Chapter 33 Trapped in the middle.

Chapter 33: Chapter 33 Trapped in the middle.

At the Dead Lands, on soiled ground and a blood-soaked floor, the portal opened. All four of them stepped out immediately, their boots sinking into what had once been occupied land that had now become nothing more than a death trap.

Corpses of different sizes littered the area. Their rotten flesh had split open into gaping pores where thick maggots endlessly poured out. The creatures feeding on the bodies didn’t seem to be reducing in number. Instead, they were growing bigger, fatter, and more grotesque with every passing second.

"Don’t tell me those things are going to become a problem later?" Kai asked, eyeing the oversized maggots that had already tripled in size on every corpse.

Luna merely shrugged.

"I don’t know. I’m not their creator. We have someone to rescue, then we’re leaving this place."

She continued walking while the transparent system panel floated before her eyes, scanning the surroundings and displaying an automatic GPS leading to their target.

Rowan used the opportunity to survey the area and couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his spine.

He remembered this place.

Once upon a time it had been filled with survivors. They had smiled despite the fear hidden in their eyes because they believed they would eventually return home and reunite with their families.

Now...

Nothing remained except death.

Those who had entered this place with their wives, husbands, children, or parents...

He couldn’t even imagine what they had gone through before meeting such a miserable end. If any of them had somehow survived until now, the probability was almost zero.

Crack!

The sound echoed across the wasteland.

It came from the enormous shield covering the sky, protecting the safe zone from the merciless sunlight above. More cracks continued spreading across its surface like broken glass.

Beyond the barrier Rowan could already see sections where it had completely collapsed.

The earth there had melted into blackened pits. Buildings had become shapeless masses. Even the stones looked half-liquefied under the crimson sunlight.

He swallowed hard.

If the sunlight outside could reduce the world to this...

What would happen once the shield above them finally shattered?

Rowan had never considered himself someone who feared easily.

He wasn’t.

But after everything he had witnessed today...

Fear was probably the most reasonable emotion anyone could have.

What worried him even more was that he still had no idea what Luna was planning.

The inside of the safe zone was already beginning to collapse.

If it was this dangerous here...

Wouldn’t the outside world be even worse?

"We’re getting close," Luna suddenly said. "Stay together and don’t wander off... unless you want to die."

Her voice carried such chilling certainty that none of them found the courage to respond.

They continued moving through rows of decomposing corpses.

Adrian suddenly froze.

His eyes narrowed toward a broken pillar leaning awkwardly against a ruined wall.

Something...

Something had just moved.

He blinked.

Perhaps it was only his imagination.

But the strange feeling refused to disappear.

"Guys..." he called quietly.

"I think we have company."

The group halted instantly.

Luna had already received the system alert moments before Adrian spoke. She had only been studying the warning to determine exactly what was hiding nearby.

To her surprise...

It wasn’t a zombie.

Not a single zombie had appeared since they entered this section of the Dead Lands.

Almost as if...

They were afraid of whatever lived here.

"Everyone stay alert," Luna ordered.

"Prepare your abilities."

The three men immediately took their positions around her without hesitation.

Almost instinctively they formed a protective circle.

Although they hadn’t known Luna for long, they all understood one thing.

She was currently their greatest chance of surviving this apocalypse.

If someone had to be protected...

It would be her.

Each of them entered a battle stance, their eyes scanning every direction while waiting for the hidden creature to reveal itself.

Luna remained perfectly still.

Charging in blindly wasn’t smart.

If the creature was setting a trap, one careless movement might trigger its attack.

Kai stood closest to her.

So close that his shoulder nearly brushed against her chest.

She became painfully aware of the warmth of his breath against her skin.

For the briefest moment her thoughts drifted.

Only for a second.

She quickly forced herself to focus.

The system finally identified the creature.

It was...

A maggot.

One of the parasites feeding on the zombie corpses had somehow absorbed the virus and evolved into an entirely different lifeform.

Its bloated body continued expanding behind the broken pillar.

Every second it became larger.

Thicker.

More horrifying.

By now it had already grown larger than an adult human.

"Kill it before it completes its evolution!" Luna shouted.

Kai didn’t need to be told twice.

He launched himself into the air.

