Usher for Madeline.
She took all the remaining members of the Shinsal Sniper Team and set out to chase Tudor and Bianca.
After driving her horse across a bridge over a swamp, she soon reached the foot of a steep mountain.
[Abandon your horse and climb the mountain. It's okay to kill Tudor, but you must capture Bianca.]Madeline lost her senses in anger and couldn't even think of hiding her true voice.
A sound like the howl of a trapped animal comes from a mouth that is torn below the ear.
The eyes, which had turned in strange directions after being hit by an arrow between the eyes, were vertically sharp, like those of a reptile.
The leader of the devil army, who had once led the era of destruction from the forefront and made countless contributions as the vanguard of mankind's destruction, was slowly revealing his true colors.
Food Deuk-
Every time Madeline moved the hem of her loose dress, it made a sound like a bird's feathers rubbing together.
[It smells. The smell of young, fresh meat... … ]Madeline was climbing the mountain faster than anyone else.
The smell dotted around rocks, piles of leaves, and the tips of sharp tree branches.
Madeline was chasing the traces of blood that Bianca had spilled as she ran away.
[Hohohoho- It seems like you were in quite a hurry. She ran away without even being able to remove the smell.]The fact that the prey was gradually losing its composure was clearly revealed in the increasing number of traces.
Saliva, including sweat, saliva, and snot, that fell on the floor.
Among them, the one with the most distinct smell is blood.
Not only did he leave without covering the spilled blood with leaves or dirt, but he left clear traces such as footprints and hair everywhere.
Broken tree branches and disheveled grass also clearly revealed the direction the prey had fled.
[Finally, goodbye to this rotting bitch. Hohoho - As soon as I change bodies, the first thing I have to do is to crush this creaking body with a whip. I've been really frustrated and sick of it all this time.]Madeline arrived at the ridge with a bright smile on her face.
Soon, the lake area on the other side of the mountain comes into view.
Lake Dog Lake.
It is the largest lake in the area, along with the swamp surrounding the Usher family mansion.
Madeline and the Usher family's pursuit team left the forest and headed toward Lake Dog.
Then what they saw was a somewhat unexpected sight.
[…] … ?]It was a pile of stones and mud piled high on the shore of a lake that had turned into a barren field.
The place where there should have been a lake originally was dry with no water.
Water has completely disappeared due to ongoing forest fires and drought.
[But was the drought this severe?]The bottom of the lake was strangely dry.
I don't know if it was just the water level lowering, but it would be strange if the bottom of the lake was cracked like this.
There was some water in the puddles here and there, and large fish could be seen crowded there.
… with a plop! Crack!
Madeline reached into the puddle, caught a large catfish, chewed it up alive, and swallowed it.
[That's strange. No matter how severe the drought was, the water in Lake Dog Lake did not dry up... … Hohoho - What does it mean that the coming era of destruction will be that harsh?]Madeline threw the catfish she was chewing on the floor and turned her head to look at the glowing red flames beyond the horizon.
Of course, the forest fire spreading far away is not an ordinary natural disaster.
All natural disasters such as droughts, forest fires, and monster outbreaks are at best mere omens.
It was a flow of magic power condensed to open a huge portal in the sky and a natural phenomenon that followed.
[…] … gate. The gates of destruction will soon open!]The demons, who became anxious due to the continued disappearance of their companions, decided to open the door to the demon world a little earlier than they had planned to open after a dozen years.
That was also the reason why the empire's civil war broke out earlier than planned.
[For that time, I need to quickly change my body into something young and fresh.]Madeline felt her body heating up as she thought of the numerous plans she would make after taking over Bianca's body.
[Ah, first, we have to make a lot for the kids! How delicious the children made with my blood and flesh would be! My mouth is already watering.]She quickly made her way down to the bottom of the lake and towards the center.
As you pass between the towering stones and piles of dirt and go inside, the desolate landscape inside comes into view.
Whiiiiing-
At that moment, a humid wind blew from somewhere.
[…] … !]Madeline's expression changed as she turned her head to see something.
I have an ominous feeling in my head.
When I looked between the piles of stones I had just passed, I saw that the road I had walked along had changed slightly.
Madeline's eyes narrowed.
[Oh my. Will you deal with me in camp?]Yes.
These piles of stones piled up at the bottom of the lake are each wall forming a labyrinth.
And the roads in between draw strange shapes overall.
