A monster with numerous unknown attributes!

After the initial chaos, the Trial Takers quickly reacted, surrounding the monster and taking turns to attack. Meanwhile, Chai San maneuvered skillfully around the creature, effectively using his defensive advantage to cover his teammates.

Most of the participants in the trial were battle-hardened. Although the creature was bizarre, it didn't scare them. With their combined efforts, the speed at which the creature's flesh regenerated couldn't keep up with the rate of its injuries. Before long, its mutated body collapsed with a thud.

However, to everyone's horror, even in death, the youth's face, now unrecognizable, still bore a sinister smile.

"Damn! This is a trap! Those damned peasants!" Zhou Juncai cursed angrily.

The others' eyes were also flashing with cold intent.

"So why don't we strike first and kill all these villagers to eliminate future troubles," Wu Xiujie approached from a distance, holding a long knife, his face still stained with the creature's blood, adding a touch of ferocity to his already cold demeanor, "From the previous ritual, even if these villagers aren't followers of the Evil God, they're likely involved!"

"Instead of constantly being on guard against their treachery, we might as well slaughter the whole village! We might even force the information we need out of them!"

He revealed a cruel smile: "I refuse to believe that everyone here has such tight lips!"

"Are you beasts?" Chai San shouted angrily, "Killing indiscriminately without understanding the situation, how are you any different from beasts?"

"Indecisive!" Zhou Juncai's eyes were filled with intense killing intent, "If we don't act now, how do you propose we obtain information about the ritual? Beg them on our knees? Remember Jiang Xue's words: the closer we get to the mission deadline, the harder it is to pass! Waiting any longer will doom us all!"

"Furthermore, after being burned, that boy turned into this monster. Can you guarantee the other villagers won't change? There are over a thousand villagers here. If all transform into similar monsters, even ten lives wouldn't be enough for us to survive!"

"What if there are innocents?"

"Who has time to care about that? Kill them all together!"

"I disagree!"

The two argued fiercely, and the Trial Takers quickly split into three factions, with supporters and opponents. Most, however, were still undecided.

They knew the danger but were hesitant to slaughter over a thousand people immediately!

As neither side could convince the other, suddenly a weak voice broke out: "E-everyone, I feel like something's not right."

This voice stopped the arguing and drew their attention. The speaker was the Trial Taker who had been grabbed by the charred corpse's arm.

With the powerful Constitution of a Level 9 Awakened, ordinary burns weren't considered severe injuries, but this person appeared pale, gripping his unaffected arm as if enduring some intense pain!

Bubbles appeared on his burned arm, but on closer examination, it seemed as if those bubbles were moving, like insects crawling under his skin!

"There... there's something in there!" The person was terrified, "It's coming out!"

With a heart-wrenching scream, under everyone's shocked gaze, the Trial Taker's arm skin tore violently, and countless flesh surged out! Almost instantly, the flesh extended three to four meters, resembling tentacles made of flesh and blood!

"Ah!!!"

This horrifying scene drove the Trial Taker to madness. He screamed while wildly swinging his arm, and countless tiny protrusions moved under his skin, climbing from his arm towards his neck!

"Hey, calm down!" Chai San shouted.

But the person had lost all reason, and the growing flesh seemed to have its own will, surging toward the other Trial Takers!

What's more terrifying was that at the moment of this person's mutation, the ritual progress, previously stagnant, began to skyrocket!

[Current ritual progress: 12%]

[Current ritual progress: 13%]

[Current ritual progress: 15%!]

At this moment, an arrow shot out, precisely piercing through his head.

The Trial Taker staggered, then collapsed heavily to the ground, lifeless.

It was Wu Xiujie who acted, the powerful attack from the Heavy Bowman instantly took the Trial Taker's life.

"You all..." Chai San opened his mouth, but ultimately said nothing further.

He realized that the successive mutations had pushed the nerves of the Trial Takers to the limit, and any sudden movement could trigger an attack from them.

Amidst the pervasive tension, Chu Xiu's calm voice emerged: "There's something wrong with that flame."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked grim.

The mutated monster was not just powerful, but any contact with its flames would cause mutations!

This required them to not only defeat the opponent but do so without a scratch!

This is kind of over the top, isn't it?

Reflecting on the terrifying appearance of the deceased Trial Taker, everyone looked rather uneasy.

"Unclear clues and a village treating us all as enemies were already bad enough, now any random monster is a Level 9 Elite, and we're forced to pass unscathed! More ridiculous still, there's a mole among us!"

Chu Xiu had been observing all this time but couldn't discern anyone behaving strangely, which frustrated him.

"And perhaps the worst part..."

During the Trial Taker's mutation, the ritual progress began to spike.

Meaning, Chu Xiu not only needed to protect himself but also concern himself with the survival of others!

This gave him a headache.

It's well known that protecting ordinary people is troublesome, as they are fragile and burdensome.

"In this situation, we must break conventional thinking."

"We must strike first!"

While Chu Xiu pondered, dense footsteps suddenly reached his ears.

He looked up to find the villagers, who had been hiding in the houses, emerging and approaching them in a surrounding formation.

Their expressions were peculiar, filled with greed and longing, not looking at them as if they were people, but more like an irresistible delicacy.

"Swish."

Suddenly, the crowd made way, and the black-armored man who presided over the ritual earlier strode in with a group of guards.

He glanced at the Trial Taker's corpse, a joyful and fawning smile appearing on his face.

"Oh, it's an honor to have esteemed guests, why didn't you say so earlier?"

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