CHAPTER 83: CHAPTER 83: THE TENTACLE COVERED WITH HEADS

Sinclair never saw it coming. He thought Shane had really fallen for his trick.

When he felt Shane lock him in a tight hold and he couldn’t move, panic and fear filled his twisted face.

Sinclair struggled with all his strength, trying to grab the weapon on the ground again.

But by then Ethan had already come up behind him with the [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife]. Without a second thought, he swung and chopped off Sinclair’s main head.

Blood gushed out, splashing across Shane’s face, and the savage look on his face slowly calmed.

Ethan, however, checked his watch and frowned.

Normally, killing a boss like Sinclair should level Ethan up—at least from 14 to 15.

But his watch didn’t react at all. That meant that even after he cut off one of Sinclair’s heads, Sinclair was still alive.

Ethan reacted fast. As soon as he realized this, he raised the long knife again and swung at another of Sinclair’s heads.

Right then, the ground under Ethan’s feet shook again. His blade jolted and skimmed past the scalp of Sinclair’s last head.

With a boom, the ground split open. A tentacle covered with heads burst up through the earth and showed itself to everyone.

Shane, Ryan, Eric, and the others were all shocked by the sudden turn of events.

Only Ethan acted like nothing had happened. He swung the long knife again, aiming at Sinclair’s last head.

At moments like this, right before final victory, surprises often happen out of nowhere, delaying the win or even turning the whole fight around.

Ethan wasn’t going to let that happen. Hesitation means failure. Being decisive is key.

The [Damaged Blood-Drinking Long Knife] sliced through the air and into flesh.

Ethan also completely cut off the extra head on Sinclair’s body.

But he didn’t stop. To be safe, he struck again, fast, and stabbed three times where Sinclair’s heart should be.

He only stopped when a warm flow came from his watch. Then he looked up at the huge tentacle that had appeared.

Meanwhile, Shane, Ryan, and the others stood dazed in place, eyes blank. Badly hurt, they moved like puppets, slowly drifting toward the tentacle full of heads.

Ethan’s face tightened. He instantly thought of that space deep in the sewers of Safe Zone 9527, where a huge, strange white plant was surrounded by monsters gathered like pilgrims.

Shane and the others looked exactly like those monsters now.

"Come. Come here."

"Everything you want is here. No pain, no sorrow, no..."

"Come, hurry, come."

A strange call rose in Ethan’s ears, faint but clear, with a calm he couldn’t describe—like a house after a raging fire, with only ash and ruin left.

Without hesitation, he used the [Bloodstained Bracelet].

[Bloodstained Bracelet]

[Quality]: Blue

[Requirements]: None

[Effect]: After you put it on a target, the bracelet extends iron spikes into the body, causing intense, constant pain without causing injury.

[Note]: An item that can make masochists feel pleasure.

The sharp pain cleared Ethan’s mind. The voices in his ears faded and blurred.

Then the many heads on that eerie tentacle suddenly opened their eyes and stared hard at Ethan, as if his action had drawn their attention.

Ethan took a deep breath and quickly glanced at Sinclair’s body. Above it floated a cluster of orange light and an item glowing purple.

No time to check the details. Ethan used his watch to absorb the orange light, then tossed the purple-glowing item into his [Inventory].

Only after that did he spring away from his spot and move behind Shane, Ryan, and the others, trying to snap them out of it.

But right now, Shane and Ryan looked like they couldn’t sense the outside world at all. Like puppets, they kept walking, blank-eyed, toward the tentacle covered with heads.

At the same time, that tentacle started slowly moving toward Ethan.

If Ethan didn’t go to it, it would come to him.

He took a deep breath. The whispering in his ear grew clearer as the tentacle drew closer.

And he had no way to hit it from range. The Wolfskin Set’s effect, [Spirit of the Dire Wolf], had already been used and was on cooldown.

If he wanted to attack, he had to get close. But he knew the closer he got, the louder those whispers would be.

Once he was close enough, he might end up just like Shane and the others.

No time to waste.

With something this creepy, they had to get out fast.

Ethan decided to try one last thing. If he still couldn’t wake them, he’d leave.

His mind raced. He leaned to Shane’s ear and shouted, "Wake up! Sinclair isn’t dead. Your enemy is still alive!"

In an instant, Shane, who had been drifting toward the tentacle, stopped. His body twitched, then he snapped his head back to look where Sinclair’s corpse lay.

Seeing that, Ethan let out a breath and said quickly, "Go! We need to get out of here!"

Shane came to his senses. He glanced at the strange tentacle. For the first time, fear showed on his face. He whispered:

"It’s [Calamity]."

"Hurry! We have to report everything that happened here to the Ice City settlement, or a lot of people will die!"

Shane didn’t hesitate. Forcing his badly injured body to move, he grabbed the still-dazed Ryan and Eric and pulled them back fast.

Ethan grabbed the other two soldiers as well and dragged them like cargo.

Luckily, his [Strength] and [Speed] boosts hadn’t faded yet, and that creepy tentacle didn’t chase them.

Otherwise, he would have tossed those two soldiers without a second thought.

When danger comes, you don’t need to be the fastest—just faster than the others.

Ethan’s rule was simple: if his life was in danger, he wouldn’t let anyone unimportant put him at risk.

As for risking everything to save others, that’s what heroes do. He wasn’t a hero, and he didn’t want to be one.

Soon, after falling back the whole way, Ethan and Shane dragged the others to the mouth of the cave. They looked back, saw nothing behind them, and finally let out a long breath.

By then, Ryan, Eric, and the rest were starting to come around. They looked at Shane in confusion.

Ryan asked, "What happened? How did we get here?"

Eric rubbed his head and said, puzzled, "I think I just had a dream. A weird one."

Shane glanced at the cave, took a deep breath, and said slowly, "We ran into something tied to [Calamity]. That creepy tentacle was probably part of a Siphoner."

At the name "Siphoner," Eric’s eyes went wide. Fear crept over his face as he asked, shocked, "Then how did we manage to get out?"

"We were all badly hurt. There’s no way we could fight a Siphoner. Was it because..."

Eric looked at Ethan. He could tell Ethan was in the best shape, completely unhurt.

Shane nodded, gave Ethan a grateful look, and said:

"Yeah. Ethan woke me up. That’s how we got out alive."

"The most important thing now is to get back to the Ice City settlement as soon as possible and report what happened here to the City Lord and the Deputy City Lord."

The others nodded. Their faces were tense and serious, with clear fear in their eyes.

Ethan wanted to know more about the so-called Siphoner and [Calamity]. While Shane and the others treated their wounds, he asked a few questions.

Eric explained and told him many things Ethan didn’t know.

[Calamity] is the enemy of all life. When [Calamity] comes, terrible things happen: plague, famine, earthquakes, tsunamis...

Ethan asked, puzzled, "Aren’t those just natural disasters?"

Eric nodded. "Yes and no. Natural disasters are only one form of [Calamity]. [Calamity] also includes war."

"It’s like [Calamity] is a person, and the different disasters are its clothes."

"As for a Siphoner, it’s a sign that comes before [Calamity]. Seeing a Siphoner doesn’t necessarily mean [Calamity] will appear."

"But once [Calamity] does appear, a lot of people will die."

As Eric spoke, Ethan suddenly thought of the strange plant deep in the sewers of Safe Zone 9527.

If that plant was also a kind of Siphoner, then what was the purpose of the NPC Grimmount who showed up back then?