CHAPTER 327: RUN, RUN, AND RUN

Silvanus didn’t hesitate even a second as he faced the swarm of shadow creatures. In the blink of an eye, the air was filled with scattered feathers.

His face had grown a little pale, his breathing slightly uneven—but he wasn’t injured.

Well... not entirely uninjured.

Silvanus couldn’t help reaching up to touch his head, where a lump was still swollen from being attacked by that stupid egg.

He frowned—but then froze, because he suddenly felt something sitting on his head.

Round. Cool to the touch. Silvanus’s brows knitted tighter, and in a flash, he reached up and grabbed the thing off his head.

The egg twitched when it realized it had been discovered, as if trying to escape. But Silvanus wasn’t the same as before—he gripped it firmly in both hands and even conjured a strand of light to bind it, ensuring it couldn’t slip away again.

His teeth clenched audibly. "So you’ve been sitting on my head this whole time, huh? You lazy egg—that snake should’ve just eaten you!"

The egg squirmed desperately in his grasp, and Silvanus could swear he saw fear trembling across its shell.

He shut his eyes tight. Enough. Spending time with this stupid egg made him feel silly, too!

Silvanus tossed the egg to the ground without hesitation like throwing away trash. "Get lost. Don’t come near me again, you wretched egg."

The egg bounced on the ground, turning its "front" toward Silvanus as if stunned that he hadn’t actually harmed it.

Then, it began hopping along after him, bouncing repeatedly across the ground.

Silvanus’s brows furrowed sharply after hearing the repeated pong pong noises behind him. He turned around—the egg didn’t even try to hide. In fact, it bounced even faster.

"I told you not to follow me."

The egg kept hopping tirelessly. It didn’t say a word, yet its defiance couldn’t have been clearer.

Silvanus: "..."

He decided to ignore it entirely and continued walking forward.

At that moment, a gust of sand-laden wind blew straight into his face. Silvanus looked ahead and saw nothing but a vast expanse of flat desert.

The sun hung high in the sky, no longer hidden beneath the giant forest canopy—it shone down in full force. Towering dunes stretched into the distance, and the wind howled relentlessly around him.

Silvanus hadn’t expected to have fled to the edge of the jungle region. What was more surprising was that he hadn’t encountered another contestant. Just how enormous was this place, really?

He sighed and continued forward. Occasionally, when he came across a rare plant, he plucked it and tossed it toward Lumin. Still, the entire path remained eerily quiet—no sign of a single shadow creature. The unnatural calm only made him more cautious. Usually, moments like this were merely the calm before something truly unpleasant.

Then, suddenly, the pong pong sounds behind him stopped.

Silvanus immediately turned, alert.

The egg was spinning—spinning faster and faster—until it resembled a giant drill bit, boring straight into the ground. Sand flew everywhere, and before long, a "nest" appeared before them.

A nest of eggs—eggs that looked like chicken eggs, except each was nearly three times the size of that foolish one trailing behind him.

Silvanus watched in disbelief as the stupid egg suddenly leapt high into the air, then dove straight down, cracking open one of the larger eggs! Transparent egg fluid and yolk splattered out in a messy splatter.

But it didn’t stop there. The egg kept bouncing and smashing, over and over, until the entire shell was utterly shattered and the sticky yolk had spread all over the sand, flattening the spot completely.

Only then did the foolish egg wriggle a little, nestle comfortably among the other eggs, and go completely still—as if pretending to be another ordinary egg.

Silvanus: "..."

Silvanus: "How barbaric!"

The egg: "..."

The egg wanted to bounce in protest—but right now, it was pretending to be a regular egg!

At last, Silvanus understood why the giant snake had chased that stupid egg so furiously. It must’ve used this same trick to sneak into the snake’s nest before!

Utterly foolish!

Cursing inwardly, Silvanus turned on his heel and quickly walked away. He did not intend to stay here and wait for the nest’s owner to return for revenge.

But, as the saying goes, the more you fear something, the faster it finds you.

He had barely taken a few steps when a massive shadow suddenly loomed over him, blocking out the sunlight across the entire area.

Silvanus froze and looked up stiffly—only to see a chicken-like creature hovering above. No, not "chicken-like." It was a hen. A massive, plump, oversized hen. To describe its size... Silvanus thought grimly that this one hen could feed him and Matthew for a whole week.

"BANG!"

The hen flapped its wings with a loud cluck-cluck-cluck, then descended straight down. Its massive body slammed into the ground, sending clouds of dust billowing violently. The shockwave almost knocked Silvanus off his feet—if not for the soft sand beneath him, he might have fallen flat.

Its vast, feathery tail faced him, as though it couldn’t care less about his presence.

Silvanus exhaled in relief—and immediately bolted, shooting off like a gust of wind.

He thought desperately, please let me run into shadow creatures, not these wild beasts, heavens above!

"QUAAACCC!"

The enraged screech of the hen echoed through the desert, shaking the entire area. Silvanus could feel the ground tremble beneath him.

At the exact moment, a bad premonition prickled at the back of his neck. He glanced over his shoulder—sure enough, that stupid egg was hopping around again!

"Damn it!"

"Jump in another direction, you idiot! What did I ever do to offend you?!"

Looking further behind, he saw the giant hen spreading its wings wide. Its bulging eyes glowed with fury—disturbingly, it didn’t just have one pair. Three additional pairs of eyes trailed down its long neck, gleaming menacingly.

Its clawed feet slashed through the dunes, moving with terrifying speed. If he got caught by this beast, he’d be dead long before he could even crush Lumin!

Silvanus wanted to cry, but no tears came.

Meanwhile, somewhere else—

Matthew was bound tightly, his body covered in wounds. One side of his face was bruised a deep purple-blue, and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

Thora’s voice rang out sharply: "So, you’re his friend, huh? That guy—Silvanus, right? He’ll come to rescue you, don’t worry. When he does, I’ll make sure the two of you die together."

Thora’s tone was dripping with arrogance. He didn’t care whether anyone outside heard his taunts—or if it might anger them.

Matthew pressed his lips together, trembling. The pain was so intense that it brought tears to his eyes.

Then, suddenly, someone yanked hard on the ropes binding him. He lost balance and crashed face-first into the ground.

"Hahaha, look at this idiot—just lying there like a fool."

"Tell us, why would he even have a friend like you? What a joke."

"This one’s got decent Light talent too, huh?"

Thora sneered, waving dismissively. "Doesn’t matter. As long as I’m around, none of them is going anywhere. A bunch of poor, stupid rats should stay crawling in their sewers where they belong."

Matthew’s face was buried in the dirt, motionless. No one could tell what he was thinking.