Chapter 135 Surrounded by abominations

Chapter 135: Chapter 135 Surrounded by abominations

Their eyes snapped toward the outside in fear, immediately searching for whatever Kai was trying to point out. At first, Luna didn’t understand what she was looking at. Then her eyes widened.

A gigantic mountain stood in the distance. Or at least, what remained of one. Almost half of the mountain was submerged beneath the water, with the sea reaching dangerously close to its peak. From the looks of it, the mountain itself couldn’t have been tall enough for the water to cover that much of it. Unless... the water was still rising.

Luna’s stomach twisted. But the mountain wasn’t the real problem. It was what was happening at the very top.

There was a gigantic crack running through the peak, almost as if something had ripped the mountain open from the inside. The crack was enormous, and something was coming out of it.

Luna leaned forward slightly, her eyes narrowing. Creatures. Flying creatures. They slithered and crawled out of the gigantic opening before spreading their wings and taking to the sky.

Luna’s blood ran cold. They were massive, twice the size of the plane-sized monsters that had attacked their island only days ago. And there wasn’t just one. There were almost a dozen of them. Each one looked like something that should never have existed.

A horrifying roar suddenly echoed across the water. "RRAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The sound shook the entire area. The water trembled. The vehicle vibrated beneath them. Even the mountain seemed to respond to the terrifying roar.

Everyone inside the vehicle froze. It didn’t matter how many monsters they had fought. It didn’t matter how experienced they had become. There were simply some creatures that could make even the bravest person want to pee themselves. And these things were definitely one of them.

They were already having a hard time fighting the monsters on the island. Now something even worse was practically sitting in front of them.

Luna stared at the creatures as they flew around the mountain. They had two heads connected to the same enormous body, with huge scaly backs that looked harder than metal. Their mouths were filled with thick, razor-sharp mandibles. And then there were the pincers.

Eight of them.

Luna actually counted. "One, two, three..." She stopped counting when she realized she didn’t want to know how many ways those things could kill them. "Yeah..." She swallowed. "We’re screwed."

Kai nodded immediately. "Definitely."

Luna stared at him. "That’s all you have to say?"

"What else do you want me to say?" Kai pointed toward the monsters. "Let’s just hope they don’t notice us." He paused. "And let’s really hope they can’t see invisible things."

"Great." Luna sighed. "That’s comforting."

Before anyone could say anything else, something enormous moved near the crack. A long, thick body slowly emerged.

At first, Luna thought it was another flying creature. Then she realized what it was.

Her mouth fell open. A gigantic snake crawled out of the mountain. It had four powerful legs supporting its enormous body and thick armor covering almost every part of its scales. It was massive. Absolutely massive.

The creature continued crawling until its entire body emerged from the crack. Then it dropped. BOOM!

The gigantic snake landed directly on the water. The impact sent a monstrous wave outward.

Luna’s eyes widened. "That thing is..."

"Massive?" Adrian finished.

"That’s not even the word."

The snake was practically the size of ten trucks combined. Its body stretched across the water as it lifted its enormous head and released a deep growl.

But the horrors weren’t limited to the mountain. Something else moved beneath them.

The water suddenly churned. Luna’s attention snapped downward.

Tentacles. Huge tentacles curled up from beneath the surface. One. Then another. Then another. They stretched outward, revealing a creature so enormous that its body seemed to occupy an area almost the size of an entire river.

The water around it bubbled violently. Its mouth slowly opened. Luna couldn’t even see the bottom.

The gigantic creature beneath the sea stared directly at the monsters coming from the mountain. Its enormous mouth opened wider, like it was looking at them as dinner.

Rowan’s face became serious. "Guys." Everyone looked at him. "We aren’t supposed to be this close." He pointed toward the creatures. "I think a fight is about to happen right here."

Luna looked around. "And?"

"If they start fighting this close to us, we could get crushed."

Luna immediately reached for the controls. "We need to move."

But Kai grabbed her hand. "Don’t."

Luna turned sharply. "What?"

"Moving the vehicle right now could be more dangerous." Kai’s eyes remained fixed on the monsters. "We don’t know which one can hear things beneath the water." He glanced toward the giant creature. "Some of these beasts are advanced enough that they might be able to sense objects that ordinary people can’t." He pointed toward the mountain. "And some might have other abilities we haven’t seen." Kai shook his head. "We can’t be careless."

Luna’s hands slowly fell from the controls. She stared outside. "So we just sit here and wait to be eaten?"

Kai shrugged. "I don’t have a better answer."

Luna stared at him. "You’re really terrible at comforting people."

"I’m aware."

Kai looked back outside. The truth was, he was trying to prevent them from being noticed. That mountain was clearly some kind of dungeon. Something had torn open at the top, and creatures were pouring out of it.

If they were discovered, the situation would change immediately. The monsters wouldn’t ignore them. They would chase them. And fighting one of those creatures would already be dangerous. Fighting all of them while trapped between the mountain and whatever was beneath the sea? That would be suicide.

