After gathering everyone in their usual meeting spot at the hospital, Elena and Connor addressed the group about the unknown threat lurking outside.
The atmosphere grew increasingly tense as the details began to sink in, leaving everyone visibly shaken. Sensing the rising fear, Julian stepped forward, determined to lift their spirits.
"Listen, it's just a single monster," Julian began, his voice carrying strength and reassurance. "If we all fight it together, it's bound to fall. Remember, we have Connor and his summon, Elena, and me to face it head-on. The rest of you can provide support from a distance and cover us."
The lower-level members, who had initially been petrified at the thought of being the first to die, began to feel a glimmer of hope.
They had witnessed their friends perish in the dungeon despite having a numbers advantage, and they knew the weakest were usually the first to fall.
Julian's strategy, however, offered them a new perspective as they realized they didn't have to engage the monster directly. Their role was to provide support.
"But we're forgetting the main issue here," Silvia interjected, drawing everyone's attention. Her voice, tinged with urgency, demanded their focus.
"We don't know where this monster is hiding, what it looks like, or its traits and skills. We know nothing. It might just attack us when we're least prepared during our journey."
As Silvia laid out the harsh truth, the mood darkened once more. Julian clenched his fists, silently cursing her. 'Just when I managed to calm them down. Does she not understand the importance of maintaining control?'
Julian, having grown up in a political family, had learned early on how to control a crowd by blending lies with truths.
He knew the art of making people believe everything was under control, pacifying them with promises of order and peace.
Humans, or at least the majority of them, are easy to fool. They can easily believe whatever the media tells them. In this technological age, where every piece of information can be manipulated and created with AI and technology, it has become so easy to deceive people.
Because of the upbringing of these young ones, who have never faced such harsh cruelties in their lives, they are not familiar with hopeless situations like these. So lying to them is a necessity.
Julian had been doing exactly that for the past week and a half. He gave them the feeling of being protected by acting strong until the actual strong guy appeared.
Right now, the people in the room may be talented and have the strength to fight, but mentally, they are weak. They are emotionally unstable as their families are not with them and the world has flipped upside down.
So someone has to play the role of a leader to guide the mob and make them do their bidding. Julian was the one to do it. He was the only one skilled enough to do it, or so he thought.
"There might be a chance we don't encounter it, right?" Alya chimed in, her voice tinged with hopeful optimism.
Julian seized the opportunity to steer the conversation back to a positive note. "Alya's right," he said, his tone lightening. "There's always a chance we won't run into it. And even if we do, we'll be ready."
"He's right. We might all safely reach the camp."
"The monster may not appear at night, you know. It could be asleep then, so let's go at that time."
"Fool, what if there are other monsters or fallen roaming in the dark at night?"
"But we can..."
The people started murmuring and motivating each other until Connor, who had closed his eyes in deep thought, stood up from his seat.
As he rose, all eyes turned to him. He was the very image of authority, as his core radiated a powerful presence that silenced the entire room.
Connor looked around the room as he said, "We will not leave this place for the next three days. I want to clear the dungeon and reap all the rewards we can get from it to prepare ourselves for any unforeseen situations."
"But-"
"We will not leave this place yet, and that is final," Connor gave his ultimatum and decided to leave the hall.
"Elena, Alya, Silvie, and you four will come with me. We are going to fetch some rations and meals from a nearby supermarket," he said his last words, pointing at a random group of people before walking away from the door.
Connor knew that sooner or later he would come across the strongest beasts in Cambridge, who are evolving at a faster rate than him and constantly at that.
For example, a sea animal from a lake could have killed everyone in that lake and become a Class One, or worse, a Class Two if the lake was too big.
He already had an idea forming in his head that the monster that attacked Ethan's hiding spot must be some aerial beast that had grown much stronger over time.
After all, with their speed and reachability, creatures from the sky could easily hunt the weaklings on the ground. It would be as easy as snatching candy from a kid.
To ensure that his group did not become prey to them, he decided to level up his squad by raiding the dungeon gate inside this hospital.
Moreover, he was excited at the thought of clearing a dungeon. He had been told by the system that conquering a dungeon would give him administrator access to it, which would allow him to gain some of the generated SP.
But that was just one of the many benefits. Each dungeon is different and has a special reward. Connor was looking forward to this. He was confident that clearing a second-order dungeon would be easy for him now that he had reached the peak of his rank.
Connor, Elena, and the rest left the hospital and quickly reached a marketplace, where they saw everything had been wrecked.
"Do you think this is the doing of the same beast, Connor?" Elena asked him while surveying the place for good quality food, since the majority of it had been squashed and plundered.
"I think this is the doing of the same monster, or maybe monsters this time."
"You think there are more? Why do you think so?" Elena, who was looking around the place alongside others, asked, quite scared to believe there were more of these large-sized monsters.
