Just like that, a few hours passed quietly. The cars kept moving across the highway, nothing bizarre happened the entire ti which made the group even more alert. The lack of enemies around them made them feel very uncomfortable.
For the first ti since the integration happened, everyone wished at least one monster would show up in front of the group. But, nothing of that sort occurred. If anything, nobody could even see a trace of any monster moving on the highway or around it.
"What is going on?" Talon murmured as he looked around him. "Where is everyone?… There is sothing off."
"What is happening in this place?" Looking outside the window, Hyun-Jae noticed that the plains around them were slowly rging with the forest ahead. What was vast open fields was now a rather thick forest that surrounded them from both sides.
"Keep yourself alert, we should be reaching the next town any ti now."
Hyun-Jae, Sophie, and Chin-Hwa nodded their heads. Being on high alert in such a situation is the only thing they can do.
Then, Talon picked up his communication device and inford everyone to stay ready for any possible changes.
The vehicles moved slowly through the road as the sun slowly went down beyond the trees. The darkness slowly engulfed them and the temperature grew colder. Turning the headlights of the car on, Talon continued moving after the first vehicle.
Eventually, the sight of a town finally appeared in the distance. Due to the lack of lighting, the town appeared vague, dark, and eerie to a high degree.
The vehicles approached the town till they were at the entrance. Then, everyone stopped as Talon got out of the car and stepped forward.
"What an eerie place." He murmured before he turned to Acrypha. "Do you sense anything odd?"
The woman looked around her before she sighed. "I can't tell you or I will be punished. All that I can say is you have to be careful."
"Hmm, that's more than enough of an advice." He replied as he approached the first vehicle in the line.
"Hey…" Knocking in the window, he signaled for the driver to push it down.
"Y-Yes, sir?"
"Where did you spend the night here?" He asked.
"We did not spend the night here, sir. We simply took the fuel we found in the town and continued moving as fast as we could."
"Is that so?"
"We knew staying could be dangerous so we simply didn't stop at all."
'That would've been a good idea if we didn't have tens of people with us. It would turn really ssy really quickly.'
"Tell everyone to co out." Talon turned around. "Hyun-Jae, co with . We're going to check this town." He said.
"Oh? What about ?" Sophie asked.
"You stay with the rest and prepare to move. I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this. We must not get separated."
"Ok…" Sophie bitterly nodded her head as she turned around.
anwhile, Hyun-Jae simply pulled her sword out and walked after Talon. "Are you sensing anything?"
"No, not yet. But, I'm definitely not feeling comfortable being here. Let's see if my hunch is on point."
With that, the duo walked into the small town slowly. The place was naturally completely desolated. Except for the rundown houses and the destroyed street, there was nothing worth looking at.
This town was in reality a village built in the middle of the forest. It had a beautiful view of the forest so it was quite popular amongst tourists that ca to enjoy the nature of South Korea.
However, that town is now completely destroyed. Nobody remained in it as they either escaped or died.
*Step*
Walking through the main street of the town, Talon's eyes coldly looked around him. "It's completely gone."
"Yeah… I visited this town a few tis before when I was younger. It was a very beautiful place." Hyun-Jae murmured with a complicated expression.
The tis she spent when she was a kid with her family were one of the most precious mories she had. After all, at the ti, things were far better and her life was still the one she imagined it would be… Happy, carefree, beautiful…
But, things completely changed in one single mont and since then, they never ca back. All that's left for Hyun-Jae is the mories she tries to piece together from the ruins around her.
Talon noticed that subtle nostalgia in her eyes and he could only sigh.
"Well, it seems nothing is in this town. It's completely empty. We can spend the night here." He said as he turned around to walk back.
But, at that mont, he suddenly halted as his eyes turned extrely sharp. He felt a chill run down his spine and his aura was perturbed for a couple of seconds. This was the feeling Talon always had when he found himself in a dangerous situation… A very dangerous situation.
'What? Sothing just moved through my senses…' Turning around, Talon summoned his spear.
Looking around him, he didn't notice anything off. The entire town was the sa and the presence that he detected vanished as if it was never there in the first place.
"Talon?" Hyun-Jae snapped out of her daze.
But, the latter didn't respond as he kept looking around him. "Get out. I know you're there, whatever you are." He spoke in a clear and threatening tone.
'It moved so fast that I didn't even have ti to identify what it was. I have never seen any monster this fast before… It's almost like a ghost.'
So far, the fastest creatures Talon fought were far from being too fast. In fact, Talon was able to overpower them even in terms of speed on his own. However, this one was completely different and he could feel it clearly.
"I said co out!" Yelling again when he got no response, his body suddenly flinched before he turned around.
*Swish*
Without wasting a single mont, Talon moved his hand at lightning speed at the exact mont when a black figure stord through him.
'It reached ?! When? I didn't notice it... I was certain that it left…' His eyes widened as he quickly deflected the attack threatening to tear his face off.
*CLING*
The sound of two tal objects clashing echoed in the vicinity. Then, out of nowhere, blood splashed from Talon's cheek.
"Talon!!" Hyun-Jae quickly channeled her Aetheris, ready to rush toward him.
"Don't move!" He yelled back as he quickly wiped his face. "It's too fast and I can't see it. Stay focused on your surroundings."
With a calm mind, Talon kept looking around, ignoring the stinging pain from the injury.
'Dammit, if I was a split second late, it would've decapitated .'
The feeling of threat grew in his heart. But, he oddly didn't feel despair in that mont. Even when the monster was clearly very strong, Talon found himself rather focused.
'Co on, try again, bastard.'
A few slow seconds passed with nothing happening. Then, in a split mont, the black figure erged out of nowhere and dashed toward the duo. Its speed was way faster than before, to the point where neither of them could follow it with their eyes.
*Swish*
This ti, instead of targeting Talon, it instead shifted the direction to Hyun-Jae.
As it was about to attack, it suddenly felt sothing fly through the air as it stabbed it in the side. The monster imdiately jumped back as it vanished like a ghost.
"Riiiiii!!!!" The sound of its painful groan echoed in the vicinity.
Hyun-Jae blinked in shock as her eyes shifted to the shiny object floating in front of her. A very beautiful and graceful blue blade quietly levitated where the monster was. Black, gooey substance dripping from it.
"Even if I can't see it or feel it… That doesn't an I can't predict where it would attack." Talon said coldly as he moved the blade away.
'Future Sight ca in clutch here… I had a hunch it might attack Hyun-Jae next but I didn't know where it would co from.' His eyes flickered with an ominous light before they returned to normal.
"What… was that?"
"I don't know. But, it's certainly sothing that isn't human. It's way faster than anything we've fought. Even worse, it sohow has a way of moving through my senses without triggering them. Almost as if… It can teleport…'
A//N: Don't forget to support the book if you enjoyed reading 😀
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