The man looked around him and, as time passed, found that although the place looked the same as the village,.
There was this uncanny feeling of not being in the same place. He found some eerie differences, which made him move closer to Bal.
The ground was hard; it wasn't wet. This made the man look at the sky and then at his surroundings fearfully.
A while later, Bal entered a big house with the man before they closed the door.
Thinking that they were safe for the time being. The man became braver.
"Bal, this is not the village, right?"
Upon hearing what the man said, Bal turned around and nodded, but at the same time, he made a gesture to be silent.
"Don't talk, just observe and follow me."
There's another room inside the house. Bal walked over and then opened the door silently.
When the door opened, another man's face appeared, looking at them fearfully.
However, when the man saw that it was Bal and another man, he couldn't help but smile in relief as he opened the door and let them in.
Closing the door, the two newly arrived people immediately saw a group of villagers gathered around inside the room.
The people inside heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing them.
At the same time, seeing their numbers grow also made them gain more confidence and lessen their fright.
"Bal your back."
"Did something happen on your way?"
"Shh, lower your voice, everyone."
Bal walked forward and sat down before he replied to them.
"I only found him this time when I searched the east side of the village. I plan to go out in a few minutes and continue to search in the other direction."
"There wasn't any danger; it seems the monster hasn't yet found us. However, it will only be a matter of time. Before that could happen, we must gather enough people."
"Only then can we have some probability of resisting."
The others nodded.
"It's been hard on you, Bal., to do this alone; how about I accompany you this time?"
The man who opened the door calmly said, However, Bal shook his head as he replied.
"It's alright, it's better for me to move alone to minimize the risk of being found out. Also, we can't divide our forces further; we're in a strange and dangerous place after all."
"Bal is right; however, we can't just stay here and do nothing. Tell us what we should do, Bal."
"That's right, we won't be at ease if we don't have something to work on."
Bal looked at everyone and then nodded. He understands what they're currently feeling.
"In that case, see if you can find something that helps us make a fire."
Everyone's eyes immediately turn listless.
"We already searched the place, but no object here could be used to make even a spark or ember. This place is strange."
"It was as thought this place forbid the existence of fire. If we could, we would have done it already before you could ask."
Looking at the listless expression around him, Bal signed and soon infected the other men around him to follow.
"Since that's the case, just prepare anything that can be used as weapons. In case anything unexpected happens."
After saying that, the others nodded in agreement with what Bal had suggested. At least they had work to do rather than just sit idle in this place.
The villagers around soon returned to silence. Each of them is doing their own work. Bal and the other hunters gathered and talked for a while.
As for the man, he was given an explanation of what was happening and where they were now.
Facing the man was a middle-aged woman whom he was familiar with.
"It's like this. Our house roof gave in, so we couldn't defend against the heavy rain and raging wind anymore. The bonfire was extinguished along with the torches."
"When all the light disappeared, I remember dark water coming in amidst the flashes and lightning. However, we weren't wet, nor do I feel anything water-like."
"The next thing we saw was those dark waters turning monster-like and engulfing us to sink. No matter how much we did, we couldn't stop ourselves from drowning."
"By the time we regained consciousness, it was Bal who was already besides us, waking us up one by one. It was also Bal who came up with a guess."
The man who was focused on listening immediately said:.
"What guess?"
Then the middle-aged woman took a deep breath and spoke in a voice only they could hear.
"We might be in the monster's belly."
Gulp.
...
After several minutes of rest, Bal was ready for another reconnaissance once again.
He bid the others farewell, then left the room silently before cautiously walking towards the door leading outside.
As always, he waited for a few minutes with his ears perked up for any sounds. When he felt it was safe, Bal slowly opened the door and observed.
The surroundings were the same, still dim and dull. Nothing changes... nothing... unusual?
Hmm? No, there's something new!
Bal's eyes immediately noticed something new in his peripheral vision, which attracted him to focus in that direction.
Not far away, he could see some wavy and strange lights on the other side, near the center of the village.
"Light? There's light in this place."
Although Bal was curious and surprised, wanting to immediately step out of the house and investigate, he still knew not to be reckless.
'It's uncertain whether those lights out there are even safe. Even their colors seem strange. I'd better tell it to others and discuss it first.'
For something unknown to suddenly appear in this strange place they were in. No villagers were foolish enough to think those lights were normal.
Bal returned to the room and immediately told them what he saw outside.
AAAAAAHHHHHH—
At the same time, he turns around in the direction where the lights came from despite the blockages of walls and seems to have heard of someone's scream just now.
"What's wrong?"
A hunter asked him after seeing him turn around suddenly.
This caused the others to immediately raise their guards and follow his gaze nervously.
"I heard someone scream just now. However, it immediately disappeared. Did anyone heard it?"
Bal turned back to them and replied with some uncertainty.
The villagers looked at each other and saw the unease in each other's eyes. But each and every one of them was clear in their hearts.
"No, we heard nothing."
"It must be your imagination, Bal. Could that light you saw have some effects on you?"
"The pressure on you must have made you think so. It's okay; don't go out yet."
However, Bal didn't say anything after knowing no one else had heard of that cry just now. Instead, he just closes his eyes and remains calm.
The others, seeing Bal hadn't said anything, also quieted down. They still trusted Bal, so they also have some doubt in their hearts.
Maybe there was indeed someone out there... screaming.
However, just thinking of what might have caused that scream made them subconsciously chill from fear.
"I'll go and check it out. Everyone, wait for me here."
The others also wanted to know if what Bal had said was true, so they didn't stop him. Instead, one of them stood up and said,.
"I'll follow you this time."
It was another hunter, and Bal didn't refuse like before because he knew he might need a helping hand this time.
"Let's go."
...
....
Pain..
Unprecedented pain...
It's just too painful to even think of another word other than 'pain'.
The excruciating skin and flesh-burning feeling was running amok around his tattered body.
Roasted meat has begun to emit a fragrance and burnt smell, combined with the sizzling oil noise among the flesh.
Juan felt as though thousands of sharp knives were peeling his skin at the same time, causing him to scream in despair.
Even the injuries, bleeding, and torn muscles on his arms and knees caused by those sudden movements his body isn't familiar with seem to be forgotten.
Right now, he was lying on top of the burning and molting purple ground, twitching from time to time as the burning debris of the former house surrounded him.
His appearance could be called rather unsightly, with no clothes intact to hide his burnt and blackened body.
Juan has long since lost his voice from screaming, with only his mouth still opening and closing as though he were still screaming.
If not for those movements and his still-heaving chest, Juan might have been seen as a corpse already. Being alive till this time is a miracle.
Black smoke rose around him and would wriggle from time to time.
These smokes connected from below him, coming from the shadows that were churning and shifting unnaturally, clearly not normal.
From time to time, a pair of red circles-like eyes can be seen seemingly wanting to escape from their bind and stretching out from Juan's shadow.
However, each of its attempts was uselessly trashed by the burning fire and embers around the whole place.
Once a part of its shadow tentacles left Juan's shadow, it would immediately burn and turn into smoke. Not even ashes be left behind.
No matter how many times it's turned into countless lines and arrows wanting to leave at the same time, it was all useless in the face of light and fire.