Chapter 401: Alright, I’ll Send You on Your Way

They spotted a fighter jet, but to their disappointment, it wasn’t from Yin Country. But on second thought, even if it had been one of their own, their situation wouldn’t have changed at all.

Now, they were in a real bind.

They didn’t dare to leave, but staying here chilled them to the bone, leaving them to wonder if they would be discovered.

“At least… we’re still alive… If we were still outside the city…”

A chill ran down everyone’s spine at the thought, including the person who had just spoken. If they had hesitated and lingered in the woods instead of entering the city, they’d probably have been torn limb from limb by now.

Listening to the roars of wild animals outside, a bizarre thought surfaced in their minds.

Do these monsters actually possess significant intelligence?

“All we can do now is wait. They don’t seem to have found us, and we have food and water. We just have to wait. I’m sure we’ll be able to leave after a while!”

A man spoke, comforting his companions as much as himself, but he suddenly felt a chill.

“Hss… Do you guys feel that? It’s freezing… I’m wearing so many layers, but I’m still cold.”

At his words, the others anxiously peering through the window suddenly felt the chill as well. The cold sweat from earlier had soaked their undergarments, making their bodies feel even colder.

Amira rubbed her arms, scanning the large activity room for something to provide warmth.

Then, she glanced up, and her pupils instantly contracted to pinpricks.

Her face was deathly pale, drained of all color, and her body went rigid as if she’d been hit by an Immobility Technique.

“Amira, what’s wrong?”

One of her companions noticed her strange behavior and asked. The others followed her gaze, and all their hearts lurched violently. Their hearts, already pounding from the sight of the monsters, now felt like they were about to explode out of their chests.

A transparent being covered in translucent tentacles was watching them. Its face was a blur, and it occupied a third of the ceiling, a space easily a hundred square meters in size.

It seemed to defy the Law of gravity, hanging inverted from the ceiling. Even while motionless, it exuded a suffocating horror.

Now they knew why they had suddenly felt so cold.

All eight of them gripped their guns tightly, but none had the courage to raise them and fire. Their instincts screamed that the guns in their hands were useless against this thing.

“I didn’t expect to find a few hiding in here.”

The cold, sinister voice made their hair stand on end. They could actually understand it!

“Don’t be surprised. The vibrations of Magic Power mean my speech is no longer restricted. I can understand your words, as well.”

The monster slowly descended from the ceiling and gazed out the window, seemingly ignoring the eight people beside it.

“Such a unique building. Such delicious souls… It’s a pity. By the time I arrived in this Otherworld, the nearby delicacies had already been mostly devoured, and many of those remaining became nurseries for the children…”

Death seemed inevitable. Despair settled over Amira and her companions. They had never even heard of an Otherworld Demon of this level, one that clearly possessed terrifying intelligence.

“Why so quiet? Aren’t you curious why I haven’t eaten you yet?”

No one dared to answer. Amir had already decided that if he was going to turn into one of those Ghoul-like creatures they had seen, he would put a bullet in his own head.

“What is the name of your race? You’d best not ignore me. If yon don’t speak, I see no reason to keep you alive.”

There was no discernible tone in its voice, yet the temperature in the room dropped with its words.

Startled, Amira blurted out an answer.

“Humans! We are humans!”

“Humans? An interesting term. Very well, humans. Lead us to the place with the most of your kind. Let us and our children have one more festival. If you do this, I will keep you.”

This terrifying Demon must have emerged from an unknown deep-contact point nearby, slaughtering every last person in the surrounding towns and villages. Now that the entire globe was covered in towering forest vegetation, routes to border towns and villages in countries like Yin Country were completely cut off unless they were close to one another. Many people had already abandoned their villages to gather in large cities for defense even before the Dark Tide. Thus, after slaughtering the nearby towns and villages, the Demon seemed unable to locate any other humans.

“You… you don’t know yourself…?” a girl asked timidly.

But this simple question seemed to provoke a terrible reaction. Before the girl could say another word, a transparent tentacle shot out and struck her.

