Chapter 30- Evolution Master (Part 3)
After closing her bag, Violet looked at Rein. "I think we can leave now. I just need to put this on my should-"
"Give it to me," Rein said calmly as he noticed how heavy the bag looked. Since they stuffed it to the brim with supplies, it weighed a few dozen kilograms, if not more. It would easily restrict the movement of a normal person and even someone like Violet.
"What? No, it's ok, Rein. I will carry it. It's not that heavy." Violet tried to stop him, but he shook his head and picked up the bag with one hand.
"You don't need to slow yourself down, and you can't afford that. I can." He said as he put it on his shoulders.
Violet stared at him, a bit surprised, before she smiled warmly. "Thank you."
"..." Rein didn't reply as he started walking to the door. "Let's go."
"Yes!"
Violet stood up and followed him, and Alex tagged after them, grumbling quietly to himself as he tried to control his facial expressions from distorting. 'I could carry ten bags that size if I want to.' He thought to himself.
Rein reached the door and peeked outside. The street seemed empty, so he signaled for the group to follow him.
"The entire place is so quiet now…" Teo muttered as he clutched his dagger and looked around him. He was still shaken from the spider attack, so he couldn't remain calm whatsoever.
Rein could sense it too, that the air around them felt a bit too off. He didn't like how quiet it was, and as the darkness became more and more blinding, it made them even more vulnerable.
His senses remained rather on edge, trying to sense any presence around them. His hand clutched his sword tightly, and his breathing was so quiet that it couldn't even be heard. The temperatures had dropped sharply since the sun disappeared, and with their light clothes, they could feel it even more.
"Rein…" Violet said.
The latter didn't reply as he signaled for her to stay quiet for a second, as he stopped and looked around him. His eyes scanned the area.
The seconds that passed after that felt like hours; everyone there felt the eeriness seep into their bones. They didn't know why, but they felt like they were being watched, as if something or someone was looking at them from afar and they couldn't see them.
That sensation wasn't a coincidence, and for that reason alone, Rein didn't let that idea go as merely a feeling.
However, for one reason or another, nothing happened after a while.
"W-Why are we even standing here? Shouldn't we move?" Teo asked hesitantly.
"Yeah… I think so too…" Violet replied.
"We are being watched," Rein replied. "We are certainly being watched." He turned his head to look at the group.
"Who's watching us?"
"Let's get out of this street for now. We can see better from-"
*Swish*
Suddenly, and out of nowhere, all of Rein's senses went off as his body moved on its own, springing into motion as if something awakened inside it. It channeled all the Life Essence he had inside himself as his sword swung up.
*CLING* *CLING* *CLING*
The sound of metal ringing echoed in the vicinity as Rein deflected several flying projectiles that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. However, because of their speed, one of the projectiles passed through as it sliced Rein's cheek open before plunging into the ground.
"Rein!!"
"Get out of here, now!!!" He yelled as he quickly tried to dash to the side. At the same time, several more projectiles flew at him, plunging into the cold, hard stones as they followed his trail.
However, even with his explosive speed, they were able to catch up, and Rein ended up trying to deflect them again. His sword moved like a flash, swinging left and right as it tried to deflect all the attacks.
Rein's speed was high, but this was like trying to deflect fast arrows or even bullets… It was impossible to parry all of them.
One of them plunged into his left shoulder, digging deep into his flesh. Rein clenched his teeth in pain as he continued running and deflecting the arrows.
'This bastard!' Rein cursed as he suddenly stopped and dashed toward the other side of the alley. The projectiles trailed him until he stuck to the wall before they completely stopped.
'You can't really hit me when I'm exactly underneath you, huh?' Rein clenched his teeth as he looked down at these objects. They looked like sharp spikes, almost half a meter tall each. Then, he grabbed the one lodged into his shoulder and pulled it out with a low groan.
"What are you doing?! I said move!" Rein yelled when he saw the other three still frozen in their places.
"No! Rein!" Violet was the first to react as she tried to summon her cycle, only for her eyes to widen completely when she saw it.
A large silhouette jumped from the rooftop of a nearby building before landing before them, shaking the entire street. Rein felt a strong chill run through his body when he felt the strong aura of the monster.
It felt like needles pricking at his skin and pressing him down to the ground. He didn't even need to think or breathe, or even see what the monster looked like. It was the strongest creature he had come across by far.
Gripping his sword, he stepped back as the dust settled and he could finally see it.
"Grrrr…" The monster growled with a low, deep tone that seemed to reverberate through the bones. Its thick hide slowly unraveled before them, each strand of hair on it looked like sharp spikes… The same spikes Rein had just tried to dodge.
Then, its incredibly large head appeared, with the sharp eyes staring directly at him.
That was when Rein realized what it was.
'A… grizzly bear?' Rein frowned. 'Shit… Shit, shit, shit!!'
"GRRRRRRRR!!!!"