The moment they stepped beyond the cave's threshold, a new world unfolded before them.
The night sky stretched endlessly above, a deep, consuming void speckled with countless shifting stars, their light reflecting off the landscape like a celestial ocean. The air was different here—lighter, breathable, almost welcoming. Unlike the suffocating tunnels or the scorched wasteland, here, they could breathe without struggle.
Belial exhaled slowly, testing the air. It was cool, crisp, and thick with ether. More than that, he could feel the subtle shifts in the environment—life pulsing beneath the surface.
"This is real right?," Xin murmured. His voice was quiet, but there was something almost reverent in his tone.
"..." Raven agreed, surveying the land before them.
The forest stretched vast and endless, illuminated by bioluminescent flora and the eerie shimmer of crystalline plants. Some of the trees were massive, their bark dark and gnarled, their branches twisting like skeletal fingers into the night sky. Others bore translucent leaves, which pulsed faintly with light, like the slow beat of a sleeping heart.
It was alive.
More alive than anything they had seen in this wretched land.
And that… was unsettling.
Because it was too alive.
The group moved carefully, staying within the shadows, their senses sharp, their bodies tense. They knew better than to let their guard down. This place wasn't some haven—it was simply a different kind of battlefield.
And they weren't the only ones moving.
The creatures of the night had emerged.
Belial spotted something shifting in the trees—six-legged beasts with elongated skulls and razor-thin mandibles, silently crawling across the canopy. Their chitinous hides reflected the moonlight, giving them an almost spectral appearance as they watched the world below with multiple black eyes.
Lower to the ground, slender reptilian forms slithered between the crystal-covered roots, their bodies shifting colors to blend with their surroundings.
But what drew their attention the most—
Were the battles.
All around them, monsters tore into each other.
There was no hesitation. No warning. No posturing.
Just pure, unrelenting carnage.
Two towering beasts—one resembling a grotesque fusion of a mammal and an insect, the other a sleek, scaled predator—collided with bone-shattering force. The impact sent shockwaves through the ground, shaking the very trees around them.
The bear-like creature lashed out with a massive, spiked limb, raking deep gashes into the predator's hide. Dark ichor sprayed across the crystalline ground.
The predator shrieked, its elongated jaw unhinging unnaturally as it clamped down on its opponent's exposed throat, its serrated teeth sinking deep. The bear-insect hybrid thrashed violently, its spiked limbs flailing, piercing deep into the predator's side, tearing through muscle and bone.
Neither backed down.
Neither would survive.
Not intact, at least.
Belial's fingers twitched near his weapon, but he knew better.
Getting involved would be suicide.
Even Raven, who was always stalwart, remained still. Watching. Waiting.
A few meters away, a horde of smaller creatures—shadowy, hunched forms with luminous veins running across their bodies—descended upon the corpse of a fallen beast. Their razor-sharp claws and mandibles worked feverishly, peeling flesh, stripping muscle, gnawing on bones with a sickening crunch.
Xin swallowed hard. "This is insane..."
Belial didn't respond.
Because this was nature here.
There was no order. No hierarchy. No balance.
Just a constant, unending slaughter, where only the strong, the fast, or the cruel survived the night.
The group pressed forward, sticking to the deepest shadows, avoiding making a sound.
The mirror monsters did not notice them.
Not yet.
And they intended to keep it that way.
The group moved with near complete silence , navigating through the alien forest as if walking across thin ice. One wrong step—one careless breath—and they'd be dragged into the carnage** that surrounded them.
The night was alive with violence.
Monsters clashed in brutal displays of dominance, their bodies twisting and tearing into one another with primal rage. The air smelled of ether and blood, a suffocating mix that made Xin's stomach churn.
He tried not to focus on the sounds—the wet crunch of flesh being torn, the guttural shrieks of the dying, the unsettling chittering laughter of unseen scavengers waiting for their turn to feast.
Somewhere in the distance, something massive let out a gurgling death cry before being silenced in an instant. Whatever killed it hadn't even let it scream for long.
"We should move faster," Xin muttered, his voice barely above a whisper.
Belial didn't respond immediately. His gaze flickered over the battlefield around them, calculating.
Finally, he exhaled. "No. We don't run. Running attracts attention."
Xin frowned but didn't argue. He knew Belial was right. Nothing in this world ignored prey that ran.
