Chapter 39: Fourth Star Esper

At night, the wasteland grew even more dangerous. Monsters with glowing eyes and sharp fangs roamed the land. At night, Emrys hid in large cracks in the ground or gaps in large rocks.

In this wasteland, each day was a test of survival for Emrys.

He fought monsters, ate their flesh, and pushed himself forward. His body grew stronger, and his blade moved faster with each battle.

But deep in his heart, Emrys knew this was not enough. He had to find a way out of this place. The endless red wasteland held more dangers, and he could not stay there forever.

On this day, Emrys felt something change inside him. After fighting for so long and eating the monster's meat three times each day, he could feel his power growing stronger.

While fighting a group of Crimson Crawlers, his blade moved faster than ever before. His strikes were sharper, and his body felt lighter. Energy surged inside him like never before.

As he finished the last crawler, a bright light surrounded him. It came from within and wrapped his whole body in a warm glow.

Emrys felt very comfortable and closed his eyes. He let the energy flow through him.

After a while, a slight sound of something cracking appeared from within his body, and he immediately felt a rush of power.

After a while, when the light faded, Emrys opened his eyes and clenched his fists.

At this moment, he felt a strength coursing through his body, and he had never felt anything like this before.

"Fourth Star Esper!"

Breathing deeply, Emrys muttered inwardly in silence.

The energy flowing within his body was powerful. It was flowing through his veins like fire. At the same time, Emrys felt his Void Steps had been strengthened along with his Echo Sense ability.

Emrys looked at the endless red wasteland in front of him. Until now, he had stayed on the outer edges, where the monsters were dangerous but manageable. But now, he felt he was ready to take a risk.

With his strength as a Fourth Star Esper, he can go at least a few dozen miles deeper.

What he should do here or whom to look, he doesn't have any idea. He doesn't know how to leave this place. Hell, he doesn't even know what this place actually is and where it is located.

All he knew was that he had to find a way out of here.

"It’s time to go deeper," he said to himself.

He knew the deeper parts of the wasteland would have stronger monsters and more dangers. But he also believed it might hold a way out or something that could help him escape this strange world.

With his blade in hand and damaged XT-300 Starfallen Armor on his body, Emrys started walking.

The ground was rough, and the air felt heavier as he moved further in. The strange red sky above him was glowing brighter and the cries of unknown monsters were echoing in the distance.

Emrys tightened his grip on his blade. He was no longer the weak Esper he used to be a few months ago. Now, he was a Fourth Star Esper.

As a Fourth Star Esper, he was confident in taking care of Fifth Star Monsters, and the probability of escaping from the Sixth Star Monsters was also there.

.....

Three days later, Emrys can be seen standing over the body of a red huge monster with three sharp horns on its forehead. His sword was buried deep in its chest.

Pulling the blade free, he wiped the dark blood off with a piece of torn cloth.

The air around him was thick and heavy with the smell of blood and dust. It had been three long days since he started walking deeper into the wasteland. He had faced more monsters than he could count. Each battle pushed him to his limit, but his growing strength made him feel unstoppable.

"Tsk, this type of monster isn't even edible. They are also troublesome to deal with. Why do they keep coming?"

Emrys snorted and then sighed.

After that, keeping the blade, he was ready to continue walking.

Just as Emrys was about to move forward, his heart suddenly thumped hard in his chest. The sudden strong heartbeat startled him. He froze in place and gripped his blade tightly.

"Wh-what happened? Why am I feeling like this?"

Emrys clutched his chest and muttered with a trembling voice. For some reason, he felt a strong panic.

He hurriedly scanned the horizon.

Before he could make sense of what was happening to him, a deep roar echoed that filled the air.

"ROAR!"

It wasn't just one roar. A moment later, another roar followed. Then another, and then another.

"ROAR!" "ROAR!"

The ground began to tremble beneath his feet. Dust and small rocks vibrated and bounced as the sound grew louder.

Emrys's heart raced as he turned to look in the direction of the noise.

His Echo Sense was already far stronger now. He quickly picked up countless movements.

"This... These are the footsteps of thousands of monsters. Just how many of them are there? What is happening in that direction?"

Emrys could feel the movements of countless monsters, and all of their steps seemed to be hurried.

A few moments later, Emrys saw them.

He saw a massive surge of monsters appear on the horizon, running straight toward him. They came in all shapes and sizes. Some were large, with sharp claws and glowing eyes, while others were small and fast, darting between the larger creatures.

But they all had one thing in common. All of them looked terrified.

Emrys immediately realized something while watching the horde of monsters.

"They are not targeting me, they are running from something.”

Emrys could feel these monster's emotions clearly with the help of his Echo Sense. He could also see the fear in the monsters' glowing eyes and the desperation in their movements. All these factors sent a chill down his spine.

Whatever was behind them had to be terrifying.

Emrys took out his blade again. He clenched the blade tightly. At the same time, his mind was racing.

Should he run or hide?

Could he fight his way out if he had to?