Demon Chapter

Chapter 10: Stealing the Monster

There were far fewer monsters around now, with many corpses scattered across the ground—undoubtedly slain by those senior Contractors. Gavin Lin sprinted toward Wirt’s body and touched it with his hand.

“Wirt’s body — Status: (Turned Over)!”

Almost immediately, Gavin Lin received a task failure notification.

“Task ‘Turn Over the Corpse’ has failed. 2 hours will be deducted from your Clock. Do you wish to return to your room immediately?”

Gavin Lin naturally chose No.

When a task fails, Contractors may choose whether to return to their room right away. If they refuse, they can teleport out of the task world at any time within the next 20 minutes. After that, the system forcibly returns them.

Gavin Lin had already learned these rules from the Demon Chapter back in his room.

That meant he had 20 minutes to carry out his real plan. Likewise, the senior Contractors—who had just failed to rescue Kain—should also have only 20 minutes left in this world. Judging by the timeline, they likely still had about 10 minutes remaining.

Of course, it was possible Gavin Lin’s assumption was wrong—that the veterans had simply left after failing their mission. In that case, his plan would end here; he couldn’t possibly handle Griswold alone. This was precisely why, when selecting a task, he hadn’t chosen the far more rewarding “Kill Griswold.”

Because if his judgment proved incorrect, the penalty for failure—48 hours and loss of an item—was something he simply couldn’t afford.

Gavin Lin dodged a few wandering monsters, circled around to the side of the church, and heard the sounds of fierce combat coming from inside. Peering through a gap, he saw three men and one woman forming a tight formation against the towering Griswold.

Gavin Lin let out a quiet sigh of relief—he’d guessed correctly.

The senior Contractors were indeed trying to kill Griswold.

Among the four, a tall man stood at the front, wielding a pickaxe, flanked on both sides by summoned skeleton warriors that helped absorb Griswold’s brutal blows. Behind him, the other two men and the woman launched ranged attacks—arrows and spells—bombarding Griswold with fire.

What caught Gavin Lin’s attention most was the woman.

Her technique was simple: she only cast fireballs. Yet every strike left a charred mark on Griswold and provoked furious roars from the beast.

By now, all the zombies that had been roaming near the church lay dead on the ground. But Griswold still charged like a war god, nearly crushing a skeleton warrior with a single punch. However, the young man behind him would instantly cast a spell, reanimating fallen zombies to summon fresh skeletons.

“Necromancer?” Gavin Lin murmured to himself.

This was a known profession in the Demon Chapter, specializing in summoning undead and casting curses. But this young man seemed capable only of raising skeletons.

Besides the necromancer and the fireball-wielding mage, there was also an archer firing arrows—but his shots barely scratched Griswold’s thick hide compared to the female mage’s fireballs.

Despite having four fighters, they held no clear advantage. On the contrary, Griswold repeatedly forced the pickaxe-wielding man into desperate retreats. Still, he appeared to be the only one who could survive a direct hit from the monster.

Seeing this, Gavin Lin understood: the four Contractors were evenly matched with Griswold. Victory or defeat hung in the balance—roughly a 50-50 chance. So he didn’t act rashly. Instead, he crept silently closer to Griswold’s flank, waiting for the perfect opening.

His primary goal was monster stealing—to land the killing blow on Griswold at the critical moment and claim the 48-hour time reward. At the very least, even if he missed the final hit, he intended to snatch the loot Griswold dropped upon death. Either outcome would significantly boost his strength as a novice.

This was the true reason he’d returned to Tristram.

Time ticked away. After five minutes, the four veterans found themselves in dire straits. The necromancer seemed to have run out of mana—no new skeletons emerged. Without their undead shields, the group was dangerously exposed.

“Hold on! The monster’s HP is below 300!” the necromancer roared, eyes blazing with urgency. “Mage—you’re equipped with a charm that boosts fireball damage! You’ve got the highest DPS. It’s all on you now! Archer, support her!”

