"Phew..."
Argarta, her face once again etched with despair from the Warden's compulsion, began to crumble.
The Hunter also thought that if he lost his grip on his sanity even a little right now, he might be eroded by the compulsion and... who knows what would happen.
But the very assumption of 'losing his grip' was something that didn't apply to the Hunter.
His rage towards the Outer Gods.
And his strong will to exact revenge no matter what.
These two things combined meant that adrenaline was automatically coursing through the Hunter's entire body at this moment, with an Outer God right before his eyes.
The Hunter soon realized something was attached to his head. He forced his stiff, stone-like arm to move, raising it above his head.
Thump.
He moved only his wrist, severing it with a chop of his hand. The Hunter felt his mind clear instantly.
He staggered momentarily from the sensation of strength draining from his body, but he endured and focused his gaze forward.
"Huuuh."
Letting out a ragged breath, he looked at the Outer God and felt something was different.
'Is it my imagination?'
After continuously checking, the Hunter eventually realized it wasn't his imagination.
One of the grotesquely numerous eyes scattered across its body was closed.
'...Does each one of those eyes mean it's watching someone?'
The Hunter soon understood the nature of the Warden's authority.
Those exposed to the Warden in this way would be continuously subjected to the compulsion that they were being watched by those countless eyes.
And it probably could actually watch.
It was a structure where anyone who wasn't the Hunter, with his high resistance to Outer Gods due to various complex factors, would inevitably succumb.
As if to prove it, Argarta was already pressing her forehead to the floor as if becoming one with it.
The protective charm she had secretly hidden had long since been discovered by the Warden and dismantled.
Perhaps because of that.
Strange sounds began to reach Argarta's ears, and in that moment, her hearing, which she considered an asset, turned into a blade, trying to make the noise sound like voices.
"Snap out of it, chatterbox!"
The Hunter, as if possessed by a soccer player, supported his body on his left leg and slammed his right foot into Argarta's backside.
BAM!
"Kyaaak!"
An intense pain, as if she'd been electrocuted from below, shot up and erupted from Argarta's mouth as a scream.
Perhaps he had kicked too hard; Argarta's body flew forward a little, and she instinctively clutched her head with both hands.
In the process, her hands severed whatever was transmitting the Warden's compulsion.
Whether she had fully regained her senses or not, Argarta panted as she slowly rose to her feet.
"W-what in the..."
As Argarta tried to lift her head to assess the situation, the Hunter grabbed the hem of her clothes and pulled down.
"Urk."
"Look at the ground. If you see the eyes over there, consider it the end."
Sanity is a resource that depletes, like stamina.
No matter how one knows how to break free from the compulsion, if it repeats continuously, one will eventually exhaust all sanity, leading to what's commonly called a mental breakdown, and ultimately, the brain gives up on life and dies.
Fixing her gaze on her own shadow on the ground, Argarta spoke in a trembling voice.
"...Was Mr. Tanton right to go in? What do we do now..."
"The sudden reaction means the mental patient did something."
"And that thing is highly likely an item that provokes the Warden."
The Hunter snorted as he spoke.
"It means it's time to beat the crap out of that bastard."
The red glint in his eyes, hidden by his cloak and hat, shone bleakly.
Argarta made a baffled expression upon hearing the Hunter's words.
"That, that thing? Even so, that's an insane thought...!"
"I'll buy us time from now. Until that mental patient arrives."
Brushing off Argarta's words, the Hunter slowly began preparing to move.
First, he surveyed his surroundings.
Even for the Hunter, facing an Outer God without a single weapon would be like a venomless wasp fighting a mantis.
Something caught the Hunter's eye as he looked around.
Something was spilling out in a heap from the completely shattered prison cell, and he could tell most of it was weapons.
Quickly approaching the cell before the Warden got closer, the Hunter smiled with exhilaration.
"Lucky."
From the storage space filled with numerous scattered weapons, the Hunter grabbed his trusted weapon, the double-barreled shotgun.
The driving force that had allowed the Hunter to kill countless Lesser Outer Gods until now.
A weapon perfectly suited to the Hunter's most confident combat style.
The irritation that always clung to the Hunter finally subsided, and a positive energy began to swirl around him.
He placed the bullets he had brought along when captured, doing his best to avoid detection, onto his palm.
They were grotesque bullets that looked like clumps of flesh, hardly what you'd call ordinary rounds.
The special ammunition capable of killing Outer Gods.
Their manufacture wasn't easy due to the special materials required, but they could deliver an effective blow.
The Hunter rotated the lever; the gun broke at a 90-degree angle, revealing the barrels. With a swift motion, he loaded the rounds into the chamber and closed it using a flick of his wrist.
To ensure it was properly closed, he spun the gun twice with his fingers, confirmed it was securely mounted, and immediately aimed the gun at the Warden.
Without a moment's hesitation, the Hunter's finger moved. With a powerful gunshot, the rounds surged toward the Warden.
