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With a rough estimate, there were easily over 600 monsters still inside that place. So, even if Hyun-Jae was somehow not able to sense their presence, the idea that 600 creatures suddenly vanished like that was simply out of this world.

Standing there, she tried to comprehend what was happening. Her mind raced through possibilities like a flash and yet she couldn\'t find a single way to explain what was happening now.

\'This makes no sense! I saw them! I saw them all!\' She frowned hard. In the end, she could only conclude that this was the work of the mastermind they were facing.

In one way or another, she must\'ve made them vanish or ordered them to do something completely different. But, that didn\'t really matter at that moment as she was faced with an even more important decision.

Should she proceed and enter the forest? Or wait outside based on the fact that it was most likely bait?

The question, as simple as it sounded, was actually far harder than one would expect. The entire plan Hyun-Jae and Talon built was based on the fact that they had to take whatever bait their enemy put for them just so that they could buy time and trick them at the same time.

But, this sudden change made that idea sound even more dangerous. The possibility of death became a lot higher with the element of mystery added into the mix.

\'Fuck…\' Running her hand through her hair, she turned around to the students. As the leader, she had no time to consider every option carefully, she had to act and act quickly. Talon was waiting, after all.

"We will proceed inside the forest in 30 seconds. Scouts!" She said as she called for a particular group of students.

Immediately, they stepped forward. These were the scouts team, a small group of survivors that had abilities related to stealth, pathfinding, or both. They were a very useful group for basically every mission that included going out to explore.

They helped reduce the threat and choose the best path for the entire trip every single time.

"Clear a path for us to enter and inform me if there is anything abnormal happening. No matter how small it is." Hyun-Jae explained their role before she let them leave.

After that, she walked back to Go Young-Soon. Even under such immense pressure, Hyun-Jae had to make sure of one single thing.

"President!" Seeing his leader, Young-Soon greeted her respectfully.

"Did anyone touch the monsters?" She asked.

Young-Soon shook his head. "No, I made sure to assign a few students to keep an eye out for that and also, the shields helped keep the blood away from touching anyone." He explained.

After what happened a few days ago with the parasites, Talon made sure to remind the students not to touch any monster, especially dead corpses unless they were wearing gloves or had some kind of protection.

Which was why Hyun-Jae used the shields as the first line in the first confrontation. Not only did shields work as a way to stop and lure the monsters in, but they also had a secondary feature which was repelling the blood of the monsters away from everyone. It was a simple plan, but a very effective one.

"Keep an eye out for any abnormal behavior." She reminded him before she moved back to the first line and organized the students, checking the condition of some of the injured ones. Luckily, there weren\'t any big losses from the first battle considering how massively successful it was.

What remained was to wait for the scouts to come back with the information needed for their advance.

A few dozen seconds passed before Hyun-Jae finally noticed the silhouettes of the scouts coming back.

"Prez! The path is clear! There aren\'t any monsters in the area. It\'s completely empty!" They reported back.

\'So I wasn\'t wrong… The monsters did suddenly vanish. What is really going on here?\' Hyun-Jae exhaled a small breath as she felt her head spinning from all the confusion.

"Prez?" Noticing the abnormal expression on her face, one of the scouts called her name.

"Hm? Ah, thank you for your work. Get back in line. We\'re going to advance."

"Yes ma\'am!!"

With that, Hyun-Jae could only shake those thoughts away for now. She had already made the decision to trust that Talon would finish whatever he needed to do in the agreed-upon time. Her best bet at that moment was to believe that no matter what their enemy was planning, they couldn\'t really execute it in a couple of minutes during which Talon would be making his move.

\'I know he won\'t let me down. He never did and never will.\' She thought to herself. The silhouette of a very familiar young man flashed in her thoughts and made her worries ease a little.

She had Talon on her side, why did she have to worry? If anything, their enemy had to worry because of it.

"Advance!" Turning around, she calmly ordered the students before she took the lead and started walking into the forest.

The entire army marched slowly into the thick trees. Using their weapons, they formed their way through the place. At the same time, some students stepped ahead and started cutting down any trees that obstructed the path.

Luckily, with their huge numbers, that process went really quickly and they were able to easily open big areas for the rest of the survivors to move through.

Slowly, they marched, carefully keeping an eye on their surroundings. The forest was quiet, eerily so. The sound of feet stepping on the grass could be heard which created a very palpable tension amongst the group.

\'It\'s quiet…\' Hyun-Jae squinted as she looked around her.

Her eyes scanned the ground, the trees, and everything else and she could pinpoint some details that picked her interest. For instance, she noticed that in many areas, the blades of grass on the ground were broken and cut in a chaotic way. She could also see many footsteps of all sizes around the area.

Which meant, that she wasn\'t hallucinating when she saw those monsters lurking in the forest. They were there and then suddenly, they weren\'t.

"Halt!" She said as she signaled for the students to stop.

Then, Hyun-Jae crouched down and touched the grass to see if she could trace any possible paths that these creatures could\'ve taken to vanish like this.

"Hm?" Humming in confusion, Hyun-Jae stared at the blade of grass in her hand as she fiddled with it.

At first, she was simply thinking of what was happening, but slowly, her attention shifted from the situation to the blade of grass itself. Something about it caught her attention. Except for its appearance, it felt oddly different from a normal blade of grass that Hyun-Jae knew about.

Fidgeting with it, Hyun-Jae\'s fingers snapped the blade of grass by mistake. When that happened, she felt it. Something that she never expected to feel at all. Slowly, Hyun-Jae\'s eyes widened to the extreme, staring at the snapped blade of grass.

It took her a second to register what just happened but when it did, her senses kicked in as she sprang to her feet and turned around.

"Retreat! Now!!!" She yelled loudly.

"What?"

The students were confused by her sudden reaction. But, before they could even react to it, things started to shift.

The ground beneath them started to shake and a loud rumbling sound echoed in the vicinity. The shaking was powerful, akin to that of an earthquake. Students started feeling the ground tilting under their feet as if it was rising in the air.

"Move, move!!" Hyun-Jae rushed back as she channeled her Aetheris to the fullest. Her face looked extremely grave.

Without waiting a moment, the survivors turned around and started moving to the exit of the forest as fast as they could.

They didn\'t understand what was happening and they didn\'t have time to understand it as everything was suddenly collapsing on them from both sides.

Some fell to the ground as they started sliding down while others could barely hold on and move through the chaotic terrain.

Meanwhile, Hyun-Jae passed like a flash through the lines of students as she helped every student who fell down. Her inhuman speed helped her achieve that. But, the entire time, her face was turning graver and graver.

To her side, she could see an entire chunk of the forest rising up like a wall, and the same could be said for the opposite side. If she had to describe it, it looked as if the forest had suddenly turned into some kind of giant bear trap that was about to close up on them and flatten them out. Or, a better way to describe it…

\'A mouth! This goddamn forest is alive!!\' Hyun-Jae clenched her teeth tightly.

(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )