The previous battle had wiped out around fifty mountain apes, and nearly ten more that had chased after the survivors were now dead as well.
From among the pile of corpses, a shadow slowly rose.A man in a black hood, holding a silver spear, emerged. Floating beside him was a black-and-golden orb, gleaming faintly as if plated in gold.
That hooded man was Marcus—the one who had fully surrendered himself to madness.A twisted grin stretched across his face, reaching his ears, making anyone who saw it shudder.
His bloodshot eyes, with silver-gray pupils, gazed toward the cliff where a group of fifteen people were resting.Marcus tossed the orb into the air, caught it again, and shifted into a stance—like a baseball player preparing to pitch.
I remember now!
His hand pulsed with mana, veins bulging up his arm as he wound back.
BOOM!!
The mission Ron gave me!
The golden-black orb shot through the air, igniting into flames, leaving a burning trail behind.
"THEN LET'S PLAY!!"
Marcus's manic scream echoed through the valley. Above him, a pair of eagle eyes watched from high among the clouds.
Four hours had passed since the battle ended and the survivors had fled to this place.Everyone was exhausted—too drained to fight, too numb to care. They rested with no defenses, unafraid of attacks from others.
At least… that was how it seemed for the first two hours.After that, things began to unravel.
It started small.
"Hey, got any more medicine?""You got spare bandages? Hey—what's that wound look like?"
The conversations seemed harmless, almost too casual for a competition like this.But then, tension sparked. Arguments flared over trivial things.And from there, everything fell apart.
Soon, the camp dissolved into chaos.People cursed, shouted, threw punches, even resorted to pathetic, disgusting acts of desperation.
It was as if each of them carried a bomb inside—a fragile core of rage ready to explode and consume everything around them.
As for Jax, he was sitting on a rock, drinking from a bottle of liquor.Technically, alcohol under eighteen was banned—but he was a year older than most here, so that rule didn't matter.
He drank not for pleasure, but for memory.To remember something he had forgotten, he tried to forget something he still remembered.A strange logic—but nothing in this place was normal.Not the world. Not the people.Not even himself.
BOOM!
A distant explosion snapped him from his haze, followed by faint screams echoing through the cliffs.He simply smiled, tilted back the bottle, and drained the last drop.
"Heh… guess I'll never be normal anyway."
CRACK.
A sound echoed under his feet—then the ground tilted sharply.
BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions erupted around them. Screams followed.But it wasn't just the collapsing terrain—people were still arguing even as they fell.
"If you hadn't raised your damn hand, I could've escaped!""You're delusional, idiot!""Fuck! I'm gonna die with morons like you?!""…"
Their shouts filled the air as they plunged into the abyss, too busy blaming each other to try to survive.
Jax, having finished his drink, tossed the empty bottle aside.Without hesitation, he leapt straight into the pitch-black void below.
He had no weapons left—both his swords had broken in the earlier battle.All he had now were his bare hands.
CRASH!!
They landed hard, but most managed to cushion the fall using mana—Wind magic to slow descent,Flame bursts to push upward,Mana barriers to soften the impact.
When they finally hit solid ground, they looked around in shock.This wasn't just another dark cave. It was… something grotesque.
From the shadows, massive beasts emerged, stepping over the corpses of mountain apes that had fallen earlier.
WHOOSH~
Rocks tumbled from above—but stopped midair, held back by an unseen force.
THUD! THUD!
One of the strange creatures straightened its body, revealing a towering form—over eight meters tall.
"AFFHJF!" (Create fire!)
A ball of flame appeared, shaped like a floating eye, illuminating the cavern.
"Oh, my God…"
Someone gasped at the sight before them.It was horrifying.
Before the group stood centipedes, each as tall as a building.Their bodies glistened with the sticky blood of mountain apes, and beneath them lay shriveled corpses—drained of every last drop of fluid.
"Be careful! They can use magic too! They're—"
CRASH!!
[YOU HAVE BEEN DEFEATED]
Before she could finish, the girl was smashed into the wall. Her protective barrier flickered, splattered with a chunk of foul, pulsing flesh.
Only then did everyone realize the truth.These weren't just monsters.They were predators—three of them—and each one was stronger than ten mountain apes combined.
Everyone turned toward Jax.
But Jax was still drunk. He could barely stand.
"HAHA! LOOK AT THESE DAMN FOOLS!"
He laughed, swinging his empty bottle at the creatures. It shattered on impact, scattering glass across the ground.
The centipedes finally turned their many eyes toward him.The survivors did the same.
No one spoke.
There was no point.
It was time to fight again.