Except for the outburst from Harry, there was no other noise within the tavern. There was no reaction from any of the other diners at all. It was as if they did not just see a man get murdered in front of their faces. They continued staring at Zero and Harry with cold eyes.

"This is just all a misunderstanding," Harry said as he waved his arms around wildly. "An accident, it was an accident!"

The waiter had already collapsed to the floor, still holding onto his throat, blood continuing to flow. He eventually became motionless before a harsh guttural scream emanated from the corpse.

"My skin!" the corpse's mouth began twisting together. "You've ruined my beautiful skin!"

A tendril of flesh ripped through the corpse's mouth as it began worming its way out. The other diners had begun moving at this point, walking toward the two with anything that could be used as a weapon in their hands.

Harry, now knowing the severity of the situation, asked Zero panically, "What do we do?"

"Cover your ears."

{Skill Activated: {Spirit Scream}]

A loud ringing scream emanated from Zero's mouth, shattering all the windows and glass cups in the tavern. The diners all froze from the scream, their skins beginning to vibrate. All of their faces began to twist and droop, revealing the grotesque flesh underneath. They grabbed at their faces, attempting to keep the melting skin from falling off their faces.

Zero hurriedly gestured at Harry to run for the door, him following closely behind. He shoved aside any of the "people" in his way, causing them to collapse to the floor, still desperately holding onto their faces. Then, one of the diners used the fork he was holding and stabbed it into his ear, causing black blood to gush out. The others, following his example, used anything to stab or rip at their eardrums.

They're trying to deafen themselves.

Zero quickly shoved Harry out the door as the black blood from the creatures spilled to the floor everywhere in the tavern. Zero then threw a couple of {Dark Fireballs} into the building, quickly shut the door, and began running. As a result of the building being created from almost all wood, it quickly exploded into flames. The harsh light of the purple flames deeply contrasted with the soft glow of the setting sun.

[You have slain a Skin Snatcher. +20 EXP.]

[You have slain a Skin Snatcher. +20 EXP.]

[You have slain a Skin Snatcher. +20 EXP.]

Many notifications from the system popped up. alerting Zero to the deaths of some of the monsters inside the tavern. The Skin Snatchers tried their best to escape the burning hell, climbing out the windows and crawling out the doorway, their bodies still ablaze.

"Keep running," Zero told Harry. "There's still a lot more of them."

As Harry gasped for air, he said, "The stable! Our horses!"

"They're already dead."

"What?"

Zero recalled when he used the {Inspect} on the meat from earlier.

[Horse Meat (Cooked) (Poisoned)

Additional Information: A cut of horse meat that has been beautifully cooked. Sadly, the dish is ruined by a quick-acting sedative that was added during the preparation of the meal.]

"Our meal earlier," Zero said. "They were trying to poison us."

Harry's face paled and he muttered in shock, "Coconut..."

"Keep running for the exit," Zero ordered. "More of them are probably coming after us right now."

As the two continued running for the entrance of the village, Ezia appeared in front of the two from an obscure corner.

"What's going on!?" she exclaimed in shock. "Everyone suddenly went crazy! They're all trying to kill me! Please help me!"

Harry's face brightened.

"Ezia, w-"

An arrow sunk into Ezia's forehead and exploded, leaving her headless corpse to collapse to the ground. Soon after, a tendril of flesh started worming its way out of the fresh wound.

"Keep running, don't trust anyone," Zero said.

More and more of the creatures emerged from the different buildings, running after the duo with emotionless faces. Some tried to stop them from the front, but they were quickly dispatched by an arrow or {Dark Fireball} from Zero.

As Harry began gasping for air, he suddenly raised a hand and chanted, "{Restoration}."

[Skill Acquired: {Restoration}]

A faint yellow glow surrounded the two and Zero felt the exhaustion slowly fade from his body.

"You sure have a bunch of handy spells," Zero remarked.

"My family's a bit rich," Harry said embarrassedly. "My pops hired a teacher for me after I found out I had a talent for being a healer. He never expected me to want to go out and adventure though..."

They soon reached the entrance of the village, the Skin Snatchers still some ways behind them. Zero threw several fireballs behind them, blasting the fence and ground, causing purple flames to begin to violently spread. A column of flames rose into the air, scorching everything nearby.

The fire blocked the Skin Snatchers from continuing to chase after the two, flames roaring loudly.

"Run into the forest," Zero told Harry. "They'll keep looking for us. Those things can't risk us telling anyone about them."

"We have to make our way back from the forest since they've killed the horses. We can't afford to be seen by them on the road."

Harry nodded in agreement to show that he understood.

As the two made their way through the forest, quickly and quietly, Harry suddenly asked Zero, "Those... were Skin Snatchers, right?"

"Yes."

"I knew they existed!" Harry exclaimed. "But, how did you know..?"

Zero smiled.

"It's a secret."

"Well, thanks anyways. If it wasn't for you, I would've fallen for their lies," Harry said deprecatingly. "Maybe I'm not cut out for this after all."

The duo were then alerted by loud footsteps resonating on the road, accompanied by occasional sounds of laughter and chatter. It was a group of people dressed in battle gear, also making their way to Woodland Village.

"People!" Harry whispered. "We have to warn them!"

But then, as if he thought of something, he looked at Zero. Zero shook his head with a grim expression and motioned for Harry not to make any noise.

A simple {Inspect} revealed the truth.

[Skin Snatcher (Disguised)

Additional Information: A Skin Snatcher disguised in the skin of a young man who longed to be a famous mercenary. Sadly, he was killed and had his skin stripped off before he could achieve his dreams.]

