Chapter 47: “Fear me!”     

“Don’t you dare run…”  

Felix sighed, expressing both gratitude and relief. 

Satan was charging again, closing the brief gap.  

“I’ll help.”  

The trio of mages—Blena, Seth, and Alois—stood beside Rita.  

Rita didn’t scold Seth’s dry tone. 

Still reeling from the dizziness of her large-scale area-of-effect spell, she honestly needed the support of assisting mages.  

Prepared for any contingency, she welcomed their return.  

“Seeping Life.”  

Blena, Seth, and Alois cast vines in sequence, binding Satan’s feet. 

The earth magic showed decent restraining power, allowing Rita to join the attack group with confidence.  

“Surging Current.”  

As Sercia, Valery, and Bailey charged, four streams of water spiraled upward from all directions, targeting Satan’s tail.  

But Satan fortified its tail, protecting its weak point.  

“Trying to cut my tail?”  

Retracting its coiled tail, Satan smirked with feigned ease.  

Inwardly, though, it was seething. 

With the fear it thrived on fleeing with the retreating humans, these fearless attackers were ruining its mood.  

They’re really getting on my nerves.  

Satan swallowed its irritation, glaring at the composed supreme-ranks. 

Facing humans who didn’t despair before its overwhelming might dulled its excitement.  

It briefly considered retreating but, true to its wrathful nature, Satan’s anger flared at their boldness, deciding to kill at least one before leaving.  

Imagining a human crushed and wailing under its power, Satan shivered in ecstasy.  

Its red eyes scanned for a target.  

“Who should I pick? You? Or you?”  

Even amidst fierce attacks, Satan lazily dodged, throwing out a cryptic question.  

Sercia narrowed her eyes at its grin, about to demand what it meant, when a mana arrow shot from behind, piercing Satan’s face.  

“Who’s the cocky one…?”  

Caught off guard while lost in its sadistic fantasies, Satan touched its tattered mouth, frowning.  

The arrow’s caster was Floria, a child of the forest.  

Empowered by Baal’s mana stone, she irritably eyed Satan’s regenerating mouth as if it were a nuisance to sew shut.  

“Your smile’s annoying. Let’s crush that face first.”  

Pulling her bowstring, Floria spoke bluntly, her voice dry yet sharp.  

Normally reserved alongside Eilin, her sudden brashness widened the group’s eyes.  

Seth, initially stunned, burst into laughter.  

Rita, knowing why Floria was so irritable, gave a wry smile.  

She hasn’t eaten since mealtime. 

Hunger’s made her edgy.  

After absorbing the mana stone, Floria had taken to eating meat. 

The dietary shift inevitably affected her temperament.  

“How dare you scar my face…”  

Satan glared at Floria with displeasure for daring to wound it, however briefly.  

But that was all.  

Strangely, looking at Floria or Eilin stirred an inexplicable unease deep within.  

“Hmm…”  

Tilting its head, Satan instinctively turned away.  

Its gaze landed on Rita.  

A human, yet the most enigmatic and alien.  

“Right, you’re here.”  

Satan was curious how Rita knew its weak point. 

Though it hadn’t communicated much with Baal, the dead fragment had considered her its greatest threat.  

Recognizing her danger anew, Satan’s guard rose. 

Eliminating this annoying obstacle would be most advantageous.  

But targeting Rita wasn’t ideal. 

Her supreme-rank power was formidable, and the others guarding her were troublesome.  

As its gaze shifted irritably, it spotted three white-robed mages.  

Satan’s eyes curved like a snake’s.  

“Yes, the weakest ones. And…”  

Licking its lips with a chilling grin, Satan chose its target.  

Its tail stiffened, the faded scales regaining a glossy black sheen.  

The thickened tail lashed out, knocking back Sercia, Valery, and Bailey, who couldn’t withstand its force.  

In an instant, Satan cleared the attack group, charging forward with earth-shaking steps.  

“What? It’s coming this way?”  

Blena’s panicked cry mirrored Rita’s grimace as she swung her staff at the approaching Satan.  

“Unyielding Wall. Snowstorm of Judgment.”  

The transparent ice wall crumbled instantly under Satan’s headbutt.  

The ensuing blizzard froze its toes briefly, but Satan melted it with a burst of mana, charging through.  

“Frozen Valor!”  

With the distance closed, Rita had no choice but to transform her staff into an ice spear.  

She thrust at the charging Satan, but it absurdly stepped on the spear’s tip, leaping high.  

Wings unfurled, and Rita reflexively looked up, wondering if it was fleeing.  

But as she gritted her teeth, Satan, soaring high, dove at a sharp angle, snatching Seth and hurling him far away.  

“Seth—!”  

It happened in a blink.  

Like a raptor seizing prey, Seth vanished, and Blena screamed.  

“Ugh…!”  

