32 The Hun

The Hunt

'Hmmm… It seems someone else cleared this path. Well, they should be further ahead by now,' James thought as he surveyed his surroundings. Ten minutes had already gone by since he fled from the periphery of the forest. He wanted nothing to do with his former Items once them completed their Nether possession. Since he fled in haste, he did not ask the system to chart a proper course for him. Instead, he summoned two damned souls and seven corpses from the Army of the Fallen. He was prepared to use them as undead barriers should anything sneak up on him, however, with the distance between him and aberrations increasing by the minute, he felt it was the right time to discuss with the system.

"System, scan a 1km radius, and show me the easiest path to travel. Project it in the form of a mental map. Highlight the position of the monsters and the others. System, tag monsters above Level 2 with a red indicator and those below Level 2 with a black indicator. Do the same for the other targets whose odds of elimination is below 60%. Also show the position of all poisonous plants," James instructed with keen anticipation.

<Ding! >

I have saved the user's preference!

Scanning…

Warming!

I have detected an anomaly and therefore aborted the scan!

Warning!

Because of the user's previous connection to the Items - Damned Soul and Army of the Fallen, it has formed a mental marker of the user's Mana. If the user chooses the option to complete the scan, they could determine the user's location. If they exploit this flaw, other targets exposed to - Nether, will also determine the user's location using the mental marker.

However, once the user ranks up, the mental marker would become useless. Because, the user's Mana would undergo significant changes.

System Recommendation: The user should avoid completing the scan until the user has attained the next rank.

Will the user like to complete the scan?

<Ding! >

Stupefied, James stopped in his tracks as he stared at system's notification. His lips trembled as if he wanted to say something, yet the words did not come out. Never would he have thought his failed experiment would yield such complications. Since he did not seek the advice of the system back then, he could only blame himself for his current situation. Even with the radar like abilities of the system, a small but fatal mistake had made him severely handicapped in the forest. Based on his current strength, James knew he was at the bottom of the food chain in the forest.

'If I forcibly complete the scanning, I would be in a worse position than I already am. I can't postpone the third condition anymore, I've to complete the crystallization process. My life literally depends on it.'

With the seriousness of his situation dawning on him, James had a determined expression on his face while clenching his fist. Without saying a word, he resumed running through the dimly lit forest. However, another seven damned souls joined the previous two. This damned souls were part of James's Good ranked merged damned souls. Meanwhile, the number of corpses summoned from the Army of the Fallen remained the same. Because, James knew if he summoned more of them, they would attract the attention of sensitive beasts as they ran. In not for the fact he needed disposable meat shields, he would have not bothered summoning them.

"Scout the terrain ahead. Report if you find any oddities. Go!"

After receiving James's mental command, six from the seven damned souls went ahead of the party. They knew their mission and also knew the consequences for failure. Unlike most parts of the forest which the silver moonlight illuminated to an extent, darkness covered anywhere James and his aberrations passed through.

…

Fifteen minutes later, James arrived at a beautiful scenery in the gloomy forest. A place dominated by wild berries and a beautiful lilac flowerbed. However, James had no interest in the berries or pure and delicate lilacs. Instead, his blue eyes stared at the corpse of a decapitated Moonlight Wolf.

'What happened here? From the color and smell of the blood, it died not too long ago.'

Tilting his head slightly, James stared at the mangled head of the moonlight wolf.

'Hmmm… From the injuries to its head, something large landed on its skull. But it does not seem to be a weapon…'

As James scrutinized the corpse of the beast, he noticed a large sickle on the ground. Because the large body of beast blocked his view, he did not see it earlier.

"Huh? A sickle?" James muttered as he walked towards the sickle. "Wait…this is new. Bronze and Ospian Ore…"

As James scrutinized the sickle, the odd shape of the cut path he followed suddenly flashed into his mind. At that moment, he realized the owner of the sickle was probably someone who entered the forest a few minutes ago. Although the sickle had no blood on its surface, James's knew it ended the life of the Moonlight Wolf. However, why the owner left it behind and why he could not find a continuation of the tracks made him confused.

The moment this thought flashed into James's mind, a merged damned soul sent an urgent report to his mind. "Master, three packs of Moonlight Wolves will arrive at your location in the next five minutes. I can spot two Level 2 Moonlight wolves in the pack. They are coming from the east."

Before James could respond, another merged damned soul sent a report to his mind. "Master, five packs of Moonlight Wolves will arrive at your location in the next five minutes. I can spot two Level 3 Moonlight wolves in the pack. They coming from the southeast."

In quick succession, another three reports echoed in James's mind. Telling him about the impeding arrival of several packs of Moonlight wolves, led by Level 3 Alphas. With a mental calculation, the total number of Moonlight Wolves heading towards his direction ranged from seventy to one hundred. However, the most frightening aspect of their impending arrival was the six Level 3 Alphas and over eight Level 2 Alphas. With his current Level, James knew he stood no chance against the monsters, and he did not even harbor the thought of fighting them.

'Damn it! If I could use the system abilities, I would not be in this mess. The bastard who caused this mess better pray I don't him,' James caused bitterly in his mind. His current predicament, made him rue the outcome of his failed experiment.

"Arise, Army of…" before James finished his statement, a warm drizzle of a sticky liquid fell on him and the surrounding corpses. Before James could even determine what it was, a pungent and thick rotten smell assaulted his nose. At that moment, the system's notification echoed in his mind like an alarm.

<Ding! >

Scanning Completed!

Warning!

Warning!

Warning!

Name: Venom of A Spearhead Hydra.

