Chapter 445 - 443: Every Man for Himself
Chapter 445: Chapter 443: Every Man for Himself
Faye Yardley had a terrible sense of direction, so she just picked a direction and ran on pure instinct.
As she ran, the Void Experience Card’s effect wore off.
THUD~
She had run head-on into a small Frost Beast.
Before it could react, Faye Yardley already had Light Wound in her hand and cleaved the beast in two.
After the slash, she staggered forward a couple of steps before regaining her balance.
She found a random house, hacked through the ice encasing it, and kicked the door open. Once inside, she shut the door, did a quick sweep of the room, and sat down.
’I don’t even know if I’ve made it to a safe area yet.’
’But if I keep running now, I’ll probably just run into more Frost Beasts. And bumping into a Smoke Person isn’t a good thing, either.’
She stuck two Golden Light Talismans to herself and set up a few protective items around her. Then, Faye Yardley once again began to consciously circulate the Health Care Scripture. Soon, the explosive energy that had been stagnant inside her began to flow in a steady rhythm.
Her body absorbed the energy. The feeling of her power constantly growing was truly addictive.
Round and round it went.
Faye Yardley was once again completely immersed, oblivious to the outside world.
An unknown amount of time passed before she suddenly felt the entire ground begin to shake.
She was just about to finish digesting the last bit of energy, so even though she felt the tremors, Faye Yardley didn’t move. She held on.
[Constitution +2, Spirit +1]
’Whoa~’
’Whoa!’
’I can’t believe one bite was so potent.’
’I really want to go back for a few more bites!’
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The ground began to split apart.
She snatched up her things from the floor, bolted to the door, kicked it open again, and sprinted out, leaping intermittently as she ran.
Now, she was fleeing alongside the Frost Beasts.
The ground was splitting into chasms. The ice encasing the houses was shattering, and the buildings themselves were collapsing...
There was only one thought in everyone’s mind: run. Whether it was Faye Yardley or the Frost Beasts, no one had time to fight each other now.
Survival was the only priority.
As she ran for her life, out on the sea’s surface, the Frost Beast Behemoth was finally ground down to its knees. The massive creature toppled over like a collapsing mountain, triggering a chain reaction.
The Frost Beasts stopped attacking the outsiders and instead surged toward the fallen Frost Beast Behemoth, one after another, using their own bodies to fill the craters on its hide.
"Don’t let the Frost Beasts get to it! Block them!"
"We should work together and kill the Behemoth now! None of you want this trip to be for nothing, right?"
"We kill it, and then it’s every man for himself."
"..."
While the others were still negotiating, Cole Kensington had already used a Void Experience Card. He passed beneath the ice and entered the Behemoth’s body. After a full search, he couldn’t find his sister. She really wasn’t here!
Cole Kensington heaved a huge sigh of relief. ’It’s good that she’s not here. The connection between us is still there, so she must be safe. She’s already left!’
Everyone wanted the Behemoth’s book-heart. ’Even if I have to destroy it, I won’t let that bastard Logan Langdon get his hands on it.’
’If it weren’t for him getting in the way, my sister and the others would have escaped safely long ago.’
He arrived at the book’s location. Sure enough, that scoundrel was trying to figure out how to claim the heart.
Cole Kensington lunged forward, sprawling across the top of the book. ’Since it’s a heart, it must be edible,’ he thought. He immediately started gnawing on it, beginning from the top edge.
Bite after bite, the Behemoth spasmed in agony. Logan Langdon, of course, also noticed the top of the book inexplicably starting to dissolve.
"Who’s there?!"
Logan Langdon had intended to claim the book-heart whole and undamaged. Now that a piece was missing—and the gap was widening—he grew anxious and swung his sword, trying to carve the entire book out.
Naturally, the result was the same as all his previous attempts: his blade passed right through it.
Seeing the top of the book being steadily devoured, Logan Langdon, who was standing below it, grew desperate. He lunged forward and bit into the bottom of the book himself.
Cole Kensington began to gnaw faster and faster, starting an absurd competition with Logan Langdon.
At the same time, Frost Beasts began to enter the Behemoth’s body. When they saw what Logan Langdon was doing, their eyes nearly split with rage. Burning with fury, they charged recklessly toward him.
Just like Cole Kensington, Lucy White had used a Void Card while no one was looking and had also plunged into the Behemoth’s body.
Unlike Cole, however, Lucy White had landed in the abdominal region. She had tried to climb higher, but a swarm of Frost Beasts suddenly appeared inside, all converging on the abdomen. Curious, Lucy White decided to follow them.
There was a treasure in the abdomen. A closer look revealed a minuscule, humanoid Frost Beast, no bigger than a person’s thumb.
A grappling hook shot up from a fissure—WHOOSH—and latched onto the wall of a collapsed house. A figure followed close behind, swinging out of the chasm.
She swung through the air, putting distance between herself and the fissure. But before Faye Yardley could land, the ground beneath her split open once more.
She didn’t have time to feel exhausted; another grappling hook was already flying toward a higher, more distant point.
She had to abandon the previous hook when it wouldn’t dislodge with a tug.
Fortunately, she had plenty of grappling hooks in her pack.
Just as she swung away, the ground where she had been not only fractured further, but the collapsed wall she’d hooked onto crumbled completely.
Countless Frost Beasts were swallowed by the fissures, and Faye Yardley was now in a state where she could fall at any moment. She didn’t dare to relax for even a second.
’This is insane,’ she thought. ’Just run, run, run for your life.’
If a single hook failed to catch in time, she would hit the ground, and some of the less intelligent Frost Beasts below would surely turn and attack.
On her way out, she passed many Smoke People hurrying toward the coast. Not a single one even paused to help her.
Clearly, the life or death of a "guest" was of no concern to them.
As the number of Smoke People she passed increased, Faye Yardley knew she was heading in the right direction.
She finally reached a small train station and found a considerable number of people waiting to leave. They were gathered in small groups, gossiping about what they believed was the "truth" of the situation.
Faye Yardley went straight to the ticket window and asked the Smoke Person on duty, "Excuse me, when is the next train? Service isn’t canceled for the day, is it?"
"Normally they run every half-hour, but due to today’s... incident, we’ve switched to every ten minutes. We’ll have to wait for further notice to know if service will be suspended."
"Thank you. I’ll take three tickets back, please."
She didn’t know if Lucy White and Cole Kensington would make their way here, but she figured that with their contract-like connection, if she stayed in one place long enough, they should be able to find her.
She found a spot with a clear line of sight and sat down to wait. In her mind, she reviewed the intricate pathways and energy flows she had seen in the book-heart.
Over and over, the memory grew sharper and more distinct.
Behind her, trains came and went. Waves of people departed.
Thankfully, her wait was not in vain. The figures of Lucy White and Cole Kensington finally appeared in her line of sight.
The moment they arrived, Faye Yardley stood and led them straight into the queue.
They had just boarded the train when, in the distance, the Smoke People all turned back. An announcement came shortly after: all train service was being suspended.
Cole Kensington looked at Faye Yardley, a hint of worry on his face.