the voice spoke up again quietly in his mind.

Lance thought.

"Who the hell are you?" Ray asked. "Are you the System?"

So he'd heard the voice too, then.

"You hear it too?" Lance asked. "I don't know who that is either, but I intend to find out."

Jacob was standing behind Ray with one hand on the hilt of a knife: he obviously wanted to use it right away against anyone like this guy if needed, and was just waiting for an order or signal from Lance to attack him. Sophie had already started loading bullets into her rifle; she seemed intent on making sure that Ray didn't have any chance of running away. Grace still hadn't said anything yet; instead, she was watching all three of them carefully. She looked like someone trying very hard not to show how nervous and anxious they were feeling.

Wait, what? He was sure that they'd backed up just now--why were they preparing to attack now?

"Guys, stop!" Lance said.

"I have a bad feeling," Jacob said.

"Same," Sophie agreed. "Lance, use your [Presence Detection]. I don't know if it's this guy, but there's someone here with us. I can feel it."

Lance used [Presence Detection], using his newfound mana shaping capabilities to enhance the ability enough to catch even higher level enemies.

There was a monster above them.

"The floor above!" Lance shouted.

No, not right above them. It hit a set of stairs, joining them on their floor in a matter of moments. It was moving fast, travelling towards them at insane speeds.

Grace's head snapped to one side—she could probably see the creature too: it had just moved through the wall at the end of the corridor and was climbing down the stairs right next to them. They all heard the sound of its claws scratching against metal as the beast approached. It wasn't like any other monster Lance had ever seen before either: he was pretty sure it had once been some sort of feral animal from outside, though it was larger than any of them and clearly more dangerous.

the voice asked.

"It doesn't matter what you are," Lance said grimly, addressing the air. "I don't care about your past anymore, this is your only chance. If I have to kill every last one of us, I'll do that too."

the voice asked, and everyone reacted. Lance wasn't sure if the reactions were to his words or the voice's.

"I don't know if you're the System, some random, or anyone else," Lance said. "But you seem to have taken an interest in us."

"Then you stop this monster," Lance said, pointing his gun at his own head, "Or you lose your little experiment."