Burning Fire

In front of Han Dong's room.

Chen Li was guarding the door. Seeing that Edward had begun searching the first floor of the bungalow, she turned to ask:

"Do you need me to make a move?"

"There are nearly four hours left until the event ends. With the [Evil Spirit] having already determined I am dead, I absolutely cannot let Edward leak the information that I am alive, but I also cannot kill him directly.

Miss Chen Li, do this later..."

Han Dong informed her of the impromptu plan to deal with Edward.

After hearing the plan, Chen Li was slightly worried about Han Dong, "Your body... is it okay? What if the opponent detects the trap?"

"It's just simple weakness and poor stamina. I still have some self-defense methods... Don't worry, the current Edward is heavily injured and facing enemies on all sides. The chances of him realizing the trap are very small.

On the contrary, if he sees you beforehand, he'll become wary."

"Alright."

Chen Li found a corner on the second floor and hid herself... As for her younger brother Da Qing, he followed the original plan and hid silently in a certain area of the bungalow.

"Hiding on the second floor?"

Edward Murray completed the search of the bungalow's first floor at the fastest speed.

Just as he walked out of the woodshed and headed for the stairwell...

Under high tension, he heard a slight rustle mixed with the sound of the heavy rain.

He suddenly turned his head and looked towards the wooded area outside the bungalow.

A lifeform in a 'crawling' state flashed rapidly in the darkness.

This sent a jolt through Edward's heart.

"I clearly cut open her mouth with a steel knife and sprayed high-temperature flames directly into it... Judging from the screams and the injuries at the time, it clearly has a 'fire-fearing' physique.

How long has it been? Why is it chasing me already?

My cousin was right. In newcomer-level fate events, besides one-star simple tasks... in high-star events, monsters, even if you know their weaknesses, are extremely difficult to kill.

Even if heavily injured, they will recover in a short time.

I need to find Nicholas quickly to buy me time.

Otherwise... I'll really die!

I must become a Returner, I must join the Knight Order, I must see the outside world!"

Ching!

Hydraulic propulsion.

A burst of high-temperature steam leaked from the gaps in the prosthetic arm, and a stiletto blade about thirty centimeters long extended from his palm.

At the same time, in his human left arm, he held a wood-chopping axe he had found in the woodshed.

Edward's killing intent was fully revealed. Even if he encountered [Possessed Chen Li] holding a cleaver, he would not hesitate to attack head-on... To survive, Edward had suppressed his 'fear' to the lowest level.

He rushed to the second floor.

Directly heading for the 'Room 1' where Han Dong was staying.

However.

Crack!

The sword pierced the lock, and with a kick, the door was kicked open.

The frail Han Dong was indeed sitting on the edge of the bed... but being found so easily was a bit strange.

At this moment, the sound of the heavy rain continued.

Edward could still faintly hear strange crying sounds coming from the wooded area.

It was this invisible pressure from the 'Evil Spirit' that made it difficult for Edward to think calmly and consider everything comprehensively.

Han Dong, at the last moment, instead of hiding, actively stayed in Room 1... Anyone with a brain could guess that there must be a trap.

But under the pressure from the Evil Spirit, coupled with his urgent desire to kill Han Dong.

Edward overlooked this point.

After all, facing someone whose stamina was inferior to a woman's, he, strengthened by the prosthetic, could easily crush the opponent with one hand.

Edward said menacingly, "While I really want to know how you escaped being grouped with 'Akaman'... time is tight now, and I don't have time to decipher it."

He scanned the room and, after confirming there were no visible traps, Edward's killing intent flared as he charged straight at Han Dong...

Crack!

As soon as he took three steps, Edward unexpectedly stepped on the ground, and his body plummeted downwards.

His upper body was slightly wider than his lower body, causing his waist to get stuck halfway down.

A simple yet hidden trap.

With his waist caught, Edward struggled frantically in panic, which led to the rebar between the floorboards piercing his flesh… There was no possibility of escape.

A dead end.

Edward stared at Nicholas, who was sitting on the edge of the bed watching him struggle, and only then did he realize he had made a foolish, low-level mistake.

Meanwhile.

With a snap, the door behind him closed.

A disheveled, black-haired woman in red joined them.

Instead of killing Edward directly, Chen Li used the hemp rope she found to bind his hands tightly. Then, she used the cleaver to destroy the crucial gears on his prosthetic limb.

This turned Edward into a lamb ready for slaughter.

At this critical moment, Edward looked relieved.

"Valen Nicholas… you're not an ordinary civilian, are you? You're on a completely different level from these dead people. I originally planned to keep sickly civilians like you as a last resort. I didn't expect to keep a rat, a cunning, thinking rat at that. Are you from the church? Or a new recruit secretly trained by the Knight Order?"

Han Dong just watched him, offering no reply.

Actually, Han Dong really wanted to extract more information from him… but seeing him like this, it was hard to get anything.

Just then.

A bell rang from the first floor, the signal from Da Qing, indicating that the Evil Spirit had appeared and entered the bungalow.

"Let's go!"

A staircase leading from the window to the first floor had already been prepared.

Timing it perfectly, Han Dong and Chen Li left through the window.

After meeting up with Da Qing, they threw several matches into the windows of various rooms on the first floor… The firewood, pre-soaked in gasoline, was quickly ignited.

"To the cellar."

After igniting the large fires, Han Dong and the siblings abandoned the bungalow and headed for the brick farmhouse where they had previously activated the 'hidden event.'

Creak!

The door to the second floor of the bungalow was pushed open.

Akaman, with a cracked mouth and scorched black, quickly crawled into the room.

She twisted her head, staring at Edward, who was tied to the bed, his tongue cut out, rendering him unable to speak.

Akaman still possessed some cognitive abilities and didn't quite understand how Edward had ended up in such a state.

Waves of heat rose from the floor, and the flames had completely spread throughout the bungalow.

Akaman indeed feared natural fire, so to ensure no mistakes, she took action herself.

As her ten fingers touched Edward's face, the young man, born into extraordinary circumstances, showed little fear. His eyes only held hatred for Nicholas.

There was no room for maneuver.

He had lost.

Survivor death, cooldown reset to 2 hours… Current survivor count is [1]. Restriction will be fully lifted in the final hour.

The Evil Spirit, upon receiving the message, tried to climb out of the building. However, due to the bungalow being abandoned and somewhat damaged, when the flames fully spread on the first floor, the supports collapsed.

The entire bungalow instantly caved in, disappearing into the sea of fire.