Chapter 46: Still not dead?  

“Ugh…!”  

The horrific sight silenced everyone, their breaths caught in shock.  

Moments later, as the approaching footsteps grew louder, a figure emerged from the darkness.  

Tall, with slender limbs, purple long hair, and frenzied red eyes—a human-like form.  

Yet, with lizard scales and a tail, it was unmistakably a monster.  

“Nice to see you?”  

It was the high-ranking monster that had introduced itself as Satan.  

Sweeping its hair back, Satan grinned wickedly. 

Even its casual smile exuded overwhelming dark mana, pressing down on the air.  

A fragment, a mother. 

Those facing Satan froze, suffocated by its intense presence.  

“…This looks dangerous.”  

Feeling the same threat, Torgo whispered to Talos.  

Talos, wordlessly grabbing Torgo’s sleeve, slowly backed away.  

Seeing most humans in sight doing the same, Satan’s lips curled into a sneer.  

Of course, amidst the crowd, some stepped forward, burning with resolve.  

Satan, recognizing them as the ones who had troubled it earlier, scowled.  

“You got out faster than I expected.”  

Tilting its head in displeasure, Satan’s surroundings shook as the ground rumbled.  

A large tree at the edge snapped with a crack, revealing a massive adult monster dragging its heavy body forward.  

It resembled a toad more than a lizard, unusually rotund compared to other adults.  

[Origin: Satan]  

[Name: None]  

[Rank: Adult – First-Class]  

[Attribute: Fire]  

The new monster’s weak point was its “belly”—specifically, a white protrusion resembling a navel.  

Since they might have to face it, Rita shared this information with everyone.  

As they prepared, Satan raised its hand. 

Immediately, the monster’s slimy mouth gaped wide.  

From it poured fragments of human corpses. 

After spewing them for a while, the monster vanished at Satan’s gesture.  

The gruesome sight of piled-up corpses left everyone horrified.  

It was obvious from the severed limbs, but even from a distance, the bodies were in horrific condition.  

The palpable agony of the deceased terrified the soldiers, who began lowering their heads to shut out the sight.  

“Showing off, huh?”  

Sercia muttered, seething at Satan’s smug grin.  

Her trembling, contorted expression brimmed with murderous intent, ready to unleash sword energy at any moment.  

Before her rage could peak, someone rushed past her.  

“Greta…!”  

A soldier, despairing, whispered a comrade’s name.  

Spotting a familiar face in the mound of corpses, he wailed and charged forward.  

“No, stop!”  

Sercia reached out in alarm, but it was too late.  

“What’s this?”  

Satan easily grabbed the charging soldier, slamming him into the ground.  

It stomped on his torso, then bent down to lift his limp arm.  

Grinning at the crowd, it said, 

“Yes, this is the feeling.”  

The supreme-ranks, including Sercia, froze, assessing the situation in tense silence.  

Amid the heavy quiet, the faint thrum of fear-laced heartbeats echoed.  

Everyone watched cautiously, anxious under the gaze of the small life trembling beneath Satan’s foot.  

“This is what humans are.”  

Satan’s lips split into a wide grin, savoring the atmosphere.  

Its maniacal expression made Rita’s eyes widen. 

Before she could move, Satan’s arm tensed.  

“Argh—!”  

Like pulling weeds, the soldier’s arm was torn off effortlessly.  

The merciless brutality drained the soldiers’ faces of color.  

Even as the screams continued, Satan laughed maniacally, grabbing the other arm.  

The soldier, unable to even beg for mercy, lost consciousness.  

“Still not dead?”  

Noting the soldier’s lingering breath, Satan grabbed a leg next.  

What followed was relentless violence.  

Everyone froze at the overwhelming, frenzied act.  

“Ahh…”  

After a while, drenched in scattering blood like rain, Satan let out a sweet smile.  

It didn’t forget to gaze at the terrified humans with decadent eyes.  

Could this truly be called a monster?  

The watching soldiers, lost in thought, began to falter.  

“That crazy bastard…”  

A murmur rose from the fear-gripped crowd. 

Satan’s sharp ears caught it, turning to Seth.  

An unremarkable, seemingly weak being.  

Yet, oddly, his green eyes burned with raw anger, fiercer than anyone else’s.  

Reading that emotion, delight sparked in Satan’s red eyes.  

“What? Got something to say?”  

Satan stomped, fixing its gaze on Seth.  

The soldier’s body was crushed further.  

The repeated cruelty and sadistic gestures thickened the air.  

That it spoke was no longer surprising.  

The crowd already saw Satan as a transcendent being.  

“Please… stop…”  

Priest Loen, sobbing at the desecration of the soldier’s death, pleaded.  

But Satan took even that plea as awe, reveling in it.  

“I actually prefer tearing things apart over eating. The weaker you are, the more you shatter and crumble in pain, the more I enjoy it.”  

Lowering its red eyes, Satan licked its blood-soaked fingers, confessing its nature.  

Sercia’s face hardened at its ecstatic expression.  

“Madness.”  

Though her contempt was like that for an insect, Satan nodded readily.  

“You’re right. I’m mad. But what can I do? I love seeing you kneel under my power, trembling in fear. It puts me in such a good mood. This place is steeped in terror—ahh, I made the right choice coming here.”  

