“Huuh….”

Agartha began to crumble, her expression reflecting despair under the Watcher’s influence.

The Hunter felt that if he let go of his sanity, he might be consumed by the suggestion at any moment.

However, the very premise of the Hunter losing his sanity was a nonsensical notion.

Anger towards the Outsider.

And a strong will for revenge.

These two feelings surged together, flooding the Hunter’s body with adrenaline as the Outsider stood right before them.

He soon realized something was stuck in his hair and, with a stiff arm like a rock, forced himself to move it above his head.

Plop.

With a flick of his wrist, he severed it with his palm, feeling his mind clear up instantly.

Even though he staggered slightly from the sudden relief of energy, the Hunter maintained his focus, watching ahead.

“Huh.”

As he panted and took a look at the Outsider, he sensed something was off.

‘Is it just my imagination?’

After checking repeatedly, the Hunter concluded it was not merely his imagination.

A bizarre number of eyes were oddly glued to different parts of his body.

‘…Does that mean each eye is watching someone?’

The Hunter soon understood the nature of the Watcher’s powers.

Those exposed to the Watcher would continuously be subjected to the suggestion of being surveilled by those countless eyes.

In fact, they might even be truly monitored.

For someone like the Hunter, who had a strong resistance to the Outsider, it was a structure from which there was no escape otherwise.

As if to prove this point, Agartha was already cemented to the ground, forehead pressed against it.

Her hidden protective charm had long been discovered and dismantled by the Watcher.

Perhaps because of that.

Strange sounds began to invade Agartha’s ears, and at the moment her once-advantageous hearing felt like a blade, turning the noise into voices.

“Get a grip, chatterbox!”

The Hunter, channeling his inner soccer star, supported himself with his left leg and delivered a solid kick to Agartha’s backside with his right foot.

Bam!

“Kyahhh!”

A sharp pain shot up from below, breaking free as a scream from Agartha’s mouth.

Did he kick her too hard? Agartha flew forward a bit, unknowingly clutching her head with both hands.

In that process, her hands managed to sever something transmitting the Watcher’s suggestion.

Fully regaining her senses, Agartha gasped and slowly began to rise.

“What on earth…”

As she tried to lift her head to assess the situation, the Hunter grabbed the hem of her clothing and pulled her downwards.

“Look down!”

“If you see those eyes up there, just think it’s the end.”

Mental strength, like stamina, is an exhaustible resource.

Even if one knows how to escape the suggestion, constant cycles of it will ultimately drain their mental energy, leading to what people often refer to as a mental breakdown, which could culminate in the brain giving up on life.

Fixing her gaze on her shadow, Agartha spoke with a quivering voice.

“…Is it really okay that Tanton went ahead? What are we going to do now…?”

“The sudden reaction means that psychopath did something.

And it’s highly likely it’s an object that provokes the Watcher’s ire.”

The Hunter scoffed.

“It means it’s time to give that worthless jerk a good beating.”

His crimson eyes, hidden beneath his cloak and hat, gleamed ominously.

Agartha looked incredulous at the Hunter’s words.

“Y-you want to do that? No matter how you put it, that’s just insane…!”

“I’m going to stall for time. Until that psychopath shows up.”

Ignoring Agartha’s words lightly, the Hunter began to prepare his movements slowly.

First, he scanned the surroundings.

No matter how skilled a Hunter he was, facing an Outsider without a weapon was like a venomless wasp trying to fight a mantis.

While glancing around, something caught the Hunter’s eye.

From the completely wrecked prison, something spilled out in heaps, and he quickly recognized that the majority of it was weapons.

Before the Watcher could approach any closer, the Hunter rushed towards the prison, a joyful smile spreading across his face.

“Talk about luck!”

Amidst the scattered armory, the Hunter grabbed his beloved Double Barrell Shotgun.

It was the weapon that had enabled the Hunter to slay countless Outcasts so far.

And it was perfectly suited to the Hunter’s favored combat style.

The annoyance that had always lingered was finally subsiding, and a positive energy began to flow.

He placed the ammo he managed to sneak in from the prison on his palm.

These weren’t just ordinary bullets; they grotesquely resembled clumps of flesh.

These were his lethal projectiles designed to capture an Outsider.

Due to the unique materials involved, making them wasn’t easy, but they could deliver effective blows.

As the Hunter twisted the lever, the gun rotated 90 degrees, revealing the barrel. He quickly inserted a bullet into the chamber and snapped it shut with a flick of his wrist.

To be certain it was securely closed, the Hunter rotated the gun twice with his fingers, confirming everything was in place before aiming it at the Watcher.

Without a hint of hesitation, his finger moved, and with a deafening bang, the bullet surged towards the Outsider.

