Chapter 485 - 484- Decided to strike

He had already carefully calculated the number of creatures present.

He had also gauged their relative strength.

Although there were quite a few of them, none appeared capable of posing a serious threat to him individually.

As long as he acted decisively, he could eliminate them before they had the opportunity to surround him.

Grey’s eyes flashed.

His fingers tightened around the dagger.

Then he threw it.

Pew!

The dagger shot forward like a dark streak of lightning.

It pierced straight through the neck of one of the headless humanoid creatures.

Puchi!

Its already deformed neck was torn apart by the impact.

The tremendous force behind the dagger sent the creature flying backward several meters.

But the dagger didn’t stop there.

It continued forward with terrifying momentum.

It pierced straight through the head of a second mutated creature before finally embedding itself deeply into the trunk of a nearby tree several meters away.

From beginning to end, barely half a second had passed.

Two mutated creatures had already been grievously wounded.

The sudden attack startled the remaining creatures.

Their movements froze.

They turned their grotesque faces toward the direction from which the dagger had come.

For a brief moment, the entire battlefield fell strangely quiet.

Then—

A massive fireball came roaring through the forest.

It hurtled toward them at terrifying speed, illuminating the dark surroundings with its blazing radiance.

The flames swallowed everything in their path.

Several mutated creatures immediately scattered in every direction, desperately attempting to escape the sudden attack.

But they had already fallen into Grey’s rhythm.

The moment they scattered, a figure suddenly appeared in their midst.

Grey.

His arrival was silent.

His expression remained cold.

And the deaths of the mutants swiftly followed.

One after another.

---

Grey thrust out his palm after completing a complicated hand seal.

A moment later, a massive fireball erupted from his palm.

BOOM!

The flames roared to life, surging outward with tremendous force.

Grey infused the fireball with his spirit essence, causing its temperature to rise dramatically.

The flames burned hotter than ordinary fire had any right to burn.

The surrounding air warped under the intense heat.

The instant the creatures reacted to the incoming fireball, Grey made his move.

His body burst from his hidden position.

He shot forward like an arrow released from a bow, crossing the distance between them in an instant.

The first mutated creature had attempted to flee moments earlier.

But fate had caused it to sprint directly toward Grey instead.

The sudden attack had frightened it, but its mind was clouded by bloodlust and hunger.

Its instincts were dull.

It failed to notice the terrifying figure rapidly closing the distance.

By the time it finally sensed something wrong, Grey was already standing directly before it.

Too late.

Grey’s hand shot forward.

His fingers seized the head of the mutated beast.

The creature didn’t even have time to react.

Grey clenched his hand.

Crack!

Its skull was crushed within his palm.

Blood, flesh, and other grotesque fluids exploded outward from between his fingers, spraying across the surrounding area.

The entire process happened so quickly that the creature never even had the chance to register what had happened.

It couldn’t retaliate.

It couldn’t scream.

It couldn’t even feel the pain properly.

Its life had already ended.

The beast’s crumpled corpse slumped limply in Grey’s hand.

Grey glanced at it for less than a second.

After confirming that it was truly dead, he casually tossed the corpse aside.

The area remained in slight disarray from his sudden assault.

The remaining mutants were still struggling to understand what had happened, and in the chaos, they failed to immediately notice that one of their own had already fallen.

But it wouldn’t have mattered even if they had noticed.

Grey had already stepped forward.

His cold eyes swept across the surrounding creatures.

He advanced deeper into their midst without the slightest hesitation.

To him, the battle had already become a hunt.

Like a blur, Grey appeared beside another mutated beast that was scurrying around like a headless chicken. The creature was completely unaware of his presence, frantically searching for a way to escape the chaotic battlefield. It failed to notice the figure that had silently appeared beside it, nor did it realize that a fist was already descending straight toward its head.

A sudden and overwhelming sense of danger filled its entire body.

The sensation spread through every part of the beast, causing its instincts to scream at it to flee. Its body instinctively shuddered, and it desperately tried to move away from the source of the danger.

But Grey’s eyes remained cold and unrelenting.

There was no hesitation in his movements.

His fist descended with terrifying speed and slammed directly into the mutated creature.

BOOM!

The beast’s entire body violently trembled under the impact. Its bones cracked almost simultaneously, while its flesh began to collapse inward beneath the tremendous force. A low, shrill cry of pain escaped its throat as its chest suddenly caved in.

Its body folded inward unnaturally before collapsing to the ground.

However, even in its final moments, the mutated beast released a loud and mournful wail that echoed throughout the surroundings.

The cry immediately caught the attention of its companions.

The remaining mutated beasts turned toward the source of the sound, their grotesque bodies reacting instinctively to the death of one of their own.

At that moment, Iria, who had been desperately struggling against the creatures surrounding her, suddenly noticed a familiar figure standing nearby.

Her eyes widened slightly.

