NOVPUBCrash!
A sharp sound, accompanied by a dazzling burst of light.
Joey’s twin blades struck Daniel squarely.
Of course, what they struck was the Skeletal Armor protruding from Daniel’s back.
With a mere thought, retracting the armor, Daniel swiftly moved to the side.
Suddenly.
He felt a chilling sensation behind him, an icy cold that made his pores constrict, causing his hairs to stand on end.
Almost instinctively, the Enchanted Eye in the palm of Daniel’s right hand snapped open.
It emitted a deep red glow.
Wherever the red light covered, everything was laid bare.
At this moment, Daniel quickly scanned his surroundings with the glow.
But he found nothing out of the ordinary.
Susanna, sensing something amiss, urgently called out, "Daniel, watch out!"
The next moment.
Daniel felt an icy chill around his neck, immediately followed by a suffocating pain.
An invisible pair of large hands seemed to be constricting his throat.
He could distinctly feel his feet lifting off the ground, as he was being hoisted into the air.
It was the concealed Memory-Altering Monster!
The strength in those unseen hands increased relentlessly, intent on strangling Daniel alive.
Daniel struggled fiercely, placing his hands around his neck, desperately trying to pry those hands away.
But the disparity in strength was too vast.
Even when using his ability to amplify his strength a hundredfold, he couldn’t budge even a single finger from those immense hands.
Suffocation intensified, making it impossible to breathe!
Daniel’s face turned beet red, his veins bulging, as his limbs slowly lost their vigor.
Seeing the perilous situation, Susanna drew her dagger, ready to charge in.
Even with Joey and Aesop standing in her way, she charged forward without hesitation.
If Daniel perished, she knew her fate would be sealed.
However, Susanna was fundamentally a support-type Evolver.
Beyond her basic strength, she lacked any offensive capabilities.
In the eyes of Joey and Aesop, two attack-oriented Evolvers, she was no different from an ordinary, powerless person.
One threw a punch while the other aimed a kick.
Struck by the combined force, Susanna was sent flying, landing some five meters away.
She twitched briefly and then lay motionless, her fate uncertain.
Daniel, with his back raised high, could not see the unfolding drama.
Yet, he knew Susanna stood no chance of rescuing him.
By this moment, suffocation had drained him of all strength, and he began to feel the effects of oxygen deprivation.
He reckoned he had less than ten seconds before life would be choked out of him.
However, in this dire moment, a tear appeared on his right hand.
The flesh was brutally ripped apart as the Enchanted Eye emerged once again.
The red glow it emitted was more intense than ever before.
The surrounding space was painted a deep crimson, filled with an indescribable aura.
Under this crimson luminescence, the strangling force began to relent, the hands slowly releasing their deadly grip.
"Cough, cough!" Daniel collapsed to the ground, kneeling and coughing painfully, drawing in large breaths of air.
He had resigned himself to death, preparing to start all over again, but against all odds, he was granted a second chance.
Under the illumination of the crimson glow, Daniel spotted an additional figure in the space before him.
The Memory-Altering Monster!
What struck him as odd was that the figure of the Memory-Altering Monster resembled a delicate-looking young man, with nothing unusual about him.
If they hadn’t met under these circumstances, one would never suspect that it wasn’t human.
Daniel gingerly touched his neck. This humanoid fiend had nearly strangled him to death moments ago.
He lifted his head, and the whites of his eyes, now suffused with bloodshot streaks from the recent strangulation, looked particularly eerie.
In that moment, compared to the Memory-Altering Monster, Daniel seemed more like the true monster.
With a raspy voice, Daniel spat out, "Show your real face, bastard. Don’t appear before me wearing that human disguise; it’s revolting."
The Memory-Altering Monster responded, "Who told you that this visage is exclusive to humans? Intelligent beings across the cosmos share this appearance."
Hearing this, Daniel was taken aback.
Before he could speak, the Memory-Altering Monster continued, "Given your status, you naturally wouldn’t comprehend what I’m saying. Killing you would have been effortless, yet I hadn’t anticipated that the Blood-eyed Monster would actually bestow its eye upon you. It seems it truly has become senile."
While Daniel was still pondering the creature’s words, Joey and Aesop lunged at him again.
From the void, ethereal hands emerged, their punches swift as meteors.
That was Aesop’s power.
Twin blades soared, glinting with a lethal sheen.
That was Joey’s signature move.
One moment they were speaking, and the next, murderous intent flared anew.
This creature truly was an unpredictable madman!
Daniel’s hands gripped the manifesting silk thread daggers, his expression fierce. "You think it’s that easy to kill me? You’re terribly naive."