The claw marks around the buildings were a dead giveaway, speaking of their sizes.
"Look, I'm not saying there are many of the same rank of monster, but I speculate that all this havoc was caused by some aerial beast, like a mutated eagle or vulture maybe. There could be one beast that has evolved to a Class One rank and led its flock or its offspring here."
"That is certainly possible. Now that I think of it..." Silvie said, realizing that they had never seen any bird since Uriel arrived.
"That is not the most pressing issue here," Connor brought the group's focus back to him as everyone turned to face him. He continued,
"Why would this beast attack this place?"
"Isn't that obvious? It was looking for food, or maybe it also turned into a fallen and is mindlessly attacking anything it sees. Just thinking of this possibility is scary. What if such a ranked monster scratches us? Won't we also be corrupted and turn into a fallen?" Alya replied to him, shuddering in fear at her own speculation.
Connor shook his head as he replied, "It is not a fallen. Otherwise, it would have caused destruction everywhere in its mindless state. It was also not looking for food, because although this food is edible, it does not provide the same energy and nutrients as the evolved ones. It could easily hunt a mutated rabbit or anything else if it is an aerial beast. All the food here is squeezed and damaged as if it wanted it destroyed."
Slowly, realization dawned on the group as they heard Connor's explanations. They did not like where his words were heading.
"This beast is hunting us. I have noticed this before in my dungeon fights, but as these beasts continue to evolve, they become smarter and more cunning. It is adapting and thinking from our perspective about what we will do next to survive. Whoever this beast is, it is not moving aimlessly. It has probably subdued every creature in the sky and brought them under its rule. Now it is planning to take down the surface people, to hunt us. Once we are hunted, this whole city will become its kingdom."
As Connor finished his explanation, silence fell over the surroundings, with only the sounds of strong winds blowing.
It all made sense to them now why they had not seen or encountered any flying beast. They often met mutated insects or farm animals as monsters, but never a flying one, even though they should have also evolved and been on the hunt.
They all gulped at the thought of such a clever predator hunting them in ways they had never thought of.
"Then what do you suggest we do?" Elena was the first to break out of her thoughts and ask the question.
"We need to shelter ourselves in the hospital again. I don't feel confident about fighting this unknown enemy. I would like to train and grow strong in that dungeon for now. As for the food issue, we will use the monsters we hunt inside the dungeon as livestock. I will explain the rest of the plan once we are back at the hospital. Let's move."
Connor and the rest soon arrived at the hospital and shared their findings with the others.
A lot of them started panicking again, but with the calming words of Connor, Julian, and Elena, they were able to regain their composure and began operating again. They all worked as a team, setting up the beds, preparing food, taking care of the children, and doing other miscellaneous tasks to make themselves useful.
Meanwhile, in the conference hall, heated discussions were taking place as Connor assigned new roles to each of the combatants.
After much deliberation, it was decided that a group of thirteen would take on the role of porters.
Among them, two possessed minor healing abilities and were placed at the back of the group, along with Julian and two other experts at level 12.
This team was responsible for carrying the corpses and treasures back to the hospital.
The second squad was led by Silvia, who was tasked with training and developing the rookies who had yet to acquire a second skill.
To motivate them, Connor offered words of encouragement, urging them to work harder and grow stronger.
What Connor sought most at this moment was not his own growth. He understood that his progress would stagnate for a while until he could evolve to the next rank. What he needed now was a formidable force to combat whatever alpha beast was building its kingdom in the city.
'Just you wait, I will be the one to have the last laugh' Connor thought, smirking at the image of himself defeating the beast and taking control of the entire city. But his grin faded when he noticed Elena looking at him with a strange, unreadable expression.
Feeling unsettled, he asked, "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"It's just... you..." Elena began, hesitating.
"Me?" Connor prodded, growing frustrated. He had many things to attend to and wanted her to get to the point.
"It's just, you said you wanted me to be your friend and comrade, but you've given the important role of leading the rookies to Silvie, while I'm just going to follow you, so..."
Connor was taken aback. He had expected a serious concern about the team roles he might have overlooked, but her complaint left him bewildered. Then, to Elena's surprise, he burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha."
"Why are laughing like that? I just asked for your reason." Elena asked, looking embarrassed. This was why she had hesitated as she knew he would think of it as a childish tantrum.
Connor stopped laughing and, with a serious tone, said, "I'm planning to conquer this dungeon, Elena. That means I'll be going all the way to the top to slay the dungeon boss. While I've faced a 4th Order Dungeon in its dormant state, this is the first time I'll be up against a dungeon boss and conquering it. I need you for that. You're the only one I can trust, both in combat and loyalty. I know you won't disappoint me."
Elena, who had been angry and dissatisfied just moments ago, now felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment. His praise affected her deeply, and she smiled.
"I see."