Just before hitting the ground, Seth frantically summoned mana to shield himself.  

He crashed, rolling roughly, then twisted to stand.  

But before he could, Satan pinned him down, straddling his body.  

“You look weak, so I’ll go easy. Try to hold on!”  

Its red eyes gleaming, Satan grinned, clenching its fists. 

Feeling the menace, Seth hurriedly raised his arms.  

“Keep holding on!”  

Laughing, Satan pummeled Seth with alternating fists, each blow carrying its full might.  

Seth endured the bone-crushing pain, focusing on defense.  

“Seth!”  

The supreme-ranks, losing sight of Satan, rushed to his location.  

Even Rita couldn’t stay calm.  

“Coiling Vines! Cruel Arrow…!”  

She unleashed spells at Satan’s exposed back.  

But its wings flared, deflecting her magic.  

Sercia’s sword energy, arriving first, was neutralized.  

Valery and Bailey’s attacks were equally futile.  

Even Eilin’s larger-than-usual mana arrow shattered like glass against Satan’s mana.  

“Don’t interfere!”  

Satan roared, flapping its wings like swatting flies. The gust sent the three warriors flying like paper.  

Seth endured Satan’s relentless assault with his body.  

“Distant Purg…”  

As Rita tried to bind Satan, a dark shadow loomed above.  

Looking up instinctively, she saw a massive lizard—the same one that had spewed corpses earlier.  

Before anyone realized it appeared, the lizard charged, forcing Rita’s group to scatter.  

Landing with a thud, it stood like a mountain in the cratered ground.  

“Its belly’s the weak point!”  

Enraged, Valery charged, shouting for it to get out of the way. The lizard’s slime hissed, oxidizing into smoke.  

Sensing danger, Eugène grabbed Valery’s collar, stopping him.  

“Stop, elder! It’s poison!”  

Valery’s eyes widened.  

As the mercenary said, the vapor from the lizard moved like living fog, sinking to the ground.  

Winter plants in its path blackened and rotted.  

Sercia glanced at Mikael, who shook his head helplessly.  

Gritting her teeth, Rita stepped forward.  

“Blade of Azure Light!”  

A crescent blade shot toward the lizard’s navel.  

But the slime on its body hardened into a white barrier.  

The blade shattered against it with a clang.  

Rita’s face twisted.  

‘It withstood it?’

A mere adult shouldn’t block her attack. 

It must be a defense-specialized monster.  

But that defense wouldn’t last forever.  

Let’s see who wins.  

Exhaling angrily, Rita unleashed a barrage of spells.  

As azure blades flew repeatedly, the white barrier grew transparent. 

Convinced it was breaking, Rita’s eyes gleamed, firing another volley.  

Got it.  

A crisscrossing crescent hit the lizard’s navel. 

Shockingly, it melted, absorbed by the creature.  

There was no such monster in the past.  

Rita’s expression, rarely shaken, showed confusion.  

A mana-absorbing monster? 

She’d seen fragments with that ability, but never a regular monster.  

“With non-mana physical attacks…!”  

Turning to shout, Rita froze.  

Only warriors could deal physical damage, but they couldn’t approach the toxic slime.  

Unable to see Seth’s situation clearly, her group grew anxious.  

“Can you keep holding on?”  

Satan focused on pummeling Seth with both fists.  

Unable to withstand the force, Seth’s mana weakened, his arm snapping like a twig.  

Groaning at the broken bone, Seth’s pain sparked a glint in Satan’s frenzied eyes.  

“How’s that? Hurts, doesn’t it? Hurt more!”  

Licking its lips, Satan’s expression was one of twisted pleasure.  

Seth’s brow furrowed, groaning in pain.  

Not the reaction it wanted, Satan clicked its tongue.  

“Not enough pain yet?”  

Sneering with its wide mouth, Satan struck Seth’s body again.  

Though Seth shielded himself with mana, as a non-supreme-rank, he couldn’t last long.  

His mana depleted, leaving his bare body defenseless.  

“Ugh… hah…”  

Bloodied, Seth bit his lip, maintaining a stoic expression.  

Noticing Seth suppressing his emotions, Satan scowled, enraged.  

“Scream in pain!”  

It kicked Seth’s waist.  

“Fear me!”  

Satan demanded specific emotions.  

“That trash from earlier trembled in fear the moment I grabbed his arm. Why aren’t you? Should I tear off your arm too?!”  

Its lips twitching, the demon frantically seized Seth’s right arm.  

Sensing its intent, Seth desperately summoned his remaining mana.  

As it shielded his arm, Satan grabbed his wrist, yanking hard.  

Thanks to the mana, Seth briefly resisted, but he knew it wouldn’t last.  

Finally, his mana ran dry.  

“…!”  

Anticipating the coming pain, Seth bit his lip until it bled.  

Satan reveled in the softened flesh, easily tearing off his right arm without effort.