Is there truly anything immortal in this world?

"No. Nothing escapes death. True immortality doesn’t exist."

Yuri tossed aside the corpse in her hand, her gaze settling on the knights frozen in fear. Her voice slithered like a curse, carving the essence of terror into their bones—not from any fear-inducing aura, but from the raw truth of what stood before them.

"Death comes by hanging. Death comes by a pierced heart. Death comes by a shattered skull. Even bleeding out claims lives. Yes… humans are such fragile creatures."

Fragile, yet that very fragility granted them the right to slay monsters. Or so someone once told her.

*Crack!*

A sword thrust toward her face was caught effortlessly between pale fingers. The blade, once sharp enough to cleave steel, couldn’t even nick her skin.

The blood-smeared girl shook her head slightly. "This game has grown dull. I’ve no patience left for you… inferiors."

*Snap!*

The tempered knight’s sword shattered into fragments mid-air, collapsing like brittle glass.

She shifted her body slightly, dodging a streak of emerald light aimed at her throat.

Weis gasped for air, pupils shrunk to pinpricks. His trembling fingers fumbled the bow’s aim. He’d witnessed it all—the monster before him dying again and again, only to rise each time, untouched.

Undead horrors were one thing; holy light could purge them. But this?

Useless.

Crushed limbs. Severed heads. Bodies burned to ash by magic…

The next moment, the monster would stand unharmed, harvesting lives like ripe wheat.

*Run. Run now!*

The thought consumed Weis. *What kind of demon is this girl?!*

"Gentlemen," Yuri’s voice cut through the night, sweet as poisoned honey. "The game begins anew. This time… I’m the cat. And you are the mice."

Moonlight bled into darkness, swallowing everything but two crimson eyes that refused to be hidden. Then, from the shadows, two more lights emerged—twin pistols, one obsidian, one bone-white, both exquisitely crafted.

*Bang!*

With the first gunshot, the hunt truly began.

Like an elegant dancer, Yuri moved. Each tremor of her pistols bloomed a blossom of blood.

*Slaughter.*

Paralyzed by fear, the knights stood like penned livestock. No resistance. No escape.

A dance of black and white guns unfolded among them.

Screams and sobs became its perfect symphony.

When a monster finally bared its fangs, this ending was inevitable.

"Heh… *ahaha!*"

A sickening grin twisted Yuri’s lips as she weaved through the crowd, a reaper drunk on carnage.

Wherever her guns pointed, no life remained.

"Scream. Weep. Then die."

Knights fell one by one. Those jolted awake by death’s breath finally turned to flee—

—and did so instantly.

The unkillable monster had devoured their sanity.

But…

*Splut!*

"Fleeing is… naughty."

Monsters granted no leave. Toys should know their place.

Another body tore apart under gunfire, face locked in eternal terror.

Yuri licked blood from her lips, her smile warped by ecstasy.

The last few knights she targeted were already broken beyond repair.

The castle wall stood a single step away. Yet not one of the dozens made it across whole.

No—one had.

Yuri’s gaze flickered. That archer youth… Weis. He’d vanished from the start.

"Tsk. I said…" She shot the remaining knights without pause. "*Fleeing is naughty.*"

Her toe tapped the air. She dropped like a falling petal.

As she neared the ground, countless crimson eyes snapped open within the darkness below.

A colossal, shapeless beast rose from the shadows.

***ROAR!***

Its earth-shaking growl vibrated through bone and stone.

Yuri ignored it, eyes fixed ahead.

"Fetch him back."

The beast’s crimson eyes flared once. Then it melted into the night, vanishing.

Only a patch of deeper darkness remained, slithering swiftly forward.

---

Meanwhile…

*Run. RUN!*

Weis pushed his legs to their limit, yet it felt like crawling.

*Impossible. That monster can’t be killed!*

*It’ll kill me. It will.*

Fear-stricken, he abandoned his knights without hesitation.

The castle still loomed behind him. Ahead, human figures emerged—his rear-guard mercenaries.

Weis didn’t spare them a glance.

"Ho, Captain Weis! Back so—" Shen Lei’s greeting died as he saw the knight’s face.

Utterly wrecked.

Like prey that barely escaped a predator’s jaws, drenched in raw terror.

And Weis stood alone.

Shen Lei’s brow furrowed. Dread coiled in his gut.

Weis barreled past without a word.

Shen Lei reached to stop him—

*Fwip!*

An arrow shot toward his chest. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!"

The emerald bolt came too fast to dodge. But rushed as it was, its force was weak.

"*HAAAH!*" Shen Lei roared, his blade flashing. The arrow splintered mid-air.

"What’s your damn problem?!" Rage flared in the veteran mercenary’s eyes.

"Run if you value your life!" Weis didn’t slow. His desperate flight deepened Shen Lei’s unease.

Before Shen Lei could demand answers—

—a monstrous shape erupted from the darkness behind Weis.

Jaws wider than a wagon yawned open.

Weis vanished inside with a wet crunch.

Slowly, the beast turned its dripping maw toward Shen Lei… and the mercenaries gathering behind him, drawn by the commotion.