Chapter 108: Chapter 108- It Moves!

No matter how much she looked around her, Hyun-Jae was enable to locate any monster in the vicinity. The place was eerily quiet except for the sound of rain pouring down on her head.

She was certain of it, the monsters had suddenly vanished from the forest as if they were never there in the first place. But, the truth is, Hyun-Jae did see them a few minutes ago simply lurking around and waiting. Hell, she even counted how many of them were stronger than the students so that she could deal with them herself.

With a rough estimate, there were easily over 600 monsters still inside that place. So, even if Hyun-Jae was somehow not able to sense their presence, the idea that 600 creatures suddenly vanished like that was simply out of this world.

Standing there, she tried to comprehend what was happening. Her mind raced through possibilities like a flash and yet she couldn't find a single way to explain what was happening now.

'This makes no sense! I saw them! I saw them all!' She frowned hard. In the end, she could only conclude that this was the work of the mastermind they were facing.

In one way or another, she must've made them vanish or ordered them to do something completely different. But, that didn't really matter at that moment as she was faced with an even more important decision.

Should she proceed and enter the forest? Or wait outside based on the fact that it was most likely bait?

The question, as simple as it sounded, was actually far harder than one would expect. The entire plan Hyun-Jae and Talon built was based on the fact that they had to take whatever bait their enemy put for them just so that they could buy time and trick them at the same time.

But, this sudden change made that idea sound even more dangerous. The possibility of death became a lot higher with the element of mystery added into the mix.

'Fuck...' Running her hand through her hair, she turned around to the students. As the leader, she had no time to consider every option carefully, she had to act and act quickly. Talon was waiting, after all.

"We will proceed inside the forest in 30 seconds. Scouts!" She said as she called for a particular group of students.

Immediately, they stepped forward. These were the scouts team, a small group of survivors that had abilities related to stealth, pathfinding, or both. They were a very useful group for basically every mission that included going out to explore.

They helped reduce the threat and choose the best path for the entire trip every single time.

"Clear a path for us to enter and inform me if there is anything abnormal happening. No matter how small it is." Hyun-Jae explained their role before she let them leave.

After that, she walked back to Go Young-Soon. Even under such immense pressure, Hyun-Jae had to make sure of one single thing.

"President!" Seeing his leader, Young-Soon greeted her respectfully.

"Did anyone touch the monsters?" She asked.

Young-Soon shook his head. "No, I made sure to assign a few students to keep an eye out for that and also, the shields helped keep the blood away from touching anyone." He explained.

Which meant, that she wasn't hallucinating when she saw those monsters lurking in the forest. They were there and then suddenly, they weren't.

"Halt!" She said as she signaled for the students to stop.

Then, Hyun-Jae crouched down and touched the grass to see if she could trace any possible paths that these creatures could've taken to vanish like this.

"Hm?" Humming in confusion, Hyun-Jae stared at the blade of grass in her hand as she fiddled with it.

At first, she was simply thinking of what was happening, but slowly, her attention shifted from the situation to the blade of grass itself. Something about it caught her attention. Except for its appearance, it felt oddly different from a normal blade of grass that Hyun-Jae knew about.

Fidgeting with it, Hyun-Jae's fingers snapped the blade of grass by mistake. When that happened, she felt it. Something that she never expected to feel at all. Slowly, Hyun-Jae's eyes widened to the extreme, staring at the snapped blade of grass.

It took her a second to register what just happened but when it did, her senses kicked in as she sprang to her feet and turned around.

"Retreat! Now!!!" She yelled loudly.

"What?"

The students were confused by her sudden reaction. But, before they could even react to it, things started to shift.

The ground beneath them started to shake and a loud rumbling sound echoed in the vicinity. The shaking was powerful, akin to that of an earthquake. Students started feeling the ground tilting under their feet as if it was rising in the air.

"Move, move!!" Hyun-Jae rushed back as she channeled her Aetheris to the fullest. Her face looked extremely grave.

Without waiting a moment, the survivors turned around and started moving to the exit of the forest as fast as they could.

They didn't understand what was happening and they didn't have time to understand it as everything was suddenly collapsing on them from both sides.

Some fell to the ground as they started sliding down while others could barely hold on and move through the chaotic terrain.

Meanwhile, Hyun-Jae passed like a flash through the lines of students as she helped every student who fell down. Her inhuman speed helped her achieve that. But, the entire time, her face was turning graver and graver.

To her side, she could see an entire chunk of the forest rising up like a wall, and the same could be said for the opposite side. If she had to describe it, it looked as if the forest had suddenly turned into some kind of giant bear trap that was about to close up on them and flatten them out. Or, a better way to describe it...

'A mouth! This goddamn forest is alive!!' Hyun-Jae clenched her teeth tightly.

(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )