Her angle was tilted upward, just enough to encompass the field of view around the Straw Effigy Substitute.
A werewolf stood beside the effigy, one claw dripping with blood, a hint of confusion in its eyes.
This so-called “Mother” was completely different from Grandma's appearance; Grandma's head made up a massive portion of her body, making her seem more like a monster than a wolf.
Yet the wolf before her eyes resembled a human more. Aside from the beast's pelt, her skeleton was no different from a human's; Leona could even deduce that this was a woman nearly 1.7 meters tall who loved working out.
However, right now she had no leisure to speculate further on the werewolf's identity; next, she was going to watch a good show.
The hunter currently lay on the ground, a third of his chest gone along with his arm, the amount of blood loss terrifyingly high.
An ordinary person would have died long ago.
Yet the werewolf slowly walked toward the hunter, seemingly intending to confirm the kill.
Leona had already had a conjecture during the previous playthrough.
The other party possessed the ability to conceal themselves, yet merely took minor actions such as opening the door.
Even during the final observation, when Lu En was left with only one arm, the other party still hadn't made a move, continuing to lurk in the shadows instead.
Had the other party kept hidden because they knew of her Heavenly Eye ability?
If so, Leona was out of options; if the other party was cheating to such an extent, she might as well just die and get it over with.
Therefore, she leaned toward the theory that the other party was an invader just like her and Lu En.
And their Main God quest was likely to kill the hunter.
Leaving Lu En alive in the previous playthrough was simply to have an extra helper when killing the hunter.
She could also deduce that the other party was very likely unable to leave this house due to the rules.
After all, were she in that position, endowed with the ability to conceal herself and such astonishing speed, her choice would be obvious.
She would have killed Little Red Riding Hood first, forcing Lu En to take her side and follow the third clearance route.
And she was certain that Lu En would have agreed.
Because Lu En and the werewolf shared a common point: one intercepted her on the small path out of fear she would find the hunter, while the other spared Lu En out of fear she couldn't deal with the hunter alone.
This so-called common point was that both feared the hunter, which also proved one thing beyond doubt:
The hunter was very strong!
Just as the werewolf's sharp claws were about to slit the hunter's throat, the latter miraculously stood up, his powerful hand clamping onto the wolf claw as the sound of dislocating bones entered Leona's ears with crystal clarity.
Were it not for the fact that Leona couldn't expose herself right now, she probably wouldn't have been able to stop herself from crying out.
“He's practically Superman!”
One man and one wolf began to grapple. Missing an arm, the hunter struggled a bit and remained at a disadvantage throughout.
Yet Leona didn't seem panicked in the slightest. She began creeping outward on hands and knees, her gaze fixed intently on the hunting rifle the hunter had cast aside.
This wasn't an arena ring; the fight wouldn't last long, and in just a minute, things took a turn.
The werewolf had her arm snapped by the hunter and opened her jaws to bite into his neck.
Bizarrely, the hunter still hadn't collapsed, wrapping his arm around the werewolf and slamming her repeatedly into the wall.
The werewolf was stubborn too; even after being slammed several times until tears streamed from her eyes, she refused to let go.
Finally, the hunter could hold out no longer and collapsed.
The werewolf released her grip and lay on the floor, gasping for breath.
Slowly, her form began to shift, turning into a woman in her early twenties with a ponytail.
The woman's face was already bruised and swollen, yet it was still difficult to conceal her striking beauty.
Here, however, beauty was the most useless thing.
“Damn it, which bastard said the Little Red Riding Hood instance was easy? Is this fucking hunter even human?” The woman cursed, which also confirmed her identity as an invader.
She stood up, seemingly waiting for something, but in the end, nothing happened.
Leona knew she was waiting for the settlement screen and raised the gun barrel slightly.
Yet she didn't fire; she wanted to be the final oriole.
Gunfire sounded once more. A bloody hole appeared in the woman's skull, and she collapsed with a face full of unwillingness.
This shot had come from behind.
And the master of the bullet was none other than Lu En, who had “died” at the very beginning.
