It’s explicit.
It’s just so explicit.
Clack.
Clack.
The sound of high heels regularly echoing from below.
Gradually getting closer.
The clacking sound becomes louder, clearer, and more three-dimensional.
As if there’s not much time left.
As if there’s no opportunity if we don’t hurry.
The warriors exchanged glances upon hearing the sound.
[ Up? ]
They pondered how to handle this sudden situation using their exchanged glances and telepathy.
But then again, sudden situations are inherently difficult to respond to.
Moreover, these two had been trained to follow a manual, so they were bound to be slow in reacting to such instances. The uncertainty about what traps awaited them when they went up also held them back.
[ …Let’s wait a moment. ]
Thus, the two came to a rational conclusion.
After realizing the identity of the high-heel sound, it wouldn’t be too late to decide how to act.
If it were a regular security personnel, they could subdue them, administer a drug to blur their memories, and create an intoxicated state to eliminate their awareness of reality; if that failed, they could simply kill them and bury them in some remote mountain.
And the same goes for capable people.
With two warriors together, unless it was an extraordinary opponent, they wouldn’t have any trouble handling it.
So, the two held their breath, waiting for the high heels to arrive.
They waited for the clacking sound to come closer, hoping that the owner would finally reveal themselves from the pitch-black darkness.
To that end, they wrapped their focus around their eyes and elevated their energy to sense the position and shape of whatever was approaching.
But.
Strange.
[ …Is it just me? I can’t feel any presence. ]
[ No. I feel the same. There’s no presence, or even if it’s a person, I can’t tell. ]
[ But the sound is definitely getting closer…? ]
Presence.
There’s no presence.
The sound is clearly audible.
The footsteps are distinctly heard, yet there’s no presence felt.
Isn’t that odd?
Footsteps are evidence of a person’s existence, yet no presence is felt?
[ A machine? ]
[ No. I don’t hear the characteristic noise of a machine or the sound of it running. ]
There are definitely differences between sounds typically made and sounds that pass through machines, and a warrior’s trained body and energy can easily distinguish those small differences.
Of course, as more advanced equipment is used, these differences diminish, and special military devices or the highest-class sound equipment, starting from units of hundreds of millions, would reach a level where such differences can’t be recognized.
[ It’s not a place designed to enjoy sound, nor is it a military facility. There can’t be any devices to fool our ears in a place like this. Plus, considering the sound continues to move… if such a device were installed, it would have to cover the entire staircase… that just doesn’t make sense. ]
[ In other words, that sound is real…? ]
How could such expensive equipment be packed into this staircase?
It made no sense.
Even in the world’s top-tier buildings, such installations aren’t found on staircases.
Even if just one were placed on each floor, it would cost an astronomical amount, enough to build an entire separate building.
Even oil kings in the Middle East wouldn’t waste such money on the ground.
Military equipment?
That too is the same.
Due to the nature of military equipment, they easily cost much more than general products, making it even harder to imagine that such military equipment would be laid out in a place like this. And even if such facilities were genuinely necessary, they would only be installed in places where important figures, like a president, reside, not in this old, dilapidated building.
Even a developed nation like Korea would have to pour in a budget that would bend its waist.
So, logically thinking, that sound isn’t from a speaker but is indeed the sound of a real person….
[ It’s not just the presence. I can’t feel any biological signs at all. ]
[ I don’t hear any of the typical sounds that belong to a machine… could it be a summon creature? ]
[ There’s a possibility, but…. ]
The problem was that beyond the absence of presence, there were no biological signs whatsoever.
If it isn’t a living creature, it must be a machine, yet I hear no characteristic sounds or feelings of a machine….
Then, there’s only one thing left.
The only possibility would be a summon creature, an existence alien to Earth’s biology.
[ If it’s a summon creature, there could be many variables… ]
[ Still, if it’s our skills, we can handle it just fine. ]
The two began to cultivate their energy.
They prepared to leap forward at any moment when they could finally spot the figure.
Unlike when they thought it was a person, they planned to unleash their power all at once to subdue the being.
Summon creatures are characterized by an incredibly vast array of features.
Many don’t resemble Earth’s biology at all, and some even resemble living creatures but are certainly questionable as such.
There exist entities that seem like mere rocks yet suck up nutrients and grow, and others that look strikingly similar to Earth’s animals but have empty bellies when cut open. There were bizarre creatures that looked like they came from hell, absorbing heat to convert it into energy.
Naturally, such contrasting characteristics of summon creatures quickly translate into variables.
Just when you think you’ve won by severing a body, each piece regenerates, drastically increasing the numbers. Or you might relax after killing one only to find it absorbing fire to regenerate and blast the opponent’s head off.
There were times when you thought it was just a harmless slime, only for it to devour all magic and twice its size.
Thus, should you encounter a summon creature, you must always be vigilant, put all your strength into action, and thoroughly check even after killing it multiple times.
The warriors were raising their energy to adhere to these basic rules.
As they waited for the summon creature to arrive.
Clack.
Clack.
However, there was one thing these two overlooked.
Clack.
In this world, there exists something alive yet undeniably present.
Clack.
Clack.
Something that can move without being a machine, exerting physical force despite lacking a fleshly form, appearing from amidst the darkness to cause harm to people.
It’s not artificially created, yet not naturally occurring, neither is it a person, but born from people, with strength and power that can escalate to calamity.
Clack.
People refer to such beings as ghosts and spirits.
Clack.
And it slowly revealed itself along with the sound of high heels.
Buried in darkness, it formed a shape from the shadows, barely revealing its outline.
It was crawling up the stairs with a bizarrely contorted body.
Its body appeared grotesquely fused from multiple human forms, writhing and clamoring upward like a heavy slug. From its body extended many long, thin arms, grotesquely bent like an insect’s joints, reaching out to the walls and ceiling.
Every time its contorted body crawled, the arms that protruded from it moved in unison, continuously shifting positions like a bug scuttling quietly across the walls.
Clack.
And the arm that was most forward among those crumpled limbs was holding just one high heel.
Just one.
The arm that held a worn, abandoned high heel, as if someone had dropped it after drinking, clacked the heel against the stone steps every time its body slid upward.
Clack.
[ This… is. ]
The body writhes as it ascends the stairs.
Clack.
It moved its arm to clack the heel against the stone steps.
Clack.
Clack.
One sound per stair.
Yet, the speed was alarmingly fast.
The twisted body ascended the stairs at an unbelievable pace, and in sync, the high heel produced its rhythmic sound.
As if a woman wearing high heels was casually walking up the staircase.
Clack.
Clack.
With each sound spreading, the distance to the living person closed in.
It contorted its joints awkwardly, swinging arms that formed anew from its torso, stirring them in the air.
The moment when it would needed those arms that hadn’t yet reached the wall was approaching quickly.
It moved with an eagerness that suggested it could barely contain its anticipation.
– Hehehe.
It laughed.
It made sounds while grinning with its palm-like mouth, and from the large mouth running vertically along its elongated body, it stuck out a tongue to wet its lips with saliva. Then, it moved even faster, advancing up the stairs with a frenzied energy.
[ An evil spirit, it’s an evil spirit! ]
[ Run up-! ]
An evil spirit.
A ghost that can exert physical force.
It’s a monster that is difficult to contend with even for ordinary capable people.
Thud-!
As the two realized that the high-heel sound ascending from the lower floors was indeed an evil spirit, they quickly turned and leapt upward, abandoning any thoughts of stealth, and unleashed their techniques to propel themselves upward.
To distance themselves from the evil spirit.
[ Damn it, an evil spirit that bears no semblance to any human form! ]
