Waking up with a grumble and turning around after feeling movements from below, Junko blinked a few times as she absentmindedly looked around the cave.
The tiger below her was also awake but laid there in silence. Yawning herself awake and sitting upright while still hugging her spear, Junko heard a lowercase yawn unlike her own as the tiger imitated the gesture.
Jumping off the tiger and feeling fatigued in her feet which resulted in her kneeling down onto the ground with a tired expression, Junko turned to see the tiger stand upright before crouching back and stretching her paws out.
Imitating what the tiger had done, she placed her hands on the ground in front of her and stretched like her feline friend.
Feeling better thanks to the stretch, Junko stood up only to notice that the tiger had already moved to snack on the bull she had caught the day before.
Running up to the tiger while dragging her spear behind her, Junko fell on her knees next to the tiger as she too started snacking on the dead bull corpse, not wanting to let the tiger eat everything.
Tearing off a chunk of flesh from the bull and gnawing on it, Junko glanced at the tiger whose fangs easily cleaved through the meat.
A little jealous of the sharp fangs that she lacked for some reason that Junko couldn't understand, she simply went back to gnawing on some flesh while thinking to herself, troubled.
'When will Junko get fur like fur beast?'
Finishing the chunk she was holding, Junko got tired of the flavour rather quickly since her teeth weren't cutting the meat as efficiently as she wished.
Stretching out her hand, she effortlessly pierced the skin of the bull and shoved her hand through its body. Slushing around the guts of the beast, she grabbed onto the heart of the beast and pulled it out. Her hand was bloody. She started eating away at the heart which was much easier than the flesh she consumed earlier.
Surprisingly, besides the few fresh blood stains and strands of fur, her dress was still in good condition. The fur easily falls off with enough movement or wind and blood seemingly disappears after a certain amount of time. Not that Junko had even noticed that.
Finishing the heart, Junko hadn't quite drank enough blood to satiate any thirst she had. Thus, after another quick chunk of flesh and a horn of the bull as a snack, she stood and started pulling on the tiger to move out of the cave.
Though reluctantly, the tiger soon moved as Junko wanted after an annoyed growl. Climbing on top of the tiger after reaching outside, Junko pushed on to a place where she could get something to drink that wasn't blood. Home.
...
"Sir. Group 2 has reported the discovery of two Ashblood Tiger corpses about half a day old and the corpse of one Adult Apex."
A newly arrived adventurer reported to the prince's group as they were slowly making their way through the strange environment.
"Truly? What state is the Apex corpse in?"
The prince asked as his group stopped in their tracks and vigilantly started observing the area they were in.
"Mostly decomposed sir. Besides the skeleton, there are a few patches of scales that they have found. The skeleton itself is reported to be halfway buried in the earth. The skull, ribcage and wings are salvageable but not much else."
"Understood. Good, good. Report back to the second group to salvage what they can and move back to the ship. Store everything."
The prince said after a second of thought.
"Understood."
The adventurer left through the way he came as the prince turned towards the group he had chosen to lead.
"The other group has recovered an Apex's corpse. We no longer have much of a need to venture the lands. After sunset tomorrow, we leave. For now, we continue for formality's sake and see if we can find any souvenirs to take home. Enjoy the trip while we can but stay vigilant and never get greedy."
The prince stated with a loud enough voice so that everybody could hear him yet quiet enough to not announce their presence to the entire ecosystem.
The pressure everyone was feeling was lifted slightly as the group continued onwards, only searching for the sake of mapping the area as best as they could and looking for interesting things to take to their homes.
'That 'thing' that was happening at the centre of the continent is dispersed since some time ago. Looks like it probably wasn't a war but more of a 'gathering' of sorts. Or maybe it was a war. Who knows? We best stay clear of it. The auras of the Apex that were there have seemingly scattered and disappeared, or at least that's what she told me.'
The prince thought to himself as he glanced at the fairy who was floating next to him.
'I don't have a reason not to trust her so the centre is most likely cleared. Maybe I should send a small squad to go and see the area. Eyewitness accounts of the constant war continent's centre is something that no one has yet to lay their eyes upon...'
Since no strong auras were around and the battlefield in the centre was large enough to encompass more than half the continent, with their current position taken into account the prince believed that a small trek of around an hour or more should give them an overview of the battlefield, though a small one considering it's sheer size.
Gathering a small group of adventurers along with one mage and one knight, the prince proposed the idea. With the prospect of being the first ever people to see the legendary battlefield with their own eyes, the group agreed.
Three adventurers, one mage and one newly appointed knight set off.
They continued their trek through the jungle for 2 hours. Not exactly how long the prince believed it would take but nevertheless.
They did stumble on something.
A sight of a 'small scuffle'.
