Everything happened too fast. There were no footsteps, no hint of a presence. It was as though that claw had formed out of thin air in the darkness, tearing toward them in an instant.
Lin En immediately tried to dodge, but the boy was faster. He rushed in front of him in a flash, glanced up, and abruptly raised his arm.
Boom-
A tremendous crash rang out.
His body was like steel. A silver glow surfaced on his skin as he planted himself firmly in place and took the mountain-crushing blow head-on.
That single strike was enough for Lin En to realize that the monster which had suddenly appeared in the darkness was far, far beyond the level of a Grand Lord!
This was a monster of the Seventh Layer!
"Don't leave the firelight."
The boy glanced sideways as he spoke.
"Without light, you'll be dragged into their domain in no time. If you get lost, you'll never find your way out!"
Boom-
Almost the instant he finished speaking, a piercing, ghoul-like shriek erupted from the darkness. A skeletal hand covered in rotting flesh suddenly emerged from the darkness behind him and slammed a fist into his back. That bony hand was almost larger than his entire body.
Yet he took that lethal ambush squarely on his back.
He didn't budge an inch.
Lin En exclaimed in astonishment:
"Holy shit! You're that badass?!"
The boy's lips curled upward, as though he thoroughly enjoyed showing off in front of a beautiful woman.
"Nothing special. I've lived here for ten years, after all. If I couldn't even handle this much..."
But before he could finish, that enormous fist began pounding him like a brutal pile driver. Blows rained down on him, hammering him straight into the ground. Then countless twisted, pale-skinned, crawling