If you walk this path, you will naturally suffer from hallucinations and fantasies, and eventually you will completely lose your sense of direction and become trapped within them.
It was similar to the structure inside the Usher family mansion where Bianca's brainwashing took place, but the method was much more complicated.
[Hohohoho- I am also a member of the Usher family. I can't believe I'm coming to a losing battle. It's cute~]Madeline was very relaxed despite being caught in a trap.
As I looked around, the surroundings were completely surrounded by strange stones rising like swords and dirt and rocks piled up like a wall.
Madeline's eyes sparkle with an evil light.
[Hey… … It's pretty good. It looks exactly the same as the eight quarters depicted on the map of hell, right? Is this the work of Belial and Dantalian? Those children, did they really betray and join the humans?]But that can't be true.
Didn't Belial and Dantalian already disappear in the first place?
However, the Jin in front of me was clearly a trap that Belial and Dantalian often used during large-scale wars.
It is unknown how a mere human could recreate it.
[Who is it? Bianca is that bitch? No, there's no way a human could imitate the devil's strategy this well. Hmm... … ]Madeline, who was a little worried, soon burst into laughter.
[Well, of course. It has nothing to do with me. Because this body is not affected by things like martial arts. From the beginning, Belial and Dantalian had already heard about the structure of this group. Then, shall we destroy it in an instant?]The other party must have set up this trap to buy time.
However, Madeline had not only absorbed all of the Usher family's knowledge of formations, but was also familiar with the devils' formations, so she thought to herself that there was no way she could be defeated by such a low-level maze.
[I will make it all a waste of time.]Madeline raised her head in triumph.
[Hyu(休), Life(生), Sang(傷), Du(杜), Gyeong(景), Death(死), Gyeong(驚), Open(開). Of the eight true gates, if you go through life, light, and enlightenment, you will live; if you go through injury, light, and rest, you will get hurt, death, and death. ), you would die if you went in, right?]Madeline knew well which places were the escape routes and which were the roads.
Because it was a very famous method even among demons.
[Ho-ho-ho- For those who don't know, the Jinbeop has a huge effect, but for those who know it well, it's nothing, like graffiti on the street. Although the effort is virtual, it is useless!]Madeline walked forward triumphantly and broke through the path of attack.
… … But at that moment.
[uh?]Madeline found Maggie's head lying on the floor.
It was a catfish in the pool that Madeline had caught and eaten near the entrance to the camp.
I don't know why, but she found herself back in the area where she started the maze.
Of course, the exit is still not visible.
[Well, that can't be possible?]Madeline moved immediately.
I went out through the Saengmun (生門), Gyeongmun (景門), and Gaegamun (opening gate), which I knew to be a way out, but the same scene was still repeating itself.
I was prepared to get hurt, so I went out through the Sangmun, Gyeongmun, and Hyumun, but the result was the same.
Rather, the only thing that seemed to clutter my mind was confusion, as if heaven and earth were turning upside down.
However, I did not have the courage to enter the two gates and the four gates, which were clearly the route to death.
[what? Wasn't this even an octagon? In that case, is it right to go out like this? Huh?]The black blood drawn on the floor was distracting Madeline's attention.
Instead of a hole to escape through, all you see around you are increasingly dense walls.
[…] … Now that things are like this, is there no choice but to advance towards the center of the lake? Hmm. There is someone who knows the devil's methods. Who on earth is this? Is this the demon hunter who goes around killing his comrades? But he would have been imprisoned in the Nouvelle Vague, right?]But the longer you worry, the further you move, the darker your vision becomes.
Madeline was dragged into the deepest part of the camp, half willingly and half unwillingly.
There stood a bare tree with a small torch hanging on it, and words written in black blood could be seen at the bottom.
Madeline controlled her rising anger and impatience and walked towards the tree.
Soon, the words written on the floor in the very center of the maze caught Madeline's eye.
-The devil dies under this tree-
The moment Madeline saw that phrase, she ground her teeth.
[How dare these bastards make such a cheap provocation... … !]but. It wasn't just a provocation meant to ruin the mood.
Madeline was able to quickly realize that fact.
… slam!
The sound of something heavy being pushed in and hitting a huge rock.
Ddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd-
The dry, cracked floor was shaking noisily, sending up pieces of stone and dried mud.
[…] … !?]Madeline's expression was grim.
Now I understand why the bottom of Lake Dog Lake was so dry.
Sigh!
Water attack.
A huge wave of water was coming from far away.