Raven, however, was focused elsewhere. His armored fingers curled into fists as he watched the chaos unfold. "This place…" His voice was low, dangerous. "It's like a culling ground."
Belial nodded. "Because it is."
Xin tensed. "Then we shouldn't be here."
Belial smirked. "And yet, here we are."
They kept moving, weaving between towering trees, avoiding the crystal-veined plants that pulsed faintly with ether. Some of them looked harmless—but Belial knew better. This place didn't have harmless things.
Everything here either killed or survived.
And they were trespassers.
A sudden, ear-splitting roar shook the trees.
The group froze.
Up ahead, the remains of one of the battling monsters lay twitching on the forest floor—a colossal, insectoid predator, its exoskeleton cracked open, black ichor pooling beneath its lifeless body.
Xin's breath hitched. Something had killed it—something even stronger.
Belial's hand drifted toward his weapon, but before he could react—
The shadows moved.
A figure descended from the canopy above, landing silently beside the fresh corpse.
It was massive, yet disturbingly graceful—its body sleek, almost feline, but covered in overlapping, armor-like plating that gleamed under the dim light. Its limbs were too long, ending in curved, black talons, and its face…
Its face was a blank, expressionless mask.
No nose. No mouth. Just smooth, polished bone and a pair of dark, empty eyes.
And yet—they knew it could see them.
Belial inhaled slowly, forcing his body to remain still.
This thing…
It tilted its head, as if listening.
Then, with slow, deliberate movements, it reached down and sank its claws into the dead monster's corpse.
Then the bone mask split apart, revealing a wide, grinning maw lined with jagged teeth.
The sound of tearing flesh filled the air as it peeled open the exoskeleton, exposing the still-warm insides.
Xin clenched his jaw. He wanted to look away, but he didn't dare.
They weren't hidden.
They were being ignored.
Like insects in the presence of giant.
A fresh wave of blood-scented ether filled the air as the creature feasted, slurping down the gelatinous insides of its prey. The way it ate—slowly, savoring each bite—sent chills down Xin's spine.
It wasn't just consuming.
It was enjoying itself.
Raven took a slow, measured step backward. The others followed, careful, methodical, unwilling to draw its attention.
The creature didn't react.
It simply continued its feast.
But Belial's instincts screamed at him.
This thing isn't a mindless beast. It's intelligent.
Watching. Learning.
And it's letting us live.
For now.
They kept their pace controlled, inch by inch retreating deeper into the trees.
But just as they passed beyond its immediate range—
The thing stopped eating.
And it turned its head toward them.
Xin's breath caught in his throat.
The mask had resealed, leaving behind only those cold, empty eyes.
And for the first time, they saw its true expression.
Curiosity.
Not hunger.
Not anger.
Just a simple, chilling curiosity.
Belial didn't blink.
Didn't breathe.
The monster stared at them for a few unbearable seconds… then turned back to its meal.
Belial exhaled slowly, his body rigid with tension.
They weren't worth its effort.
They were beneath its concern.
That thought didn't bring him comfort.
The group pressed deeper into the forest, moving with the precision of ghosts. The further they went, the more muted the sounds of battle became. The creatures here were different—more cautious, more aware. Unlike the savagery of the battlefield, these were hunters who knew how to wait.
And that was far more terrifying.
Finally, after what felt like hours, they reached a small clearing. A place where the ether-heavy air wasn't as suffocating, where the overwhelming feeling of being watched lessened—if only slightly.
They stopped.
No one spoke for a long moment.
Then Xin broke the silence.
"That thing… back there," he murmured. "That wasn't normal."
Belial nodded. "Nothing here is."
"But it let us live."
"Because it didn't care," Raven muttered, his arms crossed. His usually steely expression was troubled. "It wasn't mercy. It just wasn't interested in weaker opponents."
Xin swallowed. "That's what scares me the most."
They had encountered monsters that attacked on instinct.
Creatures driven by ether hunger, by rage, by the simple need to destroy.
But that thing?
That thing had looked at them. Judged them.
And decided they weren't worth its time.
For now.
Belial glanced at the others. "The monsters here can track our scent very easily if we stay in one area for too long, ."
Xin frowned. "So its no use hiding is there?"
Belial nodded and sighed, his gaze drifting toward the vast, untamed forest ahead.
"There's a spot somewhere up ahead ."