The air felt heavy and full of danger, and the quiet animals in the forest made it even scarier.
Elena gripped the hilt of her sword tightly, looking left and right. "We need to retreat immediately!"
Everyone felt and thought the same.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Marcus said, tightening his grip on his hammer.
"What is that there?" Samara added as she saw something jumping on the trees.
Suddenly, Elena shouted, "Watch out!"
A creature appeared in front of Samara out of nowhere, and she barely dodged it. "What the fuck?"
Samara stepped back several paces to ready her bow, while Elena rushed toward the creature.
"Swish… Swish… Swish…" Elena swung her sword at the creature several times, but it easily deflected all her strikes with its hands.
The creature stood at least two meters tall, unnaturally thin and gaunt. Its face was extremely horrific everything about it felt unreal.
The creature's eyes were located at the bottom of its head, while its wide mouth was at the top, bearing a truly ominous smile.
Its hands were long, nearly a meter each, ending in three long claws. Even its legs were strange this ugly creature had three of them!
Marcus looked at the creature and gripped his hammer tightly. "I'll push it back attack together after me."
"Alright, stay focused," Elena told Marcus.
Marcus charged toward the creature and swung his hammer with great force at its head, but the creature stopped the hammer easily with its hand.
"Tch, he's strong," Marcus muttered, pulling back his hammer and stepping away.
The creature stood still, then suddenly its eyeballs shifted to look at Elena.
An arrow suddenly pierced its right shoulder forcefully. "Hahah, take that, you ugly thing!" Samara cackled, her aim true.
The creature didn't flinch and easily pulled the arrow out of its shoulder as it still stared at Elena.
Then, everyone's expressions turned to shock… his wound began to heal so fast.
"What the—! He can heal himself!" Samara exclaimed in disbelief.
At that moment, Sulvan and Jett moved swiftly.
Sulvan stabbed the creature multiple times with his sword. "Swish… Swish… Swish…"
"Fuck, that won't work!" Sulvan shouted.
"Get away from it!" Jett shouted, throwing a fireball at the creature's face.
But the creature remained unaffected, standing still.
"Why won't this thing go down?" Marcus roared, frustrated.
Suddenly, the corrupted leader lunged at Jett with terrifying speed, aiming a clawed hand at Jett's head.
Elena was there in an instant, blocking the strike with the edge of her sword. "Be careful!"
She stepped back slightly, preparing to attack the creature again.
The creature rushed at Elena with insane speed, striking her sword with brutal force.
"Ching!… Ching!… Ching!…" Elena struggled to block the sharp claws of the creature.
Until her hand faltered, and the creature aimed its claws at her head. "Agh!"
But Sulvan crouched low, swung his sword precisely, and severed the creature's arm in one smooth motion.
"I did it! I cut off its hand!" Sulvan rejoiced.
But his joy was short-lived…
As he moved for another strike, the creature's severed arm regenerated at a crazy speed, thrusting into Sulvan's chest and shattering his insides.
Sulvan gasped, spitting blood and screaming in pain, "Aaaaargh!"
"No! No, no, Sulllivaaaan!" Jett and Pedro shouted together, rushing to help him.
But the monster moved with terrifying speed, severing their heads from their bodies in the blink of an eye.
"You son of a bitch!" Marcus threw himself at the monster, his eyes blazing with anger.
He swung his hammer with force toward the creature, but Marcus failed once more…
The creature effortlessly grabbed the hammer while looking at him with his wicked smile.
"No, no, stop!" Marcus cried out in despair.
The creature's claws moved swiftly, tearing open Marcus's abdomen and spilling his guts.
Marcus fell to the ground, crawling in pain and dying slowly.
Samara screamed with all her might, hurling her spears wildly. "I will kill you, I will kill you, I will kill you!"
The creature charged at Samara with speed, but Elena got in its way.
But it was too late… Samara's head was already flying through the air beside her.
"Ching!… Ching!… Ching!…" Elena struggled to fend off the creature's sharp claws.
Every second felt like an eternity for Elena as she fought the creature alone.
Elena's movements became slower as the battle continued.
The creature tore through Elena's armor and inflicted fatal wounds. "Ugh, you fucking monster!" Elena spat blood from her mouth.
Shouting in pain, Elena tried to avoid the creature's swift claws.
But this time, she couldn't evade them quickly enough… At that moment, the creature severed Elena's hand that was holding the sword.
Elena screamed, "Ugh, ahh!" clutching her severed hand in agony.
Elena realized her end was near, so she grabbed her severed hand, then used her last bit of strength to run away and escape!
The creature pursued her relentlessly, sometimes faster than her, but somehow she managed to escape after it suddenly moved its head to the left and kept staring at the west…
-----------------------------
Later, Elena woke up in the medical complex in Anvil.
Although she had been brutally injured and had lost her hand, she now looked completely fine, as if the wounds had never existed.
Thanks to the abilities of Awakened individuals specializing in medical and healing skills, reattaching severed limbs has become much easier however, successful treatment required the severed limb to be present.
She recounted the terrifying encounter from her bed in the military complex's medical room to those around her.
Commander Morgan was sitting in a chair with a dark and pale expression.
Next to him was Saint Park from the Golden Saint faction, listening patiently with his back resting against the wall.
Meanwhile, Saint Lamar was playing with her hair, her eyes fixed on the ceiling, seemingly not interested in what Elena had told them.
