Liam felt helpless as he faced off against a wolf-like dark creature and furiously voiced his discontentment toward Cyril, who looked lifeless as though his soul had left his body, leaving him as nothing but a husk. Liam knew that Cyril wouldn't be able to do anything to help, nor would he be able to make a difference even if he stepped up to fight the giant black monster.
However, despite the fact that he knew Cyril's efforts may not make a difference, Liam believed that it was still better than doing nothing in their current situation. He would have stepped up to kill the giant black monster himself had he not been held back and unable to move. Despite his best efforts to display the effect of his enlightened talent with his hands since he had no weapons, he found that he couldn't fend off the ferocious wolf-like dark creatures, no matter how much he tried.
At that moment, the dignified and aloof old man, who had killed his way through many wolf-like dark creatures, arrived in front of Cyril, standing between the sinister and grinning, terrifying giant black monster covered with a dark metallic luster, which exuded endless chaotic darkness that hid its ferocious face. Although the giant black monster's face was hidden by the dark energy it emanated, it couldn't conceal its giant gaping maw, filled with jagged and sharp rows of terrifying yellow teeth.
As he observed the situation, the dignified old man was furious at the turn of events but still managed to remain composed, knowing that he needed to keep a clear head in the midst of the chaos. The monster in front of him was undoubtedly the leader of the Chaotic Monsters that invaded the awakening venue.
The savage legion of these Chaotic monsters came out of a spontaneous spatial portal that suddenly opened at the awakening venue during this time. As it was an unforeseen occurrence, considering that spatial portals rarely appeared in the outskirt of South Stronghold, many casualties were unavoidable.
However, the strange thing was that the moment the legion of Chaotic Monsters came out of the abrupt spatial portal, the leader of their legion came out first and without looking anywhere else, it aimed its giant metallic claws at the unsuspecting Silvia, who was running toward Cyril, causing the current tragic scene to occur as a result. Meanwhile, the minions of these Chaotic Monsters started wreaking havoc on the living beings in their path or in their line of sight.
Some people were badly injured before they could respond to the situation. Meanwhile, those who were considerably far away from the site of the incident, as soon as they saw the spatial distortion in the distance, ran as fast as they could manage to temporarily escape their impending doom, as they knew the consequences of staying there.
As for the unfortunate ones remaining near the site of the spatial distortion, they were brutally and tragically torn apart and killed without even knowing how they had died.
That aside, the most common known trait of the leaders of most legions of Chaotic Monsters were their inner core, which would undoubtedly contain their inherent talent that they had awakened and condensed within it in the form of a rune. The fact that they condensed their talent made it easier for them to activate during battle, making them more deadly than their minions, who only activate them viscerally when they detect imminent danger from their prey.
The dignified and aloof old man observed the giant Chaotic Monster Leader in the distance ahead of him and noticed that it was covered in what seemed like a black substance that reflected a metallic luster. With such a gaudy appearance that was discernibly different from its minions, which only had pitch-black fur, he could easily infer that it had a metal-type fortification talent.
With that discovery, the dignified and aloof old man immediately concluded that the latter had both defensive and offensive advantages in terms of combat capability. As such, he determined that facing off against such a well-versed Chaotic Monster with a reckless mindset would be suicidal for him.
At this moment, the dignified and now conflicted old man was suddenly caught in a slight dilemma. He wanted to save the young lady who had awakened a promising talent, but she had already lost too much blood and was even afflicted with the poisonous energy of the Chaos Monster, causing her to cough up red and black blood. As a result of her state, he concluded that it was already too late for her.
Furthermore, even if he saved her with a desperate attempt and somehow managed to succeed, he would only cause himself unnecessary injuries, and the young lady would still inevitably die before receiving proper treatment.
If they were in a slightly advanced Stronghold, or specifically the Central Stronghold, where he came from, her state could still be salvageable, but in such a poor place as the South Stronghold, where resources were scarce, it was utterly impossible. With a regrettable expression, the dignified old man thought that if he had brought his own personal belongings with him, he could have saved the young lady with a Body Regrowth pill and a Toxic Nullification Pill.
Unfortunately, in order to avoid being robbed of his precious items, he didn't bring anything of value with him other than the awakening orb and some spare change. He didn't mind losing those things, especially the awakening orb, which had tracking runes engraved on it for recovery in case it got stolen by bandits.
As he thought about this, the dignified old man suddenly recalled the Stronghold Leader of the South Stronghold. He surmised that the Stronghold Leader could potentially save Silvia, but as they were still a few hundred miles away from the South Stronghold's Main City, where the Stronghold Leader resided, he wouldn't be able to get to the Edge City in time for her treatment.
Regardless of whether the South Stronghold Leader was able to get there in time or not, the dignified old man still believed that the chances of Silvia dying eventually after treatment were very high, considering that she was afflicted with the poisonous energy of the Chaotic Monster Leader.
On the other hand, there was that hapless boy behind him who had also awakened a powerful talent with high potential but lacked the physical capability to make full use of it. There was no need for him to attempt to save him; he would most likely die young, judging from his current body symptoms. It was better for him to die gloriously in the current event than to helplessly die someday due to his unfortunate condition.
From the dignified old man's perspective, the reason why the young lady was caught off guard by the Chaotic Monster Leader was partly because she was rushing to the sickly boy. In some sense, he believed that the hapless boy was the root cause of the young lady's unfortunate outcome.
When he thought of it like that, the dignified and now displeased old man glanced at the lifeless Cyril from the corner of his eyes and exuded a faint killing intent for a moment. He believed that the hapless boy behind him had caused humanity to lose a promising talent. Since that was the case, there was no way he wouldn't feel indignant about the current occurrence.
The next moment, he looked briefly at Silvia, whose body was raised up and dangling in the air, blood dripping from her and staining her elegant silver-white dress. The dignified old man scowled in displeasure, feeling endless anger toward the giant Chaotic Monster Leader, which was playing with Silvia's body, licking and drinking the dripping blood off of her body with a hysteric expression.
As he watched the unnerving scene before him, the dignified and now gloomy old man managed to retain his composure and calmed himself down, shaking his head as he thought it was indeed a pity to lose a potential leader of humanity to the Chaotic Monsters. Afterward, he ignored Cyril, who had been mentally paralyzed by the tragic scene, and firmly stepped forward, walking toward the Chaotic Monster Leader with a livid expression.