Any camp with an S-rank was a peak existence. How many S-ranks were in the entire world? No one knew for sure, but it was certain they were fewer than a hundred. Out of these hundred, fifteen were Campers, the Fifteen Spokesmen of the Camp. Powerhouses on that level could no longer be considered human.

Come to think of it, Eldon suddenly remembered. The Robin Camp rings a bell as one of the fifteen S-Rank Camps. The name and description of any of the Fifteen Spokesmen was something he could spout in his sleep. He was confident in recognizing any of them on sight.

Eldon sighed. He could only chalk the reason for his foggy mind up to hunger.

Muffled shouting and sounds of fighting floated into Eldon’s ears. He forced his gaze through the sheets of rain at the battle site. A Dragon-scaled Lizard monster again. This time, it was larger. Eldon could barely see the silhouette of a horn on its snout. The C-Rank Spire Guards were the ones fighting this time. Soon, the beast fell to the ground, dead.

Eldon tried not to look at the corpse.

“Weeks ago,” Zachary continued as the company continued their trek. “Soldiers bearing the emblem of the Spire arrived at our Camp and left with a few Campers the next day. Some of those who left were the strongest in our Camp. I’ve had this discussion with many people here, and it was the same for them. Spire Guards arrived and took people away... A bit similar to what happened to us, don’t you think?”

Eldon nodded. It was the same for him. Many of the strongest Campers, including the two A-ranks, were taken away by the Spire’s Guard despite protests from the management. It was similar this time, too. The only difference was that the management didn’t have a problem with the Guards taking dregs like him away.

“A few weeks after the first summoning, there is another summoning. If the Guards needed more Campers than they took, why would they wait until weeks pass before they come for more? There are only two possible reasons, in my opinion.”

“Only one,” Eldon said. “The Spire is infallible. There is no way they made a mistake the first time.”

“You’re right. So we’re left with one option.”

Eldon looked up at the grey skies, disregarding the raindrops pelting his face and washing his eyeballs. “Something happened to the Campers they took before. Something that made them need more of us.”

Zachary laughed. “I have some theories about why we’re here based on these deductions that I’m not sure of. But I can tell you if you want.”

“No need. I have my theories as well.”

They trudged through the mud and rain for a few more moments. At some point, Zachary had retracted his arm from Eldon’s neck, and they walked side by side, each lost in their thoughts.

“Well,” Zachary said with a smile. “I’ll go warn some others. Make them aware of the situation as well. I’m sure I’ll—” Zachary’s voice cut off.

Shivers wriggled down Eldon’s spine, and they were not born of cold. He noticed about the same time as Zachary, not because they had similar levels of perception—which they did not by a long shot—but because of his sensitivity to vital energy.

A blinding energy signature had appeared next to him like a ghost, walking in sync with him. Eldon looked ahead, vainly hoping to see the figure leading the group, even if only an outline. His hopes were dashed. The captain was absent from his position at the forefront.

“Good deductions.” The captain said in a clear voice. His voice pierced the rain and overpowered the storm so everyone could hear him. Eldon tensed further as he felt everyone’s gaze turn to them. “Something did happen to the candidates on the island.”

Murmurings arose among the inmates. Questions, concerns, explanations—the captain waited until the conversation died down before he continued.

“We had all the candidates we needed two weeks ago. The preparations were completed, and everything was in place. All that was left was to initiate the operation, but a situation arose that made us need more.”

“Some days ago, a bunch of you lowlifes assaulted the Spire,” a B-Rank Guard chuckled, keeping his eyes on the environment. “I still can't figure out what even placed the idea in their heads.”

It felt like a thunderbolt went off in Eldon’s head. Why? Why would they even consider such a thing?

The thought hadn’t crossed Eldon’s mind. It wouldn’t cross anyone's mind who was a little bit sane. To go up against the spire... There were better ways to commit suicide.

“It was quite the night. The city was alive with the dying cries of hundreds of Campers. Ah... It was quite satisfying.”

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“What happened to them?” Eldon croaked, even though he knew the answer. “Where are they now?”

The Captain gestured further up the path. “What else? They’re now a pile of bones. About a thousand of them.”

Eldon breathed heavily until he regained his composure. He reached for his hair, pulling it down. Why was he so concerned by those Camper's end? Was it because... he was scared of meeting a similar fate?

The next few seconds of introspection from the group were only significant because of what happened next.

A bang shook the earth, and Eldon was blown to the side with deafened ears. He wasn’t the only one. Everyone within ten meters around him was also thrown back, except for Zachary, who lightly skipped backward.

Eldon righted himself in midair and landed in a muddy stream. Already, his teeth were elongating alongside his sharp nails. The rain curtains suddenly didn’t affect his vision much, allowing him to see the unfolding scene.

