CHAPTER 138: CHAPTER 138 - PURE CHAOS

Logan glanced around the camp carefully.

’I need to be extra careful around Lucie,’ he thought, expression serious. ’With her senses on the gold core level, she’ll be the first to notice.’

The other six members of his group had just reached silver cores, nothing to really worry about.

’I’ll probably need to make some sort of excuse if she does ask,’ he thought, assuming she didn’t know anything about bait. ’And if she attacks me... I’m confident I can kill her and escape if it comes to that.’

Glancing at the vial in his hand, his eyes hardened as he poured in his mana.

The engravings lit up, shining brightly until the cap came off.

Immediately, a thick scent of concentrated mana escaped from the bottle. It smelled sweet and clung to his throat like honey.

Despite the great smell, a chill ran down Logan’s spine.

Logan silently cursed, pushing his thumb over the bottle end to block it in.

He stood still, carefully glancing around.

’Doesn’t seem like anyone noticed,’ he thought, letting out a sigh of relief.

Logan moved carefully around the tents, his eyes darting all over the place in search of weapons, clothes, and armor.

’I’ll sprinkle those first to make sure they can’t get away even if they run,’

he thought. ’After that, I’ll get their tents.’

None of the gear was hard to find. The hunting parties had cleaned it and left it outside their tents to dry.

After Logan had made a round through the camp and identified all locations, he nodded slowly, closing his eyes as he clenched his fist.

"Let’s begin," he muttered, heading toward the densest cluster of tents.

As he took his thumb off the cap, the sweet scent filled the air again, sending the same ominous chill down his spine.

He passed tent by tent, leaving a few drops on each piece of equipment he could find.

Halfway through, he started hearing whispers as people left their tents in confusion.

’They caught on,’ he thought.

That’s when he felt a burning glare on his back.

Logan instinctively turned around, his eyes locking with Lucie’s.

She didn’t say anything but kept staring at him.

Then, she vanished into the shadows.

Logan immediately raised his guard but prevented himself from drawing his weapons too soon.

Within two seconds, a shadow in front of him morphed, Lucie’s figure rising out of the ground.

’’What is that smell?’’ she asked, her voice cold.

Lucie didn’t lower her gaze.

Logan gave a slow exhale and forced a casual shrug.

"Some kind of scent-based mana repellent I picked up back at the battlefield outpost," he said as calmly as he could. "Supposed to keep bugs away. Thought I’d test it."

He flicked the bottle gently, as if it were harmless.

Lucie’s stare didn’t waver.

"Don’t test it again."

She turned and vanished into the shadows again.

A few seconds later, Logan spotted her reappear near Adam and Anthony, whispering urgently.

’That was close,’ he thought. ’I need to finish this now.’

Logan’s grip around the vial tightened as he started moving faster, leaving drops across gear and tents.

Just as he reached the final tent, he heard roars and screeches echoing from the forest behind him.

’It’s starting,’ he thought, mind racing as he quickly sprinkled a drop on the final sword.

Seconds later, his instincts screamed at him as the mana fluctuated behind him.

Lucie reappeared in front of him.

This time, she wasn’t alone.

Anthony landed beside her with a gust of wind, and Adam walked over with a scowl on his face.

’’Ethan,’’ Adam said, voice firm. ’’Explain. Now.’’

Logan glanced at them for a second, realizing there was no way out of this one.

The screeches and roars in the forest got louder as the ground started shaking slightly.

Lucie looked behind them with a worried expression on her face, while Anthony remained serious.

A small smile appeared on Logan’s face. He didn’t hesitate.

He threw the vial forward, splashing the remaining bit of bait straight at them.

Anthony raised a wind shield just in time, but Lucie and Adam weren’t as lucky, as the liquid splashed across their bodies.

The vial cracked on the ground, releasing a smell so thick and sweet it almost suffocated them.

’’What the—!?’’ Adam shouted.

But Logan was already gone, his skin turning a bright yellow color as flames grew out of his shoulders.

Logan jumped with all his strength, and his wings blasted him high into the air, soaring over the underground river in seconds.

Behind him, a deep rumble echoed through the cave.

Then came a second. And a third.

One by one, monstrous roars pierced the air as trees seemed to come to life behind him.

Lucie stumbled back, her face draining of color.

’’What was that liquid?!’’ she shouted, trying to wipe it off herself.

’’Get to the river!’’ Anthony shouted, grabbing Adam.

It wasn’t just them who had realized something was wrong.

The entire camp was in chaos, people scrambling left and right to grab their weapons and armor as the sounds from the forest got louder.

Tents collapsed as half-asleep people stumbled out, confused and panicked.

Anthony, Lucie, and Adam quickly sprinted to the glowing river, jumping in with no hesitation.

Thin trails of green mist peeled off their bodies, flowing downstream and vanishing into the underground currents.

’’The smell is still here!’’ Adam shouted, scrubbing his body in panic.

But nothing seemed to help.

As they stepped out of the water, they realized the stench clung tightly to their gear and skin.

The silver cores had spotted them and also started running towards the stream.

But it was all too late.

Howls. Screeches. The sound of trees collapsing and branches snapping.

Dozens of different roars echoed from every direction.

That’s when they heard the worst sound imaginable.

Ear-piercing screams, coming from the hill their camp had been on.

’’What... what is happening?’’ Lucie whispered, her eyes wide with dread.