During the first playthrough, Leona had been deeply puzzled as to how he had the guts to turn his back on her.
On second thought, however, since even she had an ability like save-loading, it wasn't strange for the other party to have a life-saving ability as well.
Moreover, Lu En likely wasn't participating in an instance for the first time; it wasn't out of the question that he had obtained a life-saving item.
Truth be told, luck played a massive part in Leona's ability to hold on until now.
If not for the hunter's overpowering strength, and if not for drawing the Straw Effigy Substitute ability, she would definitely have failed to clear this instance.
In reality, though, who cared about luck? Surviving was what mattered.
The moment the Straw Effigy Substitute reverted to its original form, Lu En's pupils shrank in shock.
Leona pulled the trigger without hesitation.
Lu En: dead.
She slowly crawled out from under the bed, inwardly grateful that firing the shot hadn't caused any mishaps.
She admitted that shot just now had been a gamble; if the hunter had been an invader, she would have had no choice but to start a third playthrough.
Yet in view of the hunter's terrifying physical conditioning and his ability to call out her name, she had still fired decisively.
For if the hunter were an invader, how could he know her name? Even if he had investigative items or abilities, his tone and manner of speaking were practically identical to Mother's in the diary.
Exercising foresight, Leona didn't just stand there idly, but went to finish off each one.
Just as she aimed the gun at the hunter, however, she ran out of bullets, and the hunter woke up.
“Uh-oh.”
Leona lowered the gun and closed her eyes.
She resigned herself to fate. Someone who had lost half his torso and had his neck bitten through was still alive—how on earth was she supposed to play this?
This instance never intended to let her live.
“Are they all... dead?” Instead of attacking her, the hunter looked at the wreckage scattered around and asked.
“Except for you, everyone's dead,” Leona opened her eyes and answered, looking calmly at the hunter.
“That won't do. If I don't die, you won't be able to clear the instance.” The hunter suddenly smiled. He pushed himself up and picked up the dagger from the floor.
Watching the hunter's actions, a startling thought surfaced in Leona's mind.
“No way...” Leona murmured instinctively.
Yet the thought in her mind was verified: the hunter plunged the dagger straight into his heart.
Yet he still did not die immediately.
He turned toward Leona and showed a loving smile once more.
“I'm so glad you could come back, Leona.”
As the words fell, his hand dropped, his eyes wide open, but void of any light.
The hunter was dead.
At the same time, the surrounding environment began to dissipate, followed by boundless darkness.
The ethereal voice from before sounded again, and a black cat stepped out.
“I'm glad you were able to clear the instance, Leona. Care to give an acceptance speech?”
Leona hadn't yet snapped out of it, her thoughts seemingly lingering in the instance just now.
Assuming she was astonished that a cat could talk, the black cat said:
“Are you surprised? A talking cat is nothing extraordinary; we even have Puss in Boots here.”
Leona pulled herself together, looked at the black cat, and shook her head.
“No, Mr. Apas. I'm just curious why the Main God would design an instance like this. It is so... unfair.” Leona said this, yet there was no reproach in her tone.
Indeed, the disparity in strength and the fact that certain information was only provided in the second playthrough all reflected the unfairness of this instance.
As if hearing the greatest joke in the world, the black cat chuckled, leaped onto Leona's shoulder, and said:
“Leona, the Main God has never been fair to outsiders. The fact that you are alive is already the Main God's mercy toward you.”
“Does that include the diary only conveying the information to me when I loaded my save? Is that also the Main God's mercy?” Leona sneered.
The black cat hopped down, seemingly about to leave.
Turning his head to look at Leona, he said, “Of course. That was so the Main God could let you take another good look at this world.”
“It is so far from beautiful,” Leona replied.
The black cat didn't deny her words. How good could a world without a sun possibly be?
Leaving behind two sentences, he slowly walked into the darkness.
“Then find a way to make it beautiful.”
“If daylight ever comes, perhaps you'll be able to return and complete the earlier clearance routes.”
Rate on N.U.
