While the entirety of the First Ring remains unexplored, information regarding many territories was gathered and recorded by previous Dominants who successfully crossed the Veil. This critical data is logged onto the Whisperglobe to guide new Dominants. Furthermore, the academy ensures that all incoming Dominants are thoroughly briefed on these known territories before they attempt the crossing.

That was why, when the name of this territory, Merdini's Burial Ground, popped up, the five of us immediately had a chilling idea of what sort of territory this was.

Looking at the name that popped up on the Whisperglobe, I quickly flicked my gaze to the side where a tiny screen hovered beside me displaying the time:

[10:47 a.m.]

While the others, except Aika, immediately craned their necks toward the sky, as if trying to determine the time of day.

The reason for this collective anxiety was simple: although Merdini's Burial Ground was a Grade Two territory, it was generally safe during the day but became an absolute nightmare once night fell.

Dion leaned back and sat on the grass. "That explains why no monsters have bothered us till now."

Ino looked to him. "Yes, but that also means we need to quickly move and find a secure place to hide before night falls."

While they were speaking, I raised my gaze to the sky, then to the horizon where I could see dark clouds forming in the far distance, as if a heavy rain was bound to fall soon.

Suddenly, a deep frown creased my face.

"Ino is right, we need to start moving," I stated with sudden urgency as I turned my gaze away from the horizon.

Luckily, there were lots of caves in this territory that were discovered and marked by previous Dominants on the Whisperglobe map. These could be used as refuge. We just needed to find one that was empty before night fell.

The three: Ino, Dion, and Celeste slowly stood up, preparing themselves for the trek.

I turned and walked over to Aika, who was sitting some meters away, alone, smoking her pipe. Then I reached out a hand to her and nudged my head toward the direction of the others, "You ready? We are about to leave."

She blew out smoke, and after a moment, she nodded. "…Yeah."

Then she reached out her right hand and took my hand, and I helped her up.

As we rejoined the others, she tossed her pipe into the inventory, and we began our careful and brisk walk into the forest.

Upon first stepping into it, the forest looked beautiful with lots of trees that towered majestically toward the canopy and beautiful greenery. However, it was unnervingly quiet, as if there wasn't a single living creature in here. The only sound we could hear was our feet brushing over the grass.

After a couple dozen minutes of uneventful trekking, we began to notice that the atmosphere around us had started to grow gloomy. The fresh air that had greeted us at the entrance was being replaced by the pungent, thick stench of dead corpses. And the deeper we got, the oppressive silence of the forest began to be broken by the heavy, repulsive buzzing of flies.

"Gosh, it reeks!" Dion complained as he covered his nose with one hand while also waving the other to chase the flies that had begun swarming our direction.

Celeste and Ino had also covered their noses with their arms, coughing. While Aika had quietly taken her raven form on my shoulder.

We continued walking on despite the discomfort, but after a few more steps, the entire scenery dramatically changed.

The vibrant, beautiful forest was suddenly replaced by a ghastly, graveyard of nature filled with dead, leafless trees. The atmosphere here seemed to be even gloomier, and the stench grew more suffocating.

Just then, Celeste pointed at the ground some meters away. "Look!"

All of us snapped our gazes toward where she pointed. We saw massive prints in the dirt. Upon closer inspection, however, they resembled handprints more than footprints, clearly showing five fingers.

"What creature do you think made these?" Dion asked, stopping close to the first print.

"I don't really want to find out. Come on," Ino urged, nudging him away from the print. "According to the map, we should find a cave not too far from here."

She continued walking on with her eyes glued on the map that was projected by the Whisperglobe. Dion followed after her, then Celeste, and finally me, who walked behind with Aika on my shoulder.

However, barely a minute after we continued on, Ino suddenly stopped and took a panicked step back.

"Holy crap," Dion muttered in shock as he stopped beside Ino.

When I got to see the cause of their shock, my own breath hitched in my throat.

Directly in front of us was a horrific tableau of carnage. Dozens upon dozens of dead creatures lay strewn across the forest floor, scattered only meters apart. Some of the corpses resembled massive, three-meter gorillas, while others were huge gray wolves. All of them had massive, gaping wounds across their bodies; some were missing limbs, and others lay with their stomach contents spilled out. The stench that filled the air was so pungent that it was immediately nauseating.

Celeste gagged and immediately leaned on a nearby tree and vomited.

Meanwhile, I slung an arm over my nose while also smacking my tongue in disgust.

'Jeez… I can even taste it on my tongue.'

Then Dion whispered in a low, muffled voice. "A-are we supposed to cross this, Ino?"

Ino nodded in a way that suggested even she couldn't believe her answer. She took a look at the map, then pointed at a rocky hill in the far distance. "The nearest cave should be somewhere around there."

Dion shuddered but straightened up, pulling his sleeve higher over his nose. "Right... Let's go, then. The faster we move, the sooner we can stop smelling death."

Celeste quickly wobbled to my side, her face pale after vomiting.

Without another word, Ino turned and began the difficult trek across the field of carnage, her eyes still glued to the map. We followed, carefully stepping over or around the ripped bodies of the massive gorillas and wolves, every gaze fixed on the faint outline of the rocky hill in the distance.

…Half an hour later, and we still had not reached the cave.

"Are we there yet?" Dion asked, jumping over a massive limb of a gorilla.

Ino exhaled tiredly. "For the seventh time, no."

She stopped walking and began studying the map as if trying to figure out her bearings.

At that moment, the forest grew dimmer, and a drop of rain fell from the sky onto my forehead.

Rubbing my forehead, I looked up and saw that the dark, swirling clouds had almost completely covered the sun and rain began falling in the distance, slowly coming towards us.

Suddenly, a cold dread washed over me.

"Uh… guys…" I muttered in a rush as my gaze shifted from the sky to the others who had already halted and turned to me.

"We need to run... we need to get to that cave right now..."

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