A dull explosion echoed throughout the forest. One of the tents near the back corner of the campsite suddenly collapsed. A column of dust and debris danced in the air. It spread throughout the area like a slow-moving haze.

For a brief moment, an eerie silence descended onto the forest.

“…”

“…”

“…”

A layer of tension colored everyone’s faces. From the Majins in the crowd to the Captain in the center, all of their focus diverted towards the source of the explosion. In fact, they were so preoccupied that none of them had noticed that the rusted metal sword actually snapped in two the very moment it met with Ellis’s neck.

As for the man himself, he merely let out an uncomfortable frown. Ellis could feel it. An invisible pressure. A stuffy aura. Killing intent. It was tangible and fairly large.

Much to his surprise, the killing intent had not been directed towards him. Instead, it swept through the area like a broad-stroked paint brush. Whatever this thing was, it wasn’t here for him.

If it’s not here for me, then it can’t be the calamity-class monster… and if it’s not the calamity-class monster, then that leaves only one other option…

A strange glint flashed through his eyes. Ellis decided to go with a wait-and-see approach. He withdrew his wandering thoughts and attentively watched. The silence around him was almost deafening. He could hear nothing but the sound of crackling fire.

Then came the footsteps.

At first, they were faint. A slow and steady rhythm barely audible to the ears. As time passed and the seconds slowly ticked by, the footsteps gradually grew louder.

By this point, the Majin Captain finally snapped out of his daze. The killing intent had momentarily dulled his mind. It was similar to his experience with the wolves. In that exchange alone, Redrick had been thoroughly mentally subdued. Dangerous. His current situation was extremely dangerous.

Suppressing his worries deep within his heart, he put on a brave front and suddenly pointed to a few of the Majins within the crowd.

“You, you, and you. God and see what stupid monster dares to barge into our camp.”

The Majins naturally hesitated. An unknown enemy always brought on the greatest fears. Still, they could not blatantly disobey their captain’s order, especially not in front of so many people. The three unfortunate souls swallowed down their fears and plunged into the cloud of dust with a resounding battle cry.

“…”

A few seconds later, a different sort of scream echoed through the air.

Wet and visceral, it was a sound that could only be produced during an experience of great suffering. Even after the screams eventually died down, the last few notes still lingered in the air like a quiet specter.

The Majin Captain narrowed his eyes. Sweat accumulated on his back and dripped down to the side of his arm. He looked over towards his left hand. For some reason, his sword was broken.

Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury to think about it any further. He let out an ugly scowl before he threw away the rusted blade and looked off into the distance.

As the dust dissipated, the silhouette of a young woman soon came to view. She was fit and athletic, with lines of muscle that extended out to all parts of her body. Judging solely by her face and figure, the woman was probably in her early to mid-thirties.

She held a spear nearly twice her size in one hand. Three bodies hung limply from the spear’s jagged blade. The woman did not seem to mind the weight. She moved with a certain grace and held her spear with the same stability as a man holding a barbeque skewer.

With an eerily calm expression on her face, she suddenly swung her spear in a wide arc. As if propelled by some invisible force, the corpses dislodged from the blade and zipped through the air.

They were airborne for a good five seconds. Like giant, bleeding bullets, they flew past Ellis’s head and landed directly into the bonfire.

CRASH!

The fire, in turn, responded to the new kindling with an excited roar. The flames climbed higher and higher, while glowing embers scattered throughout the area. After the fire’s excitement died down, the sound of crackling flesh and the smell of burnt muscle tissue wafted through the air.

“…”

“…”

For a time, nobody said a word.

Unperturbed by the silence, the woman continued her slow approach. Step by step, she drew even closer to the center of the campsite.

Amidst all his rising emotions, the Captain carefully scrutinized the young woman. Her most noticeably traits were her ears and tail.

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A squirrel.

Once he came to this realization, his earlier panic subsided. A somewhat amused smile twisted his lips.

“Another squirrel? She seems a little bit stronger than the others, but…” he inwardly shook his head. For a moment, he even felt slight pity for the girl. Of course, such a thing lasted for less than a fraction of a second.

Redrick licked his lips in anticipation.

Due to how delicate and easily breakable their bodies were, the Majins were not allowed to touch their captives. Fortunately, this woman was different. A warrior, what’s more, a strong warrior. As long as he piled up enough contribution, then surely the Boss would give him a suitable reward. Even if it’s only for a single night, he couldn’t help but get excited.

The young woman did not notice the sudden change in the captain’s expression.

For a brief instant, Ellis and the woman met eyes.

The woman frowned. She made an expression as if she couldn’t quite understand what exactly it was, she was looking at.

“I felt… danger?” She mumbled to herself. Without a doubt, it had originated from that guy over there. The young man with his hands tied behind his back. He was currently kneeling on a wooden platform. He smiled a pleasant smile. Aside from his grey hair, he did not really look all that impressive.

“Was I wrong?” The sense of danger had only lasted for less than a fraction of a second. The frown on her face deepened. Had she imagined it? She was someone who trusted her instincts above all else, but the current situation was simply too abnormal. No matter what, she couldn’t believe it!

She mulled over the matter for a few more seconds before she shook her head in annoyance and turned her attention back over to the rest of the camp.