“Ahhh—! Ahh—! G-ghh… ghh…”

The girl screamed in absolute terror, but her voice soon became a series of ragged gasps as if she were suffocating.

*Riiip… Sssshhhk…*

A sound like tearing adhesive filled the air as a transparent Shadow, identical to the girl, was ripped from her body by the tentacle.

*Crunch… crunch…*

It sounded like something chewing on a cucumber. In a few bites, it had crushed the soul’s arm and was now savoring the taste. All the while, the girl’s physical body convulsed on the floor.

Forced to watch their companion’s soul be torn out and devoured piece by piece, the remaining seven were so terrified they could no longer hold their guns. One of them lost control of her bladder.

It seemed to be enjoying the process, taking over a full minute to completely devour the Spirit. Amira could see her friend’s vacant expression as the Spirit’s head, the final piece, was fed into the Demon’s mouth.

At that exact moment, the body on the floor stopped convulsing.

“Truly delicious… A flavor that belies such a weak body! Now then, I’ll ask again. In which direction are there the most humans?”

The remaining seven looked at one another; some were filled with despair, while others simply clenched their teeth. They were deserters, it was true, but could they now act as guides and lead even more people to their deaths?

And most importantly, they themselves probably wouldn’t survive, would they?

Amira gripped her sniper rifle. This thing had to be a Yin Spirit, just as the Officer had described during military training. Her friend’s gruesome death flashed through her mind, followed by images of countless more people dying, followed by an image of her own death.

*Should I risk it?*

The moment the thought occurred, she knew she didn’t have the courage.

*Then… should I lead them…?*

Suddenly, an idea struck Amira. The sound of the reconnaissance jet flying high overhead seemed to echo in her ears once more.

“I know where to find lots of people… I—I can lead you. Lead you all there. Just let me live a little longer… just a little longer…”

Her companions all turned to stare at her—some in shock, some in relief, and some in anger.

But no one dared to say a word. No one dared to reprimand her.

***

In the forest, the Ghouls’ hunt was nearing its end.

Although many animals were slaughtered and devoured, the evolutionary pace of fauna was only a step behind that of the flora. Most creatures were incredibly agile and fast, so more than half of the beasts managed to escape. A few of the more ferocious ones even managed to kill a number of Ghouls.

Some of the captured, living animals—deer, wild boars, and rabbits—were brought to the edge of Galuo Town. The Yin Spirit-like entity, which resembled a Faceless Shadow Ghost yet was vastly different, extracted a few souls before stopping, disgusted.

It had tasted human souls now, and its palate was spoiled.

Filled with both terror and hatred, Amira and her two remaining companions—one man and one woman—stared at the enormous army of monsters. This terrifying Yin Spirit was clearly not just the master of the Ghouls. There were other, stranger beings present, some possibly even its equals. Their numbers were far greater than they could have imagined. They had already seen more than a dozen who could speak their language—Yin Spirits, giant beasts, undead creatures… all manner of monsters were there.

The moment they approached the army, several monsters had snatched four of their companions and devoured them, leaving nothing behind—not skin, not bone, not even their souls. The reason given was that they didn’t need so many “humans” to act as guides.

The dense, numberless swarm of monsters before them made the three survivors numb with fear.

“Everyone is assembled… Human, let’s go!”

The terrifying Yin Spirit placed the three survivors on the shoulder of a Great Ghoul from the Otherworld. The creature’s giant claw, which reeked of rot, gently closed around them, pinning them in place.

“Fine… let’s go. It’s in that direction…”

Amira pointed north. Her companion beside her, still numb with shock, froze for a moment. Then, a spark of understanding ignited deep in his eyes.

A few months before the Dark Tide, before Yin Country had officially joined the World Alliance, before the apocalyptic warnings were made public. Yin Country’s newspapers and news broadcasts had once condemned Hua Country for amassing heavy troops along the Huayin Border. After enlisting, during military training, their Officer had shown them pictures.

It was their first time seeing some of Hua Country’s terrifying weapons deployed on the border, and they’d heard their Officer mention how much he envied those weapons on more than one occasion.