Chapter 79: Arrogant Demon, Fire Prison Imprisonment

As if having confirmed its target, the monster began to move—boom, boom, boom!

The vehicle shook violently; when that failed to work, the monster shot straight up into the air, then plummeted down.

Crash!

A thin layer of iron skin offered no resistance—the roof was ripped open in a massive hole.

A jet-black claw clamped tightly around a boy’s head and lifted him up—when suddenly, a javelin speared upward, piercing straight through half the monster’s skull due to the obstruction; it was Minnie, her eyes fierce, jamming the javelin in with all her strength.

The students felt sudden relief—they had all come for the javelin competition, never imagining this sport could save their lives.

But they rejoiced too soon—the boy in the monster’s grasp remained suspended, no matter how hard they pulled from below.

A tremendous force suddenly surged.

Crack!

A chorus of brittle bone snaps followed, then a headless corpse tumbled back into the bus; the head had been twisted off so fast that the body’s reflexes still fired—its limbs flailed wildly, blood spattered everywhere, triggering screams.

“Aaaahhh!!”

On the roof, the monster calmly reached out its other hand, gripped its own head, and slowly twisted, bent, and yanked it free!

Crack!

With a soft pop, half of its black keratinous skull was tossed into the bus.

The boy’s severed head, meanwhile, was shoved into the monster’s neck gap—it wriggled inside, soon rising to the neck opening, replacing the original head; the wound sealed rapidly, layers of black keratin spreading upward, and in an instant, its face transformed into the monster’s own.

This was the legendary “eat what you need to replenish.”

Sensing the new head and the terror below, gazing at the moon, the monster soared into the sky, its wings flapping steadily as it let out a coarse, brazen laugh.

“Hahahaha!!”

At that moment, the school bus door burst open—students scattered in several groups toward all directions.

The monster dove down.

Another hunt began.

…

Minnie ran desperately along the highway, her lungs burning, but she dared not stop—no one knew if the monster would dive down at any moment.

Yet she was lucky—the monster circled overhead for a moment, then flew off to chase another group of students.

Only then did Minnie slow her pace; she stared helplessly at her classmate, whose bones had been flung like darts and devoured, tears streaming down her face.

Humans were truly fragile before the monster.

But why?

If monsters exist, shouldn’t God exist too? What about demon hunters, heroes…?

If they do exist—priests, demon hunters, please, come quickly!

Minnie knelt on the ground and prayed.

The night wind was icy, yet colder still was the chill within her heart.

Then she heard a rapid, relentless patter—pattering, pattering, merging into a continuous line.

At the same time, the monster, mid-hunt, spun around, sniffed sharply, as if catching an intoxicating scent—but uncertain—then, after a pause, flew toward Minnie.

“So, you’re the one who out-of-bodyed?”

A flat voice rang out; Minnie froze, then snapped to attention, staring at Louis, “Yes! Yes! Save us! Save us!”

She glanced behind him.

But to her dismay, there were no police—only a giant “bat” hurtling straight toward them.

“No! Run! Run!”

She scrambled to her feet, trying to drag Louis along.

But Louis stood utterly still, rooted to the spot—no matter how hard she pulled, she couldn’t budge him; helplessly, she ran alone.

Louis looked up at the charging monster—and couldn’t help laughing. Sorry, he truly couldn’t help it.

He’d been slightly troubled about how to lure this thing into a direct confrontation—yet here it came, on its own, no less. No, this was pure luck—he thanked the Transfer-of-Curse technique again.

As the monster drew nearer, Louis still stood unmoving, even shouting loudly.

“Sweetheart, you came just in time!”

“Over here! Over here!”

Clap! Clap!

He even clapped his hands, like coaxing a puppy.

!!!

The man-eater’s eyes turned crimson; its jet-black claws plunged straight down.

But Louis merely tapped lightly—and his whole body shot backward, while a massive ball of flame erupted out of thin air, rapidly expanding into a fiery ring that instantly trapped the man-eater inside.

These flames were no ordinary fire—Louis had poured in vast amounts of inner Qi, fearing he couldn’t contain it; he’d gone all out from the start.

Simultaneously, Louis swiftly slashed his wrist.

Eighteen blood beads shattered at once!

Red fragments melted under moonlight in an instant, reverting to their original form—blood—then evaporated like steam at blinding speed.

An inexplicable force immediately surged into the man-eater, trapped within the fire prison and struggling to break free.

Blood… began to circulate violently, erupting, charging forward into every organ; the blood, once responsible for oxygen delivery, now became like blood cancer, destroying every part of the body.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

The power of the eighteen blood curse beads skyrocketed the man-eater’s blood pressure; its body spewed blood like a sprinkler, its movements slowed—clearly suffering severe internal damage—but still not enough; it could still move.

Even with its thick hide, it began slowly pushing outward against the searing flames.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!! Crack! Crack!

Blood sprayed against the flames, producing strange pale-red vapor that drifted above the fire prison.

The crackling of burning flesh echoed faintly; droplets of fat fell, and a rich aroma of roasting meat drifted on the night wind.

Tap!

Tap!

One step… two steps…

Within the flames, a black monstrous shadow clawed wildly, howling like an undead demon.

But Louis merely sneered.

All show, no substance.

It didn’t even dare open its wings—wasn’t that because it feared the flames would burn them off?

Still, this monster had some brains: it knew high heat would destroy its wings, and it knew how to bluff to instill psychological pressure.

Maybe it identified special prey by the fear it generated?

But no amount of bluffing would help now.

Louis smiled as he removed another string of blood curse beads from his other hand, then pulled out two more from his pocket.

Fifty-four glistening, translucent blood beads shimmered under the combined glow of fire and moonlight—almost beautiful.

Yet such beauty was far from beautiful to certain monsters.

???

The man-eater, who had been enduring the flames and forcing its way out, froze in place upon seeing this.

It shook its head violently.

(End of Chapter)