The moment Frank stepped into the underground room, what met his eyes wasn't Howard Cent's corpse—but a monster that made his scalp tingle.
It was vaguely humanoid, yet its limbs were elongated like those of a gibbon.
No hair covered its dark, rhino-like skin; instead, dagger-long claws gleamed from its fingers, and its mouth brimmed with jagged fangs.
When Frank caught sight of its scarlet eyes, a gleam of cold light flashed—barely a foot from his neck.
Even with Frank's sharp battle instincts, he only just managed to roll aside in time.
Bang!
His combat reflexes kicked in.
Even while rolling, he fired his Remington M870 from the hip—point-blank.
The shotgun's explosive power could tear through an elephant's hide. The blast hurled the creature three meters back.
But what made Frank's pupils shrink was that, despite its chest being shredded open, the monster still moved—flipping up with eerie agility before lunging again.
"Damn freak!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Frank didn't hesitate. He unleashed a barrage until the weapon's recoil numbed his shoulder.
Amid the thunder of gunfire, furniture shattered, lights flickered, and the whole underground room was reduced to rubble.
When the smoke cleared, Frank stood breathing hard, shotgun leveled toward a sealed door deeper inside.
Through its reinforced glass window, a pale, twisted face peered out—Howard Cent.
"Who the hell are you?" Howard's voice crackled through the wall speaker, trembling with anger.
Frank's face remained stone-cold. He said nothing, only raised his shotgun and fired at the glass.
The pellets ricocheted off harmlessly—bulletproof.
Howard's voice roared back, "You bastard! Leave now and I'll forget this ever happened! Don't force me—"
Boom!
The loudspeaker exploded under Frank's next shot.
Howard's enraged shouts were now silent behind the door. Frank reached into his tactical vest, pulling out a compact electronic bomb.
He pressed it against the steel door—clearly intent on wiping out every loose end.
Howard's face went still. No more shouting—just a cold, resigned calm. He muttered something, then pressed a hidden button inside.
As Frank crouched to activate the charge, Howard slowly lifted a pen and scrawled on the fogged window:
"Everyone must die."
A chill ran down Frank's spine.
But he didn't hesitate. He armed the bomb and turned away.
A minute later, as he exited into the villa courtyard—
BOOM!
The explosion tore through the foundation. The ground trembled.
Frank exhaled, ready to leave—
but then froze.
At the four corners of the courtyard, stone tiles burst open.
Four tunnels gaped like the mouths of hell itself, and from them came an unsettling sound— a screech like glass scraping against glass.
Then came the rush—dozens of creatures, the same kind of black-skinned monsters, charging on all fours.
Their speed was inhuman, their coordination terrifying. Within seconds, they surrounded him.
"...Shit."
Frank pulled the trigger instinctively—
click.
Empty.
Running was impossible. The villa's main gate was already sealed off by more of those beasts.
His scalp tingled, but his grip tightened around his combat knife.
Retreat wasn't an option.
If he was going down, he'd go down fighting.
The first monster lunged.
Frank slashed—
and then felt a sudden burning heat at his neck.
Startled, he looked down to see a small white bone bead detaching from his skin, floating mid-air, and releasing a surge of black smoke.
The smoke twisted, solidified—
and a Withered Bone Demon emerged, its teeth clattering like a macabre laughter.
Frank's pupils shrank.
Wasn't this the bead the Boss—Ryan—gave him?
Before he could think further, the monsters around them froze, trembling like prey before a predator.
Then the Bone Demon moved.
It dove into the horde, black mist spreading like a tide.
Cries of agony echoed within as the mist pulsed with flashes of faint blue light and the sound of bones cracking.
Even Frank, hardened by decades of war, felt cold sweat running down his back.
Owen's words suddenly echoed in his mind:
"Boss is a very mysterious person—possessing extraordinary power."
Frank watched the demon devour the last of the monsters, his heartbeat steady but heavy.
Extraordinary, indeed.
But there was something evil about it.
His "sunny, elegant" boss suddenly seemed far less human.
"…Maybe I should go to church this Saturday," Frank muttered, staring into the fading smoke.
"God knows I might need a blessing."