The other "people" around him also had similar descriptions.

Looks like they're trying to lure us out. Unluckily for them, they don't know I can see what they truly are.

Zero and Harry let them pass, observing the group. They made a burst of noise every once in a while; as if trying to let people nearby know that they were there.

Suddenly, Zero felt the uncomfortable stare again. The feeling was much more intense this time; like someone was breathing down his neck watching his every move.

Zero spun around, worried that one of the Skin Snatchers had discovered their position. However, there was nothing. Not a single branch or rock was out of place.

As the stare began to strengthen in feeling, Zero felt like he was losing his mind. Harry looked fine and didn't mention the gaze. Perhaps it was simply the stress accumulated over the past few days weighing down on his mind.

It's all an illusion.

Zero tried to calm himself down and used {Inspect} on the surroundings to reassure himself that nobody was there.

[Whitesap Tree

Additional Information: A sixty-five-year-old Whitesap Tree that has weathered many storms throughout its life.]

[Rock

Additional Information: Separated from a bigger boulder after countless years of erosion.]

[Argus (Camouflaged)

Additional Information: A monster with countless eyes that will stalk its prey until they become mentally exhausted from its stare. It then attacks and kills its prey while they are weakened. It has the ability to camouflage itself into its surroundings, which is the main method it uses to hunt.]

A description appeared from seemingly nothing in front of a tree. Zero stared at the description blankly before quickly pulling out his bow and sending an arrow in its direction. The ground rustled as the creature quickly got out of the way of the attack.

The arrow stabbed into a tree and exploded, sending splinters everywhere. Zero tracked the description as he looked around, while Harry looked on in shock, wondering why Zero would attack nothing out of nowhere.

Zero didn't have time to explain as the Argus quickly rushed closer toward their position, intent on killing one of them stealthily. Its target was Harry, selecting him as the weaker one of the two. Zero hurriedly pushed Harry out of the way before activating {Iron Skin}, {Piercing Shot}, and {Enhance Sharpness} onto his arm and punching where the Argus was located.

[Skill Acquired: {Camouflage}]

There was an extremely loud cracking sound alongside black blood appearing from the air. The monster let out a scream of pain, never having been hurt before. It had never expected something that it considered as prey to be able to harm it. The Argus' camouflage flickered for a second, revealing its true form.

It was shaped like a huge praying mantis covered with a black exoskeleton, black blood running from an immense wound in its torso. It had many eyes covering its body, blinking irregularly. As its camouflage returned, it attempted to flee, unwilling to continue the battle.

However, Zero would not let it escape. He quickly grabbed at the air with {Iron Skin} still activated, seizing one of the forelegs of the monster. Zero gave it a makeshift amputation, tearing off the limb, and causing blood to begin gushing from the Argus' new wound.

The monster's camouflage disappeared again, revealing the Argus desperately attempting to run away. Zero blasted the creature in the back with a {Dark Fireball}, making it tumble to the ground helplessly. He then cast his skills before stomping on its head, crushing it and ending its life.

[You have slain an Argus. +50 EXP.]

Harry, who had retreated a safe distance away from the battle to not be a burden, returned and urgently told Zero, "The Skin Snatchers are coming! They heard all the noise!"

Zero glanced over and saw the Skin Snatchers from earlier, rapidly sprinting to their location and presumably with more on the way.

"Start running," Zero ordered. "I'll distract them."

"Then what's going to happen to you?" Harry asked worriedly.

"It's alright," Zero responded. "You'll just get in the way. I've got ways to survive."

"But-"

"Just go. Hurry, they're almost here."

Harry looked conflicted as he turned around and ran, "I'll get help and come back!"

"Don't worry, they won't be able to catch me."

After all, I now have {Camouflage}. How would they?

Zero decided to take the advantage and attack the Skin Snatchers first. He sent a fireball towards them, intent on taking down some by surprise. They saw the purple fire coming, dodging out of the way. However, an unlucky Skin Snatcher reacted too late and took the {Dark Fireball} head-on.

She immediately began burning, an unholy screech coming from her mouth. She walked forward a few steps before collapsing to the ground, the corpse still burning. The wriggling flesh attempted to escape, but it was also affected by the burning flames.

[You have slain a Skin Snatcher. +20 EXP.]

The rest of the Skin Snatchers, noticing Zero, began running at him. Zero stood his ground, intending to buy Harry some time to escape before he also did. One of the Skin Snatchers reached him and swung at him with its weapon, a rusty shovel. Zero hurriedly dodged out of the way before kicking it in the chest while it was unbalanced. It stumbled backward a few steps before an arrow suddenly penetrated its skull and exploded.

[You have slain a Skin Snatcher. +20 EXP.]

The monster within didn't even have a chance to escape, immediately perishing from the explosion. However, several large wolves suddenly emerged from the surrounding forest, glaring at Zero. He recognized two of them from his battle against them earlier. Moreover, he also noticed many more Skin Snatchers in the distance running towards them.

"I would love to continue playing," Zero laughed. "But I'm low on MP."

He then immediately activated {Camouflage}, disappearing from everyone's eyes. The Moonfang Wolves, confused about where their target had gone, turned their attention to the Skin Snatchers; assuming that they were allied with Zero. As a wolf attacked one of the monsters, the others quickly followed suit. The two sides clashed as Zero snuck away safely.

Suddenly, a system message appeared in front of Zero.

[Optional Quest: Eliminate the Amalgamation. Rewards: 1000 EXP, {Title}]

Interesting. Looks like I'll have to stay a while longer.