Chapter 301 — The Farmer and the Power Thief (VIII)
"Tap."
Bettice was momentarily lost in thought when a cloth bundle suddenly landed in her arms. She opened it—inside were several worn, aging holy relics.
"I told you I'd offer protection," Rudolph said with a faint smile.
Then he turned his head.
The survivor who had been chased on the first floor earlier was now being brought over.
"We're relocating. I'm not staying here waiting for Scavengers to come knocking."
With that, Rudolph strode toward the newcomer.
Bettice clenched her teeth as she watched his back.
Protection? The relics he gave her were all under twenty years in quality. The tokens they produced were practically useless against Scavengers. The higher-grade relics were hoarded by Rudolph and his cronies.
Most of their relics had been taken by force. And not all their previous owners had died to Scavengers.
Her gaze grew complicated as she silently mourned the newcomer.
Then—
A wet, viscous sound echoed.
Almost instinctively, she shouted, "Scavenger!"
In the next instant, heartbeats thundered in everyone's ears.
From the corner of a classroom ahead, a red glow began to crawl upward from the floor.
Only then did Bettice realize—there was a hidden nest entrance there. A circular hole, surrounded by lumps of flesh and gore.
By the time she noticed, the creature had already emerged.
Slender, oversized limbs. Skinless body. A flower-like maw.
The Scavenger roared the moment it appeared.
"R-Rudolph, what do we do?!" the newcomer panicked.
"Ah, that? Don't worry," Rudolph said, casually wrapping an arm around the man's neck.
The next second—
He stomped on the man's ankle and shoved him forward.
"AAAH! What are you doing?! No—!"
Rudolph ignored the screams, snatched the relic from him, and scoffed. "Hmph. Fifty years."
He pocketed it, then grabbed Caroline and dragged her away at a run.
Bettice and Hugh were forced to follow under threat.
Moments later, a scream rang out behind them.
On the first floor, inside the auditorium—
A small team had just arrived.
The leader raised a fist; everyone behind her stopped in disciplined silence.
It was Olivia.
Her squad had dwindled to five. Each of them was stained with blood and dust. Even with extreme caution, casualties had been unavoidable.
"That sound… second floor?" she muttered.
"But Miss Guerrero… the Scavenger is clearly behind us!" one person whispered, trembling.
"You're imagining things—there's no heartbeat," another argued.
"But… look. There's a shadow."
"Don't turn around!" Olivia snapped.
She had noticed it too. But it had been following them for a long time without attacking. Now that they had stopped, it had stopped as well.
Until she understood its behavior, she refused to break that fragile balance.
What would he do in this situation…?
A moment later, her eyes lit up.
"You three—split up in different directions. Lord Saul and I will stay."
"W-what?! Why do they get to leave first?" a blond young man protested.
"Keep your voice down! Want to get us killed?" someone hissed.
Olivia explained calmly, "This is to determine what that invisible shadow is targeting."
"If it's following just one of us, then once the others are safe, we can set up defenses."
The blond youth shook his head violently. "No! What if it's targeting me?!"
Olivia suppressed a sigh. "Lord Frel, I'll stay with you the entire time—"
"No, no, no! I think we should leave first!" he insisted, stepping forward.
Olivia felt a headache coming on.
This auditorium was the only place nearby with wooden barricades—one of the few tools capable of resisting a Scavenger. Wandering blindly could be fatal.
Just as she was about to adjust her plan—
The air changed.
Ash began drifting through the air.
The ambient noise sharpened, hollow and distant.
Everything felt veiled.
"Hehehe…"
A low chuckle whispered at her ear.
Olivia swallowed hard and slowly turned.
The shadow's position—
Now held a figure.
A grotesque grin.
THUMP—THUMP—
The heartbeat erupted, instantly reaching a frantic pitch.
That meant the Scavenger was right next to her.
"Splurt—!"
A scream.
Blood spilled across the ground.
Another teammate had been struck.
"Run!" Olivia shouted.
"You go! I've already been hooked twice—I won't make it anyway!" the wounded Guerrero member gritted out.
"I'll hold it here."
He forced a grin and gave a thumbs-up.
Frel Saul bolted.
Olivia lingered for a heartbeat—then followed.
This, too, was part of Guerrero defensive training:
If someone buys you time, don't waste their life.
A tear slipped from her eye.
One minute later, another scream echoed behind them.
Seconds after that, a surge of dark energy descended from the auditorium ceiling, lifting a soul upward.
On the first floor, reception room—
"Clang… clang…"
A harsh bell rang through the corridor.
Gideon immediately lowered himself.
"That's the bell of the evil spirit," Austin said grimly. "Whenever a soul is consumed, it tolls."
"This thing really knows how to toy with people…" Gideon muttered.
This enemy was unlike anything before—controlling multiple powerful monsters. It was beyond abnormal.
He turned back.
"Right now, we need to map the terrain and figure out the Scavengers' patterns."
He quickly assigned roles.
"You can't afford to go down again. Tracking the Scavengers falls to us," he said, pointing at himself and Luen.
"W-wait! I'm weak! I haven't rested at all!" Luen protested weakly.
"Ever since entering this place, his energy's been ridiculous. He'll manage," Vera said, pressing his hand down firmly.
"Then it's settled," Gideon said.
Luen looked like his soul had left his body.
Soon after, the two disappeared down the corridor.
"Two screams—upstairs and here… Does it have teleportation like the Nurse Scavenger? Or…"
Mid-thought, Gideon spotted a shadow drifting across the hallway.
Through his Divine Sight, he saw its spiritual patterns.
"Invisibility?" he murmured, immediately giving chase.
Behind him, Luen was still inching along the wall.
After a moment, he looked up.
"Huh? Where'd he go?"
The corridor stretched endlessly like a gaping maw.
