« You can't detect them. »
Victor was about to reply, but the chimera spoke again.
« But you can guess their locations. »
Victor frowned.
«What do you mean? »
A smug smile appeared on the creature's distorted face.
« Although you can't ever be absolutely certain, those cubes tend to appear in places that are important for your planet. »
Anna spoke up for the first time.
« Important places? »
« Yes—for example, sites of great battles or significant historical events, capital cities, monuments. Those kinds of places are very favorable for their formation, though I don't know why. »
« Then how come I got one in my school? »
It didn't make sense. That place had nothing special—just an ordinary high school in a small, insignificant town.
The being shrugged.
« Who knows? Maybe something important happened there in ancient times, maybe an undocumented battle took place there, or maybe it was simply random chance. These things aren't limited to important places. Those places are merely where they statistically have the highest chance of manifesting. »
« Hurry up and ask your last question. I need to study this sample as soon as possible. »
Victor hesitated. There was something he had wanted to ask from the beginning, but he couldn't bring himself to say it aloud. He knew the situation he was in was far beyond his current understanding.
Who knew what he might trigger by speaking His name?
That was precisely why he had avoided mentioning it to the two women he met during the trial.
But this time he was on Earth… it shouldn't be a problem, right?
« What do you know about Beelzebub? »
« What? »
« You don't know him? »
« Know who? »
Victor frowned.
« I just asked you a question. »
« I don't have time for your jokes, monkey. »
The boy looked at Anna, who was still watching him with curiosity.
There was no doubt anymore—something was preventing him from pronouncing that name, or preventing others from hearing it.
But why?
He sighed.
« Forget it. Where's the bitch who's summoning these things? »
The chimera said nothing, simply pointing one finger upward.
Victor turned around and left without another word, Anna still following closely behind.
« We could've killed him together… »
« Maybe. But we'd die afterward. »
Even if they managed it, the trial would continue, and the exhaustion would kill them.
If that weren't the case, the chimera's body would already be lying on the floor.
« So? Where are you going? Don't tell me you're planning to fight the thing summoning these zombies? »
They reached the escalator, which had stopped working days ago. Victor stopped and turned toward the brunette.
« All of this is a waste of time. No matter how many there are, they don't make me any stronger. Might as well end it quickly. »
Anna let out a soft laugh, one hand covering her mouth.
« So that's what motivates you? Power? Or is it just a means to an end? »
What motivated him?
He wouldn't call it motivation.
Now that he thought about it, he didn't really have a goal aside from getting rid of his mother.
Well, that was more of a task than a goal.
So why was he still moving forward?
Why, despite losing an arm, fingers, and fighting nonstop, hadn't he stopped even once?
It was his hunger.
He felt it more strongly than ever.
Something inside him urging him to devour the power of everyone who crossed his path.
Its influence was still small, but it seemed to grow alongside his strength.
The more he had, the more he wanted.
« That's none of your business. We don't know each other. »
« Oh come on~ You won't tell me? I won't tell anyone, you know… »
« No. You should go back to them, the next wave will start any second. »
Anna waved her hand dismissively.
« And so what? What you're doing seems way more fun. Besides… »
She paused.
« Melissa will be fine, what happens to the others doesn't matter. »
Victor didn't respond, climbing the dark steps one by one, the rusty escalator groaning with each footfall.
The first floor was no different from the ground level—several hallways lined with various stores.
However, he could feel a sinister aura and a nauseating stench emanating from the end of the main corridor, as if the thing waiting for them was deliberately revealing its location.
Without the slightest hesitation, he walked toward the source. He wanted to end this as quickly as possible.
Anna followed with her usual innocent expression.
« By the way, how did you know something was summoning the zombies? »
« Because the system didn't display any message when I killed them. »
She frowned, unconvinced.
« That proves nothing. It could simply be another rule of this event. »
Victor sighed.
« There's no point discussing this. You talk too much. »
Anna shivered involuntarily.
« Wow, that coldness~ I'm getting chills. »
The boy suddenly stopped, his dark, lifeless eyes narrowing sharply as he stared at the end of the hallway ahead.
