But there had actually been traps inside that house!
Some of his companions would never make it out of those traps.
Still, up to that point, although nothing had gone as they had imagined, their determination to win had never wavered.
But... everything changed when they stepped into the woods on the Back Mountain.
Every so often, their footsteps triggered strange clouds of smoke. Within that smoke, their bodies grew stiff, making it difficult to move.
They had no idea what would happen next, but it was bound to be something terrifying.
For the first time, a shadow fell over their hearts.
The companions traveling with him believed that everything tonight might have been a plot, and that they had to find a way out of this predicament as quickly as possible.
Either they fled!
Or they found that damned, utterly vile Hammer Pillar!
Hammer Pillar!
What a ridiculous title!
Before today, hearing that title had always made him want to laugh, imagining what expression the man would wear as he was eaten.
But now... that title had begun to terrify him.
He was just a Pillar with a ridiculous title, so how could he possibly have taken things this far?
Run away!?
How could I possibly run away?
Tonight's operation had been ordered by that most terrifying master. He hardly dared imagine what horrors would await him if he fled.
Then his only choice was to find the Pillar who filled his heart with fear.
But in the process, his companion died.
Boom!
Fire flared and an explosion roared, while flying grit and stones mixed with iron sand battered his head and face.
An overwhelming sense of weakness spread throughout his body. He was afraid!
For the first time since becoming a demon, he truly felt fear.
*In the