Luen's legs trembled. Sweat slid down his forehead.
Elsewhere—
Olivia staggered into a corner, clutching her arm.
She didn't stop. She forced herself forward.
A blade struck the wall behind her.
Earlier, to cover Saul's escape, she had drawn the Scavenger's attention with a flashlight.
With no favorable terrain nearby, she had taken a hit head-on just to buy time.
Now, the courtyard door was ahead.
The clock tower there had a wooden barricade.
But—
Her foot slipped.
She recovered instantly, but those few lost seconds were deadly.
In a chase like this, one second could decide life or death.
The red glow was already on her back.
This time… am I really going to…?
But the expected pain never came.
She turned.
The Scavenger stood frozen, clutching its head in apparent agony.
The drifting ash began to fade.
The environment still looked like the school corridor—
yet something had changed.
And then she saw him.
"Gideon!"
Her voice overflowed with relief.
Gideon blinked. "You are…?"
She looked familiar, but he couldn't place her.
Though still wearing a nun's robe, she now looked more like a survivalist—
A steel plate tucked into her chest pocket.
A belt lined with pouches—food, relics, medical supplies.
"It's me! Olivia Guerrero!" she said, hands on her hips, glaring at him with mock annoyance.
Gideon finally recognized her. "What are you doing here? And this person is…?"
His gaze shifted to the other figure.
He had been chasing that invisible shadow all the way here—yet somehow Olivia and this man had suddenly appeared in the corridor.
"Thump… thump…"
The heartbeat in his ears grew more frantic. A red glow spread across the floor at the man's feet.
Gideon slowly stepped back, eyes locked on him.
The figure looked… strangely familiar.
A fedora with a rounded brim. A red-and-green striped sweater. Dirty work pants…
"Freddy?" Gideon asked, frowning.
"…Ah…"
The man turned around, revealing a face covered in burns and scars.
"So it really is him." Gideon narrowed his eyes.
But that shouldn't be possible. Freddy should have died.
No…
A memory surfaced.
Back then, just as they were about to kill him, the pipes in the boiler room had burst—and a black, spider-like claw had dragged Freddy into a thick black mist.
"Black claw… dense fog…"
Gideon's pupils contracted.
"So the black mist back then… was the evil spirit itself."
At the same time, the figure—Freddy Krueger—began slowly walking toward him.
Gideon tensed immediately.
But then, unexpectedly, the so-called lord of dreams spoke.
"You… feel… familiar."
Freddy's voice was hoarse, each word forced out with visible strain, as if even speaking was difficult for him.
Gideon was genuinely surprised. This was the first time he had encountered a Scavenger capable of communication.
He didn't waste the opportunity. "You're Freddy? You recognize me?"
Beside him, Olivia's jaw dropped.
What is going on?
Weren't you chasing me just now?
How do you two know each other?!
Her brain couldn't keep up.
Freddy spoke again.
"Fre…ddy… that is… my name." He grimaced, clutching his head as if in pain. "I… don't know you. But you… feel familiar."
Gideon studied him carefully—then suddenly realized something.
"You mean this feels familiar?"
He reached into his bag and pulled out a leather glove fitted with five razor-sharp blades.
It was something he had taken after dealing with Freddy during a previous commission, carefully stored ever since.
The moment Freddy saw it, his emotions surged violently.
"Give it… to me… now! I don't want… to be bound by it anymore…!"
Gideon immediately moved the glove behind his back. "You can have it—but what do I get in return?"
Olivia stepped closer, whispering, "Is… this your friend?"
Even she felt how absurd that sounded.
Gideon shook his head. "Just someone I encountered during a past commission."
Freddy growled for a moment, then gradually steadied himself. His eyes became clearer.
"I think… I have seen you before…" He removed his hat, revealing a bald, scarred scalp. "Human. If you give me the glove, I will take you out of this place."
Gideon's brows lifted slightly.
Olivia covered her mouth in shock.
That promise—escape—was what every survivor desperately longed for.
But Gideon didn't rush. "How do I know you're not lying? Answer a few questions first."
Freddy paused, then nodded. "Fine."
"Why are you here? And what exactly is the evil spirit behind all this?"
Freddy seemed to struggle with the memory. "I… only remember being dragged by a force in the boiler room. When I woke up, I was already here."
"As for the evil spirit… I don't know what it is. I only know it controls this place. All the rules… are set by it."
Gideon stroked his chin.
So it really is the same Freddy I encountered before.
But outwardly, he continued, "If all the rules are controlled by that entity, how can you take us out?"
"I have been granted… some authority." Freddy clenched his fist. "When the gate opens, I can guide you into the gaps of this space."
"There… lies the path to the final gate."
That was far more valuable information than expected.
Still, Gideon pressed further. "We can open gates ourselves. That alone isn't enough to convince me."
Olivia nearly jumped.
If you refuse him like this, won't he just kill us?!
But Freddy remained eerily rational.
"There is another Scavenger in this school. Without me, your chances of escape are low."
"And this world… is made of countless stitched-together regions. You will not find the correct path."
Gideon silently agreed.
But he remembered clearly—this creature had once been cunning, cruel, and bloodthirsty.
Right now, Freddy was cautious only because of the evil spirit—and because Gideon held the glove.
If he trusted him blindly, he would be handing over both his advantage… and his life.
Then, suddenly, Gideon's eyes lit up.
"Mr. Freddy—if you're willing to sign a contract with me, I might consider returning the glove."
He took out a sheet of parchment.
A demonic contract.
It had once belonged to Malphas, the 39th spirit of Solomon.
Back when Gideon handled the The Messengers commission, he had expelled that demon with holy light, erasing the contract's original binding power.
Afterward, the parchment had been left gathering dust in storage.
And now—
It finally had a use.
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