Humans and monsters were quite similar when it came to defending territory or protecting something important and meaningful, whether it was friends, family, or something material like money, resources, and things of value.
Sure, humans didn't occupy some territories without allowing others to enter them, but... technically, that's what they did, using money to buy various properties. The method changed as society reached the stage of advanced technology and bureaucracy, but the goal was the same.
If a person found something of value, they wanted to keep it or use it for their own good. Sure, each person had a limit to how far they could go for it, just like monsters.
If an artifact appeared somewhere in the Dead Lands, many people wanted to take it, from Phantoms to weak and strong monsters.
Monsters would try to take the artifact for themselves, either to become Essence Type or to absorb its energy and get closer to evolution. However, if it is too dangerous due to Phantoms and stronger monsters, the weaker monsters will simply give up on the idea.
The reward in the case of success was always supposed to be worth the risk one had to take in the case of action.
But...
Midnight Crystal wasn't an artifact, not a stone filled with energy or some plant, it was something on a completely different level.
The gray monster might have realized that, against the Plague Reaper, it didn't stand a chance. There was a difference in level between them, yes, but the difference in mastery was terrifying.
Moreover, as the pinnacle of its Threat Level, Plague Reaper possessed an astonishing number of dangerous, unique, and diverse abilities.
Most Light Yellow Threat monsters could only fight with their strong bodies, claws, and powerful jaws. When a monster possessed only physical abilities, it showed that it was quite low in its Threat Level.
Sure, there were always exceptions, but this rule worked far more often than not.
Monsters were willing to tear themselves apart to possess Midnight Crystal, and... not even Plague Reaper was able to stop their desire.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
Muffled footsteps sounded in the distance as massive shadows appeared behind the pillars of flame.
Some monsters tried to run between the anomalies to at least see Midnight Crystal with their own eyes if they couldn't fight for something so valuable.
Other monsters, the stronger ones, were going to go straight through the anomalies, perhaps some of them would die because of their arrogance, but those who could actually make it would become a real threat to everyone in the flame ring.
"Whaaaaaaa...."
Plague Reaper took a deep breath while shaking his head. His gaze traveled to the hundreds of monsters surrounding him and Midnight Crystal. All of them wanted at least one shard, but... unfortunately for them, the guardian of this crystal was Plague Reaper.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
The black blade of the scythe shuddered, but this time there was no shriek or some eerie, ear-piercing, and painful sound that followed.
On the contrary, the blade was calm, peaceful, and even quiet, but that was not a good sign at all.
"Step back, closer to me." Osana said seriously, addressing Adam and Katrin.
Adam raised an eyebrow in confusion but said nothing.
The thick black liquid, like ink, spreads in different directions, as though parasites or branches of a creepy tree.
There were only a few main streams of ink, but from them came other streams, smaller ones, from which, in turn, new ones appeared.
Nothing could stop this ink, not cracks, not rare spiky lilies, not the massive stones that had been lying here for hundreds of years.
Thus, in just a few seconds, the black liquid covered up to a quarter of the entire area, but... this ink didn't know how to attack.
The monsters didn't know that, so they immediately tried to get as far away from the ink as possible, standing on the gray earth that was a safe zone for them, or at least they thought so.
"Rgha..."
Plague Reaper let out another sigh. Apparently, this attack was something he could only use once in a long period of time. He was strong and skillful, but his energy reserves were not infinite.
It was quite enough for the Plague Reaper, though.
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
The black liquid began to shake vigorously as something started to grow out of its widest streams. It looked like thick stalks of long, low, but wide flowers, however, the buds were tightly hidden under the cover of the dense ink.
"Hah... Seeing this ability in real life rather than reading about it in reports is much more interesting as well as dangerous..." Osana muttered as she gulped.
The buds shuddered, bursting like bubbles, but instead of a flower with petals, wide jaws with wide open mouths lurked beneath the ink.
Before the monsters could realize anything, the jaws took their first breath, sucking in fresh and clean air only to exhale black, deadly, and vile air in return.
Most of the monsters of the Purple Threat Level, especially those of the Top-100, knew what the strongest monster of their Threat Level was capable of, but it was the Light Yellow area where the appropriate level monsters were.
The monsters that were closest to the jaws did not hurriedly move away to a safe distance to avoid contact with the black air. Instead, they continued to breathe without any suspicion.
Bam. Bam. Bam.
For the next ten seconds, inside the ring of flames, the same scene repeated itself time after time - the monsters fell to the ground one after another.
Their heavy bodies raised clouds of dust, shattering the rocks beneath them into powder, causing a rumbling and deafening rumble.
And... None of those monsters rose from the ground again.
Crackle.
Plague Reaper pulled the scythe from the ground, swung his weapon, and placed the long blade on his shoulder.
He watched with a slight smirk on his face as dozens of monsters died from the black air, most didn't even realize how it happened.
Their deaths were inevitable. No matter how tough their hides were on the outside, once inside, the black air was like millions of blades piercing into their flesh, destroying it like a plague.
This quickly created a real panic among their lines at the imminent agony that awaited each of them.