Chapter 54: Rising terror

A girl from another team who had been gathering herbs near the edge of the forest suddenly noticed this strange phenomenon.

She looked up when she realized how quiet the surroundings had become. The insects had stopped chirping, the birds had disappeared, and even the distant cries of magical beasts that normally filled the forest seemed to have vanished all at once.

Her gaze slowly moved toward the sky.

The blue had disappeared.

A strange crimson color had spread across the clouds, bathing the Emerald Forest in an unnatural red glow.

"What...?"

Her hand remained suspended above the herb she had been reaching for.

Her teammates noticed her expression and followed her gaze.

"What happened?"

She pointed toward the sky.

Everyone looked up.

The crimson expanse stretched across the entire horizon. It wasn’t the warm red of sunset but a much darker shade, almost as if the heavens themselves had been stained with blood.

"What is that?"

"Is this part of the examination?"

"Did the instructors activate some kind of magic?"

"No."

The answer came from someone else.

They immediately glanced at the owner of the voice and saw two figures in dark clothing approaching them.

The students immediately reacted defensively

"W-Who are you?" The male student asked.

One of the two figures in dark clothing raises their hand slightly.

"Relax. We are not an enemy," a male voice said.

"We are one of the overseers who are silently observing the examination in secret," a female voice followed.

The two lifted their hoods and took out their masks. Revealing their familiar faces.

"Wait. You’re Senior Student Clyde Torn and Senior Student Amelia Haynes, am I right?"

The two overseers nodded their heads.

"Yes, you’re right."

"By the way, senior, what do you mean it isn’t part of the examination? What is this bloody sky then?"

The female student asked with a frown.

"Am not sure as well. But we have a bad feeling about it," Amelia Haynes replied. Then she glanced at Clyde. "Contack the base," she said.

Clyde hurriedly pulled out his communication crystal.

"Instructor? Can you hear me?"

Only static answered him. He frowned and tried again.

"Instructor?"

The crystal flickered before going completely dark.

His expression changed.

"The communication crystal isn’t working."

Amelia immediately checked her own device. She discovered the same problem.

"That’s impossible," she muttered.

"Maybe there’s some kind of interference," Clyde said.

"From what?"

Amelia glanced at him.

Clyde shook his head.

"I’m sorry. I’m not sure."

A distant howl suddenly echoed through the forest.

"AWOOOOOO!"

The students instinctively flinched.

Another howl answered from farther away, followed by another from somewhere beyond the trees. Within moments, the sounds were coming from different directions.

The students exchanged uneasy glances.

These weren’t the howls of beasts claiming territory or searching for prey. There was something desperate in the sounds, almost as though the creatures were warning one another.

Before anyone could say anything, the ground trembled.

Leaves shook loose from the trees. The students near a rocky slope staggered as the earth shifted beneath their feet.

"What was that?"

A violent rustling came from the forest behind them.

The students and the overseers immediately raised their weapons. Then a massive magical beast burst through the trees.

Several weapons were pointed toward it, but the creature didn’t attack. It rushed past them at full speed, its body covered in wounds and blood. One of its legs dragged uselessly behind it as it disappeared deeper into the forest.

Another beast followed.

A large horned creature crashed through several trees as it fled, barely acknowledging the students standing in its path.

They lowered their weapons one by one.

"Why are they running?" The female student asked.

No one answered.

Even their overseers, Clyde and Amelia, had no idea as well. But their gut feeling told them that something dangerous was the cause. They had fought several magical beasts, but seeing creatures of this size fleeing in panic was deeply unsettling.

Something was driving them away. Something they feared more than anything else.

"Everyone, stay together." Amelia told them.

Nobody objected.

The crimson sky and the fleeing beasts had already told them that something unusual was happening in the forest.

Something had gone terribly wrong.

...

Across the Emerald Forest, similar scenes were unfolding to the other teams.

They abandoned resource gathering and stopped fighting over supplies. Even students who had been aggressively competing against one another lowered their weapons as they stared at the unnatural sky.

Then a scream echoed through the forest.

"Run!"

The voice was distant, but clear enough to make several students turn toward it.

"What was that?"

"Someone’s in trouble."

"Should we check?"

A student immediately shook his head.

"We don’t know what happened."

"But someone might need help."

"Are you an idiot? What if it’s just an ambush prepared by another team?"

The group hesitated.

Helping another team had been a matter of choice. But everyone also understood that inside the forest they were competitors.

Moreover, they still had no idea what was truly happening. It could be another group framing an ambush.

However, the strange phenomenon also bothers them.

At that moment, an undead rushed out from a nearby bush.

"Gwar!"

The students turned their heads toward the noise and saw a pale grotesque humanoid creature.

"What is that?!" One of the students exclaimed.

Seeing the scary tattered figure, the nearest student turned pale immediately. But before the undead could reach to bite her, a strong gust of wind hurled the undead into the air and threw it a few meters away.