They’d gotten lucky this time: the mage’s charm amplified her spell power, and she’d already landed several high-damage hits. They genuinely had a shot at killing Griswold.

The other three rallied instantly. The female mage shouted and hurled another fireball.

Bang!

Griswold’s eyes turned crimson. He let out a savage roar—so piercing that even Gavin Lin, hidden in the shadows, felt a wave of nausea.

“You have been afflicted with the ‘Increased Damage’ curse for 15 seconds. All damage taken is increased by 150%.”

A notification flashed before Gavin Lin’s eyes.

“Griswold actually cast a curse!” he realized. Ahead, the four veterans staggered—their bodies trembling—as they, too, fell under the same debuff.

“Damn it!” the axe-wielder bellowed.

In that instant, Griswold’s speed surged. He took a single step and appeared right in front of the man, then slammed down a devastating punch.

BOOM!

The warrior didn’t even have time to scream—he was crushed into a bloody pulp and killed instantly.

“s**t!” the remaining three cried out in shock. The archer fired wildly, hoping to finish off Griswold’s dwindling health.

“Fireball!” the female mage, pale with fear, unleashed another spell while already conjuring a second.

The necromancer’s face darkened. Their frontline tank—the team’s shield and main damage absorber—was gone. He was nearly driven mad. Training a reliable warrior in the Demon World was no small feat. All he could hope for now was that Griswold would drop some valuable gear to offset their heavy losses.

The three redoubled their assault.

And from the shadows, Gavin Lin knew his moment had come.

He hadn’t just been watching during the fight—he’d been analyzing their damage output, mentally estimating Griswold’s remaining health. After the necromancer announced the monster was below 300 HP, it took another fireball, then went berserk and cast its curse—killing the tank instantly.

Factoring in the subsequent barrage from the archer and mage, Griswold’s current HP must be critically low—likely just over 100.

Gavin Lin tensed. His grip tightened on the dagger. He waited for the next fireball to land—then lunged.

With Agility 7—twice that of an average human—he moved with blinding speed. He leapt two meters into the air, gripped the dagger with both hands, and drove it downward into Griswold’s neck from behind, using his falling momentum to maximize force.

His Strength 7 ensured the blade punched deep with a wet plop. Griswold let out a shrill scream but didn’t collapse—his health wasn’t yet depleted.

“Your stab dealt 11 damage to Griswold (Level 10 Elite)!”

Gavin Lin grabbed a fold of Griswold’s tattered clothing with one hand, yanked the dagger free, and stabbed again.

The three senior Contractors immediately spotted him and erupted in furious shouts—they understood his intent all too well.

“F***! Archer, shoot him down! Mage, keep hitting Griswold—don’t let this bastard steal our kill!” the necromancer snarled, his once-handsome face twisted with rage.

The archer and mage reacted instantly. Arrows and fireballs screamed through the air toward Gavin Lin.

But Gavin Lin couldn’t stop—not now. Everything hinged on this moment. He ignored the incoming attacks and kept driving the dagger into Griswold.

Instantly, sharp pain lanced through his chest and shoulder.

“You have been attacked by Contractor 902. HP -29!”

“You have been attacked by Contractor 902. HP -35!”

Two hits dropped his health from 70 to just 6. Still, he thrust the dagger again—and this time, before the mage’s fireball could land, his blade pierced Griswold’s skull.

The massive monster shuddered, then collapsed like a felled tree.

“Your attack dealt 18 damage (Critical Hit) to Griswold (Level 8 Elite). HP reduced to 0. Griswold is dead. You have earned a 48-hour time reward!”

A shower of gold coins and several pieces of equipment spilled from Griswold’s corpse. Gavin Lin didn’t spare a glance at the gold. He snatched up the items and immediately shouted, “Return to the room!”

A white flash—and he vanished without a trace.