Chapter 214: Crevice

Chapter 214: Chapter 214: Crevice

Immediately, their enormous bodies, like wind-dried sand sculptures, began to rapidly crumble from the edges, turning to ash and silently dissipating into the thick fog.

The monsters behind them kept charging forward, one falling only for the next to take its place.

Roughly ten minutes later, the last monster charged into the outpost and dissipated into ash. The area outside the outpost fell empty. All that remained was the seemingly eternal, inky fog and the door, still standing in the distance.

A panel appeared, announcing the end of the wave.

Silence.

There was only silence in the outpost.

A deathly silence descended upon them.

Victor Warner and Selene Lawson held their breath, staring in disbelief at the empty expanse before them. A mixture of relief at their survival and unease over having used a Clear Kill intertwined, creating a complex, unreadable expression on their faces.

Seraphina Sinclair shook her head, pushing her complicated feelings aside. She tightened her grip on her longsword and said, "Let’s go. You don’t want to die, do you?"

Selene Lawson froze, her expression turning ugly. She kicked Victor Warner and urged, "Go smash the door! Now!"

"What’s wrong?" Victor Warner was completely clueless. He’d already picked up his hammer as ordered, but he still asked, "What’s happening?"

Selene Lawson glanced at Seraphina Sinclair. Seeing no objection from her, she finally explained, "We had to use a Clear Kill for this wave, which means we’ll definitely need one for the next. But we only have two Clear Kills we can use in total. If we don’t hurry, we’re going to die..."

It finally clicked for Victor Warner. He glanced at Seraphina Sinclair, tightened his grip on the sledgehammer, and forced a smile. He patted Selene Lawson on the back. "It’ll be fine. With two breaks, we can definitely smash this door to pieces."

Yes. Two breaks.

Seraphina Sinclair stood behind them.

’Ideally, they would break down the door this time.’

’But life is unpredictable, and things rarely go as planned.’

’She had seen the cracks on the door; they most likely wouldn’t be able to break it open during this break.’

’But no matter what, she wouldn’t use her own Sunflower to trigger a Clear Kill.’

’Whether the Sunflower would leave some psychological scar was a minor issue. The most important thing was that once her Sunflower was used for a Clear Kill, she would be putting herself in an extremely dangerous position.’

’Seraphina Sinclair could not, and would not, place her life in someone else’s hands.’

When Victor Warner and Selene Lawson approached the door again, their mindset was completely different from before.

It was no longer just fear and compulsion; now, there was the urgency of having their backs against the wall.

The sounds of the hammer striking the door grew more frequent, and heavier.

"CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!"

Each strike was like a blow to their own hearts.

The cracks on the door slowly widened, yet they also seemed to be slowly repairing themselves. The inky fog coiled around the fissures like a living thing, trying to mend the damage.

Seraphina Sinclair remained on guard behind them, longsword in hand, warily watching for any tentacles that might emerge from within the door again, and for any movement in the surrounding fog.

This time, it was unusually quiet inside the door. No new tentacles reached out, as if the previous attack had merely been a probe.

But this silence was, if anything, even more unsettling.

Time passed in a haze of monotonous hammering and tense vigilance.

Finally, the countdown to the sixth wave reached its end.

The dense fog began to churn violently again, even more furiously than before. A low whimper, like the voices of countless people mixed together, drifted from the fog, carrying with it a hair-raising terror.

"Get back!" Seraphina Sinclair snapped.

This time, she didn’t need to say another word. Victor Warner and Selene Lawson immediately dragged their exhausted bodies and heavy hammers back to the outpost without a second glance.

They could even feel a viscous, malicious gaze fixed on their backs.

New monsters emerged from the thick fog.

They were no longer uniform in shape. Some were like giant masses of flesh stitched together from countless severed limbs, squirming slowly.

Others were like flickering shadows, appearing and disappearing within the mist.

Seraphina Sinclair stood at the entrance of the outpost and activated her Insight Skill again.

[Twisted Aggregation (E+ Level)]

[Screaming Shadow (E+ Level)]

...

All of them were E+!

The Level had risen again! And their forms were even more bizarre, clearly possessing different methods of attack.

Victor Warner and Selene Lawson’s faces couldn’t have been paler.

They needed a Clear Kill just to handle E-level monsters. Against E+ Level ones... they couldn’t even entertain the thought of fighting them head-on.

"Let’s... let’s vote."

Victor Warner’s voice trembled. This time, he took the initiative to look at Selene Lawson, his eyes filled with naked pleading.

He had already used his Sunflower. This time, it was Selene Lawson’s turn.

Selene Lawson’s lips were pressed into a thin line. She watched the mountainous Twisted Aggregation on the panel as it was about to breach the outpost’s defensive perimeter. She glanced at the expressionless Seraphina Sinclair, and finally, almost gritting her teeth, she raised her hand and tapped ’confirm’ on the voting panel.

[Clear Kill initiated using the Sunflower from survivor Selene Lawson! Number of times this Sunflower has been used: 1!]

An invisible wave spread out once more.

Like a pencil drawing wiped away by an eraser, the moment they touched the Clear Kill wave, the variously shaped E+ Level monsters began to silently dissipate, taking the Spiritual Pollution and terrifying pressure they brought with them.

Outside the outpost, a deathly silence returned.

Only the door remained, standing alone in the dense fog. The cracks on its surface, no longer being constantly repaired by the mist, seemed a little more distinct.

"Only... one last one left," Selene Lawson said, collapsing to the ground, her voice hoarse.

With both Clear Kill opportunities used up, it meant that for the next wave, no matter what appeared, they would have to face it head-on. Or... they had to smash that door to pieces before the monsters broke in!

Victor Warner shot to his feet, his eyes bloodshot and red. "Smash it! Now! We have to break it open before the next wave comes!"

Like a madman, he snatched up his sledgehammer and charged toward the door again.

Selene Lawson struggled to her feet and followed him.

This time, they didn’t even have time for fear.

Seraphina Sinclair watched their nearly frenzied figures, her gaze hardening. She tightened her grip on her longsword, ready to handle any potential dangers that might arise.

"CLANG!!!"

Victor Warner put all his strength into the blow. The sledgehammer struck the most densely cracked part of the door, letting out a deafening crash.

"CRACK..."

A faint but clear cracking sound echoed.

On the door, a major crack suddenly widened, spreading across its surface!

It worked!

Hope seemed to be within reach. Their spirits soared, and they began swinging their hammers with even more desperate fervor.

Another hammer blow fell...

"Hhh..."

A low sigh suddenly echoed from within the door!

Victor Warner’s and Selene Lawson’s movements froze instantly. A chill shot up from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads!

Immediately after, the door that had only been passively taking the abuse suddenly swung inward, opening a crack!