CHAPTER 477: CULLING OF THE BEACH? [1]

’I keep messing up... I shouldn’t have said anything...’

Striding forward, Lillian summoned the Fluttering Prowl—her black cloak—and wrapped it around herself. She clutched the edges of it as she moved towards the village of sand surrounding the large pit in the distance.

Lillian breathed shakily, feeling her hands shake from the cold as she was lost in her own thoughts.

’I’m such a screw up...’

She ran away again... A regular occurrence in her past life, which Lillian didn’t wish to remember.

As she approached the countless large mounds of sand in the distance, she tripped and fell onto her knees, causing her tear-covered face to contort in frustration.

"Fucking shit..."

She hated sand... So much...

With the support of the Jungle Lord, she was pulled back onto her feet. However, because of her depressing clumsiness, her fall had caused vibrations to spread through the ground, causing a species to awaken.

Skrr... Skr...

Crab-like creatures the size of humans began to crawl out from holes formed in the tall mounds, the sand cascading down their exoskeleton.

They had two parts to their bodies. Their lower half was largely reminiscent of a crustacean, and their upper half was similar to that of a human.

The only difference was that, unlike humans, they had a large claw for an arm and another for an actual hand; they were covered head to toe in a tough, dark orange exterior.

From a dozen to a few dozen, to even a hundred, these creatures began to leave the comfort of their own homes.

Under the night sky that was splattered with stars, flames began to appear below, held in the hands of the subjects of the Beach God, who now brandished torches.

The flames of their torches pushed back against the darkness of the outside world, and—with the moon’s celestial light—they managed to find something... Someone was approaching them with slow and unstable steps.

Lillian, ignoring the fact that she had just awoken the entire species that worshipped the Beach God’s temple, extended her hand out from her cloak before summoning a reflective glass shard.

With red eyes and a look of indifference on her face, she tossed the glass shard beside her, listening as it shattered, followed by a heavy thud.

"GYEHAHEHA!"

Landing beside her, the Beetle manifested with a boisterous laugh with its distorted voice. Although it wasn’t fully healed and was still missing a leg, most of its injuries had now passed.

The Beetle stabilised itself and shot the Jungle Lord a look, who glanced back and silently gestured with its head towards Lillian, who continued to walk forward silently.

It raised its non-existent eyebrow. As it was about to raise its voice, it then stopped itself and kept quiet, sensing that something was off about Lillian.

Skitter! Skitter!

Watching as the stranger suddenly summoned a fearsome beast, the crabmen immediately took position—their bodies skittering around quickly as they formed a wall with their bodies between her and their village.

They placed aside their torches and now wielded spears—spears made out of wood and stone, similar to the kind that the Jungle Lord’s weapons were made out of.

And as they got to the position, they quickly moved the women and children of their tribe far to the back of their village, far away from the possible dangers.

Those who stood against the incoming threat expressed obvious signs of anxiety and fear.

Lillian, tiredly blinking at them with her red eyes, flashed her hand out—and without stopping even once—summoned the Jungle Lord’s stone weapons.

The Wendigo caught his weapons out of the air before watching as Lillian pointed towards the sand village tiredly.

"Destroy them. You can do whatever you want to them. Just get them out of my way..."

***

"H-huh!? Miss Lillian ran away? WHY!?" Emilio yelled, looking towards Viesta for an answer, who seemed rather crestfallen at the situation. Just when he had been able to get to sleep, he was awoken by the sounds of Viesta’s cries for them to wake up.

Viesta explained what happened, but vaguely.

She explained enough for everyone to grasp what happened, but kept some back so that she wasn’t spilling all of Lillian’s vulnerable secrets to the world.

And while she described the situation, she couldn’t help but feel guilty about not being able to comfort Lillian right then and there... The situation was just too... Abrupt and sudden!

"Not once did I think she was going through something like that..."

The Captain rubbed his bearded chin, obviously serious about the situation and the current turmoil his crewmate was experiencing from within.

"It is said that those with the most burdens on their shoulders tend to keep them to themselves to prevent bothering others about themselves—it is a foolish perspective, but the most understandable perspective."

He had been around countless people who experienced a severe case of depression out at sea—and those who spoke nothing about it to others... It would be safe to say that none ended their depression as well as he hoped.

"If what yar say is true, matey... Then, we must find her as quickly as possible! As strong as she is right now, fighting while yar mind is clogged with utter chaos is but a death warrant!"

After saying that, the Captain quickly sprouted wings from his back and carried everyone off to the skies. If they knew Lillian well enough from their short time together, they would know she was probably fighting.

And where there was fighting, there would always be signs of it—obvious signs of it.

Viesta flew right behind the Captain, trying to keep a close eye on her surroundings as worry flashed through her mind.

’Just stay where you are, Lillian, please...!’

She hoped Lillian wouldn’t do something rash, something dangerous, or anything that could put her life at risk...

***

A half-wounded crabman ran through the ruins of his sand village, passing by countless half-eaten corpses of his brethren and friends.

He threw them fearful and heartbroken glances.

How did this happen? Why did this happen?