Ice exploded beneath his feet as dozens of razor-sharp spikes formed around him. More spikes shot out from both of his hands before flying toward the creature like frozen spears.

Boom!

The pillar exploded into fragments.

An abominable screech erupted from behind it.

The sound alone shook the ground beneath their feet.

"Damn..." Adrian cursed.

"I think we just made it angrier."

Luna’s attention never left the cloud of dust.

Something wasn’t right.

She could feel it.

Then...

Her eyes widened.

The giant maggot...

The one Kai had sliced into several pieces...

Each piece was moving.

Before their horrified eyes, every severed section began swelling before transforming into an entirely new maggot.

One...

Became two.

Two...

Became six.

Then twelve.

Within seconds dozens of giant maggots were crawling toward them at terrifying speed.

"The hell..."

Adrian stared in complete disbelief.

"Jesus Christ... what did I just witness?"

One of the creatures suddenly lunged toward Luna.

Its enormous jaws snapped inches away from her neck.

She ducked just in time.

Kai instantly froze it solid with another blast of ice.

The frozen body shattered.

Only...

Instead of dying...

It split apart once again.

Creating even more of them.

"They’re multiplying!" Kai shouted.

"They’re not dying!" Adrian added.

The creatures surrounded them from every direction.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

Rowan narrowed his eyes.

"Maybe..."

"I can control them."

Luna ignored the approaching monsters for a split second as she opened her system panel.

"System... can you teleport us directly to the target?"

She still hated calling it "System."

She had wanted to give it a proper name countless times.

She simply kept forgetting.

The familiar mechanical voice answered immediately.

[I cannot teleport living beings.]

[However, I can provide an astral coordinate for your companion. As a Dimension User, he can open a portal directly to the target’s location.]

Of course.

The system could only teleport supplies into her supermarket storage.

Living humans were completely different.

That was precisely why she had recruited Adrian in the first place.

"Let me try something," Rowan said as he stepped forward.

"I might be able to control them."

His eyes slowly closed.

The surrounding maggots continued inching closer, trapping them from every direction.

"Or..." Kai muttered while preparing another attack.

"We could just run."

"Right now."

Luna immediately shook her head.

"If we run, we’ll only waste stamina."

"We still have too many things to accomplish today."

"We’re trying Rowan’s idea."

She turned toward Adrian.

"You prepare the portal."

"When Rowan distracts them..."

"We all jump."

The three men exchanged uncertain looks.

The plan sounded reckless.

Dangerously so.

But at the moment...

It was also the best option they had.

Rowan slowly extended his hand.

"Tell me something first."

He didn’t open his eyes.

"Is this person we’re risking our lives for really worth it?"

Luna answered without hesitation.

"If I hadn’t rescued you, you’d already be dead."

"And yes."

"He’s worth it."

"He’s an SSS-Class healer."

"And our team desperately needs one."

The moment her sentence ended...

A heavy gray mist spread across the battlefield.

The fog rolled across the ground before swallowing the approaching maggots whole.

To everyone’s surprise...

Every single one of them stopped moving.

Luna blinked.

She had almost forgotten.

Rowan wasn’t just a summoner.

He was a Beast Tamer.

His abilities affected creatures far beyond ordinary beasts.

Thank goodness she remembered before it was too late.

"This is our chance!" she shouted.

Adrian immediately tore open space itself.

A swirling dimensional portal expanded before them until it became large enough for everyone to enter.

Kai wasted no time.

He jumped through first.

Rowan followed immediately after him.

Adrian stepped in next while maintaining the portal from the opposite side.

Luna was just about to leap through—

Something wrapped around Adrian’s ankle.

A giant maggot.

Its bloated body had emerged silently through the mist before dragging him backward with terrifying force.

"Adrian!"

Luna lunged toward him.

But it was already too late.

The dimensional portal flickered violently.

Its unstable surface trembled before collapsing into countless fragments of light.

Silence followed.

Then...

The surrounding mist slowly began to clear.

Luna and Adrian stood back-to-back.

Every escape route had disappeared.

Around them, dozens upon dozens of giant maggots raised their massive bodies before letting out chilling screeches that echoed throughout the Dead Lands.

They had tried to escaped the horde...

Only for them to land in the middle.