The Team About to Fall Apart

Because it was so silent, no one except for the female team member noticed the strange figure in the center of the circle. It stood as straight as a flagpole planted in the ground.

The female team member happened to be looking down at that moment and suddenly found a pair of glistening bare legs in front of her.

These legs, which had suddenly appeared in the center of the field, were so out of place.

As if possessed, the female team member slowly raised her head and met a pair of chilling eyes. Her lips trembled, and despairing tears welled up in her eyes. Before she could even cry for help, a pair of large hands grabbed her waist, and she vanished from the spot.

A piercing scream echoed in the air about ten meters away.

"What's going on? What was that scream?" Kimura asked, flustered.

Many team members also began looking around. The sharp scream was undoubtedly further eroding their fragile minds.

As they came up the mountainside, many scattered teams had joined them. They couldn't recall any women acting alone. Moreover, judging by the sound, it seemed not far from here. What was even more perplexing was why the scream was coming from mid-air?

The eyes of the team members meeting each other were filled with fear and anxiety. It wasn't just them; the moment the bouncing demon landed, many demons hiding at the edge of the woods also stirred.

Some hid in the shadows, while others hid behind trees. Clearly, they all feared the bouncing demon's abilities.

"She... she's gone," a female team member said, her voice trembling as she sat slumped on the ground, staring at the spot where the other female team member had disappeared.

Those responsible for defense on the outer perimeter might not have known how many people were in the inner circle or what they looked like, just as those in the inner circle didn't know how many people were on the outer perimeter or what they looked like.

However, being in the same circle, it was easy to notice if someone was missing. With the female team member's reminder, someone quickly discovered it.

Yes, one person was missing. One person was missing from the circle.

If someone was missing from the outer perimeter, it could be understood. After all, frequent contact with demons was inherently dangerous. But this was happening inside the circle, where they couldn't even see a demon. How could this happen?

"She's gone."

"How... how could she be gone?"

"How can a living person just vanish into thin air?"

"..."

At this moment, everyone in the circle looked as if they had seen a ghost. They all moved away from the spot where the female team member had disappeared. Colds are contagious, and so is fear. Like a virus, it first spread within the circle and then infected the outer perimeter.

Listening to the discussions among the team members in the circle, everyone guessed what had happened. Their supposedly impenetrable defense had truly become an iron barrel, albeit one without a lid.

Only then did everyone realize that the strangeness of this mountain forest far exceeded their imagination. It was like an unknown territory.

Kimura felt angry at the team members' indifference. In reality, what truly angered him was the anxiety, the fear, and the inability to control the current situation.

Yes, he could feel the team trembling. Tomorrow night, or the night after, or perhaps sooner... he suspected it wouldn't be long before they fell apart, because some people had already begun to break down.

"What's gone? Who's gone? How did they go missing?" Kimura instructed a male team member to take his place and quickly walked to the center of the team.

Facing a few female team members huddled together, trembling and tearful, an unnamable anger surged within him. This was why he disliked taking in the weak. Not only could they not help, but they also spread panic.

"Speak up, what's gone? Who's gone?" Kimura intensified his tone.

"Xiao... Xiao Fang, Xiao Fang is gone."

Xiao Fang had come to the assessment with the female team member who was now slumped on the ground. But now she was gone, vanished into thin air, yet the scream had come from high up in the air, tens of meters away.

No one knew what had happened, and no one knew how she had disappeared, but something must have occurred.

"How could she be gone?"

"I... I don't know either. She was just here, and then she was gone when I looked away."

Kimura stared intently at the female team member slumped on the ground, as if judging the truthfulness of her words, but he knew she was telling the truth.

Kimura licked his dry lips. Eimi walked over and handed him a bottle of water.

Kimura drank a couple of mouthfuls, handed it back to Eimi, and looked up, scanning the edge of the woods. The demons had already begun to emerge from the shadows, clearly indicating that a new wave of attacks was about to begin.

All eyes were on Kimura, waiting for his instructions. If this were before, Kimura would have been excitedly pumped up. But now, he only felt a searing pain in his heart.

"Alright, stop thinking about it. Put away your fear and your tears. Here, tears and fear will only make you die faster."

Kimura's sharp gaze swept over everyone. "From now on, whether you're on the inner or outer perimeter, maintain your vigilance at all times. Those on the outer perimeter, focus your attention and prepare to meet the next wave of attacks. Those in the inner circle, pay attention to your surroundings. If something truly appeared, it will definitely come again."

Kimura bit out the words "come again" with force, as if wanting to chew them up and swallow them.

Hearing that "it" would come again, everyone's spirits jolted. What exactly was it? And where did it come from? From the sky?

They exchanged glances. A few people couldn't help but look up at the sky. The moon was truly round!

Kimura turned and walked towards the outer perimeter.

The female team member, slumped on the ground, asked with a hoarse, crying voice, "Wh-what about Xiao Fang? Are we just going to leave her?"

Kimura stopped and turned back, asking coldly, "Do you think she's still alive?" After saying that, he rejoined the outer perimeter to defend against the demons' new wave of attacks without looking back.

The attack began.

A demon's howl was like the charge horn on a battlefield. Upon hearing the sound, all the demons let out strange cries, likely as a response to receiving the attack signal.

Whether on two legs or using hands and feet, they surged forward like running beasts, their eyes filled with untamed, bloodthirsty ferocity.

The ground trembled, and so did their hearts.

Soon, the two groups collided, engaging in a battle of life and death.

"Water Breathing: First Form: Surface Slash."

"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide."

"Fire Breathing, First Form: Sea of Fire."

"Fire Breathing, Second Form: Blazing Heaven Ascension."

"..."

The demons' attacks grew increasingly fierce, while the team's defenses weakened. They could still hold on with their circular formation, but the drawbacks of this defense would soon become apparent.

Ordinary demons like the ones before them had low intelligence, at most that of a four or five-year-old child. Therefore, all their actions were driven by their craving for blood.

As the saying goes, love makes people stupid.

What it really means is that when someone is extremely obsessed with something, they tend to block out all discordant sounds around them. It's essentially a form of self-delusion.

The demons' craving for blood also plunged them into a state of self-delusion.

Though they appeared to be attacking collectively, their offensive spread out too wide. Once they got close, they reverted to fighting individually.

Their eyes were only on the delicious meal before them, and all they thought about was how to eat it as quickly as possible. Unlike humans, they didn't cooperate effectively, which was why humans could repel them time and again.

However, a chance encounter would soon lead to their cooperation, thereby tearing open this ironclad defense.

Indeed, the flaw in the circular defensive formation was that while it could handle attacks from all directions, it couldn't withstand a concentrated single-point breakthrough.