They moved on, and as they did; the forest worsened after that, the insects grew quieter and wildlife signatures thinned.
Feral-class demons became scarce, and the few they sensed were moving away from the eastern direction rather than toward it. Twice, Smoke picked up movement nearby only for the creatures to flee before any confrontation could occur.
That alone bothered Liam.
Demons were aggressive by nature.
Even weaker ones often attacked prey stronger than themselves if hunger or instinct pushed them hard enough. But here, they were avoiding contact.
Not from intelligence alone, but from fear.
And fear, in an ecosystem like Nalim, meant something had trained them.
Eventually, they came across a small clearing.
It wasn't the same one Charlotte had described before, but damaged enough to make both of them stop.
