The group remained frozen after the cave-in, staring into the darkness with lingering fear.
Under the beams of their headlamps, the approaching creatures were finally visible in full: pale, hairless humanoids with distorted faces, powerful limbs, and clouded eyes adapted to a life without sunlight.
Even after seeing the Crawlers for themselves, nobody screamed.
Lucifer and Sarah had warned them repeatedly about the creatures’ sensitive hearing, so everyone clamped their mouths shut and tried not to make another unnecessary sound.
Dan watched the pale figures creeping closer and leaned toward Lucifer.
“You said you’d handle the monsters.
Now would be a good time to prove it.”
Lucifer slowly removed his hand from Rios’s mouth and stood.
Then he looked toward Cath.
“Keep the camera on me.
Try to make me look good.”
Cath stared at him in disbelief.
“Right now?”
“Especially right now.”
“O-okay.”
Still trembling, Cath raised the DV camera and aimed it toward Lucifer.
He wasn’t particularly afraid of the Crawlers.
They were terrifying to ordinary people because they were fast, vicious, perfectly adapted to darkness, and armed with sharp claws and teeth, but their bodies weren’t invincible.
Sarah and Juno had already proven that the creatures could be killed with ordinary climbing tools.
Using a firearm would have made things even easier, but the unstable cave made gunfire too dangerous.
Lucifer rolled his shoulders.
The oak club appeared in his hand.
He carefully counted the pale shapes surrounding them.
“One…
two…
seven.”
A smile appeared on his face.
Then Lucifer whistled.
The sharp sound cut through the silent cavern.
Every Crawler instantly turned toward him.
Their heads jerked in his direction before all seven creatures exploded into motion, racing across the uneven stone on all fours with frightening speed.
Lucifer activated his skill.
[Holy Seal of Justice — Level 2 activated.]
Golden patterns appeared across the back of his hand before spreading along the oak club.
Cath almost lowered the camera.
“Oh my God…”
Greg swallowed hard beside her.
“I saw it.”
Neither of them understood what the golden light was, but Greg cared far more about whether Lucifer could actually stop the creatures charging toward them.
Lucifer didn’t wait for the Crawlers to reach him.
He rushed forward and swung the oak club with both hands.
CRACK!
The Holy Light-coated weapon smashed directly into the first Crawler’s skull.
Its head snapped violently to the side as bone shattered beneath the impact, and the creature dropped instantly.
Dark blood splattered across Lucifer’s coat, while its final desperate swipe scraped across the protective equipment covering his upper body without cutting through.
A system notification immediately appeared.
[E-rank Cave Crawler eliminated.]
[Reward: 3 Holiness Points.]
[Reward: 25 EXP.]
Lucifer’s eyes brightened.
The Crawlers counted.
That was all he needed to know.
A startled gasp came from behind him when the others saw the creature die so brutally.
The sound immediately drew several Crawlers’ attention toward the group.
Everyone quickly covered their mouths again.
Lucifer, on the other hand, welcomed the distraction.
He sprinted toward the closest Crawler and raised the oak club.
The creature heard his footsteps and twisted toward him, but it reacted a fraction too slowly.
CRACK!
The club slammed into its forehead.
Its skull collapsed and the Crawler fell.
Another notification sounded in Lucifer’s mind, but he didn’t stop long enough to read it.
The remaining creatures converged on him from several directions.
Lucifer shifted sideways and rolled beneath the claws of the first one to reach him.
The moment he came back to his feet, he stepped around its flank and drove the oak club into the back of its head.
A third Crawler collapsed.
Seven had become four in less than a minute.
The surviving creatures hesitated.
Their blind faces turned toward Lucifer as they clicked and growled, clearly realizing that this prey was different from the terrified humans they normally hunted.
Then they began spreading out.
Lucifer immediately understood.
“They’re trying to surround me.”
The Crawlers moved through the cavern from several directions, using the rocks and darkness to approach from his front, sides, and rear.
Lucifer chose the one directly ahead and charged.
The creature shrieked.
The others responded instantly.
