Chapter 53: The feeding ground

The arrow struck directly into the undead creature’s eye socket.

The impact was clean.

The archer had aimed carefully, waiting for the perfect opening before releasing the arrow. Under normal circumstances, a shot like that would have been enough to cripple even a low-rank magical beast.

But the creature did not fall. It did not even stagger. The arrow remained lodged inside its empty eye socket as if it were nothing more than a harmless piece of wood.

The archer’s eyes widened in disbelief.

"What?"

The undead slowly raised its head. A deep, guttural sound escaped from its throat.

"Raaaar..."

The sound reverberated through the stone corridor. The archer instinctively stepped backward.

"It didn’t work!" He exclaimed. "The arrow barely did anything!"

Leon’s expression became serious.

Until now, he had assumed that the undead was simply another low-rank monster. Its appearance was certainly unsettling, but its movements had seemed sluggish, and its body did not possess the overwhelming presence of a powerful magical beast.

Yet all their attacks had failed completely.

Leon tightened his grip around his sword.

"Then let me try this."

He drew in a deep breath and summoned mana from his Hero Core. The energy inside his body immediately responded.

A surge of magical power erupted from Leon, spreading outward in a powerful wave. His clothes fluttered from the pressure as countless strands of golden energy spiraled around his body.

The members of his team instinctively moved aside.

Leon raised his sword.

Golden light gathered around the blade.

The mana became denser with every passing second until it began to form the vague outline of a massive beast behind him. It possessed a thick golden mane and a pair of enormous claws. Its body seemed almost indistinct, as though it had been carved from concentrated light.

Leon’s eyes sharpened.

"Claw of the Golden Beast King!"

He swung his sword forward. The phantom beast behind him roared and followed the motion.

A massive golden claw descended toward the undead.

BOOM!

The impact shook the entire corridor.

Dust erupted from the stone floor and spread throughout the chamber. Small fragments of rock fell from the ceiling as the force of the attack traveled through the ancient structure.

The team members covered their faces with their arms.

"What kind of power is that?" The mage asked in astonishment.

As the dust gradually settled, they finally saw the result. The undead had been struck directly across the chest.

Its tattered clothing had been torn apart and reduced to ash. A long, horizontal wound stretched across its torso, resembling the mark left by the claw of an enormous beast.

Dark, viscous fluid poured from the wound. The undead staggered backward. For a moment, it remained standing. Then its knees buckled. Its body crashed heavily against the stone floor.

THUD!

The archer stared at the fallen creature.

"He... he actually did it," he said in disbelief.

David released the breath he had been holding.

"That’s more like it," David said with a relieved grin.

He looked at Leon with admiration.

As expected from the academy’s one of the strongest freshman. Leon was not someone who could be underestimated.

However, Leon himself did not look satisfied. He stared at the undead lying several meters away.

His brows remained furrowed.

Something was wrong.

That attack had consumed a considerable amount of mana. Claw of the Golden Beast King was not some ordinary sword technique that he could casually throw around. It was one of the stronger techniques he had developed, and he had expected an attack of that level to completely destroy a low-rank undead.

Instead, the creature was merely lying on the ground. Even worse, Leon could not shake the feeling that it was still alive.

"We shouldn’t let our guard down yet," Leon warned.

David glanced at him.

"You think it’s still alive?"

Leon did not answer.

Before he could say anything else, an eerie sound suddenly emerged from the darkness.

"Ooooooh..."

Everyone froze.

The sound was low and hollow. It echoed through the chamber before traveling into the deeper sections of the dungeon.

Leon immediately turned around.

"What was that?" The mage asked nervously.

The others looked toward the undead. For a moment, they assumed the sound had come from the creature Leon had just defeated.

But Leon quickly realized that was not the case.

The undead was still lying motionless on the floor. Its body had not moved. The sound had come from somewhere else. Somewhere deeper inside the dungeon.

Leon slowly turned his head toward the dark passage ahead. His expression changed. Something about the sound was different from the previous growls.

The undead had already made several strange noises since their encounter. But this particular sound did not feel like the cry of a wounded creature.