The silk thread, inherently strong, formed daggers that were sharper than one could imagine.
In the next moment, the daggers darted like streaks of lightning, zeroing in on Joey and Aesop.
Both of them, already formidable in their own right, sensed the danger and evaded just in the nick of time.
However, a deafening blast followed.
BOOM!
Joey and Aesop glared furiously at Daniel, disbelief evident in their bewildered eyes.
Daniel exhaled slowly, smoke wafting from the barrel of the Desert Eagle in his hand.
With the amplification of his hundredfold damage ability, the bullets fired from the Desert Eagle, charged with Spirit energy, could easily annihilate a level 3 Evolver.
Taking down two at once was no exception.
In the corner, the face of the Memory-Altering Monster turned a ghastly shade.
"Truly, humans are worthless. It seems I must take matters into my own hands."
Though its words dripped with disdain, it was evident that the monster was cornered.
Its abilities lacked offensive power, so in combat, it could only rely on its innate strength.
The next instant,
the monster’s hands morphed into a pair of shears.
With the left shear, it pierced its own forehead, cutting in a full circle, splitting its cranium in two.
The right shear delved deep into its brain, stirring the insides.
As Daniel watched, the creature’s skin began to shrivel, looking like a charred corpse, with skin cracking open.
An eerie aura emanated from it.
A strong premonition gripped Daniel.
The power of the Memory-Altering Monster had undergone a profound transformation.
Simultaneously, Susanna felt a danger like never before.
Perhaps even the apocalypse would pale in comparison!
"Susanna, move back!"
Spotting her discomposure, Daniel urgently called out.
Yet, the Memory-Altering Monster vanished on the spot.
When it reemerged, it was right next to Susanna.
So swift!
Daniel was completely taken aback.
Undoubtedly, this was the fastest movement he had ever seen.
In just a blink, it had traversed a vast distance.
He stood directly between the Memory-Altering Monster and Susanna and hadn’t sensed the slightest movement.
Damn, Susanna!
Just as Daniel registered the scene, he saw the Memory-Altering Monster already raising its shears, each half the height of a man.
Its cracked face, akin to a wicked demon, split even at the corners of its mouth, stretching to its ears, portraying a grotesquely eerie smile.
"Hee hee, hee hee hee~"
Snap!
Snap!
Following the crisp sound of the shears,
Susanna’s head tumbled to the ground as if it were a discarded ball.
In mere moments, a level 2 Evolver was extinguished as though she were nothing.
Of the party of four that entered the pyramid, now only three remained.
If they couldn’t figure a way out soon, they’d squander yet another chance to rewind time.
"Hee hee... hee hee hee!"
"Your memories intrigue me. Hand them over!"
Lifting his gaze, Daniel found the Memory-Altering Monster standing before him, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.
The massive shadows of its twin shears loomed ominously across its face.
Retreat!
Without a moment’s hesitation, Daniel sprang back, frantically distancing himself from those menacing blades.
At this range, the Memory-Altering Monster surely couldn’t touch him.
Yet, the very next moment, something unsettling occurred.
A sudden itch encircled Daniel’s neck.
Instinctively reaching up, his fingers met with a wet, sticky sensation.
Looking down, his hand was smeared in fresh blood.
When did this happen?!
Shock dilated Daniel’s pupils.
Subsequently, his viewpoint elevated, swirling one and a half times in mid-air.
He was met with an inverted vision:
His body lay on the ground, headless.
Death had cast its shadow, swift and inescapable.
…
[Remaining Rewinds within 24 hours: 7]
Daniel’s eyes snapped open, surrounded by an expansive void.
Joey and the others were scattered around, racking their brains over the cryptic inscriptions on the walls.
The Memory-Altering Monster hadn’t made its move yet.
Now, with only seven rewinds left and over four hours till the count resets, he had to be doubly cautious.
After the rewind, the golden safe still remained in his spatial storage.
Yet, intriguingly, Daniel could still decipher the writings on the wall. 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝖕𝖚𝔟.𝔠𝔬𝖒
Just then, Susanna cried out in alarm, "Danger!"
A knot of dread lodged itself in Daniel’s throat.
Joey and Aesop braced for combat, their gazes darting apprehensively around.
They hadn’t directly morphed into monsters. What were they waiting for?
Lost in thought, a glimmer sparked in Daniel’s eyes.
As if an epiphany dawned upon him, a smirk subtly curved his lips.
Memory-Altering Monster, is it?
Deceptive memories — I wonder if you can truly bear their weight.