« That wasn't because of me. »
Both of them immediately went on guard—Victor gripping his hunting knife while Anna slid two small blades from her sleeves into her hands.
A faint clattering sound echoed as a silhouette emerged from the darkness, taking small steps toward them.
Victor could already make out most of its features, and it reminded him strongly of something he had already encountered.
The figure drew nearer until he could see it as clearly as if it were standing in daylight.
It was a skeleton—though far less imposing than the colossal one he had met days earlier, there was no doubt about it.
But unlike the latter, this skeleton had nothing humanoid about it. It resembled a bipedal beast far more than a human. Its knees were inverted, and its long arms—easily over one and a half meters—ended in three long, pearly-white claws.
Though only about one meter fifty tall, its hunched back covered in long spikes suggested its true height was closer to one meter eighty.
Two pale blue flames danced inside the empty sockets of a skull that resembled a large wolf's far more than a human's.
The clattering Victor now recognized as the creature's bones clicking together stopped. The creature stared at them from a few dozen meters away—its beastlike instinct evaluating, analyzing, trying to answer a single question.
Were they prey, or predators?
But the two weren't planning on giving it time to decide—they burst forward at supernatural speed, reaching the skeleton in barely a second.
It reacted instantly, raising its claws to block the three blades aimed directly at its eye sockets.
How do you kill a skeleton?
Victor had asked himself that the second he saw it.
Honestly, he had no idea—but the only thing that stood out on the creature were those wavering flames in its eyes.
And judging by how desperately it defended them, he had guessed right.
Yet something still surprised him.
Even though it reacted fast enough, it was abnormally weak.
He felt that with just a bit more force, he could overwhelm it with no problem.
And that wasn't even counting Anna, who clearly wasn't someone to underestimate either.
Victor leapt back, slipping out of the monster's reach.
« You're much faster than I expected. »
He was speaking to Anna, who had managed to keep up with his own already abnormal speed.
She didn't answer, eyes fixed on the monster whose arm trembled from the previous clash—fissures spreading along its bone like cracks in porcelain.
« It's weak. »
Despite the observation, she didn't look pleased—and Victor felt the same.
The boy's eyes widened suddenly. He threw himself to the side, narrowly avoiding the projectile flying toward him.
A small crater appeared exactly where he had been standing, a wisp of black smoke rising from it.
The skeleton had its arm extended, one claw pointed at his previous position.
A bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead.
That explained its frail body.
This thing was a mage.
Victor dodged another projectile aimed at his face.
Anna didn't stay idle—she lunged at the creature while it was distracted by Victor, but just as she was about to bring her blades down, she felt an invisible force shove her back, throwing her several meters away.
A thin blue membrane shimmered around the ivory body, covering it like skin.
The brunette let out a discontented sound. It was some kind of magical shield, no doubt.
As for how to break it… she had an idea, but she couldn't do it—at least not without Melissa.
She hoped the strange boy had a solution.
Victor wasn't doing much better—barely avoiding each projectile, some grazing his clothes which burst into flames shortly after.
He had also noticed the strange layer of energy covering the creature's body. He did have a solution—but it would force him to stay still far too long to be acceptable. No doubt the creature wouldn't miss such an opportunity to send him to his maker.
But what other choice did he have? Only a few seconds had passed since the fight began, and every moment increased the risk of them being overrun by the next wave of undead.
He couldn't allow that.
He finally made his decision, and instantly a dark green energy began to gather in his right palm, forming a thin membrane just like his opponent.
Victor stopped moving and waited for the next projectile, which came less than a second later.
A blue light shot down the hallway toward his face—but Victor had already anticipated it, raising his hand directly into its path.
He waited for the impact.
But it never came.
It disintegrated the instant it touched the dark green energy in his hand.
His lips curled into a smug grin.
This element of his was far stronger than he had expected.
The creature seemed to notice, taking half a step back unconsciously at the threatening expression on Victor's disproportionate, fully stretched mouth.
« I bet you can rot too. »