Silent and unnoticed, except by one female team member, no one else in the circle noticed the eerie figure suddenly appearing in the center, straight as a flagpole driven into the ground.
The female team member happened to have her head down at that moment, only to discover a pair of legs that appeared out of nowhere right in front of her.
These legs, suddenly in the center of the field, seemed completely out of place.
As if possessed, the female team member slowly lifted her head and met a pair of cold, piercing eyes. Trembling, her lips quivered, desperate tears interrupting her gaze. Before she could cry out for help, strong arms wrapped around her waist, and she vanished from the spot.
A chilling scream echoed in the air over a dozen meters away.
"What's going on? What happened? Where did that scream come from?" a panicked Kimura asked.
Many team members began to look around. This scream of agony undoubtedly further eroded their fragile hearts.
From halfway up the mountain, several scattered teams joined them, a woman among them not remembering any separate action, yet the sound seemed not far from here. Even more puzzling, why did the scream come from mid-air?
The eyes of the team members met each other's with fear and anxiety. It wasn't just them; at the moment the bouncing demon landed, there was also a lot of movement at the forest's edge where demons were hiding.
Some hid in the shadows, some behind trees; evidently, they, too, feared the bouncing demon's ability.
"Gone... gone," a female team member sat on the ground, gazing at the place where the female team member had disappeared, shivering and quivering.
Those responsible for defense on the outer circle, perhaps unaware of how many people and what they looked like inside the circle, were like those inside the circle unaware of how many people and what they looked like outside the circle.
However, for those within the circle, it was easy to notice when someone was missing, as the female team member had pointed out, and it wasn't long before others noticed.
Yes, someone was missing, one less person inside the circle.
If it were one less person outside the circle, that would be understandable, as frequent contact with demons was inherently dangerous. But now it was inside the circle, and one couldn't even touch the demons, how could this happen?
"Gone."
"How... how can someone just disappear into thin air?"
"A... a person just vanished into thin air?"
...
At this moment, everyone inside the circle looked as if they had seen a ghost, backing away from where the female team member had disappeared, knowing that a cold could spread, and fear could also spread, like a virus, first spreading within the circle and then spreading to the outer circle.
Listening to the discussion among the circle's team members, everyone guessed what had happened. Originally considered as a defense as strong as an iron bucket, it had now truly become an iron bucket, but one without a lid.
It wasn't until now that everyone realized how strange this mountain forest was, far beyond what they had imagined, like an unknown land.
The dismissal of the team members made Kimura angry, but what really made him angry was the anxiety, fear, and lack of control over the situation.
Yes, he already felt that the team was trembling. The night ahead or the night after, or... it wouldn't be long before it fell apart, because some people had already begun to collapse.
"What's gone? Who's gone? How could someone just disappear?" Kimura directed a male team member to take his place and walked a few steps toward the center of the team.
Facing several huddled female team members, trembling and tearful, Kimura's eyes flared with an unnamed anger. This was why he didn't want to shelter the weak. They not only couldn't help but also spread panic.
"Speak up. What's gone? Who's gone?" Kimura's tone grew sharper.
"Asuka... Asuka's gone."
Asuka had come to participate in the assessment with the female team member who was now sitting on the ground, but now she was gone, vanished into thin air. The scream had come from high in the sky, a dozen meters away.
No one knew what had happened, nor how she had disappeared, but something had definitely happened.
"How could she just disappear?"
"I... I don't know. She was here just now. When I turned around, she was gone."
Kimura stared sternly at the female team member sitting on the ground, seemingly judging the truth of her words, but he knew she was telling the truth.
Kimura licked his dry lips, and Emiko handed him a bottle of water.
Kimura took a few sips and handed the bottle back to Emiko, scanning the edge of the forest where many demons had already emerged from the shadows, evidently preparing for another round of attacks.
All eyes were on Kimura, waiting for his instructions. In the past, Kimura would have been excited and impassioned, but now he only felt discomfort and heartburn.
"Alright, stop thinking about this. Put away your fear and tears. Here, tears and fear will only make you die faster."
Kimura's sharp gaze swept over everyone. "From now on, whether inside the circle or on the outer circle, stay vigilant at all times. People on the outer circle, focus on preparing for the next round of attacks. People inside the circle, watch your surroundings. If something appeared once, it will surely come again."
The words "come again" were bitten out by Kimura as if he wanted to chew them up and swallow them whole.
Hearing that whatever it was would come again, everyone's spirits shook. What on earth was that thing? Where did it come from? From the sky?
Everyone looked at each other, and some couldn't help but look up at the sky. The moon was truly damn round!
Kimura turned and walked toward the outer circle.
The female team member sitting on the ground dragged her hoarse voice, asking, "What about Asuka? Are we just going to ignore her?"
Kimura stopped, turned around, and coldly asked, "Do you think she's still alive?" Without waiting for an answer, he joined the outer circle to resist another wave of demon attacks.
The attack began.
"Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash."
"Water Breathing, Fourth Form: Striking Tide."
"Flame Breathing, First Form: Unknowing Fire."
"Flame Breathing, Second Form: Rising Scorching Sun."
...
The momentum of the demon's attack became more and more fierce, while the team's resistance became weaker. However, with the defense of the circle, they could still hold their ground, but soon the weaknesses of this defense would be exposed.
Like these ordinary demons, their intelligence was not high, at most equivalent to that of a four or five-year-old child, so all their actions were driven by a desire for blood.
As the saying goes, love makes people stupid.
It means that when people are extremely infatuated with something, they will block out all the discordant voices around them, which is essentially a form of self-loss.
The same goes for demons' desire for blood, which also leads them into a state of self-loss.
They seemed to be attacking collectively, but they were actually scattered and fighting individually once they approached.
Their eyes were only on the food in front of them, thinking only of how to eat it quickly, rather than cooperating like humans. Hence, they were repeatedly repelled by humans.
However, the next accidental opportunity led to their cooperation and tore open this iron bucket.
Indeed, the weakness of the round defense formation was that it could withstand attacks from all directions but could not withstand a concentrated force's single-point breakthrough.