I threw the damn thing away the next instant—and the moment it hit the ground,
its glow died.
No way.
Did I just screw myself over?
Damn it!
I tousled my hair in frustration.
I just straight-up handicapped myself in the first ten minutes of arriving here!
"Sighs... okay, let's calm down." I closed my eyes, trying to rein in my spiraling thoughts.
There's always a good side to every bad thing…
Yeah, like hell there is.
Grrrrr!
And what the hell is even making that sound?!
This time, I was pissed.
That stupid, incessant sound had just cost me something immeasurable.
I stood up—God, I was beyond pissed.
Screw logic.
I'll kill that bastard. Whatever it is.
"Status," I said.
Instantly, an interface appeared.
[NAME: ???]
[SPONSOR: The Fallen God - Omithar]
[ABILITY: Variant]
[LIGHT: 380/1000]
[CURRENT POPULATION: 732,039 / 1,000,000]
Wait.
Is it just me, or are 267,961 people missing?
No. Way.
This won't even take as long as I thought.
But what the hell is killing everyone?
How can so many people be wiped out so fast?
Sigh.
I looked ahead, then clenched my fists.
I glanced back at the rock—it had been glowing just seconds ago.
Wait a minute...
This gives me an idea.
.....
Grrrrr.
..A creature—pure abomination—stood poised. Its absurdly elongated tongue lolled out, glistening with saliva that dripped from its green-scaled mouth.
It looked around.
Bodies—so many bodies—of various creatures. Players.
Scattered across the cavern floor, illuminated by rocks that now glowed more fiercely than before.
Slowly, a hideous cry emerged from the ground. Countless hands clawed their way out—hands of many different creatures, reeking of death and corruption.
And woefully, they began to pull the souls of all those sprawled around—many still sentient, crying, resisting, pleading.
But it was all worthless.
Their souls were dragged into the earth nonetheless.
"More... need more light..." the creature growled.
Its callous body twisted, reflecting the eerie glow as it sniffed the air. It didn't have eyes. Instead, in their place, a strange, pulsing organ throbbed grotesquely.
It didn't see as Daemons, Herets, or Koorels did.
No, it sensed something else—something purer.
It sensed light.
And every living thing in this realm carried light.
Grrrrr!
It turned toward the depths of the cave.
There. A few more lights. Dim, but still present.
"Need. More. Light."
Its six limbs coiled tightly—then, in a single leap, it launched itself into the air with a sonic boom that tore through the cavern.
It sprang forward like a missile, and within a second, it saw them—
A daemon with claws buried deep in the mind core of a rocky creature. It turned toward the ominous presence and froze.
Too late.
Splash!
It was split in half.
The abomination latched onto its heart, draining the light from its core.
"More… more light."
It surged forward again.
This time, it encountered two creatures—furry, four-limbed but with four arms—each armed with enormous claws. They sensed the oncoming threat and bolted toward it, ignoring the weight of their bodies as they accelerated at impossible speeds.
"SRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
One managed to impale the creature—but it wasn't fatal. The wound regenerated almost instantly.
However, the creature retaliated, slicing through one of its arms with a brutal blow.
Its tongue whipped out, coiling around one creature's neck. But the other grabbed the monster's head, raining down devastating punches that made the cave tremble.
"SRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
Its eyes flashed with a blinding glow.
Suddenly, from its mouth—
A golden beam.
The creature holding its head stared, frozen, as the beam ripped through its skull.
Thud!
Its head collapsed.
But the surviving creature had already shattered a stalactite and, with tremendous force, embedded it into the pulsing organ atop the monster's face.
"SRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
It screamed—but the creature forced the jagged rock deeper.
Splash!
The sharp stone pierced the abomination's brain.
Now triumphant, the surviving beast looked at its fallen comrade—then turned to the enemy.
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAR!
It bellowed as light from both corpses was absorbed by the monster.
However—
"Hey!"
It turned around—just in time to see something flying at it.
It caught it.
A rock.
But the next instant, the rock glowed—and the creature collapsed, shrieking.
"ARRRRRRRRRRRR!"
The young man sprinted forward and hurled another glowing rock like a javelin.
It flew straight into the monster's mouth.
It was toast.