Demon Chapter

Chapter 18: Escaping Death

The narrow passage was packed with ogres—nearly a hundred of them—and the stench was overwhelming. Neil knew that if surrounded by such a massive horde, even the most powerful contractors, those who’d reached levels 9 or even 10, wouldn’t survive.

Neil had survived the perilous Demon Chapter world and even built his own team—proof enough that he wasn’t an ordinary contractor. He instantly grasped what was happening and shouted, “That scoundrel’s deliberately luring monsters! Everyone, retreat from the mine—now!”

At that moment, he burned with hatred for Gavin Lin—but he also knew that any further hesitation could cost him his life.

The other seasoned contractors weren’t fools either. Seeing the roaring tide of ogres charging toward them, their faces turned pale with terror, and they bolted one after another.

Their speeds varied, but it was clear that those with low Agility couldn’t keep up. One man—wielding a hand-and-a-half sword—immediately fell behind.

He was big and muscular, clearly a strength-based fighter, but raw power meant nothing now. In seconds, the ogres caught up. On the brink of death, he panicked, shouting as he stomped hard on the ground.

BOOM!

The stone beneath his feet cracked, and the entire mine trembled. The nearest ogres were thrown off balance by the shockwave. He let out a wild laugh, ready to use the opening to escape—but then a large stone, hurled from ahead, struck his knee. His momentum faltered, and those two seconds of delay sealed his fate.

Several ogres behind him raised their miner’s shovels and smashed them into his head. He let out a bitter, unwilling scream before being swallowed by the mob.

“F*ck! Iron Sword’s gone!” another veteran contractor turned and saw the horrifying scene.

“Run! Don’t hesitate—get out of the cave first!” Neil’s eyes were bloodshot. He’d just witnessed how Iron Sword could’ve escaped—if not for that single stone.

And that stone had been thrown by the contractor who’d already fled the mine. Contractors possessed immense physical strength, so even a casually tossed rock carried devastating force.

At that moment, the culprit was moving at incredible speed—already ahead of everyone else.

“Use ranged attacks! Don’t let that scoundrel get away!” Neil roared.

As soon as the words left his mouth, several arrows and a fireball shot through the air.

Gavin Lin felt an intense wave of danger. He’d only casually thrown a stone earlier, which had eliminated one enemy. Logically, the man who died had nothing to do with him, nor did Gavin bear him any personal grudge—but now, these people were hunting him. That made them enemies.

And with enemies, Gavin wouldn’t hesitate to weaken them whenever possible. There was no mercy, no sympathy—because they would show him none in return.

The arrows from behind? He could probably survive them. But the fireball was another matter entirely.

A direct hit from that high-damage spell would almost certainly drain all his HP and kill him instantly. Without hesitation, Gavin rolled forward.

Puff! Puff!

Two arrows pierced his arm, but the fireball only grazed his back before slamming into the rock wall ahead. He could feel his clothes tearing open from the heat, his skin searing beneath.

The arrows dealt 34 damage, and the glancing blow from the fireball cost him another 18 HP. Now, only a few hit points remained—dangerously low. One more hit, and he’d be dead.

After rolling, Gavin used the momentum to spring back to his feet and kept running, gritting his teeth against the searing pain in his arm. His swaying gait threw off the accuracy of the shots behind him. Fortunately, his body had been digitized—if not, those two arrows alone would’ve crippled his mobility. And in this situation, losing mobility meant a 100% chance of meeting King Yama.

Thankfully, the next second brought a sudden burst of light ahead—Gavin had reached the mine entrance.

He’d already memorized the terrain outside. The moment he emerged, he darted to the side of the shaft, sprinted up the slope, leapt onto a nearby hill, and activated Stealth.

Stealth had its limitations: it couldn’t be used while in an enemy’s line of sight or during intense combat. Otherwise, if he’d been able to go stealthy earlier, he wouldn’t have ended up in such a battered state.

The veteran contractors also burst out of the mine moments later—and immediately scattered in different directions. One, slightly slower than the rest, was surrounded by the trailing ogres and beaten to death. His sacrifice, however, slowed the ogres down, giving the others precious seconds to escape. After chasing about a hundred meters, the ogres gave up and retreated back into the mine.

In less than a minute, the tide had turned—the opposing side had lost two members.

Hidden behind a rock, watching it all unfold, Gavin felt the fiery sting on his back. Though his digitized body didn’t suffer real wounds, the pain was just as intense.

He pulled the arrow from his arm, nearly crying out from the agony. Thankfully, the wound began healing quickly. When he checked his HP, cold sweat broke out.

2 HP. His health had dropped to just 2. The arrow must have caused a persistent bleed effect—if he hadn’t removed it sooner, he doubted he’d have survived.

Once the arrow was out, his HP stopped dropping, and Gavin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Even so, he knew he couldn’t stay put. Those veteran contractors would surely return to search the area around the mine entrance. In his current state, getting caught meant certain death.

Gritting his teeth, Gavin sneaked back toward Golden Spark Town and took cover beside a wooden cabin. He was still in Stealth—he hadn’t deactivated it yet. Since those contractors had tracked him into this task world, they wouldn’t let him go easily. They might even have spies stationed in Golden Spark Town.

Sure enough, as he scanned the area, he spotted two figures lurking near the inn and along the town’s main roads.

Their eyes swept the surroundings as if searching for something. One wore leather armor; the other, plate armor—both armed. At a glance, Gavin knew they were contractors, and they were looking for him.

It was pure instinct.

Crouched in the shadows, Gavin’s eyes locked onto the pair like a wounded leopard. His health was slowly regenerating, and his mind raced through his next move.

Their ability to track him here meant they possessed items that revealed which task world he was in—and possibly even the nature of his current mission.

From another angle, Gavin realized such tracking tools increased the overall difficulty of tasks. Beyond the dangers inherent to the task world itself, contractors now had to watch their backs for rival hunters.

He now faced two choices: wait passively, or act proactively.

He could easily hide in some isolated corner and simply wait out the remaining 12 hours until the task timer expired, then teleport back to his room. But that would count as a task failure, triggering penalties—and worse, his next assignment would likely be even harder, since these enemies wouldn’t stop pursuing him.

Alternatively, he could take action. Two possibilities existed:

First, assassinate them in secret and eliminate the threat permanently.

Second, complete the supernatural investigation task, claim the reward, and return to his room with full clearance.

The first option was tempting—but his opponents were senior contractors who’d entered the Demon Chapter long before him. In terms of level, gear, and skills, they far surpassed him. Even using a thief’s stealth advantage for an assassination, his success rate wouldn’t exceed 10%.

Gavin knew the old saying: “You can hide on the first day, but not on the fifteenth.” Whatever the original cause, the feud between him and them was now set in stone—there was no turning back.

Therefore, his best course was clear: complete the task first, secure the right to return to his room at will, and then find a way to deal with those senior contractors—ideally, eliminating as many as possible.

As he weighed his options, a sudden realization struck him.

Perhaps the true danger of the Demon Chapter world wasn’t just the monsters and demons within each task.

Maybe the greatest threat of all… was other contractors like himself.