Dongyu Village had long been nicknamed “Cliffside Village”—a name earned from its houses clinging to the mountainside. But the once-lush Dongyu Mountain now resembled the aftermath of a wildfire, its slopes reduced to charred husks, shrouded in thick black mist.

The village’s tallest building, a sprawling complex, was half-buried in the mountain. Now, it was engulfed in that same mist, as if a storm cloud had swallowed the hillside.

This was no ordinary fog.

It was corrupted energy—the very foundation of this twisted space. The hallucinations, the looping streets, the “ghosts blocking the path”—all of it stemmed from this malignant force. And at its heart, something far worse lurked.

…..

Inside a supermarket across from the corrupted building, four men in camouflage gear sat around a table, scavenged food spread before them.

They were the last survivors of the 13 anti-demon mercenaries sent in: two demon-hunting agents and two elite soldiers.

This was their third zone within the distorted space. The first had been an underground parking garage, where two of them regrouped. The second, a nightmarish district where they’d fought a Tier-2 demonic entity for days before finally killing it.

Now, they’d reached the core—the domain of the Tier-4 entity, “The Unseen.”

Trapped here for over a month (though time crawled slower in this zone), they’d survived on expired but still-edible supermarket goods.

Then, a week ago, their fragile equilibrium shattered.

An old man and a blond kid had barged in—with a dozen civilians in tow.

In a place where every mouthful of food mattered, this was a death sentence. Worse, the old man was terrifyingly strong and hated mercenaries. Every encounter ended in bloodshed.

Now, with one agent missing an arm and another’s demonic weapon destroyed, the mercenaries were holed up in this supermarket, plotting.

“Captain William, that old bastard’s hunting us like rabid dogs. We need a plan,” growled a hulking bald man.

William—a blond, square-jawed brute who’d lost his right arm—winced as blood seeped through his bandages. “They’ve got civilians. Target them, and the old man’s hands are tied.”

He shot a glare at the wiry man beside him. “And Beast—control your dick. If you hadn’t tried raping those women, we wouldn’t be in this mess. A billion dollars waits if we get out alive. Buy all the whores you want then.”

“Sorry, Cap. Just… needed to blow off steam,” Beast muttered.

William scoffed. In this hellscape, everyone coped differently. Beast fucked. Cannon here blew shit up—literally.

“They keep trying to enter the corrupted building,” Beast said. “Let’s ambush them when they leave the civvies outside.”

William nodded. “Cannon—how many explosives left?”

The bald man grinned. “Seven. Enough to flip this street inside out.”

…..

Meanwhile, outside, the old man—Elder He, one of the capital’s most seasoned demon hunters—led his ragtag group through the ruins.

His mission wasn’t to slay the Tier-4 entity (a fool’s errand) but to rescue missing agents. Yet after weeks of searching, he’d only found his male disciple, Luo Chenguang, and a handful of civilians.

His other disciple, Fang Mingyue, was still missing.

“Damn it, we’re back on Bailing Street?!” a civilian whined. “We were just at Ciwu Crossing!”

“Shut your traps!” Luo Chenguang snapped. The blond, spiky-haired young man had zero patience for complaints. “Next whiner gets left as demon chow!”

Elder He suddenly halted. “Something’s wrong.” His bone cane tapped the ground. “Chenguang, take the civilians into that hardware store. I’ll scout ahead.”

“Let me come—”

“That’s an order.”

As Luo Chenguang herded the group toward the store, a civilian spotted a half-open canned lunch meat on a cardboard box.

“Food!” He lunged greedily—ignoring the wire beneath it.

“Wait—!”

BOOM.

The man vaporized. The soldier behind him flew backward, shrapnel shredding his legs.

Screams erupted as gunfire rained from nearby buildings—targeting only the civilians. Limbs shattered. Blood sprayed. The mercenaries weren’t killing them.

They were baiting Elder He.

Elder He slammed his cane down. Black light pulsed, erecting bone walls that tanked bullets like tank armor.

“Chenguang—find them!”

Luo Chenguang donned his Demonic Vision Goggles—flesh-clad lenses that revealed energy traces. “Two ahead, sixth shop left, fifth right! Second floor!”

“And two behind,” Elder He growled. “They herded us into a kill zone.”

But the mercenaries had learned. As Elder He advanced, they retreated, keeping distance. Behind them, the wounded civilians’ screams clawed at his resolve.

He couldn’t save them. Not without dropping the bone wall. Not without dooming everyone.

…..

CRASH!

A body smashed through a second-floor window—William, hurled into the street like a ragdoll.

“CAPTAIN—”

WHOOSH. A rocket streaked from the shattered window.

“YEAH, RPG TIME!” a voice cheered. “Can’t kill demons? Fine—I’ll settle for humans!”

BOOM.

The explosion catapulted Beast through a wall.

Then—a blur of yellow dropped onto William.

A gun pressed to his skull.

BANG.

No monologue. No hesitation. Just a dead mercenary captain.

Elder He stared.

“Who the hell is that?”