A slim but long black pillar tore through the ruins, propelling itself towards the dense forest on the outskirts.

At the far end of the staff, pressed brutally against the golden cap, was the eight-legged black panther, screaming in agony as it was hurled away. In the blink of an eye, the black pillar retracted and vanished, but the beast had been thrown far away into the distance.

Inside the broken quarter, Adam coughed mouthfuls of blood as pain radiated through his entire body. Yet the grin on his face never disappeared. "Haha, t-that was close!"

He leaned on the staff as he rose to his feet. Then, without wasting another moment, he turned in the opposite direction of where the panther had been hurled and ran as fast as he possibly could.

The heavy rainfall muffled his footsteps and dulled the scent of blood clinging to him like a shadow. With one hand gripping the staff, and the other pressed firmly against the gaping wound on his stomach, Adam ran towards safety, even though he had no idea where safety lay.

For now, all he wanted to do was get away from that eight-legged panther.

"That damned beast!" Adam growled under his breath as he sprinted through the empty streets of Ivory City.

Rain poured relentlessly from the dark skies, drenching him and turning the ruined streets into a slippery labyrinth of mud and broken marbles.

To Adam, every shadow seemed to come alive. Broken archways, toppled statues, and the gaping windows of ruined homes concealed countless dangers.

He could feel it… he could feel unseen creatures gazing at him from the dark!

"Damn it!" he cursed out loud, picking up pace. He had no idea where he was going. Panic had consumed him, yet he couldn't stop laughing about it.

Fantastical beasts, some unseen but deadly, had made the Ivory City their hunting ground. Adam knew that one wrong step, one moment of hesitation, could leave him prey to the predators lurking just out of sight.

Yet he ran, relying on his instincts and the Sphere of Resonance, hoping that the stormy weather would give him a slim chance of survival.

But how could things ever be so easy?

ROAR!!

The furious roar of the eight-legged panther tore through the air, so loud it seemed to shake the very foundations of the ruined city, and even drown out the rolling thunder across the dark skies.

At that moment, Adam could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. It wasn't the beast's roar itself that truly horrified him. What truly chilled him was the knowledge of what that roar signified.

The sound of the roar would carry through the hollow ruins and dilapidated buildings, reaching every hidden lair and den. And with it, the other predators of the Ivory City would stir awake, each one more eager than the last to devour the fresh prey that had stumbled in.

Adam's heart turned cold, and in that instant, he suddenly felt the urge to laugh.

And so he did.

His laughter carried across the broken street and the shattered buildings. He laughed so hysterically that he nearly tumbled on the wet ground. But the fear of death and the adrenaline coursing through his veins kept him going.

Expanding his Sphere of Resonance, he tried to look for a way out of this mess. He tried to look for anything that could help him, but what he saw in the colorless void caused his heart to be gripped by dread.

All sorts of beasts, big and small, were emerging from the broken buildings and collapsed structures! Moreover, all of them were headed his way!

"Fuck!" He cursed aloud, a wide grin on his face.

His steps did not falter anymore. Instead, he laughed and ran, drawing even more unwanted attention on himself.

The Faceless Mask twisted his mind, turning fear into madness, and madness into fuel. In that moment, Adam loathed the relic more than ever before.

He couldn't help but curse himself for becoming so greedy and grabbing this cursed artifact from that abandoned temple in the spirit world. Now, it clung to him like a parasite, a curse that mocked him every breath.

Soon, the eight-legged panther had become the least of his worries. Because in the next moment, he was already surrounded by hundreds of crazed beasts.

There were barely any at the Mana Foundation Rank. Most of these beasts were at the Mana Liquefaction Rank, while the ones leading them were at the Mana Vortex Rank.

As the first wave of fangs and claws threatened to drown him, Adam gritted his teeth and burst into a hurricane of madness and savagery as he swung his staff around, instantly decimating the weaker beasts.

Death was but a mere step away from him, reaching out with its cold hands. Yet all Adam did was laugh. He laughed and laughed and laughed. The Laughing God whispered, and he listened, and as he listened, he continued to laugh.

Corpses of beasts had already formed a bloody ring around him as he continued to swing his staff with reckless fury. It was only a matter of time before the Mana Vortex level predators closed in from all sides, burying him beneath their sheer numbers with no escape in sight. For now, they were merely toying with him—their food.

Wounds, both deep and shallow, continued to accumulate on his body. The makeshift bandage around his torn stomach was already unraveling, blood seeping through in frightening quantity. Yet, he continued to fight. He laughed and fought, and fought as he laughed.

But still, he found no way out. He couldn't see, and in the colorless void of the Sphere of Resonance, all he could sense was an ocean of beasts restless to drown him under the tide of hunger and malice.

And right at that moment, deep inside his mind, cutting through the whispers of the Laughing God, a strangely familiar voice spoke to him:

"There!"

Adam instantly understood what this voice was talking about.

It was a way out!

He instinctively knew which direction to take, sensing it through the Sphere of Resonance. Then, he swept the Staff of Calamity in a wide arc, killing the beasts that were closing in on him.

Wasting no time, he drove one end of the staff on the ground and clutched it tightly. Then, he screamed in snaketongue, his tone laced with utter desperation:

"Expand!"

The Staff of Calamity elongated, lifting him off the ground. It didn't grow in width, only in length. With the other end lodged into the ground, he positioned himself accordingly and shot in the direction the familiar voice had told him.

Within moments, he felt the rain and wind brush against his charred face, and several seconds later, he finally realized where he was vaulting towards…

Straight at the roof of the domed building at the center of Ivory City!

After gaining enough momentum, he willed the staff to shrink, then disappear into his spirit sea. Adam plummeted through the air, crashing down on the domed roof.

In the next heartbeat, with a resounding thud, his bloodied and broken body slammed against the stone, instantly producing a massive crack.

Darkness engulfed him, and Adam instantly blacked out from the thunderous impact, but not before hearing something terrying and ominous…

A blood-curdling roar rising directly from beneath him!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.