Caleb hadn''t finished his sentence, and the other Lords hadn''t yet realized what was happening when a massive tree trunk hurtled toward them.

    The trunk flew straight at them, lying horizontally and stretching over ten meters. The monsters the Lords had brought along were all low-rank creatures with extremely poor reflexes, which meant...

    Boom! Boom! Boom!

    The trunk was like an enormous steamroller, crushing the feeble monsters beneath its weight. Unable to escape in time, two unlucky Lords were also turned into nothing more than a bloody mess.

    Caleb and Adrian were fortunate to stand further away and thus remained unscathed. However, they were still terrified, immediately retreating backward.

    "Don''t be afraid!" Though he himself was deeply shaken, Caleb still shouted, "Spread the soldiers out! Don''t let that monster attack in clusters."

    Caleb was right—if they kept their troops grouped, all it would take was another thrown tree like the last one, and the casualties would be devastating.

    If they didn''t act now, even without seeing the monster, they might all be dead before it revealed itself.

    The other Lords were only F-rank at best, with the highest among them being E-rank. Their combat experience was minimal, leaving them clueless about what to do.

    Seeing the chaos unfolding, Caleb frowned. "Are you all idiots? Give orders to your troops! Use your voices!"

    Hearing this, the Lords immediately followed Caleb''s command.

    However, their lack of battle experience made their actions clumsy and uncoordinated.

    Whoosh!

    A sharp gust of wind sliced through the air. Caleb saw another massive tree trunk, no smaller than the previous one, hurled toward them.

    "Motherf—!" Caleb couldn''t hold back his curse. "What the hell is going on?!"

    At that moment, a sense of panic gripped him. He hadn''t even caught a glimpse of the monster''s form, yet nearly a tenth of the Lord''s soldiers had already been wiped out.

    If this continued, they would all be dead before the monster appeared.

    "Hurry! Hide behind the bigger trees!" Caleb shouted.

    He didn''t care whether the other Lords heard him or not. Without hesitation, he turned around and searched for cover first.

    Seeing Caleb running, Adrian immediately followed him.

    The Stone Golem ran behind, shielding Caleb, who was lucky enough to find a large rock to hide behind.

    From their cover, Caleb and Adrian peeked out and saw that the other Lords were hastily retreating with their troops, having already accepted defeat before even engaging in battle.

    At that moment, a sudden gust of wind swept through, carrying a massive cloud of dust toward them.

    The dust engulfed everything in an instant, thick like fog, obscuring all vision.

    No—it wasn''t just about losing sight of the path ahead. They could see nothing within a mere three to five meters in front of them.

    Caleb and Adrian were no exception. They, too, were swallowed by the thick dust.

    Caleb grimaced, pulling up his sleeve to cover his nose, trying to block the dust from invading his lungs.

    "What the hell is happening?" he cursed under his breath. "Could all of this be the work of that monster?"

    If his suspicion was correct, then that monster was far too intelligent.

    Terrifying strength, overwhelming combat abilities, and the ability to set up such a massive trap—there was no way that creature was just Rank D or lower.

    It had to be at least Rank C.

    Clenching his teeth, Caleb felt the fear inside him swelling. Every intuition of his being screamed at him to run, to escape this place as fast as possible.

    But he knew blindly running in this situation would only bring death faster.

    Suddenly, he saw a dark figure slowly moving toward him. His body tensed, his heart pounding violently in his chest.

    Caleb wanted to say something, but his lips quivered uncontrollably, unable to produce a single sound.

    Adrian, on the other hand, didn''t even dare to look. Without hesitation, he turned and fled, vanishing into the thick fog of dust.

    "Motherf—!" Caleb cursed, unable to hold back his frustration.

    However, he no longer had time to worry about Adrian.

    The shadowy figure was getting closer, and with each step, Caleb felt his fear intensify.

    Swallowing hard, he immediately gave the order, "Stone Golem! Attack!"

    The Stone Golem, standing beside the large rock, sprang into motion. It lunged at the shadow, raising its massive fist.

    "Help...!"

    Suddenly, just as the figure came within five meters of Caleb, he could see it clearly—a Lord, limping, covered in blood, with one arm severed, as if a wild beast had bitten it off.

    "Stop!" Caleb ordered.

    But it was too late.

    BAM!

    The Stone Golem''s fist smashed straight into the Lord''s head, instantly reducing it to a gory explosion of blood and white brain matter that splattered everywhere.

    Caleb stood frozen, his face as pale as a sickly patient suffering from severe blood loss. His body trembled uncontrollably.

    He could feel the warmth of the Lord''s blood and flesh sticking to his skin.

    Taking a deep breath, he accidentally inhaled the thick, metallic scent of blood mixed with dust, causing him to cough violently.

    Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to regain even a sliver of composure before giving his next order: "Golem, stay by my side."

    The Stone Golem, an emotionless machine, obeyed without hesitation.

    Caleb crouched behind the rock, shaking. All he wanted was for the dust to clear so he could escape this nightmarish place.

    Ten minutes passed.

    The explosions had stopped.

    The screams had faded into nothingness.

    An eerie silence blanketed the battlefield.

    It was so quiet that Caleb could hear his breath, his heartbeat pounding violently in his chest as if it were trying to break free from his ribcage.

    Then, suddenly, he felt the sky darken.

    Looking up, he saw a sight that made him forget even the thought of running.

    It wasn''t the sky turning dark.

    The massive creature was standing before him—so colossal that it blocked out all the light.