"""Ŏ̲͉̮͎̱̰̞̫̭͈̭̩͙̦̙̫̎́̃́̐̃̅ȉ̵͙̞͕̠̖̭̫̭̫͉͈̤̥̓͒̈́̀̐̓̒͂̐̈͗̽ͅ,̷̖̤̩͙̩̜͇̟̙̱̬̙̬̮͕́̇̽̑̎̿̎̊̔̌̋͌͛ e̶̗̱̫͖͎͚͙͚͂͗̓͐̃̈́̃̈̏t̸͚͉̞̖͎̬͈̰̣͓̙̞̦͕̖̔͑͗̽̆͆̑͑̊̅̏̉̒̀͊̚ͅỏ̸̝̲̩͈͈̜̥͍̫̜̫̤̲͓̒̉̃͒̐͋̓̆͊͂̈́͆̚ b҉͔̞̪̖̜̝̮̳̩̬͚̀̉̆̏̇̓̈́̊̚o̵̩̟̪̫̗̖͇͚̤͙͆̅̐̂͗̈͊̀̇ḽ̶̜̠͔͓̲͉̪͓̞̌̇̎͋̄̆͒̀̓̇̋̃̉̒͋'̸͚̭̰͖̟̥̯̣̥̤̱̲̠̩́̀͒́́̾̆͂̍̊̅n̸͙͈̞͔͓̤͕̖̣̠͇͙̂͑͛̑̀̍͂̇̔̀̍ͅͅọ̵̥͕̮̳͚̘͍̤̥͊͋̊̓̂̍̒͐̇̓̓ͅ"""
An incomprehensible, bizarre sound filled the prison corridor, and the Warden began to thrash about as if in pain.
But despite the Warden's excessive reaction, the Hunter quickly realized the damage inflicted on this Outer God wasn't that great.
The Hunter clicked his tongue.
"As expected, it doesn't work on high-tier Outer Gods."
"What?! Then what do we do!"
Argarta stampered her foot and spoke, but even the Hunter had no clear answer.
In the original Snow Castle, this situation corresponded to the tutorial stage.
And the bosses appearing in tutorials are often too strong to be taken down with conventional force.
The Hunter quickly realized that the Outer God before him was a Greater Outer God, different from the common lesser ones.
"In the end, all we can do is hold out until that mental patient arrives."
The Hunter spoke impassively, but a sense of despair began to bloom on Argarta's face.
Was it the effect of picking up the bone?
Suddenly, cracks began to appear in the room, and it started to collapse.
"Whoa, what? Why is it collapsing all of a sudden?!"
"It's fine, it's supposed to happen. You should get out now."
The leader Lesser Outer God spoke in an urgent tone, but I couldn't easily bring myself to leave, as I'd grown fond of the Lesser Outer Gods.
"No, what about you? What happens to you!"
It was a shout born of genuine concern, but the Lesser Outer Gods just laughed cheerfully, as if finding it amusing.
Seeing me look at them anxiously, one of the Lesser Outer Gods wiped away tears of laughter and said,
"To think we'd be worried about by a human. Have we become too weak?"
"Even Mother didn't worry about us."
"Will you be our father?"
"Not a joke!"
I was curious about who this 'Mother' was, but I felt it was meaningless now.
Thinking the atmosphere wasn't right for jokes, I put on a serious face, but that seemed to amuse them even more, as they just laughed heartily.
I pondered how I could take them with me, but the leader Lesser Outer God shook its head, stopping my train of thought.
"We aren't disappearing. We're just drifting into this rift."
"What's the difference..."
"It is different. If the day comes when this space revives, we can become active again too."
"Do you have any idea how long that might take?!"
"Don't worry, human."
The leader Lesser Outer God covered my mouth with both hands.
"We live much, muuuuch longer than you think."
Hearing this much, I thought that if I stubbornly stayed here and got myself killed by debris, it would just be a nuisance to these Lesser Outer Gods, so I began to slowly move my feet.
"Ah! The youngest is still clinging to the human!"
One of the Lesser Outer Gods pointed and shouted at the one still attached to my shoulder.
They all tried to grab that Lesser Outer God and pull it off, but it held onto my clothes and resisted.
After pulling for a few seconds, perhaps deciding it was futile, the Lesser Outer Gods sighed and said,
"It seems that child wants to go with you."
"Let it go! Having fun is always our top priority!"
I made a bewildered expression at how lightly they decided this, but the Lesser Outer Gods started talking first.
"It's fine! Nothing will happen just because you part from us!"
"You'll just become much weaker once you leave this room, since you'll be alone."
"You! If you mistreat the youngest, know that you'll die by our hands!"
I wondered what kind of threat this was, saying 'it's fine' after such scary words, but I thought if I delayed any longer, I might really be buried alive.
I scratched the head of the Lesser Outer God, which was still frowning and holding my clothes. It looked up at me with a questioning expression.
"...It might be difficult."
"No matter how much you like humans or find them fun to touch, being together isn't always good. Wouldn't you rather stay here?"
"No! I'm going with youuu...!"
Watching the Lesser Outer God bury its face and stubbornly insist, I couldn't help but sigh.
How could I just leave it behind like this?
I glanced over the Lesser Outer Gods once more. They nodded with gentle smiles, as if saying it was okay.
They really are kind beings to the end, I thought.
"Alright. Then it's going to get shaky because I need to run soon, so come in here."
I opened the pocket attached to my clothes as I spoke. The Lesser Outer God fluttered its wings and flew snugly inside.
I could feel it wriggling inside.
The leader Lesser Outer God smiled a faint, distant smile.
"Take good care of that child."
Tears seemed to well in its eyes, and I knew the moment of farewell had truly come.
After showing them a determined expression one last time, I forcibly turned my head and began running towards the exit.
Ah, the Hunter and Argarta might dislike this a bit.
Well, the Hunter himself said Lesser Outer Gods are only threatening in large numbers, so surely persuading him about just one should be fine, right?
The passage grew narrower. The Lesser Outer Gods waved their hands, enveloped in flower buds, and fell into a long slumber.
Emerging outside, the sight that greeted me was shocking.
"Eeeek! It hurts!"
Wasn't the Hunter attacking the wolf-eared girl with a gun?!