I held up my hand for silence as Monica's revelation landed like a lead weight in my stomach. S-Rank Hunters getting turned into plant food wasn't exactly the pep talk our team needed right now.
"Let's focus on what we know," I said, taking control before Juan could start calculating our death probabilities again. "We're trapped in a Black Gate with limited supplies, unknown threats, and approximately twenty-nine days to find and kill something that apparently eats S-Rank Hunters for breakfast."
"You have such a way with words," Celeste said, her voice flat as ice.
"It's part of my charm."
Raphael prowled the perimeter of our little silver tree sanctuary, his combat boots crunching on something that looked like sand but glittered like crushed diamonds. He suddenly stopped, crouching down to examine the ground.
"Hey, assholes," he called out. "Come look at this."
"Your social skills continue to astound me," Juan muttered, but we all moved toward him anyway.