Majins. As far as the eye could see, Majins everywhere. It was a number that had surpassed one thousand.

She looked around, but ultimately, she could not see any squirrels.

“Where is my nephew?” The woman asked in a cold voice.

“Nephew?” The Majin Captain tilted his head. After a moment of thought, he stated, “if he was a warrior, then there is no point looking for him. He is already dead.”

He chuckled to himself.

The woman, Farma-Wrynn, did not like that response. Without hesitation, she immediately lobbed her spear towards the broad-shouldered Majin.

In response, the Captain snorted. By now, he had shaken off almost all of his earlier fears.

He quickly grabbed a nearby Majin.

“Sir, what are you—” before the Majin could finish, the Captain brought him forward.

The Majin’s eyes widened in realization. Right now, he was being used as a meat shield!

He squirmed and struggled to escape the Captain’s grip. Unfortunately, his efforts were all in vain. With one last heart-wrenching scream, the poor Majin was impaled by the spear. The blade’s edge penetrated his heart. It killed him a few seconds later.

“Guh…” The Majin Captain coughed up a mouthful of blood.

His face crinkled into an ugly grimace. He looked down. “The spear…”

The meat shield was useless! It had penetrated the soldier’s body and came out the other end. Despite all that, it still had enough momentum to strike the Captain’s chest.

Luckily, most of the force was lost, courtesy of the meat shield. The spear did not hurt him too severely. In fact, it only traveled about six-inches deep and arrived in a skewed angle. It was not enough to kill or seriously injure him, but that did not give him any comfort.

A chill ran down the Captain’s spine. He took a step back and hoarsely shouted, “Call the Leader! We have an intruder! You pieces of shit, stop standing there and attack!”

Chaos immediately erupted. Despite Farma-Wrynn’s astonishing display of strength, the Majins were unintimated. After all, what could one person do in the face of thousands?

The Majins rushed forward. They threw themselves at her like waves of blue-skinned ants. The Majin Captain then took this opportunity to escape. Underneath the protective blanket of chaos, he ran out in search of the real leader.

Farma-Wrynn could only watch as the Captain escaped. A wave of boiling anger seethed within her heart.

She tightly clenched her fists until her knuckles turned pale white.

“Fine, I was planning on killing everyone here anyway…” Despite the charging army, she showed neither fear nor hesitation. Farma-Wrynn cocked her hand back. The veins on her arms and shoulder throbbed. A few seconds passed and the first Majin quickly entered within range.

She punched out.

BANG!

The poor soldier quite literally exploded. Blood red liquid and chunks of mangled meat scattered everywhere.

Farma-Wrynn was not yet satisfied. She took another step forward and punched again.

BANG!

This time, a Majin’s entire shoulder was blown clean off. An unearthly scream echoed through her ears. She did not even flinch as she quickly finished the job and killed the man. To her, there was nothing unique or surprising about the man’s death.

She was used to such violent scenes. Her way of fighting was messy and brutal. It was an explosive brand of martial arts that utilized both physical strength and inner energy.

Like a mad man, she continually swung her fists.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Explosion after explosion, meat shower after meat shower. With each successive kill, her skin was dyed an even deeper shade of crimson.

Despite all the deaths, the Majins did not back down. They still held a superiority in numbers. They continued their attack. Crude metal weapons flashed through the air.

Farma weaved in and out of the blades. Her footsteps were light and nimble, like a red feather amidst a turbulent windstorm.

Everywhere she went, someone would die. Incomplete bodies continually piled up all around her. At some point, she had somehow managed to commandeer a sword from her enemies. Using their own weapon against them, she ruthlessly hacked and slashed.

At this point, Ellis sat up. Carnage. Chaos. Confusion. Everyone was so focused in on the new intruder that they had completely forgotten about him. Even in a situation like this, he couldn’t help but feel a bit indignant. His limelight was suddenly stolen away by this crazy woman.

Ellis shook his head. He hesitated for a moment before he snapped his restraints off.

He rubbed his sore (not really) wrists and thought about what to do next.

Should I help her?

Even someone as strong as that had a limit. Unless she was a complete freak of nature like Ellis, then surely a thousand opponents would eventually wear her down.

Just as he seriously considering helping, the ground suddenly began to shake.

“…” Ellis narrowed his eyes.

It was different from last time. The momentary tremble that the squirrel woman had caused felt like child’s play in comparison to the current earthquake. This was harsher, and it lasted for a longer span of time.

The ground beneath his feet cracked. The tents all around him also collapsed, a few of them sank to the floor like monkeys in quicksand. The bonfire too, the carefully arranged logs toppled to the floor like giant Jenga pieces. The flames and loose embers continually spread throughout the area with each second that passed.

In a blink of an eye, the campsite was set ablaze.

At this time, a dreadfully heavy pressure descended. It caused everyone’s bodies to freeze up and their lungs to hyperventilate.

Fear. An instinctive fear.

Ellis raised his head. He looked over towards the river. The water violently churned. From deep beneath the water’s surface, he could vaguely make out a large shadow.

“It’s here…” For the first time, a serious expression morphed his face.

The Calamity-Class Monster had finally arrived.