Luna took a deep breath. "Everyone stay quiet." Her voice was low but serious. "No unnecessary movements. No noise. Nothing."

Everyone immediately understood.

Luna then reached into her bag space. She pulled out the remaining power crystals. She counted them quickly before handing them to everyone except Ethan. "Ethan already received his." She passed the crystals to Rowan. "Absorb these." Then to Kai. "And you." Finally, she handed some to Adrian. "If things become critical and we have to fight, we need to be ready."

She looked at all three of them. "Two of these crystals will accelerate your powers to a level you probably can’t even imagine." Her expression hardened. "So absorb them now."

They didn’t argue. Each of them took the crystals.

The moment the energy entered their bodies, their expressions changed. Their muscles tightened. Their breathing became uneven. The power moved through their veins like fire.

They couldn’t scream. Not here. Not now. One sound could attract the attention of the monsters outside.

Rowan’s transformation started first. His hands suddenly bulged. His veins became prominent. His eyes widened so much that it looked like they might burst from their sockets. His throat became hotter and hotter.

He clenched his teeth. Then—he collapsed.

His body rolled across the floor as he desperately tried to control the energy surging through him.

Luna stared at him. She had seen powerful awakenings before, but this was still frightening.

Rowan’s body shook violently. His breathing became ragged. He covered his mouth to stop himself from making a sound.

Luna remained beside him, her expression stoic. Inside, however, she was terrified. She had seen people die from power overload before. She wasn’t about to watch one of her men die because of a crystal she had given him.

She quickly equipped herself with several weapons. Her uniform still contained amplified weapons and biological weapons. Even though her system was gone, her bag space and equipment were still available. That meant she wasn’t completely helpless. If things went bad, she could still fight. She just hoped she wouldn’t have to. Because outside that vehicle were things she didn’t want to fight.

Luna thought Rowan’s transformation was already bad. Then she looked at Kai.

Her jaw dropped.

Kai was rolling across the floor. His body was shaking violently. His hands clawed at the floor as though he wanted to rip his own skin apart.

Adrian wasn’t doing much better. He was dragging himself across the floor, his face twisted in pain.

Their screams were muffled because they were desperately covering their mouths. Foam gathered at the corners of their lips.

Luna’s heart jumped. "Oh God..." She wanted to help. But she knew interfering could make things worse. The crystals were accelerating their powers. Their bodies were being forced to adapt. It was painful. Terrifyingly painful. But eventually... the movement stopped.

Kai lay flat on his back. Adrian was sprawled beside him. Rowan remained on the floor, breathing heavily.

For several seconds, none of them moved.

Then Rowan slowly pushed himself up. Kai followed. Adrian dragged himself toward his seat.

They looked absolutely exhausted. Their hair was disheveled. Their clothes were messy. Their faces were pale.

Luna released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. For a moment, she had genuinely thought they were going to die.

Maybe she had been paranoid. Or maybe she simply cared too much now. Either way, they were alive. That was enough.

Everyone returned to their seats. Nobody spoke. They simply watched.

Outside, the gigantic creatures continued moving. The flying abominations circled around the mountain. The gigantic snake began slithering down toward the water. And beneath them, the enormous sea creature continued watching.

The tension was unbearable.

Minutes passed. Then more.

Everyone held their breath. Some of them were silently praying to whatever gods might exist. They only wanted the creatures to leave. They didn’t need another fight. Not after everything they had already survived.

The gigantic snake slowly moved away from the mountain. The massive creature beneath the sea followed it with its enormous eyes. The flying abominations also began spreading away from the mountain.

For a brief moment, Luna thought they might actually escape unnoticed.

Then the snake suddenly changed direction. It began moving directly toward them.

Luna’s eyes widened. "Shit."

The snake continued forward. Its enormous body dragged through the water. Closer. Closer. Closer.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Luna gripped the controls. "It’s coming toward us!"

Adrian immediately sat upright. His exhaustion vanished. "I’ll try teleporting us to the base." He stretched out his hands. "I can still remember the island." His eyes narrowed as he concentrated. "I can picture it." His power began gathering. "I can do it."

But before he could activate the portal—BOOM!

The gigantic snake slammed into the vehicle. The impact was so powerful that the entire amphibious vehicle was thrown through the air.

Luna screamed as the vehicle spun. Everyone was thrown against their seats. Metal groaned. Glass cracked. The invisible camouflage flickered.

Then—CRASH!

The vehicle slammed directly into the mountain. The impact was devastating. The vehicle bounced against the rocky surface before dropping toward the water.

Its invisibility failed completely. The vehicle became visible.

And every creature in the area turned toward them.

The flying abominations stopped in midair. The gigantic snake lifted its head. The enormous creature beneath the sea slowly turned.

For one terrifying second, everything became completely silent.

Then dozens of monstrous eyes locked onto the vehicle.

Luna stared through the windshield. Her blood turned cold.