Death Is Not Always the Most Terrifying Thing

The silence was dead, hollow, and came from Sally's mouth. Her frail body trembled uncontrollably as her slender arms tightly clutched Lu Minghao's body. Blue veins bulged on her fair skin.

"Hmph! Let's go, Gison. It's time to head back."

Gene glanced disdainfully at the trembling Sally, dismissing her reaction as pure fear. After all, what courage could a mere monster who consorted with a slime possibly have to resist them?

And so, Sally silently followed the two adventurers. Her once bright purple eyes were now utterly vacant, and her tender face was devoid of any smile, eerily calm to the point of being terrifying.

"Sally."

Lu Minghao looked up at Sally. Her vacant eyes were like a pool of still, dead water. Through their mental connection, Lu Minghao could clearly sense that Sally's heart had lost all fluctuation, as if she were a true ghost. All that remained within her was the purest form of 'evil.'

Nothing else.

Bang!

A few minutes later, Gene, walking at the front, arrived at a wooden house and kicked the door open. He swaggered inside, a smug smile on his face as he pointed at Sally, who had followed him in, and chuckled.

"Look, Captain, what have I brought back for you?"

"Sally?"

Lester, who had been wiping his longsword, looked up just in time to see Sally behind Gene. Even though more than a year had passed since Grandma Oran had taken Sally away, Lester recognized her immediately. After all, Sally hadn't changed so drastically in less than a year that she'd be unrecognizable.

"Isn't this our most precious Sally? Uncle Lester really missed you!"

As he spoke, a smile spread across Lester's grim face. He quickly stood up and walked over to Sally, examining her carefully. Once he confirmed the 'merchandise' was intact, Lester's smile grew even brighter. He could already picture himself handing Sally over to the client and receiving a hefty reward.

"Captain, now that we have the 'merchandise,' can we begin?"

Beside him, an adventurer dressed in a black robe with a weathered face stepped forward, her eyes burning with fervor as she looked at Lester. She was the last member of Lester's team, a perverted mage named North. A past magical mishap had left her looking so aged.

From then on, North's psyche became twisted and perverted. She became jealous of other young and beautiful girls, her favorite pastime being to tie them up, place a specially made mirror in front of them, and then, amidst their fear and screams, force them to watch as their own young and beautiful faces were slowly, completely peeled off, becoming her collection.

Moreover, North had honed her skills to perfection, allowing her to completely peel off faces while ensuring her victims experienced extreme pain without losing consciousness. Throughout the entire process, North's perverted psyche would be utterly satisfied.

The moment she entered the village, North had already spotted several promising targets. If not for Lester's orders, she would have already lost her patience and captured some of the village girls.

"Go ahead. But play responsibly. Don't forget the mission: not a single villager is to be spared."

"Linus, Gene, Kenson, North. Sally also misses. You. All."

Just as Linus was stating that while playing was fine, the mission must not be botched, Sally, who had been silent until then, suddenly looked up. Her vacant eyes fixed on them, and a chilling smile graced her tender face.

Sally hadn't expected that the people she had 'missed' countless nights and days in the trash heap would appear before her so suddenly. Even her body trembled uncontrollably with excitement. She missed them so much. Missed every single member of Lester's team so much.

Their faces were constantly replaying in her mind, and she was constantly thinking about how to kill. Them.

"Oh! Sally, did you want to say something?"

At this moment, Linus also noticed something was off with Sally. A mocking smile on his grim face, he walked up to Sally and grabbed her long black hair with his calloused hand, intending to make this half-human, half-ghost monster recognize her place.

He hadn't harmed her before simply because Sally was a valuable 'merchandise.' If Sally dared to resist them, Lester wouldn't mind if the 'merchandise' got a little damaged. After all, the client's mission didn't explicitly state that the 'merchandise' had to be delivered intact.

Swish!

"Ahhh! My hand! My hand!"

The next second, Lester, who had been reaching for Sally, suddenly saw a black shadow flash before his eyes. Before he could even see what it was, a searing pain shot through his arm. His hand had fallen to the ground, and blood spurted out from the severed limb like a fountain.

Sally, standing before him, was now splattered with blood.

"Captain!"

"Damn it! What did you do, you monster!"

Instantly, Lester's agonizing screams drew the attention of his teammates. Kenson instinctively drew his weapon and aimed it at Sally. North, the mage, immediately retreated behind Kenson to prepare her spells, while Gene pulled Lester, who was in front of Sally, away and poured a healing potion onto the wound.

"Damn it! You monster, what did you do?"

With the healing potion, the severed wound on Lester's arm stopped bleeding. After a hasty bandage, Lester drew the longsword from his waist, his grim face staring at Sally with eyes like a hyena's.

At the same time, Lester hid his severed hand behind his back and quietly gestured to North, who was preparing her spells, to get ready to flee. Sally's sudden attack had made Lester realize something was wrong.

As an adventurer team that had engaged in all sorts of dirty deeds, the reason Lester's team had survived for so long and their actions had gone undiscovered by other adventurer teams was primarily due to Lester's cautious nature.

Don't be fooled by his outwardly grim and terrifying demeanor and his cruel methods; his heart was incredibly cunning and cautious. Like a hyena, he would ruthlessly eliminate weakened enemies, but when facing a stronger foe, Lester would hide in the shadows and wait for an opportunity.

Suddenly, under the watchful eyes of Lester's team, Sally, her face covered in blood, lowered her head to look at the slime in her arms. As she opened her mouth to say something, the slime actually extended an arm and wiped the blood from Sally's face, gently stroking her long hair.

"Sally, do whatever you want! Also, Sally, remember, sometimes, death is not the most terrifying thing."