Chapter 209: Dead zone

Randall cut down the last horned rabbit.

All around him were rabbit carcasses and blood.

The sky was beginning to brighten, showing that dawn was approaching. They had been fighting for hours without rest.

Though Randall’s hands ached, his eyes were brimming with vigor. He relished this kind of exercise.

He felt his idea to search for minerals had been correct. Here, he could let loose instead of being stuck with those old coots, who knew nothing better than to brag about their grandchildren.

The others watched him as if he were a monster. They were too exhausted to even lift their weapons and could only hide in the trees, watching as the old man wiped out an entire nest of rabbits.

If they had been normal rabbits, they could have consoled themselves. But these rabbits were far from normal. They seemed to love flesh more than grass.

"Haaa..."

Randall let out a deep sigh and rolled his aching shoulders. His body was covered in dried bloodstains.

He frowned and walked to a hidden corner to change into clean clothes. Taking out the containers of water he had saved in his ring, he wiped himself down before returning.

The moment he came back, he once again looked like the neat, quiet old man he had been earlier.

"Pick up the good flesh for breakfast. We need to leave before another beast is attracted by the smell," Randall instructed as he leaned against a tree to rest while waiting for them.

Though exhausted, no one protested against his orders. They obediently sorted through the rabbit carcasses on the ground without a hint of dissatisfaction on their faces.

Ten minutes passed before they left the area.

They walked for another half an hour before stopping beside a small stream to rest.

"Stop here and rest."

Randall gave the command, and a wave of relief spread through the crowd.

Thud!

Someone collapsed onto the leaf-covered ground, completely exhausted.

It had taken sheer willpower to walk this far after that brutal fight. He couldn’t help but glance toward Randall’s direction.

The old man was still filled with so much energy that the man couldn’t help but cover his face in shame.

My stamina isn’t even as good as an elderly man’s.

Several people shared the same thought, but they were too exhausted to think much about it.

Those who still had enough strength went to the stream to collect water and began preparing breakfast.

Time passed without any further trouble, which was fortunate considering they were deep inside such a dangerous forest.

After eating his fill of roasted meat, Randall caught up on his sleep.

...

Meanwhile, Selina and her group were in a difficult situation.

They weren’t being hunted by beasts. Instead, the vast body of water blocking their path had stopped them from going any farther.

"We have to go back. This ocean is too vast to cross," one of them suggested.

He felt there was no point staying there. More importantly, he had a strong hunch that they would die if they tried to challenge the water.

His hunch had always saved him in this forest, and he trusted it more than anything.

He was right to be afraid.

Even Caiden felt an overwhelming sense of danger coming from the vast gray-blue waters. He instinctively stepped away from the shore.

Unknown to them, they had reached the very edge of the southern territory.

The vast body of water was the border—a dead zone to most beasts, except for a few airborne creatures.

The other leader of the group turned to Caiden, silently asking for his opinion.

"We should go back. There’s no way to cross this vast ocean, and it’s not safe to linger here."

His instincts were suddenly screaming at him to leave the area immediately.

He turned toward the three people and Selina and gave a sharp command.

"Let’s go."

They sensed the urgency in his voice and quickly followed without asking questions.

The leader noticed this and quickly jogged after them. Some of the smarter people immediately followed his example.

However, the others were frustrated about having to turn back. They lingered a little longer, hoping to come up with a way to cross to the other side.

They failed to notice that the sounds around them had suddenly ceased.

The water farther from the shore rippled slightly.

Then—

One person among the group felt every hair on her body stand on end.

Her very being screamed at her to run.

She reacted quickly and sprinted toward the forest with all her might.

Then she heard a loud, shrill scream coming from behind her.

The once-quiet shore was suddenly filled with pained screams and gore.

Limbs flew through the air.

Blood gushed onto the ground.

"Help!"

Screams for help rang out for a few breaths before abruptly stopping.

The woman running toward the forest felt her heart turn cold. Tears of fear stung her eyes.

Something warned her to keep running.

’Don’t look back.’

She knew that if she did, her fate would be even worse than the others’.

Behind her, the remaining people stared in horror at the giant monster that had suddenly emerged from the water.

Cold sweat broke out across their backs, sending a chill through them to their very bones.

Its enormous tentacles spread across the water, swirling through the air. Some of them held the severed limbs of the fallen people before throwing them into its gaping maw.

The octopus suddenly let out a sharp, piercing scream.

The sound waves caused the water around it to ripple and churn violently.

The others grimaced in pain, feeling as though their eardrums were about to explode.

The woman running toward the forest suddenly collapsed to the ground. She covered her ears as streams of blood seeped from them.

She was completely disoriented by the sound and could no longer run.

The monster stared at her from the shore.

Yet it didn’t attack.

It only glanced at her for a moment before slowly lowering its massive body into the water.

The water rippled.

Then it returned to its calm stillness, leaving only a few waves stirred by the wind.

The gigantic monster had disappeared as though it had merely been a figment of their imagination.

If not for the bloodstains, scattered limbs, and intestines glaringly spread across the ground, they might have thought they had all suffered from a mass hallucination.

"I was almost torn to shreds by that monster," one of them muttered in a shaky voice.

His body trembled violently, terror consuming his entire being.

There was no winning against that monster.

No escaping.

Not even a chance to fight back.

It had been a complete massacre.

The vast ocean must be crawling with monsters like that.

And earlier, they had naively considered crossing to the other side.

Some people turned toward the calm Caiden with gazes filled with gratitude.

If it hadn’t been for his warning, they would have all died.

Caiden wasn’t too shaken by the sight of the monster.

He had seen something ten times worse than it.

The other two people with him paled as they were immediately reminded of the monster they had encountered in that valley.

Compared to that creature, this octopus looked like a child.

Meanwhile, the woman who had escaped death wailed as her body shook with lingering fear. Blood continued to seep from her ears and stain the ground.

She wept at the thought of how close she had come to losing her life.

The cold gaze of that monster remained etched in her mind.

She quickly shot to her feet and dashed toward the forest.

Unknown to her, the monster had simply felt that humans were too small to satisfy its hunger.

That was why it had let her live.

Selina had completely forgotten about her scheme.

After witnessing such horrors, only one thought filled her mind.

She needed to become stronger.

Her healing powers were useless if she had no way to defend herself against real danger.

She leaned against a tree, hugging herself as she stared at the vast ocean behind her.

Her body trembled slightly.

For the first time, she realized that surviving in this world required more than simply relying on men or scheming.

’Power...’

’Overwhelming strength defeats petty schemes.’

The realization dawned on her, and a sense of urgency gripped her entire being.

She needed to become stronger.

And quickly.

Before she became food for these monsters.