“They finally came,” The captain said. One of his arms was raised to shield the left side of his body from a tail as tall as the Captain himself. The owner of the tail — a humongous monster whose body was crisscrossed with patterns that glowed like lava — spewed fumes from its nostrils. It retracted its enormous tail and, raising it high to gather momentum, swung it down again with the force of a meteor.

The Captain nimbly leaped to the side, allowing the tail to smash down on the soggy ground and spray mud into the air. Then he crouched, bracing his feet against the ground, before leaping high above the monster’s head. The beast raised its head and opened its mouth, waiting for the Captain to fall into its gaping maw, but the Captain stretched forward his hand, palm down.

In the center of the palm, a whirlwind formed. It was tiny at first but rapidly grew into a full-blown cyclone. The trees, twigs, mud, stones—the rotating power of the wind drew in everything in the vicinity. It was only thanks to the initial shockwave which had pushed them away that the Campers and Guards were not drawn in.

Enveloped by the tearing and crushing pressure, the beast wailed and swiped a claw at the captain but missed. The captain swerved in midair, graceful as a swan, and landed near his subordinates. The beast fell weakly to the ground, chunks of flesh missing from its body.

“Captain! Are you alright?” The purple-scarfed young lady approached the captain with a look of intimate concern.

The captain waved a hand dismissively. He turned to a certain direction. Eldon followed his gaze.

In the depths of the woods, crimson eyes blinked open in droves, glowing in the eerie shadows of the trees. Subdued growls floated on the wind.

The abnormals, both Guards and Campers, readied themselves for battle. Eldon breathed deeply and looked around. We just heard of the gruesome end of rebels, but... I’m certain at least a few will try to escape. The sea might be full of danger, but life as a Camper was also full of danger. At least there was possible freedom at the end of the sea. As a Camper, there was nothing but death to look forward to.

A few Campers were, while remaining calm, already glancing around sneakily, assessing the most feasible escape path. The opportunity was not easy to come by. Eldon looked towards the Captain. He surely knew this as well.

“Stand down. All of you,” said the Captain. “Go on ahead. I’ll play around with these lizards and catch up later.”

“But Captain—” The blonde woman started.

“It’s an order!” The Captain barked. Then he glanced back at her, his gaze softening a little. “It won’t take too long. I’ll be back before you reach The Base.”

The blonde woman hesitated, then nodded.

“Stand down!”

“That sucker over there, you heard the Captain!”

The Guards rounded up the Campers, including the disappointed ones, and sent them forward. The escorts, who had been mostly forgotten, scrambled to follow, leaving only the Captain standing there as the beasts approached.

When Eldon glanced back, just before they left viewing distance, he saw the captain floating in the air, held up by a swirling vortex of destruction. The beasts were charging toward him, dying and trying to get past him, but he held them all back. His tiny figure was like a wall, keeping the monsters from getting close to the entourage.

The storm continued to rage and pour as gloomy clouds gathered and the earth shook with thunder. The entourage trudged through the mud, enduring the pelting rain and struggling to see through the haze. The Captain’s absence weighed on the group, mostly on the Guards, who took it out on the Campers by barking at them now and then.

A second? A minute? An hour? Time was impossible to discern in this relentless downpour. The abnormals could only march on and on and on and on.

“Look!”

Suddenly, an expanse of treeless land entered their view. Tall grasses bowing to the storm, a clear view of the dreary sky, and the outline of a lofty tower in the distance.

However, none of those was the most eye-catching element of the landscape.

To the side of the path rose a hill of white bones. Skulls, femurs, rib cages, collarbones, vertebral spine—an assortment of body parts picked clean of meat glittered like diamonds in the dim light of day.

How did this happen? Eldon wondered. The Reclaimers’ Legion units—the New World Government’s armies—could not be summoned from their posts without damaging their cause. Even still, the rebelling Campers had been slaughtered. Was it the work of the Spire’s Guard, or was there something else at play?

At the urging of the squad members, the entourage got moving again. Eldon gazed at the vague outline of the tower he could see in the distance. The New World Government is truly mysterious.

Like every other storm, the one ravaging the Spire Island passed, allowing the sun to shine down on the island again. Vegetation shimmered and glowed in the sunlight. The green trees glistened, as did the rippling grass and the spatters of blood that covered it.

Mutilated monster corpses lay all around. Where there were once streams of water, there were now rivers of blood.

An enormous monster lay prone among the trees, munching. Its serpentine body glistened with silver scales, and a majestic silver horn rose from its broad snout. A man in a blue uniform hung from the beast’s mouth, his lower body out of sight.

“Help... me...” The man’s mouth moved slightly, whispering a powerless plea.

“Fu... cker...” Mustering his energy, he beat the snout with his fists, but the monster only kept chewing. Little by little, the rest of the man’s body entered the beast’s mouth.

The man’s head vanished into the maw, followed by a loud crunching noise.