The crash woke the students from shock.

Another group of overseers stepped out of the shadow and told them that something serious was happening in the forest.

"What do you mean by that?" One of the students asked.

"After the sky turned crimson, the undead suddenly came out of nowhere and now they are roaming all over the forest," said one of the overseers.

Hearing the overseers’ words, the group froze.

"How about the instructors and the professor?"

There were supposed to be instructors and Professor Vista spectating the examination, but the overseers could not contact them for some reasons.

"For some reason, the communication crystals are not working."

"...."

The students looked toward each other. For the first time, many of them wondered whether anyone outside the forest even knew what was happening.

...

Meanwhile, Leon’s team continued running away from the dungeon. The eerie growling sounds behind them turned faint every few seconds.

The undead weren’t moving quickly enough to catch them, but what disturbed Leon was the fact that the undead also came out of the dungeon to chase them.

That thing was supposedly impossible to happen. It was common knowledge that monsters inside the dungeon were supposedly forever trapped inside.

Seeing them chasing after them outside was truly ridiculous.

...

The terror was already spreading all over the forest.

Another group of students was moving cautiously through the forest when one of them suddenly shouted.

"Behind you!"

A young man turned around and saw a pale figure emerging between the trees. For a moment, he mistook it for another student. Then the creature stepped into the crimson light.

Blue flames burned inside its empty eye sockets.

"Monster!"

The student swung his sword.

CLANG!

The blade struck the undead’s shoulder.

The creature barely reacted.

Before the student could recover, the undead struck him with enough force to send him crashing several meters away.

His teammates rushed toward him.

"Are you okay?"

He struggled to stand.

"What is that thing?"

The undead continued approaching. Then another figure appeared between the trees. Then several more.

The students slowly backed away.

"There are too many."

One of them turned toward another nearby team and shouted.

"Help us!"

The other students looked over. For a moment, they seemed ready to respond. Then they saw the undead. Their expressions immediately changed.

"Run!"

The first group stared at them.

"What?"

"Run!"

The second team turned and fled without looking back. Their footsteps rapidly disappeared between the trees, leaving the other team standing in stunned silence.

For several seconds, nobody moved. They could hardly believe what had just happened. They had called for help, and the other team had simply abandoned them.

"Wait!"

One of the students instinctively took a step forward, but his voice disappeared beneath the sound of approaching footsteps.

The undead were getting closer.

The nearest creature dragged one foot across the ground as it advanced, its pale fingers twitching unnaturally at its sides. Blue flames flickered inside its hollow eye sockets, casting a faint glow across its decayed face.

Seeing the distance shrinking rapidly, the students slowly backed away. One of them tightened his grip around his sword so hard that his knuckles turned white.

"There are too many..." his voice trembled.

The student beside him swallowed nervously and glanced toward the direction where the other team had disappeared.

"They left us."

Nobody answered.

The students raised their weapons, but their movements lacked the confidence they needed.

They had fought magical beasts before. They had fought other students. And they had even faced dangerous situations inside the Emerald Forest.

But this was different. The creatures approaching them were nothing like ordinary monsters. The nearest undead suddenly accelerated. Its decayed body lurched forward with surprising speed.

"Get back!"

The students instinctively retreated. One of them stumbled over a root and nearly fell. The undead raised both arms and lunged toward him. Its fingers stretched toward his throat.

The student froze. He could see the creature’s rotten teeth. And he could smell the foul stench coming from its body.

He raised his sword desperately, but he knew that he would not have enough time to swing it. Then something flashed through the crimson air.

A metallic sheen streaked across the clearing, causing the undead to stop in mid-motion. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then its outstretched arms fell away from its body. Both severed limbs spun through the air before landing heavily on the blood-colored grass.

The remaining students stared in disbelief. The undead staggered backward. Only then did they notice the thin line of blood running across its shoulders.

A figure stood between them and the approaching undead. His sword was held loosely in one hand.

The blade reflected the crimson light from the sky, creating a cold metallic gleam that contrasted sharply with the unnatural red surrounding them.

The person slowly lowered his weapon. With a smooth movement, he returned the blade to its sheath.

Click.

The quiet sound of the sword locking into place seemed strangely loud in the silent forest. The students remained frozen behind him. One of them opened his mouth, but no words came out.

The person did not turn around. His attention remained fixed on the undead. Several more creatures were emerging from the trees now.

There were at least a dozen. Perhaps more. Yet this person who helped them showed no sign of panic.

He simply stood there, watching them approach.

The crimson light illuminated his silhouette from behind, making his figure appear almost unreal.

One of the students finally found his voice.

"Who... who are you?"

He did not answer immediately. His gaze remained fixed on the undead. Then he slowly looked toward the crimson sky. The strange light reflected in his eyes. A faint smile appeared on his face, although there was nothing reassuring about it.

"It looks like it has begun."

His voice was calm, yet oddly familiar.