“””О҈̲͉̮͎̱̰̞̫̭͈̭̩͙̦̙̫̍̍̎́̃́̐̃̅й̵͙̞͕̠̖̭̫̭̫͉͈̤̥̏̓͒̈́̀̐̓̒͂̐̈͗̽ͅ,̷̖̤̩͙̩̜͇̟̙̱̬̙̬̮͕́̇̽̑̎̿̎̊̔̌̋͌͛ э̶̗̱̫͖͎͚͙͚͂͗̓͐̃̈́̃̈̏т̸͚͉̞̖͎̬͈̰̣͓̙̞̦͕̖̔͑͗̽̆͆̑͑̊̅̏̉̒̀͊̚ͅо̸̝̲̩͈͈̜̥͍̫̜̫̤̲͓̉̒̉̃͒̐͋̓̆͊͂̈́͆̚ б҉͔̞̪̖̜̝̮̳̩̬͚̀̉̆̏̇̓̈́̊̚о̵̩̟̪̫̗̖͇͚̤͙͆̅̐̂͗̈͊̀̇л̶̭̜̠͔͓̲͉̪͓̞̌̇̎͋̄̆͒̀̓̇̋̃̉̒͋ь̸͚̭̰͖̟̥̯̣̥̤̱̲̠̩́̀͒́́̾̆͂̍̊̅н̸͙͈̞͔͓̤͕̖̣̠͇͙̂͑͛̑̀̍͂̇̔̀̍ͅͅо̵̣̥͕̮̳͚̘͍̤̥͊͋̊̓̂̍̒͐̇̓̓ͅ”””

Indiscernible, bizarre sounds filled the prison corridor, and the Watcher began to writhe in apparent agony.

However, the Hunter quickly realized that, despite the Watcher’s excessive reaction, the damage inflicted by the shot wasn’t substantial.

He clicked his tongue.

“Looks like it doesn’t work against high-tier Outsiders.”

“What?! Then what do we do?!”

Agartha stammered, pacing anxiously, but the Hunter didn’t have a clear answer either.

This situation was akin to a tutorial in the existing Snow Castle.

And typically, the bosses in tutorials were far too powerful to defeat through conventional means.

The Hunter quickly grasped that the Outsider before them was not your ordinary menace, but a full-fledged high-tier Outsider.

“In the end, all we can do is wait until that psychopath shows up.”

The Hunter replied calmly, but despair began to blossom on Agartha’s face.

#

Could it be the influence of the dog bone he picked up?

Suddenly, cracks began to form in the room, threatening to collapse.

“Uh, what’s going on? Why’s it suddenly about to crumble?!”

“It’s okay; it’s supposed to be like this. We need to get out of here.”

The Leader of the Outcast Gods said in a panicked tone, but Leydan hesitated to leave, already having grown attached to the Outcasts.

“No, what about you guys? What’s going to happen to you?!”

His worried shout was filled with concern, yet the Outcast Gods merely laughed as if amused.

As he anxiously observed them, one Outcast God, wiping tears of laughter from their eyes, said,

“Who would have thought humans would worry about us? Have we become that weak?”

“Even my mother never worried about us.”

“Do you want to be our father?”

“Just kidding!”

I was curious about who this “mother” was, but it suddenly seemed meaningless.

Thinking it wasn’t the time for joking, I tried to be serious, but perhaps that was amusing because the Outsiders just laughed.

I pondered how to take them with me, but the Leader of the Outsiders shook his head, stopping my thoughts.

“We’re not disappearing. We’re just drifting in this gap.”

“What’s the difference…?”

“There is a difference. One day, when this space comes back to life, we can act again.”

“How long do you think that’ll take?”

“Don’t worry, human.”

The Leader of the Outcast Gods covered my mouth with both hands as he spoke.

“We live far longer than you think.”

With him saying that, I thought if I stayed here and ended up getting my head crushed by the rubble, it would be an inconvenience for these Outcast Gods too, so I started to move slowly.

“Ah! The youngest is still clinging to the human!”

One of the Outcast Gods shouted, pointing at the child who had been clinging to my shoulder.

They all tried to grab the Outcast God and pull her away, but she was holding onto my clothes for dear life.

After a few seconds of tugging, possibly realizing it wasn’t working, the Outcast Gods sighed and said,

“It seems that child wants to go with you.”

“Let her go! Fun stuff is our number one priority!”

I made a surprised expression at such a light decision, but the Outcast Gods began to chatter first.

“It doesn’t matter! Nothing will happen if you’re apart from us!”

“It’s just that if you go out of this room, you’ll be all alone, which makes you quite weak.”

“Hey! You better take good care of the youngest, or you’ll regret it!”

I wondered what type of threat was this, saying it didn’t matter after such a scary warning, but I felt that if I dragged it out any longer, I might really end up buried alive.

As I scratched the head of the Outcast God who was still frowning and holding onto my clothes, she looked up at me with a puzzled expression.

“…It might be hard. As much as you like humans and feel nice to touch, being together isn’t exactly always good. Maybe staying here wouldn’t be so bad?”

“No! I want to go with you…”

Seeing the Outcast God bury her face in, refusing to let go, made me sigh involuntarily.

How could I just leave her behind in this situation?

I scanned the Outcast Gods once more, who nodded with gentle smiles as if to say it was okay.

I thought they truly were kind beings until the end.

“Alright. Then we’ll need to hurry, and it’ll be wobbly, so come in here.”

As I opened my pocket that was still attached to my clothes, the Outcast God flapped her wings and flew right in.

I could feel her wriggling inside.

The Leader of the Outcast Gods said with a wistful smile, “Please take good care of that child.”

It seemed there were tears welling up in their eyes, but I could also see that the moment of parting was really drawing near.

After showing them a determined expression once more, I forced my head around and started running toward the exit.

Ah, maybe the Hunter and Agartha might dislike this a bit.

Well, the Hunter did say that Outcasts are only threatening in numbers, so maybe one wouldn’t be too bad after convincing them.

As the passage narrowed more and more, the Outcast Gods waved goodbye, all while the flower buds around them curled up and fell into a long slumber.

#

As I stepped out, the shocking scene in front of me was unbelievable.

“Ugh. Ow.”

Wasn’t that the Hunter attacking a wolf-eared girl with a gun?