Chapter 105
Chloe's POV
The woodland at Thunder Gorge's perimeter grew sparse, and the hunting party began to scatter in twos and threes. Those young warriors sniffed excitedly at the scent of prey in the air, completely oblivious to the danger lurking ahead.
I rode on Zeus's back, gripping the black fur at his neck tightly, my heart pounding rapidly.
"They're heading deeper into the interior," I said in a low voice, feeling the taut muscles beneath Zeus's body. "Ivan, those Devil's Vine remnants..."
Zeus let out a low whimper, clearly detecting the strange scent drifting through the air—a sickeningly sweet yet unsettling fragrance that would drive beasts to lose their minds and become bloodthirsty and mad.
"Soon," my fingers tightened involuntarily. "They'll reach the heart of the gorge soon."
Sure enough, before long, the first scream echoed from deep within the canyon. The sound was sharp and brief, immediately drowned out by more roars and howls.
I felt Zeus halt abruptly, his ears standing straight up, his nostrils flaring as he tried to determine the direction. Chaotic sounds came from all directions—the clash of metal, the roars of beasts, the terrified shouts of warriors.
"Damn it," Ivan's worry resonated in my mind. "If only those people had taken the high ground to look..."
I clenched my jaw, a wave of helplessness surging through me.
If Connor and the others had been willing to spend even a single minute surveying the terrain before entering, they wouldn't have rushed so recklessly into this death trap. But now it was too late to say anything.
"Let's go up," I said.
Zeus leaped onto a massive boulder in one bound.
When we finally stood at the high point on the canyon's edge, the entire gorge interior was a scene of devastation.
Purple Devil's Vine remnants covered every inch of ground. Though they could no longer regenerate, those withered tendrils still released a corrupting aura.
Worse still, creatures that should have been docile prey—deer, rabbits, even squirrels—had all become wildly aggressive, attacking anything that came near with feral intensity.
"This is worse than we imagined," I said through gritted teeth.
Suddenly, a familiar voice called out from the nearby thicket.
"Help! Someone save me!"
It was Jordan.
I pushed through the dense undergrowth and saw the once-arrogant Gamma's son crouched pathetically beneath a tree, clutching a dead rabbit in his hands.
Before him stood a massive boar, its crimson eyes fixed on him, thick drool dripping from its mouth, blood still clinging to its tusks. The boar was at least twice the size of a normal one, its bristles standing on end, its skin crawling with dark purple veins.
With each step it took, the ground trembled slightly, and the hot breath from its nostrils formed white clouds in the cold air.
When Jordan saw me riding Zeus, hope flared instantly in his eyes.
"Chloe! Save me! This damned monster—"
"Shut up," I cut him off, dismounting from Zeus's back. Ivan immediately shifted back to human form, looking at me with concern.
"Chloe, let me handle this," he said, moving forward.
"No," I drew the dagger at my waist, feeling the familiar weight of its handle.
"This is my trial, Ivan. Don't interfere."
He hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded, though he remained in a ready stance.
I took a deep breath and positioned myself to face the corrupted boar. It seemed to sense new prey, wheeling around abruptly and letting out a deafening roar.
The next second, it charged at me like a runaway tank.
Time seemed to slow in that moment.
I didn't retreat. Instead, I ran straight toward it.
All those days and nights of training at the gym flashed through my mind—every footwork pattern Frank had taught me, every dodge, every lethal attack angle.
Just as the boar was about to collide with me, I rolled sharply to the left, my dagger carving a deep wound across its front leg. The boar roared in pain and charged again. This time, I didn't dodge. At the last moment, I leaped up, planted my feet on its head, and used the momentum to flip behind it.
Before it could react, I was already on its back. The boar thrashed wildly trying to throw me off, but I gripped the bristles at its neck tightly and drove my dagger deep into the back of its neck—the only weak point of a corrupted beast, the center of the corruption pattern.
The boar let out one final, piercing shriek before its massive body crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
I flipped off its back, my chest heaving. The dagger was covered in dark purple blood that reeked of putrid decay.
I wiped the blade on my sleeve and turned to face the dumbstruck Jordan.
"How... how did you do that?" he stammered, his eyes filled with disbelief.
I didn't answer. Instead, I walked toward the boar's corpse.
By tradition, I should have severed its head as a trophy, but I didn't do that.
These creatures were the canyon's inhabitants. It was the greed and slaughter of outsiders that had broken the balance and driven them to madness.
They weren't trophies to showcase my prowess—they were victims of this disaster.
After finishing up, I began searching around.
"Chloe, what are you looking for?" Ivan approached.
"Devil's Vines," I said. "For this boar to be corrupted this severely, there must be some nearby..."
Sure enough, not far from where the boar had fallen, I found a withered purple Devil's Vine remnant. Though it had shriveled, its roots still burrowed deep into the soil, continuously releasing that alluring yet dangerous scent.
I was about to pull it out when footsteps sounded behind us.
"Don't move!"
All three of us whirled around alertly, only to see Connor and Derek emerging from the brush. Both were injured—Connor had a deep claw mark across his shoulder, and Derek's leg was trembling, clearly suffering from serious internal damage. But most striking were the trophies they carried: Connor dragged a massive mountain lion corpse, while Derek shouldered a large buck.
Both animals bore the same corruption marks as the boar.
"Brother," I called out instinctively, then realized my tone carried a trace of concern.
Connor glanced at me, something complex flickering in his eyes before his expression hardened again. "So you're still alive."
Derek's gaze swept our surroundings, his frown deepening.
"Something's wrong!" he said. "These creatures... they've all been driven mad by some strange scent, completely losing their minds."
"It's the witches," I stated. "They planted these evil Devil's Vines here to lure out the elemental spirit!"
Connor scoffed. "Elemental spirits? You're still spouting such absurd—"
"Connor!" Derek interrupted, his expression grave. "Now's not the time to argue. We need to gather the survivors and break through immediately."
Connor fell silent for a moment, then finally activated the mental link.
The next second, his face turned extremely ugly.
"Damn it..." he cursed under his breath. "Out of a party of over forty, only twenty-eight are still alive."
This was the most devastating casualty rate in the history of the trials.
"Do you believe me now?" I couldn't help saying. "I warned you all, but you—"
"Enough!" Connor roared, though this time his anger was clearly tinged with fear.
He took a deep breath and began issuing assembly orders through the mental link, briefly describing the features of our surroundings.
"As the Alpha's heir, your dismissal of your sister's warnings is what led to this situation today!" Ivan said coldly.
"Even if you were right, so what? I still managed to kill a corrupted mountain lion! That proves—"
Connor's words cut off abruptly.
Heavy footfalls echoed from the undergrowth, accompanied by a deep growl. A massive brown bear slowly emerged from the bushes, its body nearly three times the size of a normal bear, covered in dark purple corruption patterns.
Even Connor couldn't help but swallow hard.
But that wasn't the worst of it.
Another set of heavy footsteps sounded, and a second bear appeared from the opposite side. The two behemoths advanced slowly, the ground trembling beneath their weight.
Jordan's face turned deathly pale.
"We're... we're dead..." his voice was filled with despair.
I gripped my dagger tightly, feeling cold sweat seeping from my palms.
Two corrupted bears—even a talented warrior like Connor might not be able to handle them, let alone with wounded among us.