One-Eyed Monster

These Little Black Hands had been preparing their strategy early. They planned to instil an unprecedented fear into these people.

Although they were not entirely confident... It didn’t affect their decision to enter the scene.

It took them a considerable amount of time to decide upon their appearance.

Their entrance had to be mysterious and showcase their unity; most importantly, it had to shock these strange individuals. They chose to emerge from the underground...

Coming from an unseen place can lead to an unexpected effect; the less visible, the more shocking and frightening it will be. When something mysterious pops up out of nowhere, many find it startling and overwhelming.

If we add familiar elements to these shocks, it can be even more surprising. This surprise may then turn into discomfort, gradually evolving into fear. The more familiar something appears in an unexpected place, the more shocking and terrifying it becomes—it’s indescribable.

The Little Black Hands had studied this thoroughly. They were constantly researching everything in this world, especially how to instil fear.

Their research was a success. The shock they delivered could be described as boundless terror...

It seemed they had mastered people’s fear triggers, understood what people dreaded, and knew how to quickly plunge them into terror.

Our method is simple: present many unknowns, letting them gradually approach accompanied by familiar things.

When familiar things suddenly become strange, when the impossible suddenly appears, when an unknown aspect of reality slowly draws near, when everything familiar collapses... that’s when you’re devastated and surprised. Eventually, you inevitably succumb to a fear born of ignorance.

This ignorance can assail your mind at any moment, leading to associations with the unknown. Ultimately, these associations will send you to a distant place, from which you can never return...

The Little Black Hands were masters of such studies, so their appearance was rhythmic and expertly executed.

CRUNCH! The sound of earth being disturbed shattered the peace of Moonflow Stream.

Igor and the others looked towards the sound. Finally! they thought, their hearts thrilled. We’ve worn them out! They’ve taken the bait!

Along with the sound of breaking earth, snow flurries scurried across the ground. Black frozen soil churned up and scattered across the snowy terrain, only to be quickly covered again by snowflakes.

A medium-sized hand emerged from underground, waggling left and right as if flexing its finger joints.

Thanks to the glow of Battle Pet Fiery Blaze. Otherwise, Igor and the rest wouldn’t have been able to see what was breaking through the ground.

Although Igor’s group was momentarily shocked, they quickly calmed down. We’ve seen this protruding hand before, not long ago, they recalled. And that thing was a summoned monster too. It also broke through the soil just like this... How unoriginal.

”Could it be an Earth Elemental Wizard, one who can move freely underground?” Igor began to flip through his dictionary, which recorded various types of powerful individuals. This dictionary was a treasure Teacher Hadi had given him.

”Who knows? It’s just as slow as that monster from earlier. The other hand still hasn’t come out.”

Hearing these words, a chill went through the Little Black Hands. They don’t appreciate it at all! We never expected this! We rehearsed this entrance for ages, aiming to grab the attention of these strange folk and then continue to instil fear in them...

”Could it be stuck in there? Why hasn’t it come out yet?” Kadi blurted out.

The surprise and fear we were expecting... it’s completely gone... thought the Little Black Hands, their hopes evaporating.

”It’s possible!” Igor added fuel to the fire.

This isn’t how it’s supposed to go! The Little Black Hands were dumbfounded. But, dumbfounded or not, we have to finish our combination.

Two more hands broke out from the soil, flexing their joints just like the first...

”It seems like they’re in a group!” Igor stated. ”Or else why would there be so many hands!”

Kadi quickly nodded, agreeing entirely with Igor’s words.

It was hard to tell if Igor and his companions were genuinely clueless or just pretending, but they were slowly chipping away at the Little Black Hands’ original confidence.

Stan Sol, looking at these little hands, didn’t overthink it like Igor and Kadi. He focused his full attention, trying to determine who these hands belonged to.

We’ve completely failed... the Little Black Hands felt at this moment, a wave of reluctance to continue washing over them.

But we have to carry out the plan, or we’ll breach the agreement. We don’t have the power to break it unilaterally. We have to stick to it and endure the aggravation from these two.

The third step of their entrance was a display of numbers: one hand would recede into the ground as another emerged to take its place. However, the humans clearly weren’t impressed.

”Heh, looks like it really is stuck. Its buddy went back to help, eh?” Kadi chuckled.

”Yeah, yeah,” Igor chimed in. ”What are these guys thinking, drilling into the ground like that?”

”Maybe there’s something important down there,” Kadi mused.

This conversation between Igor and Kadi... it makes us want to retreat immediately...

But the agreement is still in effect! We’re helpless. We have to endure it and see this entrance through, complete the whole combination!

As for how much damage they could actually inflict, it was impossible to say. Perhaps the opponents wouldn’t be harmed at all... But we can’t worry about that now.

Then came The Fourth Phase: Dance of Demons.

The Little Black Hands kept burrowing under Igor and the others’ feet. Then, one after another, they burst from the ground, grabbed their ankles, and started dragging them down. It was like a tug of war!

”Ah! These things really *are* summoned!” Igor cried out, surprised. I didn’t expect these hands to be summoned creatures...

I thought it was another group of people! I even felt a pang of regret, thinking I might have missed the real opponents...

But it turns out it was them all along—the summoned creatures! And they couldn’t even keep their cool, resorting to dragging us underground!