Village.
In the past, hearing that word usually meant they had finally come across signs of habitation—a place where they could resupply and rest.
But now, upon hearing that word, the first thing that came to mind was mutated monsters scurrying all over the village or hiding in the shadows.
Almost immediately, everyone stopped.
Shattered Soul and Terminus were no exception.
They could kill them.
But it was too much trouble.
There were no logistics staff here to clean up after them.
The corpses of those mutated monsters would continue polluting this land.
And continue contaminating other species.
Insects, scavengers, rats, and so on.
Every one of them was a problem.
If they had no choice but to fight, then so be it.
But if they could avoid fighting, it was better not to.
Although this world was already as terrible as it could possibly be.
"We'll take a detour."
The hunting team captain gave the order decisively.
Though taking a detour might greatly lengthen their journey back, it was still better than charging headfirst into a ring of mutated monsters.
No one objected.
They could still tell the difference between walking a little farther and throwing away their lives.
"Move."
While it was still light out, they immediately turned back and headed down the mountain from another direction.
The group trudged along with their prey on their backs.
Shattered Soul and Terminus walked alongside them.
Shattered Soul raised his head and looked toward the branches.
Rustle, rustle, rustle—
A series of extremely faint sounds came from above their heads.
Yet these hunters were completely unaware.
No, one of the hunters twitched his ears.
The footsteps of their rapidly moving group had been too noisy.
That was why he had failed to notice the sound sooner.
"Wait, everyone stop! Something's