Two Crawlers launched themselves toward Lucifer with surprising force, leaping across the uneven ground like predators springing from cover.
Lucifer quickly ducked.
Both creatures passed above him.
Before he could straighten, another Crawler dropped from the cavern ceiling.
Its claws struck his back.
SCRAAAAAPE!
The sound of sharpened nails grinding against his protective equipment made Lucifer’s teeth clench.
The Copper Chainmail Vest beneath the appearance of his dark trench coat prevented the claws from tearing into his flesh, but stopping the cut didn’t eliminate the force behind the attack.
Pain shot across his back.
Lucifer spun around and swung.
CRACK!
The Crawler’s skull shattered.
He hissed and touched his back.
“Damn.
You little bastards are smarter than you look.”
The remaining three rushed him together.
Lucifer didn’t retreat.
With Holy Seal of Justice still covering his body and weapon, he forced his way into the attack.
Claws scraped across his protective coat and struck his arms, but he endured the pain long enough to deliver one crushing blow after another.
The first Crawler fell.
Then the second.
Lucifer stepped around the final creature’s lunge and brought the oak club down with both hands.
CRACK!
Silence returned to the cavern.
Seven Crawlers lay dead.
Then the Holy Power System chimed.
[Level increased.]
[Level-up reward: Strength +1.]
[Current Class: Apprentice Paladin — Level 4.]
[Current EXP: 20/800.]
Lucifer immediately felt the familiar surge of strength spread through his body.
His permanent Strength increased from eight to nine.
The seven Crawlers had also provided a total of 21 Holiness Points, increasing his accumulated Holiness Points from ten to 31.
Cath finally lowered the DV camera slightly.
“That was insane.”
She looked at Lucifer with undisguised excitement now that the immediate danger had passed.
“You killed all of them!”
Greg muttered beside her, “With a club…”
The others slowly stood, their fear replaced by stunned relief.
Sarah immediately stopped them from becoming too comfortable.
“Don’t celebrate.”
Everyone looked toward her.
Sarah stared into the darkness beyond the dead Crawlers.
“There are a lot more.”
Lucifer wiped the creature blood from the oak club and nodded.
“She’s right.
We have no idea how many live down here.”
He looked toward Dan.
“Let’s move.
The faster we find Juno, the faster we get out.”
Dan no longer looked at Lucifer with the same skepticism as before.
After watching him kill seven Crawlers alone, the cave specialist’s attitude had changed completely.
“What the hell was that?” Dan whispered.
“Some kind of martial arts?”
Lucifer noticed the almost admiring look in his eyes and instinctively shifted half a step away.
After his encounter with Jack Hanstock, he wasn’t particularly interested in another man staring at him too enthusiastically.
“We can discuss my fighting style when we’re out of the monster cave.”
Dan quickly nodded.
“Fair enough.”
He collected his equipment and once again took the lead.
The group continued deeper underground until they entered a large cavern littered with white bones.
Human and animal remains covered much of the floor, some ancient and others disturbingly fresh.
Lucifer slowly looked around.
“This must be where they eat.”
Nobody responded.
Even Dan had nothing to say.
Clack.
Lucifer’s boot struck something hidden among the bones.
He looked down.
A small camcorder lay partly buried beneath the remains.
The moment he picked it up, Sarah froze.
Her face immediately crumpled.
She recognized it.
The camera had belonged to her original group.
Memories flooded back faster than she could control them, and Sarah dropped into a crouch as tears streamed down her face.
“They’re dead…”
Her voice cracked.
“They’re all dead down here.”
Lucifer crouched in front of her and grabbed the front of her jacket firmly enough to force her to look at him.
“Sarah.”
She continued sobbing.
“Crying isn’t going to help Juno.”
Sarah’s eyes slowly focused on him.
Lucifer spoke clearly.
“I still believe she’s alive.”
Nobody interrupted.
After several shaky breaths, Sarah finally began to regain control of herself.
She looked up at Lucifer as though she wanted to answer.
Then her expression suddenly changed.
Her pupils contracted.
The blood drained from her face as she stared past Lucifer’s shoulder at something behind him.
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