Almost as if the dungeon itself had answered.

"Everyone, stay alert," Leon ordered.

The shield bearer immediately raised his shield.

"What was that?" he asked.

Leon continued staring into the darkness.

"I don’t know," he replied.

His answer only made the others more nervous. Leon listened carefully. For several seconds, there was nothing.

The dungeon returned to silence. Then they heard it.

Scrape.

Everyone stiffened.

Scrape.

The sound came from somewhere beyond the corridor.

Scrape.

The archer swallowed nervously.

Another sound followed.

Scrape.

Scrape.

Scrape.

This time, it was unmistakably closer. The mage’s face gradually lost its color.

"Those sounds..." she whispered.

Another scraping noise echoed through the passage. Then another and another.

Base on the sound, it was not a single creature moving, but several.

Leon’s expression became increasingly grim. He then realized.

He glanced at the lying undead and said, "Of course, it wasn’t alone."

He looked back at the dark hallway. Something was coming.

David stepped forward and raised his knuckles.

"Leon," he said quietly, "how many do you think there are?"

Leon did not answer. He could not tell. The darkness was too deep, and the ancient corridor offered almost no light.

Then two faint blue lights appeared in the distance. Everyone stopped breathing. The lights were positioned roughly where a pair of eyes should have been. Another pair appeared beside them.

Then another.

Two became four.

Four became six.

Six became eight.

More faint blue lights emerged from the darkness one after another. Soon, the entire passage seemed to be filled with them.

The mage’s hands began trembling.

"No way..."

The archer slowly lowered his bow. His confidence from moments ago had disappeared completely. The shield bearer tightened his grip around his weapon.

"Those are eyes..."

Leon stared at the countless blue lights. He finally remembered. The first undead had never been the real enemy. It had only been the first creature they encountered.

The others had been waiting deeper inside. And now, they finally stepped forward. The scraping grew louder. Several silhouettes began emerging from the darkness.

The undead moved slowly, dragging their feet across the stone floor. Some carried rusted weapons, while others possessed broken pieces of armor that had long since lost their original color.

Their bodies were covered in decay. Their blue eyes glowed unnaturally in the darkness. There were too many. Leon could not determine their exact number.

Ten?

Twenty?

Perhaps more.

The passage itself seemed to be producing them.

David glanced at Leon.

"What do we do?"

Leon remained silent for several seconds. His eyes moved from the undead to the corridor behind them.

The entrance was still visible.

"We’re leaving," Leon finally said.

The others immediately understood.

The mage released a breath she had unconsciously been holding. The archer lowered his shoulders in relief. The shield bearer nodded and began moving backward.

David, however, looked at Leon with hesitation.

"But we haven’t defeated even one monster yet," he pointed out.

Leon looked toward the undead lying behind them.

The creature he had struck with Claw of the Golden King begun to move again. Its fingers twitched against the stone floor. Even that single monster had required him to use one of his stronger techniques.

"We don’t have time to worry about that," Leon replied.

He pointed toward the approaching undead.

"One of them was already difficult to deal with. If all of those creatures surround us, we won’t have the opportunity to fight properly."

David frowned.

Leon continued, "We also don’t know what kind of abilities these creatures possess. Our ordinary attacks are barely effective, and my strongest technique only managed to injure one of them."

He glanced at the dark corridor.

"There could be something even worse deeper inside."

David stared at Leon for a moment.

Then he nodded.

"You’re right."

For David, that decision further confirmed something he had already believed.

Leon was a genuine leader.

He had the strength to continue fighting, but he did not allow his pride to dictate his decisions. Instead of chasing after a victory that might cost the entire team their lives, Leon had chosen to retreat. That was the difference between someone who was merely strong and someone capable of leading others.

"Everyone, move!" Leon ordered.

The team immediately turned around.

They rushed through the corridor they had come from, keeping their weapons ready in case another monster appeared from the side.

Behind them, the scraping sounds continued. More undead emerged from the darkness. Their blue eyes followed the retreating students. None of them spoke. None of them screamed. They simply walked forward.