Effects: It can forcibly cause the body of the user to enter a rigor mortis like state.

Estimated time until the user loses control of the body: 10 seconds!

Origin: Spearhead Hydra.

Rank: Evolving (50% Completed)

Path: Darkness

Level: 4.

Limitations: Skill - Hellfire Manipulation can neutralize the effects of the venom, but the user must enter the Grim Reaper form.

Odds of the user eliminating the target: 0.00%

Odds of the user surviving the target: 40%

<Ding! >

Without wasting time, James's body morphed into his Grim Reaper form. And the earth around a twenty meter radius rumbled as if an earthquake was imminent. Instead, several ghoulish corpses emerged from the depths for the earth while jumping on James's Grim Reaper form. At that same moment, over fifty damned souls appeared within the churning darkness caused by the Skill Mana Manipulation.

The moment the corpses covered James's body, a gigantic monstrosity emerged from the top of a massive tree. Even though only a portion of its body emerged from the green it was already larger than most trees at the periphery of the forest. It had thick metallic brown scales coating his body which secreted a whitish foam. Its head looked like it was a crossbreed of a dragon and serpent. It had a large on its hand and one underneath his opened maw which revealed its sharp, saber-like fangs. With a faint hiss, its hoarse forked tongue wiggled in the air. While its emerald green, reptilian eyes stared at the mountain of corpses gradually increasing on the ground. With its maw opened, its foul smelling, poisonous saliva fell on the mountain of corpses like showers from the spring rain.

Without making a sound, it descended with a terrifying speed with its mouth open wide. It intended to swallow James and his corpses in one fell swoop. With a speed faster than what the human eye could see, the Level 4 monster munched on the munched on the mountain of corpses. Swallowing 90% at a go, with its attention focused on the other 10%. It descended for a second time. However, before it could reach the remaining corpses, a loud and ghoulish shout echoed in the darkness.

"Explode!"

Immediately after the loud shout, a muffled but destructive explosion occurred in the monster's throat, which caused it to let out an ear-piercing scream. Its colossal body trembled while slamming against surrounding trees. With leaves falling and twigs as large as boulders falling, the beautiful field below turned to grotesque scene filled with mangled corpses, beautiful flowers, twigs and fallen leaves. With leaves and branches covering the body of the monster destroyed, three other colossal heads which extended to various locations revealed itself. They look identical to the head which was vomiting corpses coated with a purplish flame. However, they seemed to be asleep and only woke up because of the screaming of the other head.

The moment the other three heads woke up, an ear-piercing scream echoed in all directions as the monsters large dragon-like body descended from the top of the massive trees. With a gentle swing of its tail, it uprooted over ten trees. Sending them flying towards various locations. The Level 4 monster Spearhead Hydra, had finally revealed itself.

As they stood over the once beautiful scene, their eyes scanned their surroundings in search of something or someone. While their ghastly emerald eyes scanned the surroundings, the Hydra head facing the west, suddenly saw the figure of a young boy running with all his might. They could also see several Moonlight Wolves behind the young human, what piqued its interest what the small log of wood the young human held as he ran. Burning to the high heavens was a purplish flame which resembled what covered the corpses being emitted by the fourth head.

As if through mental communication, the other heads including the fourth head who had recovered, turned their attention to the fleeing human.

With another ear-piercing scream which echoed for over one kilometer, these humongous creature chased after the fleeing human leaving destruction its wake.

…

The moment the screams of Spearhead Hydra echoed, it caught the other who had yet to fall by surprise. Although they did not know what monster it was, or why it sounded so enraged, they all knew death would be inevitable if they encountered such a monster. Some of them could not help but pity the person responsible for enraging such a beast. Without wasting time, they all fled towards different directions. Hoping and praying, the beast would not come towards their chosen path.

Unknown to these youths, the Hydra's howl was not only a howl of pain. Rather, it was a rallying call to all nearby monsters. Telling them that something had invaded their territory, and that all invaders should be hunted and eliminated!

…

In a deeper region of the forest, Henriksen who carried the unconscious Lilis on his shoulders could not help but laugh.

"Which idiot manged to piss off a Spearhead Hydra so early… Hahaha… These newbies might not even make it past this week. What an unlucky bunch." Henriksen said while clicking his tongue.

'I better get out of here… Who knows what kind of hunt will happen this time around. I don't want to suffer a loss in this mission.'

With this thought in mind, Henriksen dashed into the distance with the still unconscious Lilis.

…

Meanwhile, at the grassy field opposite the forest. James's former damned soul and corpses had completed the Nether possession process. Unlike before, the damned soul had a menacing pitch black body while the corpses had a dark glow in their empty eye sockets. The sense of clarity was one thing both aberrations shared in common.

The moment they heard the scream of the Spearhead Hydra, they also screamed in a soundless voice while dashing towards the forest like enraged beasts. Just from their appearance alone, they looked at least ten times stronger than before.

…

Back the once beautiful, lilac flowerbed filled with wild berries, a slight rumbling sound echoed and a certain part of the earth bulged in response. A few seconds later, an armored skeletal fist emerged from the earth. Accompanied by what looked like the disfigured hands of corpses. The moment the hand emerged from the ground, five damned souls merged over that same spot.

"Master, the Level 4 monster took the bait. We have enough time to get out of here."

After the damned soul's declaration, with a muffled explosion, the loosed soil shot into the air. Revealing James's Grim Reaper form. With a devilish smile on his face, he stared at the cowering merged damned soul.

"Lead the way. Let's get out of here before they return," James ordered.