Hugging itself, Satan shivered with delight before suddenly pointing at Seth.  

“Especially faces like yours.”  

Despite the murderous intent in Seth’s expression, Satan laughed like a lunatic, thrilled by it.  

In another sense, it was another solo act.  

Rita gave a cold smile at Satan’s behavior.  

It had vanished earlier, only to slaughter people elsewhere and return in a frenzied state.  

Satan thrives on crushing the weak.  

This situation, with ordinary soldiers gripped by fear, was entirely disadvantageous.  

“Everyone’s morale is shot. Fighting like this won’t help. Let’s retreat before it leads to pointless deaths.”  

Valery, quick to assess, suggested on Rita’s behalf.  

Count Roya, dazed by the transcendent power, snapped to and followed Valery’s lead.  

“Blena, Seth, Alois, you too. Priest Loen, same goes for you.”  

It was harsh, but necessary.  

As expected, Blena and Seth showed reluctance, but they had no choice under the elders’ orders.  

Eugène, Floria, and Felix, the holy knight, stayed to join the attack group.  

“It’s a dangerous one, so everyone be careful.”  

Sercia warned with a stern face.  

Having seen Satan fight Rita earlier, she didn’t believe it had used its full strength.  

Even if it was the same rank as the insect mother they’d killed before, this was a different beast.  

The insect had been weakened by spawning, yet the supreme-ranks struggled, losing young lives.  

In contrast, Satan brimmed with vitality, its power practically overflowing.  

Unlike the instinct-driven insect, Satan was a high being capable of human speech and thought.  

“It’s like fighting several supreme-ranks combined,” Valery muttered, sweating coldly.  

Honestly, he wasn’t confident they could defeat it, even with their numbers.  

“Given it introduces itself, it seems to prefer the weak. What do you think, Grand Mage? If we send the soldiers away, can we handle it?”  

Valery glanced uneasily at Rita, barely standing with her staff.  

Rita pondered, watching the soldiers retreating under Count Roya’s gestures.  

Honestly, it’s easier to deal with when it’s in lizard form with swarm tactics. But that’d lead to heavy casualties, like in my past life.  

Recalling Satan’s wide-ranging fire attacks, Rita bit her lip.  

Having only supreme-ranks here would minimize losses.  

Without the weak, they wouldn’t need to worry about sacrifices. But it would calm Satan’s frenzy, offering no advantage to the supreme-ranks, as it was easier to fight when it was excited.  

“I can’t guarantee it,” Rita said to the groaning Valery.  

“But at least innocent soldiers won’t die.”  

“That’s enough. Let’s give it our all.”  

Valery snorted lightly, gripping his sword and stepping forward. Despite the uncertain outcome, everyone nodded in satisfaction.  

Meanwhile, Satan, reveling in the fear filling the field, twitched its eyebrows at the humans’ sudden retreat.  

Muttering “How dare they,” it raised its hand.  

Rita swiftly stepped forward, swinging her staff horizontally.  

“Unyielding Wall.”  

An ice wall rose from the ground, blocking Satan’s view.  

“What’s this?”  

Its face crumpled, thwarted before it could act.  

The retreating soldiers, startled by the sudden magic, began screaming in panic.  

As they fled in droves, the surroundings descended into chaos.  

“This takes the fun out of it.”  

Satan grumbled, displeased as its enjoyment faded.  

Meanwhile, Saint Mikael blessed the group with divine protection.  

“I’ll go first.”  

Sercia charged ahead, as always, flanked by Valery and Bailey.  

Eugène targeted Satan’s blind spot, while Eilin and Floria positioned themselves at the rear, waiting for openings.  

The battle began in earnest.  

Satan moved leisurely, dodging sword strikes and energy blasts from three directions.  

It flicked away arrows from the forest’s children with its tail.  

“I’ll take the rear!”  

Felix rushed behind, slamming his shield down on Satan’s tail.  

Sercia, annoyed by the tail’s constant swipes, brightened.  

But Satan was indignant that the weakest human dared touch its precious tail.  

Only for a moment, though.  

“You’re weak, aren’t you?”  

Realizing Felix’s vulnerability, Satan grew excited instantly.  

Its expression shifted, and it leaped high, licking its lips.  

The swordsmen’s blades clashed in the air at its absurd height.  

“Careful!”  

As Sercia looked up in dismay, Satan twisted, seizing Felix from behind.  

Felix reflexively raised his shield.  

Even the large shield, engraved with the Lihanes Order’s emblem, drew a mocking laugh from Satan, who smashed it with its heel.  

“Ugh!”  

The impact cracked the shield’s surface.  

Designed to withstand great force, the Order’s special shield breaking from one kick stunned Felix.  

“That’s more like it.”  

Pleased with his expression, Satan swung a fist, shattering the shield’s top entirely.  

Felix faltered at Satan’s grin inches from his face.

As its hand blade swung, vines sprouted from behind, wrapping around Felix’s waist and pulling him back.  

“Phew…”  

Saved from a clean strike, Felix sighed in relief.  

Had the vines not pulled him, part of his neck would’ve been sliced off.  

Gratefully turning, he was shocked to see the spell’s caster wasn’t Rita.  

“Seth?”  

Felix’s eyes widened.  

Blena, Seth, and Alois, who had retreated with the soldiers under Count Roya’s orders, were panting heavily.