Ch.7Chapter 7

“Huu….”

Aghartha collapsed with a despairing expression after being affected by the Watcher’s suggestion.

The Huntsman thought that if he let his guard down even slightly right now, he might be completely consumed by the suggestion with unknown consequences.

But for the Huntsman, the very premise of “letting go of his mental fortitude” was impossible.

Rage toward the Outer God.

And a strong determination to exact revenge.

These two elements combined, automatically flooding his entire body with adrenaline at this moment when the Outer God stood before him.

The Huntsman soon realized something was attached to his head, and forcibly moved his stone-stiff arm upward.

Snap.

Using only his wrist, he cut it away with the edge of his hand, and immediately felt his mind clearing.

Though he staggered momentarily as strength drained from his body, the Huntsman endured and kept his eyes fixed forward.

“Hmph.”

Exhaling heavily, he looked at the Outer God and sensed something had changed.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

After continued observation, the Huntsman finally confirmed it wasn’t his imagination.

One of the many grotesque eyes covering various parts of its body had closed.

‘…Does that mean each of those eyes is watching someone?’

The Huntsman soon understood the Watcher’s power.

Anyone exposed to the Watcher would be continuously subjected to the suggestion of being watched by those countless eyes.

And it could probably actually monitor them too.

It was a structure that would inevitably trap anyone who didn’t have the Huntsman’s strong resistance to Outer Gods, built from various complex factors.

Proving this, Aghartha had already pressed her forehead to the floor as if becoming one with it.

The protective talisman she had secretly hidden had long been discovered and dismantled by the Watcher.

Perhaps because of this.

Strange sounds began reaching Aghartha’s ears, and just as what she had considered an advantage—her hearing—was about to become a blade with noise transforming into voices…

“Snap out of it, chatterbox!”

The Huntsman, as if possessed by a soccer player, supported himself on his left leg and forcefully kicked Aghartha’s backside with his right foot.

WHAM!

“KYAAAK!”

An intense pain shot up from below like an electric shock, bursting from Aghartha’s mouth as a scream.

Perhaps from being kicked too hard, Aghartha’s body flew forward slightly, and she unconsciously grabbed her head with both hands.

In the process, Aghartha’s hands severed whatever was transmitting the Watcher’s suggestion.

Having fully regained her senses, Aghartha gasped for breath and slowly rose.

“W-what on earth.”

As Aghartha tried to raise her head to assess the situation, the Huntsman grabbed her clothes and pulled her down.

“Urghhhh.”

“Look at the ground. I think if you look at those eyes, it’s over.”

Mental strength is consumed like physical strength.

No matter how well you know how to escape the suggestion, if it’s repeatedly applied, you’ll eventually use up all your mental strength, causing what’s commonly called a mental breakdown, and ultimately your brain will give up on life and you’ll die.

Fixing her gaze on her shadow, Aghartha asked in a trembling voice:

“…Did Tanthyn make it through properly? What should we do now…?”

“The fact that it suddenly reacted means that lunatic did something.

And it’s highly likely that it was something that disturbed the Watcher’s mood.”

The Huntsman snorted and said:

“That means it’s time to beat the crap out of that thing.”

His red eyes gleamed ominously from beneath his cloak and hat.

Aghartha made an incredulous expression hearing the Huntsman’s words.

“T-that thing? No matter how you look at it, that’s insane…!”

“I’m going to buy time from now on. Until that lunatic arrives.”

Ignoring Aghartha’s words, the Huntsman began preparing to move.

First, he surveyed his surroundings.

Even for the Huntsman, facing an Outer God without a weapon would be like a stingless wasp fighting a mantis.

Something caught the Huntsman’s eye as he looked around.

A pile of items had spilled out from the completely shattered prison, and he could see that most of them were weapons.

Before the Watcher could approach, the Huntsman quickly moved toward the prison and smiled with delight.

“Lucky me.”

From the scattered arsenal, the Huntsman grabbed his favorite weapon, a double-barrel shotgun.

The driving force that had allowed the Huntsman to kill numerous lesser Outer Gods until now.

And the weapon best suited to his most confident fighting style.

The irritation that had always clung to the Huntsman finally subsided, and a positive energy began to surround him.

He placed in his palm the ammunition he had brought along while trying not to be discovered during his imprisonment.

These weren’t ordinary bullets but had a grotesque appearance like lumps of flesh.

Fatal rounds capable of hunting Outer Gods.

Though difficult to produce due to their special ingredients, they could inflict effective damage.

The Huntsman turned the lever, causing the gun to bend 90 degrees and expose the barrel, then quickly inserted the rounds into the chamber and closed it with a wrist snap.

To ensure it was properly closed, he spun the gun twice with his finger, confirmed it was securely loaded, and immediately aimed at the Watcher.

Without a moment’s hesitation, the Huntsman’s finger moved, and with a powerful blast, the rounds rushed toward the Watcher.

