Chapter 723: A Unique Food Chain

After hearing Henwell's analysis, Philir looks baffled. "How is that good news?"

"The... bat owls have discovered that we taste better, and now they want to eat us."

"That means two unknown species are trying to eat us. How is that good news?"

Henwell points at the bat owl's corpse. "This is the stone bugs' natural predator. They fear it."

"That fear is instinctive within the food chain. They won't dare approach even a dead bat owl!"

Abbas catches on. "You intend to use the bat owl to ward off... attacks from these stone bugs?"

Danny blurts out, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get out of this cursed place!"

Philir objects, "Bat owls are everywhere outside, but their bodies are too large to fly in here."

"Now we have a corpse that can frighten away the stone bugs and keep us safe."

"We should wait until the bat owls have eaten their fill and left, then return to camp."

Henwell shakes his head. "We can't wait. Bat owls aren't at the top of the food chain down here."

"We do need to leave. If we wait any longer, more unknown creatures will attack us."

The group cautiously leaves the building.

Abbas supports the wounded Jonah, Philir and Miller take the lead, and Danny guards the rear.

Henwell drags the bat owl's corpse through the middle of the formation. The moment they step outside, strange, clicking shrieks echo around them.

The species fascinates Henwell, and he would love to capture one alive for study, but this is neither the time nor the place.

Ever since entering Fendicasa, Henwell has sensed a threat lingering somewhere nearby.

The sensation comes from no particular creature. The entire area keeps him on edge.

Until he understands the situation, he intends to keep using the others as expendable scouts.

After they walk only a short distance, rustling sounds fill the surrounding darkness.

They can all imagine countless stone bugs beyond the lamplight, drawn by the scent of their flesh.

Yet just as Henwell predicted, the stone bugs do not dare approach while the group carries a bat owl's corpse.

As the group advances, the sounds of the insects around them grow steadily louder.

The promise of food and the scent of a predator pull the bugs in opposite directions, making them increasingly agitated.

Once that agitation reaches a certain point, they may overcome their fear of the corpse and swarm Henwell's group.

At that moment, the bat owls' cries in the darkness above become more frequent.

At last, a black shadow dives out of the darkness.

Miller steps back and sweeps his sword upward, severing the bat owl's head. He pivots into a diagonal cut and slices the one attacking from behind in half.

Philir kills one as well, but Danny is too nervous to finish his targets.

Even so, he badly wounds the two creatures attacking from the rear and sends them crashing to the ground, temporarily removing the threat.

They are Battle Knights, after all.

Bat owls are not even extraordinary creatures. Once the men overcome their fear and steady themselves, their strength is overwhelming.

The cramped surroundings and poor visibility are their only real disadvantages.

Otherwise, until their fighting spirit and stamina run out, they could kill every bat owl that comes at them.

More bat owls attack as the group advances, only to be cut down one after another. Even Danny finally claims a kill.

The growing number of dead bat owls makes the surrounding bugs even more fearful.

The bat owls also realize that these humans are dangerous, so they turn away and begin hunting the bugs gathering around the group.

While the bat owls feast, Henwell suddenly looks upward.

Several enormous shapes plunge from above. The car-sized creatures seize the feeding bat owls and tear them apart in an instant.

They resemble twelve-legged giant spiders, though calling them spiders is not quite accurate.

Their bodies resemble bulls and are covered in bony carapaces, while each massive bull-like head bears a horrifying mouth.

Rows of sharp teeth fill those mouths, ripping through bat owls with ease.

Twelve thick, jointed limbs support each body, enabling them to move rapidly in any direction and launch unexpected, lethal attacks.

Two pairs of hooked, scythe-like limbs grow from both the front and rear of their bodies, allowing them to carve up their prey.

Hideous things.

Henwell decides to call them spider bulls.

These creatures are clearly another natural predator of the bat owls.

Just as Henwell deduced, once a bat owl lands, its wings cannot lift it back into the air. On the ground, it is little more than an oversized bird.

Without flight, the bat owls stand no chance against spider bulls that can dart in any direction.

The spider bulls soon notice Henwell's group, and two begin approaching cautiously.

Henwell shouts, "Miller! Kill two of them and make it clear that we aren't prey!"

Miller charges the nearest spider bull and closes the distance in an instant.

He unleashes Gale Slash. Red flames blaze along his sword as the strike cleaves the spider bull in half.

Miller immediately turns on the next creature and rushes in close.

His Whirlwind Slash severs every one of the spider bull's legs and cuts its captured bat owl into several pieces as well.

The crippled spider bull crashes into a heap of bones. Miller gives ground and ducks beneath the crossing sweep of its scythe-like forelimbs.

He reverses his grip and sweeps his sword upward, disemboweling the spider bull before splitting its bull-like head in two.

Once the creature is dead, Miller quickly returns to the group.

The spider bulls seem to realize that Henwell's group is far more dangerous than the bat owls.

They stop shrieking at the group and slowly withdraw.

Hollow openings at the tips of their scythe-like forelimbs spray silk, swiftly wrapping the captured bat owls in cocoons.

The spider bulls then spring upward and vanish into the darkness overhead.

Henwell notices that each creature descended on a strand of silk extending into the darkness above.

For now, the three species fall into a food chain and leave the unfamiliar humans alone.

Henwell's group soon reaches the city gate, only to find the expedition members stationed there gone.

All that remains is a broad smear of blood across the stones and bones.

Before they can retreat into the gate passage, towering heaps of bones explode apart in the distance.

A massive white creature flashes toward the spider bulls.

Miller and the others hear the commotion but cannot see what is happening.

To Henwell's eyes, the new creatures resemble lizards clad in bone armor.

These bone-armored lizards are enormous, twice the size of a spider bull and roughly as large as a box truck.

Jagged bone spikes of varying lengths cover their bodies, while three bony tails coil around the spider bulls.

Two enormous claws tear the bodies of the spider bulls apart.

Their crocodile-like jaws then begin greedily devouring the flesh.

Henwell takes one last look at the chaos within the city before Miller urges him back into the gate passage.