The sound of their footsteps and dragging weapons echoed throughout the hallway.

Leon glanced over his shoulder once. The sight sent a chill down his spine. The dungeon seemed to have awakened. They had entered expecting treasure. Instead, they had discovered something far more dangerous.

None of them knew that the ancient structure they had stumbled upon was not an ordinary dungeon.

It was the Moonlit Catacombs. A place hidden within the Emerald Forest. A place whose existence had been forgotten by most people.

According to the original records of Eclipse Hearts, the Moonlit Catacombs was not a permanent dungeon. It appeared only once every decade. Whenever it emerged, strange phenomena would accompany it.

Far above the depths of the forest, another strange event was beginning. A flock of birds suddenly burst from the trees.

Hundreds of them took flight at once, their wings beating frantically as they scattered across the sky.

Their cries filled the forest.

The sudden movement was so violent that even some of the nearby magical beasts became restless.

A few moments later, an eerie howl echoed from somewhere in the middle region of the forest.

"AWOOOOOO!"

The sound traveled between the enormous trees. Then another howl followed and another. The magical beasts that had been moving through the forest suddenly became cautious, as if they had sensed the arrival of something they instinctively feared.

High above the forest floor, three silhouettes stood upon the branches of an enormous tree. They were dressed in dark red attire. The clothing was unlike anything worn by the students of Astral Dominion Academy or the academy’s staff. Their garments appeared to have been created from some strange material that absorbed the surrounding light. Long coats hung from their shoulders, while intricate patterns were embroidered across their sleeves and collars.

Their faces were partially concealed. The three figures stood completely still. Not even the wind seemed capable of disturbing them. The person standing in the middle was slightly taller than the other two.

He looked toward the distant forest. His expression was impossible to read beneath the shadow covering his face.

For several seconds, he remained silent. Then he spoke.

"The party is about to begin."

His voice was guttural and cold. There was no excitement in it, yet something about those words made the atmosphere around the tree feel heavier.

The figure on the left slowly turned his head toward him.

"Are you certain the seal has weakened?" He asked.

The middle figure did not immediately respond. Instead, he raised one hand. A faint glow appeared around his fingers.

"The seal has already begun to crack," he replied calmly.

The figure on the right narrowed his eyes.

"Then the catacombs have awakened," he said.

"Yes."

The middle figure’s answer was quiet. But his eyes suddenly gleamed beneath the darkness. They were unlike ordinary human eyes. Three different pupils could be seen within them.

One was red. One was blue. And the final one was green.

The three pupils shifted independently before focusing on the distant forest.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"Let’s not delay any longer the sacrifice are everwhere."

The figure on the left looked toward the sky.

"Will the academy notice?"

"It doesn’t matter whether they notice or not. They can’t do anything about it." The middle figure raised his hand. "By the time they understand what is happening, it will be too late."

The forest became silent again. Then the man snapped his fingers.

Click.

A strange pulse spread outward. At first, nothing happened. Then the sky began to change. The bright afternoon sunlight slowly disappeared beneath an unnatural red hue. Clouds gathered overhead. The blue sky gradually transformed into a deep crimson color.

The entire forest below was bathed in red light. The three figures stood calmly beneath the changing sky.

The figure on the right looked upward.

"It has begun."

The figure on the left remained silent. The middle figure watched the crimson sky with an unreadable expression. Far below them, the Emerald Forest continued to stretch endlessly toward the horizon.

Somewhere within its depths, students were still fighting for survival. Some were gathering resources. Some were searching for magical beasts. Others were desperately fighting against other teams. But as soon as everyone noticed the sudden change in sky’s color, all students froze in puzzlement and disbelief.

From the entrance of the Moonlit Catacombs, multiple pale pair of scrawny bare legs stepped out.

The man with the three-colored pupils slowly lowered his hand.

"Let them struggle," he said.

His voice carried no emotion.

"They will soon understand that this examination was never about survival."

The crimson sky darkened further.

A faint, unnatural moon appeared behind the clouds.

"It’s is... the feeding ground."