Chapter 359: The beast.

Nanny Rosita winced, her eyes widening in horror as she quickly reached over and slapped both her hands over little Yaya’s ears. "Watch your tongue Mister Achilles! There are small ears at this table. The world is rough, but children should not hear about slicing throats when they are eating."

Hunter leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of herbal peppermint tea. "Relax, Achilles. Elliot’s hot-headed, but he’d never actually try to kill you. He is not as crazy as our mother, yet."

Arrow started spreading butter on his toast, humming thoughtfully. "Yeah, I beg to differ on that one, boss. Have you guys seen his gear lately? Elliot got himself an artificial mechanical hand. The knuckles literally spring open to shoot out ten-inch titanium daggers. He plans to debut it at the final competition."

"So that is why his opponents leave the field bleeding, without an explanation! I am not shocked at all, but metal hands aside_ " Bianca let out a massive, soul-crushing sigh, resting her chin on the table. "Is anyone else here dying of absolute, mind-numbing boredom, or is it just me?"

Immediately, all the Soul Maidens in the room raised their hands in the air like eager schoolchildren.

Nanny Rosita shook her head, handing Yaya a small glass of milk. "You young people don’t appreciate the quiet. Sometimes, boredom is a blessing. It means nobody is trying to kill us, and we’re living peacefully. You don’t know how much the old generation prayed for times like this."

Malia slumped in her seat, pouting dramatically. "Yeah, but Rosita, we don’t even go hunting anymore! Look, I’m super grateful we have a mountain of food in the stores, but I legit miss the old days of chasing down wild beasts. I have anger to work off and nothing to burn."

Arrow stopped slicing his apple into neat little wedges. He looked around the table and raised an eyebrow. "Well_ maybe we should go on a hunt. A quick run out in the woods?"

Zyra chewed her food slowly, looking at the eager faces around the table. "Hey, I’m not stopping any of you. As long as you don’t drag any trouble back to our front door, go wild. Keep in mind that the plague is still plaguing."

Bianca frowned. "Plague is still plaguing!"

"You know what I mean." Zyra replied with an eye roll.

Etania clicked her tongue loudly, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. "Please, divine maiden. Who do you take us for? We are seasoned, elite professionals. We wouldn’t catch illnesses or bring back trouble."

Hunter didn’t say a word. His eyes quietly drifted down to the back of Zyra’s hand, where faint, glowing dungeon mark was visible. He lifted his gaze, his eyes meeting hers across the table.

Zyra caught his eye, giving him a subtle nod. She jerked her head toward the exit, motioning for him to follow her.

The moment they stepped through the heavy metal doors of the security control room, Hunter’s face instantly flushed red. He looked like a teenager who had just been caught sneaking out at midnight.

Before Zyra could even open her mouth, Hunter raised his hands defensively and spilled the beans. "Okay, look! I have to let you know! I can see those weird glowing symbols on your arm and I already figured out what they are. They’re dungeon marks."

Zyra’s mouth popped open in genuine shock. She quickly winced, pressing a index finger against her lips as she looked around the room.

"What? Really!" She exclaimed, her brows pulling together. "How in the world can you see it? Is that even possible just because you are a beast?"

Hunter blinked, caught off guard by the word. "I am not a beast." A cocky grin suddenly spread across his face, and he lowered his voice, leaning in closer. "Unless you are talking about___in bed?"

She raised her hand and smacked him.

"Ow!" Hunter winced, rubbing his forehead where Zyra had just rapped him hard with her knuckle.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Kaelion!" Zyra snapped, rolling her eyes so hard it almost hurt.

Hunter kept rubbing his head, looking totally bewildered. "Hey, you’re the one who called me a beast! What else am I supposed to think?!"

"I didn’t call you that," Zyra sighed, leaning back against the console table. "Beauty did."

Right on queue, the soft, robotic voice of her system echoed in Zyra’s mind. [Host, may I materialize and become visible to Hunter?]

Zyra nodded. "Go ahead."

A bright blue light flickered in the middle of the room, swirling together until a sleek, semi-transparent screen materialized right before their eyes. Floating in the middle of the screen was a cute snake avatar, flicking its tiny pixelated tongue.

Hunter gasped, pointing a finger directly at the floating reptile. "Wait_ That’s Beauty?!"

The snake avatar bowed its little digital head politely.

[Hello, Hunter Magnus,] Beauty’s pleasant artificial voice boomed from the speakers. [And for the record, my classification of you as a ’beast’ is scientifically accurate. It is quite common for modern humans to carry lingering beast DNA in their genetic code. After all, your species evolved from primitive apes.]

Hunter stood there for three whole seconds, staring at the digital snake, trying to figure out if he had just been insulted by Beauty.

"Rude," Hunter muttered, though he nodded in reluctant understanding. "Okay, fine. Science. I get it, but I don’t think I have any ape DNA in me."

Before they could dive into a debate on human evolution, loud red warning sirens suddenly blared throughout the security room! Red emergency lights flashed across the walls, painting the room in a bloody glow.

The main monitor wall auto-zoomed, focusing its high-definition cameras on the dark forest paths six miles beyond valley’s perimeter. A dense line of people was slowly trekking through the dirt trails.

Zyra stepped closer to the monitors, her eyebrows furrowing. "Look at that_ That’s the third large group of armed people we’ve seen marching through the woods in the past two days alone." She crossed her arms, a heavy knot tightening in her stomach. "This is getting unsettling. Where are all these people coming from? Have the meat reserves in the outside world been drained completely?"

Hunter walked up beside her, staring at the live feed. He nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders. "It’s the wild lands, Zyra. Out here, resources dry up and people migrate all the time. People are always wandering around looking for better shelters or safer towns or dungeons and hunting grounds. It’s not really that surprising to see armed individuals out here."

Zyra shrugged back, sighing softly. He wasn’t wrong, but the bad feeling in her gut wouldn’t go away. "Beauty be on guard about this. I don’t have a good feeling about it."