The eyes of the wolf-beasts shimmered like dead moons, glowing wildly on both sides of their faces, while their obsidian fur wobbled like feathers as they drew closer.
Leon instinctively moved away from the entrance, but as he reached Zoe's side, he saw her steadying herself in a solid stance.
'Wait, is she the daughter of Lou Fung?' Leon's eyes narrowed as he thought of the possible families he had heard of that could have such a solid stance.
Just as Leon reached a safe distance, he stopped, leaned against the cave wall, and watched Zoe.
For a while, Zoe stood a few meters away from the entrance, the sound of her knuckles cracking echoing around her, poised to fight.
Immediately, Leon shifted his gaze from her and squinted at the wolves just an inch from the cave, sharp air flinging across his side like a speeding jet.
And when he tilted his head toward the direction the air moved, he saw Zoe running like a chick from an eagle.
"Wait a minute!" Sweat beaded on Leon's face in an instant as he saw himself as the only person now standing in the cave with the wild wolves.
As the wolves closed in, five meters away from him, Leon saw another huge beast standing at the entrance and grinning at him.
Instantly, he froze, his teeth remaining in a gagging loop while his mind reeled at all the news that talked about a vast creature called Leviathan.
At his front, one of the two wolves stretched its claws toward Leon's head, but at that moment, a scream came from behind him.
"Run!"
As Zoe's voice registered in his mind and drew him back to his human body, Leon ducked under the four sharp claws that glittered in his eyes.
In an attempt to flee, Leon unintentionally loosened his grip on the crystal, then dashed toward the direction Zoe stood.
And when he exited the cave and reached Zoe's side, they ran at great speed toward another cave without looking back.
Immediately, Leon moved, ducking under the lead wolf's claw, which screeched against the side of the cave, letting debris splash into the air.
Luckily, he had saved his face, yet some of the dust still clutched at his eyes, causing him to stumble as he moved toward the exit point where Zoe was.
He stumbled and crashed into the side of the cave as the wolves' roar echoed from behind him, yet he didn't slow down.
As soon as he joined her outside the cave, the Leviathan roared, causing stones to fall from the ceiling of the cave as it shook vigorously. And when the roar died, the wolves sneered and then retreated.
But as the wolves reached the side where the crystal had fallen, the lead wolf grabbed it with its mouth.
With the Leviathan's presence, Leon could only swallow hard and watch as the creatures dragged away the crystal he and Zoe had risked their lives for.
When the lead wolf exited the cave, it threw the crystal to the left side, where smoke had formed a fog.
Immediately, as the wolves moved five meters forward, Leon moved a step forward, hoping to go for the crystal, but paused when he saw something move in the smoke fog.
Then, as the wolves and the Leviathan vanished completely from sight, Leon saw Tiger emerge from the fog, smiling.
Leon's jaw tensed as he saw Tiger bend down, grab the crystal, and begin tossing it like a coin when he straightened himself.
At that moment, the holographic notification message reappeared:
PARTICIPANT: 10000
DEAD: 3500
TIME LEFT: 5 MINUTES
WARNING: REGROUP AT THE MIDPOINT BEFORE THE TIME ELAPSES
The moment Zoe turned and saw Tiger holding the crystal, she screamed. "Why would you leave that behind?"
Leon remained extremely quiet as they moved from the relatively safe area and joined the other students still emerging from strange hideouts, following the path shimmering above them.
As they halted at the meeting ground, all the students seemed to be bruised in one way or another. Some walked with bleeding skin, others had a limb torn off, while the rest had only portions of their clothes torn.
Leon kept his gaze fixed on Tiger's bloodied knuckles as he kept tossing the crystal like an unvalued stone.
Thinking they had lost the treasure they found, Leon saw Zoe take out two different sets of purple crystals.
'Where did she get those from?' Leon thought, his mind reeling.
Then, as Leon and Zoe moved forward, he saw Jade and Vera moving together as well, holding the same type of crystal that Zoe had.
As Leon focused on Jade, he was shocked to see that not even a single bruise was on him. But when he looked at Vera, he smiled, seeing part of her clothes torn.
While they all waited in the open space, a huge military cargo craft arrived and hovered above them, prompting almost half of them to move back to give it room to land.
The moment it landed, the ramp lowered. Then five proctors stepped out of the craft, including the very proctor they had seen before being teleported to the Shattered Land.
The proctor pulled out a datapad and tapped it in synchronization with a nod, letting the students move in a queue.
As one third of them boarded, a noise rose behind him, causing him to turn. "Board silently," he commanded, then continued marking the students.
Just as Leon entered the craft, he saw countless men in long white robes, their masks seeming to pulse with life, jump from a hovering craft.
The moment they landed on the ground, they marched deeper into the land, holding black sacks that sagged as if they were already burdened.
Within a short time, some of them returned with blood smearing the sacks, which now looked to be holding something heavy inside.
As Leon tried to trace the other men now emerging, Tiger walked toward him. "You protected what's mine, Dusthollow rat," Tiger growled in a low voice.
Leon raised his head to look at Tiger, but his gaze flicked to Zoe instead.
"You think a shared near-death experience means anything?" Tiger roared. "She's a prize for the strong. Not for filth like you. Remember what I said about your family." His threat sounded like a cold knife in Leon's gut.
Leon said nothing. He just locked eyes with Tiger as his hands tightened into fists. His silence was more unnerving than the cracking sound echoing around him.
As the cargo craft lifted, Leon looked out at the land below. His hands began to move rapidly, then stopped the moment he saw the Leviathan again.
Though he had survived, he knew with chilling certainty that the most dangerous trial wasn't the one he had endured. Instead, it was the one that took place in the halls of the academy.
The one that humiliated the weak and crowned the strong, and generated both warriors and monsters.
The real game, the real fight, and the real killing were the ones ahead of him.
The craft moved silently through the sky. Clouds passed by its metal body. The moment Leon peeked through the small ten-inch window, he saw two huge birds moving at the same speed as the craft.
But just as they entered a dome of lightning, the birds retreated, sending out cries. Even from inside the craft, he could still hear them cry in pain.
Then, as he tilted his head back, whispers washed over him.
"...Did you also face that huge monster?"
"...Nah, but I faced giant baby Godzillas. Here's what I took from them after I managed to kill one."
"...Wow, that's shiny. Is that one of their teeth?"
"...Yeah. That's not the only thing. But I'll show you when we land."
"...How come that boy survived?"
"...Who?"
"...The Dusthollow rat."