Chapter 296: What to do with the women.

Hunter did not dare step foot into that pitch-black cave without backup. He was brave, not stupid. But he was worried that a delay would give the opponent an advantage. Just as he made up his mind to tush into the cave, a space tore open above the crater, and Zyra materialized with a fresh back up team.

Hunter couldn’t help the big grin that spread across his face_ not just because his wife was stunning, but because she had literally gone out into the dangerous Moon fall dungeon on her own, crushed her mission, and made it back to him in one piece to help him with his.

Had she known all along that she would work faster on her own, just as he used to be confident in battling on his own, without her as a distraction?

Zyra marched straight up to him, taking in his blood-splattered armor. He looked like a character straight out of a horror movie. "Do we have any idea what’s hiding inside there?"

Nero chuckled, resting his rifle on his shoulder. "Whatever it is, it’s waiting for us to waltz right into its lair where it has all the home-field advantage."

"I can slip in and scout it out," Gilby offered, rolling his shoulders. "Someone has to check."

Bianca immediately gave him a sharp nudge in the ribs. "Don’t play the martyr, Gilby. It’s annoying."

"Plus, it’d be completely stupid," Hunter added with a dry laugh. "Easiest way to be eaten."

"So, are we thinking a really weird human cannibal or just super strong beast?" Bianca asked.

Zyra unzipped her bag and handed out fresh packs of gravity bullets and pulse shards to everyone. "Whatever it is, we don’t need to go in to figure out what it is or know that before killing it. Let’s just end it and go home."

Achilles, scratching his chin, pitched in, "Well, knowing what kind of creature it is could be useful for future encounters, right?"

Zyra let out a long sigh. She silently called out, ’Beauty, send me robots and enough explosives to collapse the entire cave and whatever is inside.’

[Host, we have indestructible suicide deployment units ready. Displaying optimal explosive options,]

A floating screen popped up in her head, displaying a lineup of deadly ordinance. The system highlighted a set of glowing red charges at the top of the list.

[Recommended: Soul Flares. Formed from compressed core magma, these charges can melt straight through dark stone cores. This completely vaporizes the corrupted energy, preventing it from transferring to other beasts.]

Zyra selected the Soul Flares and pulled them from her beast pocket. Then she pulled out tiny, wheeled robots with little machine arms, clamp fingers, and glowing camera heads.

She activated the units, clamped a Soul Flare into each robot’s grip, and linked their feeds directly to her link-band.

"Gather around," Zyra called out.

The team crowded around her arm as a clear holographic screen projected into the air. The little robots wheeled into the dark cave silently. At first, the feed showed total darkness, but then the robots turned on their high-intensity searchlights, revealing the deep interior of the mountain. It was the old collapsed mines, with blocked tunnels.

Phillip rubbed his eyes violently, leaning in closer. "Are you guys seeing this or am I losing my mind?"

Deep inside the cave, at the end of a tunnel which was not blocked, sat a King Beast_ an evolved ape that looked horrifyingly close to a giant human, its flesh covered in thick white fur, with glowing dark stones attached to the head and arms.

Standing right next to it was a very pale man with long, unkempt brown hair. He was actively harvesting the dark stones off the giant ape and transferring the corrupted energy into caged beasts below using soul energy transfusions!

Tessi gasped. "Soul energy transfusion! That is illegal."

"No wonder the cave was quiet, this motherfucker was creating more." Hunter said.

Taylor pointed at the long-haired man on the projection. "He has to be the leader."

"I’ve seen enough," Zyra said coldly. She tapped her wrist band. "Detonate."

There was no earth-shattering boom or grand explosion like a normal bomb. Instead, a silent, intense wave of red light flashed on the screen, and the entire underground cave and its tunnels collapsed in on itself. The video feed cut to static instantly.

Big Vince blinked, looking at the solid mountain wall. "Uh_ was that it?"

Zyra blinked. She would not know until Beauty shared an update.

[Congratulations, host! You have successfully destroyed a Corrupted King Beast and its minions.

Ding! You are rewarded with a camouflage skill which you can give to any of your beasts, 40,000 resonance points and strength and speed increase ultra max skill which can be used up to 50 times]

Zyra pumped a cheerful fist in the air. "Jobs done. Beasts dead, it’s soul shredded and everything corrupt is on its way to hell."

A few seconds later, intense heat radiated through the ground. Bright, orange magma began to boil and bubble up right where the cave entrance had been. The ground over the mine’s surface started to swallow up everything above.

Hunter chuckled. "Nothing’s surviving that," he said, throwing a heavy arm around Zyra’s shoulders and pulling her close. "You really make everything way too easy for me, dear wife."

Zyra smiled up at him, her eyes sparkling. "Aren’t you a lucky man?"

"Hey! Lovebirds!" Bianca yelled, breaking up the moment with a grin. "What are we doing with the rest of the cannibals over there?"

Zyra’s sweet smile vanished instantly. Putting on her tough leader face, she turned toward the grass huts. "All of you, out. Now!"

A group of trembling women holding small children shuffled out into the clearing, throwing themselves flat onto the dirt.

Zyra spat on the ground near them. "We aren’t going to kill you_ for now. But we will be watching. If any of you touch human flesh or terrorize people ever again, I will personally come back and wipe this place clean." It wasn’t that they didn’t deserve to die, but she couldn’t see herself killing children.

"Mercy! Please, have mercy!" the women wept, begging frantically.

"We had no choice!" one woman sobbed, clutching her child. "They forced us to marry them and bear their children to expand the clan! We were all abducted from our homes. Do you think anyone would want to live in this creepy place?"

Another woman held up a cloth bundle she had packed quickly, tears streaming down her face. "I was kidnapped three years ago! I just want to go home. I have a husband, a family."

Achilles let out a sympathetic sigh. "Looks like they were victims too."

Zyra sighed. "But they have tasted human flesh. Can they turn back?"

"I didn’t eat." A woman screamed. "I can take an oath."

Hunter and Achilles exchanged glances and then Hunter raised his voice. "We are going to transfer all of you to an old, enclosed, abandoned village which is under our control. If you behave, you will be released after two years. As for your families, we will find a way to help you get into contact with them."

"But..." A woman started.

"That or death." Zyra cut her off. "You have five minutes to pack up."

None of the women dared to say another word. They rushed away to pack up. While the women gathered their things, the squad started dragging the bodies of the dead cannibals, finishing off those who had survived and dumping them into the bubbling magma pit for cremation, along with their corrupted half-life beasts.

"Where are you sending them?" Zyra asked Hunter. "Not to Rosewater, I hope."

Suddenly, the ground beneath the magma pit trembled violently. The soil cracked open!