Outside Sigma District, deep in the forest.
Two or three kilometers from the great river with its towering waves, several ragged, wounded figures leaned against enormous tree roots.
Their chests heaved violently, as though about to burst.
"Cough, cough... this godforsaken place..."
One of them wiped the blood from his face. "The Eighth Domain's suppression... this is ridiculous! Just standing here feels like carrying a mountain on my back. I can barely breathe."
"Stop complaining." Someone beside him, deathly pale, was tending a leg wound. "We're lucky we crawled ashore alive. When we crossed the river, Old Hu and Old Xu didn't even get a chance to leave a bubble. A huge fish slapped them straight into the water with its tail. We should thank our lucky stars we survived!"
"But at best, we're only half alive now."
"What rotten fucking luck."
"We figured some suicidal idiot here had reached Sequence Level Ten One, so a Divine Punishment purge was bound to follow. We could take advantage of the chaos, get in ahead of the Gods, pick up some spoils, grab advanced technology and rare Tools, then pull out... who could've imagined we'd nearly get wiped out before we even left the outskirts?"
They all grumbled weakly.
"Have you noticed..."
One who had remained silent raised his head, looking at the stars through the gaps in the canopy, his brow deeply furrowed. "We can see the stars now."
"The Gods that covered every hill just vanished without a trace. That means... the person at Sequence Level Ten One in there is already dead."
Hearing this, the others also noticed something was wrong.
"Dead?! How long has it even been?!"
"Did someone inside kill them, or was it one of the invading Gods?"
"Either way, there's something sinister about it."
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