She turned her head and saw a familiar man standing before her.

He wore a dark robe that had been slightly torn in several places, while his long grey hair dangled loosely over his face. His handsome features were completely devoid of emotion, and his cold eyes carried a deadpan chill that seemed capable of freezing the surrounding air.

There was an indescribable gloom surrounding his entire persona.

A feeling of dread.

A feeling that made it seem as though death itself had silently descended upon the area.

It was Grey.

Although his clothes were somewhat torn and there were faint traces of blood and dirt on his body, his condition was far better than Iria’s.

Compared to her haggard appearance, Grey looked almost completely unharmed.

The moment he appeared, the feeling of danger and dread that had been lurking within Iria’s heart began to gradually dissipate.

She couldn’t explain why.

Perhaps it was because Grey’s presence alone gave her a strange sense of security.

Or perhaps it was because, after being surrounded by those terrifying mutated beasts for so long, seeing a familiar face had finally allowed her tense mind to relax.

Before she could say anything, Grey moved.

His figure flashed.

Then another mutated beast fell.

Then another.

And another.

The dozen or so remaining creatures that had been surrounding Iria were eliminated within an astonishingly short period of time.

Some of them were ordinary mutated beasts with grotesquely distorted bodies.

Others were far more bizarre.

There were creatures that possessed no heads at all, their bodies instead covered in malicious faces that opened and closed their mouths from their chests. Some had grotesque faces growing beneath their bellies, while others possessed limbs that twisted in completely unnatural directions.

Yet none of them could withstand Grey’s attacks.

Every time his figure flashed, another creature died.

His movements were simple and efficient, containing no unnecessary actions.

He did not waste even the slightest amount of energy.

Before long, the final mutated beast collapsed.

Silence returned to the area.

Grey stood amidst the corpses, his dark robe fluttering slightly in the surrounding wind.

He slowly turned his head and looked toward Iria.

His expression remained blank.

"Are you alright?"

His voice was cold and indifferent, but if one listened carefully, there was a faint trace of concern hidden beneath it.

Iria’s lips trembled slightly.

For a moment, she couldn’t say anything.

Only now did she realize just how close she had been to death.

She had genuinely believed that this would be the end.

Her body was exhausted, her injuries severe, and the seemingly endless stream of mutated beasts had left her with almost no strength to resist.

But Grey had appeared.

And just like that, the creatures that had nearly driven her into despair were reduced to corpses.

She couldn’t help but release a long sigh of relief.

"Senior Grey..."

She had barely spoken two words when Grey slowly shook his head.

He gave her a subtle signal to remain silent.

Iria immediately understood his meaning and closed her mouth.

There was no need for unnecessary words here.

The Corroded Zone was still an extremely dangerous place. Even after the mutated beasts had been eliminated, there was no guarantee that something even more terrifying wasn’t lurking nearby.

Grey glanced toward the surroundings before speaking.

"Let’s leave."

Iria nodded.

The two of them immediately departed from the area and began making their way toward the edge of the Corroded Zone.

Neither of them dared to fly immediately.

Despite Grey’s strength, the dangers lurking within the Corroded Zone were simply too unpredictable. There were countless strange and bizarre existences hidden within this land, many of which could attack without warning.

Flying through the sky would only make them easier targets.

Therefore, they restrained themselves and continued running across the ground.

Their figures quickly disappeared into the depths of the gloomy and corrupted land.

The further they traveled, the more cautious Grey became.

His senses constantly swept through their surroundings, carefully observing every subtle change in the environment.

Only after they had reached a relatively safe area did Grey finally stop.

"We’ll rest here for a while."

Iria immediately collapsed onto a nearby piece of broken stone.

The moment she was given the opportunity to relax, the exhaustion that she had been suppressing finally erupted.

She panted heavily.

Her chest rose and fell rapidly as she struggled to catch her breath.

Her face was pale and sickly, and her body was covered in injuries. Some of them were already beginning to heal, while others still leaked faint traces of blood.

Yet despite her miserable appearance, there was an unmistakable sense of relief in her eyes.

She had survived.

And more importantly, Grey had found her.

Only after Iria had finally regained enough breath to speak did Grey turn his attention toward her.

His expression became slightly more serious.

"Why did you enter the depths?"

Iria’s body stiffened.

Grey stared at her coldly.

"I warned you not to come here, no matter what happened."

His voice wasn’t loud, but each word carried a heavy weight.

"You could have died without even realizing why."

The reprimand caused Iria’s expression to immediately fall.

She lowered her head slightly, her fingers tightening against the torn fabric of her clothes.

She knew Grey was right.

She had ignored his warning and entered the depths of the Corroded Zone anyway.

At the time, she had believed that she could handle whatever danger she encountered.

Now, after experiencing the horrors hidden within this place firsthand, she finally understood just how naive that thought had been.

She remained silent for a moment before finally raising her head.

"Senior Grey, I..."