What the group saw beyond the treeline was a small plain burned to the ground. A large Apex was tearing up one of its ilk. The mere aura of the living Apex sent chills down the groups' spines. Ancient Rank at most.
They stood huddled there for a while until the Apex left.
They discussed it for a short while after that. Should they continue and catch a glimpse of the actual battlefield or report back and be happy they found another corpse of an Apex?
They argued quietly for a while. No beasts had yet to attack them and they were making good pace considering how the prince gave them enough rations for an entire day out here.
The newly appointed knight suggested moving back and giving up on the trip. The mage agreed after some consideration, happy enough with finding another corpse, even with how fresh said corpse was.
The three adventurers however wished to keep going, the two older adventurers wished to see however much they could as their group was good and they only had one chance in life to see something like this. The younger of the three adventurers wished to expand his horizons as far as he could as early as he could, mentioning his dream of becoming a Tag, which wasn't met with much seriousness.
A vote was useless. Three to two. After enough time bantering the knight and mage gave up.
On they moved.
Another hour passed. They could keep moving onwards for a while longer but not too long as they still needed to get back to the ship before everyone starts believing they were dead and left.
They passed a few scorched locations however small and had somehow not encountered a single beast of any kind.
It was eerily quiet for the entire trip after witnessing an Ancient Rank Apex. The jungle seemed scarily lifeless. Dread was slowly filling the team. They didn't know what they were about to bear witness to.
About ten or so minutes passed.
They saw the end of the treeline.
Before that one moment, they had occasionally been whispering to each other, trying to keep the morale up.
Now, as they saw the end of the tree line. They froze. They went silent.
They could barely see the barren land beyond, could only catch glimpses.
They stood there for a short while.
The first to make their move after the encroaching silence overtook the team was the youngest adventurer.
He carefully and cautiously walked to the very edge of the jungle and looked on at the vast sight in front of him.
Like a scorched ocean.
He looked on in amazement. The others soon joined one by one, the older adventurer duo ironically came up last.
They burned the sight into their eyes.
Like a scorched ocean.
They studied the horizon, they could not see far. The burnt ground had craters and mounds of corpses like waves.
Like a scorched ocean.
They looked at whatever Apex they could see in the sky or walking the earth. They could hear a few faint roars and feel the pressure behind them was like a vast abyss.
Like a scorched ocean.
They saw what they came for. None of them could say a word. None of them could move from their spot. It was as if they were stuck.
A scorched ocean stood in front of them.
The Apex were countless.
One of the older adventurers took a step back as he saw a single Apex looking their way.
A twig snapped. It was definitely inaudible to everyone aside from the group but it still acted as a trigger.
Everyone in the group flinched and turned towards the man only to see him sweating profusely and pointing towards a green-scaled Apex that was slowly walking towards them.
The group turned towards the beast and everyone froze for a moment before quietly they started taking steps back deeper into the jungle.
As the mage turned and started quickly moving behind a tree for cover, the others followed suit immediately after only to be met with a deafening roar aimed straight at them.
Goosebumps. Chills. Shivers. Dread.
The newly appointed knight peeked out from behind the tree he hid behind only to see the Apex taking flight straight towards them.
Informing the others, he moved out from behind the tree and encouraged everyone to do the obvious.
Run.
The group dashed away quickly. The mage tripped a few moments later but was caught by her teammates. One of the older adventurers couldn't help but cuss as he grabbed her and started running while the mage sat in a princess carry.
After less than half a minute, they could hear something above. The loud sound of flapping wings.
They now knew why no living beast was near the edge of the jungle. Since when any beast was spotted they would immediately be hunted.
Wincing, frowning, tearing up. Mixed reactions from the team.
A second later, the knight suddenly stopped in his tracks and changed direction with a pale face.
Shouting to turn around, he tackled the other older adventurer who was running a little ways behind him to the ground before grabbing the younger adventurer's hand and pulling him away from the direction the team had just been running in.
A mere moment later, a blaze came from above in a wave. It cut off their escape while burning an area of the jungle to ash.
Thankfully everyone in the team managed to stop in time. Reactions varied yet fear was evident.
The team ran in a different direction after hastily helping each other up and moving away from the now scorched zone of the jungle.
As they ran, they couldn't help but feel a shiver of horror as they heard a loud...
*Thud*
And the breaking of trees. The Apex had landed and was now scouring the area.
Thankfully the particular Apex couldn't catch sight of its prey as its vision was blocked by the ash and dense foliage.
The team managed to escape, but barely.
Yet as they didn't know if that predator had given up on his hunt or not, they continued running until the younger of the adventurers fell down from exhaustion and fear combined.
The others snapped back to reality at that time.
A wary sigh and deep breaths followed by dropping to the ground and panting.
They escaped. Yet they were now panicky, anxious and lost.