves unconscious, or worse, deranged.

Eventually, after several hours of detours, they arrived at their destination. The team could only see less than twenty feet out, but they all stopped without a word. Ahead, corpses of monsters riddled the ground. Strangely, the blood didn't pool together but instead sunk into the ground.

Countless roars came from within, these much fiercer than before, and the ground frequently trembled from powerful attacks.

Ebba ignored all of that. Being so close to this much death energy left her intoxicated. She couldn't help it – the nature of her abilities gave rise to a type of gluttony that wasn't human.

When Sam's danger sense skill suddenly went off, he immediately motioned for his team to retreat. Ebba snapped back to attention. Her affinity for death energy gave her insight into what was happening. Something was absorbing death energy at speeds she couldn't imagine.

The team turned and fled, but it was too late.

A figure flew out from within the corpse-riddled field, hitting the ground and rolling for twenty feet before coming to a stop. Ebba and the others froze, afraid to make a sound.

(Mutant) Demon Arand - Level 250

Health: 378,400/500,000

Besides an absurdly high level, the demon had ten tattoos. According to demon society, that signified the demon before them was on the verge of becoming a mid-grade demon.

Ebba was astonished. This was only a low-tier demon? Based on her estimations, they would need an entire raid party to kill this demon.

”Ahh, damn beast.” Arand's tail pushed off the ground, bringing him to his feet. He clutched his dislocated shoulder and popped it back into place. Only then did he notice Ebba and the others standing nearby. ”Oh? What manner of life are you? Strange, you look like a demon, but not quite.”

Upon taking a closer look, Arand laughed in disdain. ”You don't have a single tattoo? How pitiful.”

A deep roar cut off Arand's laughter. His eyes narrowed as he let out a guttural growl in response. ”Think I fear you? You don't know your place!”

One of the tattoos on Arand's body took on a gaseous form. It spread out to cover his entire body before transforming into a suit of flexible bone armor. Another tattoo came to life, evolving Arand's tail into a fearsome weapon reminiscent of a spear. Three more symbols activated, though their effects were unknown.

Ignoring Ebba's group entirely, his tail smashed against the ground, shooting him forward like a bullet. Ebba could barely trace his body, much less react. Thankfully, Arand's target was the monster behind them.

”Let's go!” Sam hissed. He was soaked in sweat from just those few moments.

Luck seemed to be on their side, as they returned to the haven with little trouble. Upon entering, they collapsed to the ground, feeling as if a significant burden had lifted from their shoulders.

It was only then they understood. The mental suppression on this floor possessed an insidious nature, weakening their resolve and raising their fear. After reporting to Peter, they returned to their homes and fell into a deep slumber.

In conclusion, it seemed although Ebba could lead them to a fortuitous encounter, if they didn't possess enough strength, it would instead be a disaster.