“””О҈̲͉̮͎̱̰̞̫̭͈̭̩͙̦̙̫̍̍̎́̃́̐̃̅й̵͙̞͕̠̖̭̫̭̫͉͈̤̥̏̓͒̈́̀̐̓̒͂̐̈͗̽ͅ,̷̖̤̩͙̩̜͇̟̙̱̬̙̬̮͕́̇̽̑̎̿̎̊̔̌̋͌͛ э̶̗̱̫͖͎͚͙͚͂͗̓͐̃̈́̃̈̏т̸͚͉̞̖͎̬͈̰̣͓̙̞̦͕̖̔͑͗̽̆͆̑͑̊̅̏̉̒̀͊̚ͅо̸̝̲̩͈͈̜̥͍̫̜̫̤̲͓̉̒̉̃͒̐͋̓̆͊͂̈́͆̚ б҉͔̞̪̖̜̝̮̳̩̬͚̀̉̆̏̇̓̈́̊̚о̵̩̟̪̫̗̖͇͚̤͙͆̅̐̂͗̈͊̀̇л̶̭̜̠͔͓̲͉̪͓̞̌̇̎͋̄̆͒̀̓̇̋̃̉̒͋ь̸͚̭̰͖̟̥̯̣̥̤̱̲̠̩́̀͒́́̾̆͂̍̊̅н̸͙͈̞͔͓̤͕̖̣̠͇͙̂͑͛̑̀̍͂̇̔̀̍ͅͅо̵̣̥͕̮̳͚̘͍̤̥͊͋̊̓̂̍̒͐̇̓̓ͅ”””

Incomprehensible, grotesque sounds filled the prison corridor, and the Watcher began writhing as if in pain.

But despite the Watcher’s excessive reaction, the Huntsman quickly realized that the damage inflicted on this Outer God wasn’t that significant.

The Huntsman clicked his tongue.

“As expected, it doesn’t work on higher-tier Outer Gods.”

“What?! Then what do we do?!”

Aghartha stomped her foot as she spoke, but even the Huntsman didn’t have a clear answer.

In the original Snow Castle, this situation would correspond to the tutorial stage.

And bosses appearing in tutorials were typically too strong to be defeated by conventional force.

The Huntsman quickly realized that the Outer God before them was a greater Outer God, different from the common lesser ones.

“In the end, all we can do is hold out until that lunatic arrives.”

The Huntsman spoke calmly, but despair began to bloom on Aghartha’s face.

#

Perhaps it was the effect of picking up the bone.

Suddenly, cracks began appearing in the room as it started to collapse.

“Whoa, what? Why is it suddenly collapsing?!”

“It’s okay, that’s normal. Let’s hurry and get out.”

The leader of the Exiled Gods spoke with urgency, but I hesitated to leave, having already formed an attachment to them.

“No, but what about you? What’s going to happen to you?!”

Though I shouted out of genuine concern, the Exiled Gods just giggled as if something was amusing.

As I watched them anxiously, one Exiled God wiped away tears of laughter and said:

“To think we’d be worried about by a human, have we become too weak?”

“Even Mother didn’t worry about us.”

“Do you want to be our father?”

“Stop joking around!”

I wondered who this “Mother” was, but it seemed pointless now.

I spoke seriously, thinking it wasn’t the time for jokes, but that just made them laugh harder.

I tried to figure out how to take them with me, but the leader Exiled God shook his head, stopping my thoughts.

“We’re not disappearing. We’ll just drift in this gap.”

“What’s the difference…”

“It is different. If this space ever comes alive again, we can become active again too.”

“How long do you think that will take?!”

“Don’t worry, human.”

The leader Exiled God covered my mouth with both hands and said:

“We live faaaar longer than you think.”

After hearing this much, I thought staying longer might just result in me dying from falling debris, which would be troublesome for these Exiled Gods too, so I slowly began to move.

“Ah! The youngest is still attached to the human!”

One of the Exiled Gods pointed at the little one still clinging to my shoulder.

They all tried to grab and pull it off, but the Exiled God held onto my clothes and refused to let go.

After tugging for a few seconds, the Exiled Gods seemed to give up, sighing and saying:

“It seems that one wants to go with you.”

“Let it go! Fun things are always our priority!”

I made a surprised expression at how casually they decided this, but the Exiled Gods started talking first.

“It’s fine! Nothing bad happens just because it’s separated from us!”

“It’ll just become much weaker once it leaves this room and is alone.”

“You! If you mistreat our youngest, you’ll die by our hands!”

I wondered what kind of threat this was, making scary statements and then saying it was fine, but I thought I might really get buried alive if I delayed any longer.

When I scratched the head of the Exiled God still clutching my clothes with a frown, it looked up at me with a questioning expression.

“…It might be difficult.

Even if you like humans and find them fun to touch, being together won’t always be pleasant. Why not stay here instead?”

“No! I want to go with you…”

Seeing the Exiled God burying its face completely and being stubborn, I couldn’t help but sigh.

How could I just leave it behind like this?

Looking over the Exiled Gods once more, they nodded with gentle smiles, as if saying it was okay.

I really thought they were kind beings until the end.

“Alright. I’m going to start running so it’ll be bumpy, so get in here.”

As I opened the pocket on my clothes, the Exiled God fluttered its wings and flew right in.

I could feel it squirming inside.

The leader Exiled God smiled wistfully and said:

“Please take good care of that child.”

I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but I knew the moment of farewell had truly arrived.

After showing them a determined expression one last time, I forcibly turned my head and started running toward the exit.

Ah, perhaps the Huntsman and Aghartha might dislike this a bit.

Well, the Huntsman himself said Exiled Gods are only threatening in large numbers, so maybe I can convince them that one is okay.

As the passage grew narrower, the Exiled Gods waved their hands and wrapped themselves in flower buds, falling into a long sleep.

#

When I emerged outside, the scene before me was shocking.

“Hiiing. It hurts.”

Was that the Huntsman attacking a wolf-eared girl with a gun?