The next day ca without peace.
A thin layer of mist still clung to the ground as Ren Kai’s group moved through another ruined town, their footsteps light but steady, their formation tighter than before, every sense sharpened after what they had already seen.
The silence here felt different.
Heavier.
As if sothing had already happened.
And was waiting to happen again.
Hao Jin frowned as he looked around, his hand resting on the hilt of his weapon, a heavy, curved blade with faint engravings along its edge that caught the light with every step.
"...This place feels worse."
Cai Wen nodded slowly, his fingers brushing against the steel rings wrapped around his forearms, his weapon of choice, each movent producing a faint tallic sound.
"Yeah. Like sothing just finished eating."
Shen Lu let out a quiet breath, his twin daggers already in his hands, spinning once before settling into a reverse grip.
"Stay sharp."
Lian Yue didn’t speak.
She was already watching the ground.
Then she stopped.
"...Blood."
Ren Kai’s gaze shifted imdiately.
Ahead of them, the street was marked with fresh stains, darker than the others, not yet dried, sared across the ground and walls as if sothing had struggled violently before being dragged apart.
The others adjusted instantly.
No hesitation, and wasted movent.
Suddenly, a sharp clicking sound echoed from ahead.
All five froze.
Hao Jin’s grip tightened.
"...You hear that?"
Another click, and closer this ti
Then the ground shifted slightly.
And it ca out.
The sa kind of insect.
Massive.
Human-sized.
Its body dragged itself out from the shadow of a collapsed building, its shell glistening faintly under the light, its mandibles twitching as it locked onto them, legs spreading wide as it let out a low, grating sound.
For a brief mont, no one moved.
Then Cai Wen let out a short breath.
"...That insect is massive."
The insect lunged.
But this ti, it wasn’t facing ordinary students.
Ren Kai moved first.
His thin sword slipped out of its sheath in a single smooth motion, the blade narrow and almost delicate in appearance, but the mont it moved, the air itself seed to tighten.
"Left."
His voice was calm.
Clear.
The group split instantly.
The insect crashed forward, its leg striking where Hao Jin had just been, cracking the ground beneath it, but Hao Jin had already moved to the side, his blade swinging in a wide arc.
Clang.
The strike landed.
And this ti, it broke through.
A shallow cut split across the shell.
The insect twitched sharply.
"Not that tough," Hao Jin muttered.
Lian Yue stepped in next, her weapon a slender spear that moved like flowing water, precise and controlled as she drove it forward, aiming not for strength, but for the gaps between the shell plates.
"Here."
The spear slipped in.
Clean.
The insect jerked violently.
Shen Lu appeared behind it in the sa mont, his movents almost invisible as his daggers struck in quick succession, targeting the joints, slicing through softer tissue where the armor didn’t fully cover.
"Too slow."
The insect turned wildly, trying to track him.
It couldn’t.
Cai Wen stepped in from the side, his arm snapping forward as one of the steel rings shot out, spinning rapidly before slamming into the creature’s leg with a sharp crack, disrupting its balance.
"Now!"
Ren Kai moved.
One step.
Then he disappeared from where he stood.
Not truly vanished.
Just too fast to follow.
He appeared directly in front of the insect, his thin sword already mid-motion, his wrist turning slightly as the blade traced a precise, almost effortless line through the air.
No wasted strength.
No unnecessary movent.
Just accuracy.
The blade slipped into the narrow gap beneath the insect’s head.
Then ca out the other side.
For a split second, nothing happened.
Then the insect froze.
Its body trembled once.
Twice.
And split.
The head dropped.
The body collapsed heavily onto the ground, its legs twitching weakly before going still.
Silence returned.
Hao Jin let out a low whistle.
"...That was easier than I expected."
Shen Lu wiped one of his daggers lightly against his sleeve.
"That thing could wipe out a normal group."
Lian Yue stepped closer to the corpse, her brows furrowing slightly.
Lian Yue crouched beside the fallen insect, her spear resting lightly against her shoulder as she studied the corpse more closely.
"...Sothing’s off," she said quietly.
Hao Jin walked over, nudging the body with the tip of his blade.
"It’s dead, isn’t it?"
"It is," Lian Yue replied. "But look at it."
The others stepped closer.
Up close, the details were clearer.
The shell wasn’t just dark.
It was decaying.
Thin cracks ran across its surface, and beneath those cracks, there was sothing wrong with the flesh. Not fresh. Not alive. Parts of it looked dried, while others looked... lted, like it had been rotting for days, yet it still moved monts ago.
Cai Wen frowned.
"...You’re right. This thing isn’t normal."
Shen Lu crouched slightly, one dagger pointing toward the exposed joint.
"There’s no blood flow," he muttered. "Even when we cut it."
Hao Jin’s expression shifted.
"...Don’t tell this is related to those ’moving corpses’ the refugees talked about."
Ren Kai didn’t answer imdiately.
He stood there, his thin sword already back in its sheath, his gaze fixed on the insect’s remains, sharp and focused.
"...It is," he said at last.
The others looked at him.
"When we fought it," Ren Kai continued, "it didn’t react like a living thing. No hesitation. No instinct to protect itself. Even when it was injured..."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"...it didn’t feel pain."
A faint silence followed.
Then, they heard a voice, sharp, and light.
"You guys are pretty good."
All five reacted instantly.
They turned.
Weapons up.
A figure stood on top of a half-collapsed roof nearby, her silhouette outlined against the pale sky, sothing constantly shifting around her.
It wasn’t clothing, but a tiny movents.
Insects.
They crawled over her arms, her shoulders, gathering and dispersing in waves, forming and reforming like they were part of her body.
Vermis.
Her head tilted slightly as she looked down at them, a faint smile on her lips.
"My lord will surely be delighted," she continued softly. "If I take your corpses back."
Hao Jin’s grip tightened imdiately.
"...Another insect monster."
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