Morgan's voice cut through the tense air. "Why the fuck is there a corrupt leader in the Northern Coastal Plains?"
Park adjusted his stance and looked at Lamar. "That's odd. It's rare that such corruption escapes our notice."
"I think it's time for revenge for our fallen fighters. Don't you agree, Lamar?"
Lamar sighed indifferently. "Let's get this over quickly. I have more important things to do."
Elena looked at her, annoyed. "Five members of your faction have just been killed, and you say there's something more important than that?"
With a cold, sarcastic smile, Lamar approached Elena.
She placed her hand under Elena's chin to lift her head slightly. "I don't care who was killed. It's not my duty to share your anger."
Elena bit her lip angrily. "You truly are a scummy whore."
Lamar withdrew her hand, laughing. "Anyway, let's go, Park. I really have important things to do."
Park sighed heavily and looked at Morgan. "It seems I'll have to rely on you again, Morgan."
Morgan replied, "What do you want?"
Park scratched his head. "As you know, make sure that news of this corrupt leader doesn't spread around."
Morgan nodded. "Ah, you're right. I'll make sure of it."
Elena shouted at everyone, "What's wrong with you all? Don't you have any feelings for those who were killed?"
Lamar glanced back as she was leaving, her eyes devoid of empathy. "There's no room for feelings when fighting chaos, girl. Remember that well."
When Lamar and Park left, Morgan placed his hand on Elena's shoulder. "We will avenge them, Elena. I promise you that."
Elena nodded, wiping tears from her cheek. "Thank you, Morgan."
Morgan nodded in return and added, "There's something you need to know."
She asked, "What is it?"
He replied, "We identified the corrupt leader's direction while you were unconscious."
Elena clenched her fist on her bed. "Where?"
Morgan sighed. "He moved toward the Deepwood Forest, where that old man used to live."
He sighed deeply before continuing, "I really hate that old man."
Elena looked at him in astonishment and asked, "Who do you mean?"
Morgan sighed again. "Adrian."
Her eyes widened. "Do you mean the former Saint Adrian?"
"Yes," Morgan confirmed.
"Park and Lamar will head there to deal with the corrupt leader."
Elena's expression darkened as she glanced at her own body. "Do you think they can handle it?"
Morgan laughed and replied, "Of course. They are Saints, don't you know that?"
"They are both incredibly powerful. Especially Lamar she's a demon, to say the least."
Elena nodded. "Well, that's good…"
-----------------------------
"Haah… haah… haah…" Jin gasped for breath, terrified.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he saw Adrian's severed leg in front of him.
Tears began streaming from his eyes as he looked at his grandfather, leaning on his sword as a crutch after losing his leg.
He was fighting in a desperate battle with a horrifying monster unlike anything Jin had ever seen.
"Ru— Run, Jin! Just don't stop! Just go!" Adrian yelled, his voice mixed with pain and panic.
Blood spurted from Adrian's leg stump nonstop as he barely propped himself up on the sword.
Suddenly, the creature lunged toward Adrian with crazy speed, its claws aimed at his head.
Adrian adjusted his sword and braced himself on his remaining leg to fend off the creature's claws.
"…Ting…! Ting…! Ting!" Adrian skillfully deflected all of the creature's attacks despite standing on one leg!
In a moment, Adrian lunged to swing his sword horizontally, severing the creature's arm before stepping back, balancing on his remaining leg.
But the creature's hand was already regenerating.
"You fucking stubborn ugly monster!" Adrian cursed the creature as blood spilled from his mouth.
Jin watched in stunned silence, his mind struggling to keep up with the battle.
He couldn't believe his grandfather's deadly power. Despite his missing leg, he was quick and graceful!
The creature charged at Adrian again, but Adrian leapt into the air, positioning himself above the creature.
In mid-air, Adrian tilted his body so his remaining leg was above and his torso below.
He grabbed the creature's shoulder firmly. "Gotcha, heh heh!"
Adrian's other hand wielded a massive sword, swinging it with strong force.
"Swoosh!" Adrian plunged his sword with force into the creature's back and quickly pulled it out, stepping back a few paces while supporting himself with his hand on the ground.
Adrian panted heavily, looking at the creature, which was already healing its wounds.
"Grandpa, are you okay?" Jin shouted, his voice heavy with worry and fear.
The creature heard Jin's voice and, with its usual hideous grin, turned its gaze toward him!
"Run, Jin! Run now!" Adrian yelled with all his power.
But the creature was faster than Adrian's shout…
The creature stood before Jin, looking at him with an ominous gaze and a wicked smile.
Jin's world slowed in terror… He could see every detail of the creature's face; time seemed to stretch indefinitely as he stared at the creature's face.
His instincts screamed at him to run, but his body was frozen in place.
The creature's clawed hand swung toward Jin's throat, the air hissing as it sliced through the space between them.
Suddenly, a flash of light erupted between them, and the creature's hand was severed, falling to the ground.
"Get up, you dumbass!" Adrian charged forcefully toward him.
Despite his severe wounds, Adrian intercepted the attack, placing himself between Jin and the creature.
"Jin, go, go now!" Adrian shouted into his face.
Before Jin could respond, he froze in horror as the creature's body twisted with unnatural agility.
It contorted its body backward, and in an inhumanly swift motion, its severed hand healed instantly.
The creature's claws sank into Adrian's chest, with the hand extending past Jin's head.
Adrian screamed in agony as his flesh was torn apart, while Jin was left shocked and speechless…