The creature realized it wasn’t alone.

Its body suddenly twitched, then it charged.

Its first target was Skurt.

The young goblin barely had time to react before the creature’s claws reached him and pierced straight into his throat.

Skurt’s eyes widened.

He instinctively grabbed his neck, only to feel warm blue blood running between his fingers.

His breathing stopped, his body froze from the shock and his eyes rolled upward before he collapsed to the ground.

The creature slowly pulled its claw away.

Strange vines began growing from the wound, slowly wrapping around the severed flesh in its hand.

But before it could do anything else—

Yasmin was already behind it.

Doran was beside it.

And Qasim was directly in front of it.

All three attacked at the same time.

The creature didn’t even have time to react.

Its body was torn apart under the combined assault.

Doran’s beam continued burning through it while Yasmin repeatedly stabbed anything that still looked remotely alive and Qasim kept casting one spell after another.

The three of them slowly stopped their attacks after the creature stopped moving.

Doran stared at the corpse.

"What the fuck was that thing?"

Qasim was staring at the corpse too.

Then his eyes shifted toward Skurt.

The young goblin was lying motionless on the ground.

His blue blood had spread beneath him.

Qasim’s eyes narrowed.

*If only I reacted sooner...*

He clenched his fist.

*He would still be alive.*

He looked down at his own hands.

*I’m supposed to be strong.*

If he had reacted even a second faster...

Maybe Skurt would still be breathing.

Qasim shook his head.

No.

He couldn’t keep thinking like this.

He looked back at the creature.

Valen stepped closer.

"I... don’t know."

He crouched beside the corpse.

"But I’ll use my eyes to check. Please leave some space."

Everyone stepped back.

Valen looked at Qasim for a moment.

Then back at the creature before his eyes turned white.

The moment he activated his power, his expression changed.

The usual calmness disappeared.

His face showed nothing but disgust.

And something else... Fear.

Valen’s eyes slowly returned to their normal green color.

"This thing is a living corpse."

Everyone became quiet.

"Something similar to what we faced in the village... But much worse."

He paused, gathering his thoughts.

"I don’t recognize what corpse it was."

His voice became quieter.

"It’s not human, not beastkin and not goblin."

"I really can’t tell what it used to be."

Valen’s eyes hardened.

"But I’m certain about one thing."

He looked at the others.

"It’s smarter than any normal monster I’ve ever faced."

Nobody knew what to say.

After a short discussion, they agreed to turn back.

Whatever this place was hiding, continuing forward without knowing what they were dealing with was too dangerous.

They retraced their steps, but stopped after a while.

A barrier covered the tunnel behind them.

Doran immediately approached it.

"Hey! Who the fuck put this barrier here?! Remove it! We have important things to report!"

No answer.

Doran raised his voice.

"Did you hear me?!"

Still nothing.

"What the fuck is going on here?"

Valen’s expression darkened.

His voice became colder.

"Isn’t it obvious?"

He stared at the barrier.

"We’re being trapped here on purpose."

Yasmin looked at the barrier.

"Can’t we just break it?"

Valen shook his head.

"This type of barrier is extremely valuable because of its efficiency and power."

His eyes narrowed.

"Each kingdom only has a small amount of them."

Levia’s face paled.

"Do you mean..."

"Yes."

Valen’s expression became even darker.

"We’re probably being played by someone from the high council of the Goblin World."

The group fell silent.

There was no way back, so they had to keep moving forward.

Deeper into the dungeon.

The tunnel gradually became narrower.

The walls closed in around them.

Their footsteps echoed through the darkness.

Then, after walking for some time...

Light appeared ahead.

They approached carefully.

The team stepped out into a massive chamber.

And immediately saw familiar faces.

"Aluna!"

Valen called out.

Aluna, who had been speaking with Zyra, turned around.

"Valen, good to know you and your team are well."

The group quickly approached them.

But the moment Qasim passed the members of Zyra’s team, his expression changed.

Some of them were injured.

"Did you two also fight that thing?" Valen asked.

Aluna answered first.

"Yes."

She looked toward the others.

"My team encountered a giant flesh ball."

"When we attacked it, a creature appeared."

She described it briefly.

Pale skin.

Long, rectangle head.

No facial features.

"We killed it rather easily."

She paused.

Then looked toward Zyra.

"But they weren’t so lucky."

Zyra continued.

"We encountered the same creature."

Her voice was calm, but there was anger beneath it.

"Unlike Lady Aluna’s team, we had considerable difficulty dealing with it."

She looked at her injured students.

"It was faster and stronger than them."

She clenched her fist while watching the injured.

"I only I reacted faster these three won’t get injured."

Aluna looked toward Valen.

"Tell us what happened on your side."

Valen nodded.

He explained everything about the creature, and added the barrier problem.

When he finished, Aluna placed a hand beneath her chin.

"As I expected..."

Valen looked at her.

"What do you mean?"

"In your case and ours, we managed to deal with the creature rather easily."

She looked toward Zyra.

"But that’s because we didn’t hit the fleshcocoon so badly."

Aluna continued.

"You said Qasim only delivered a weak electric shock to it."

"And one of my spirit accidentally touched it with a weak attack."

She looked toward Zyra.

"Zyra’s team was different."

"They attacked the flesh ball with much greater power."

Valen slowly understood.

"So..."

"The stronger the attack against the flesh cocoon..." Aluna completed his sentence, "the stronger the creature that comes out."

"Do you know what these things are?" Valen asked.

"Not exactly."

Aluna shook her head.

"But their shape reminds me of a specific race I encountered almost a hundred years ago."

Valen blinked.

"Which race?"

Aluna answered calmly.

"The Tree Race."

Valen’s eyes widened.

"The race that went extinct?"

He thought for a moment.

"That actually makes some sense."

"When I analyzed it, I could tell it was clearly the corpse of some living creature."

"But I couldn’t identify which one."

"If it really came from the Tree Race..."

His voice became quieter.

"That would explain it, since I never meet them before."

Valen had a very bad feeling about this entire situation.

Then Zyra’s communication stone began glowing.

She immediately picked it up.

"This is Zyra from the second team. Is the fourth team okay?"

For a moment, only static and strange noises came through the stone.

Then a clear voice answered.

"Hello, Master Zyra."

Zyra’s expression changed.

"Cirix! Are you and your team okay?"

There was a short silence.

Then the calm voice answered.

"No, Master Zyra."

"They’re all dead."

Zyra froze.

"We encountered a monster with a long head."

"It was inside a flesh cocoon."

"We attacked the it with our strongest attacks because we thought it was dangerous."

Zyra immediately raised her voice.

"Cirix, stay hidden where you are! I’ll come to you!"

"Run and hide until I reach your tunnel!"

"No need, Master Zyra."

Her voice remained strangely calm.

"What do you mean by no need?"

Zyra’s voice trembled slightly.

"By the way... if your entire team was killed, how did you escape?"

There was another brief silence.

"I am strong, Master Zyra."

"The monster’s first attack missed me."

Zyra let out a breath.

"Good."

"Then stay alive until I—"

"But I’m not alive, Master Zyra."

Zyra’s eyes widened.

"I am dying."

"Wh-What do you mean by that?"

The calmness in Cirix’s voice became even more disturbing.

"The monster doesn’t have a voice."

"So it kept me alive... In some way."

"It removed every part of my body except my head."

"So I can still talk."

Cirix paused.

"When this conversation is over..."

"It will simply let my head die."

Nobody spoke.

Then Cirix continued.

"It only wanted me to tell you one thing."

Her voice remained calm.

"You who want to hurt us shall pay the price with your own lives.

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