Myriad Devils-Chapter 120: The Final Hour (1/4)

When the one-winged monkeys saw the deathly scenes within the small mountain, pained growls and angered bellows resounded.

Still, just like the pillar, the perpetrators were not present.

Or, at least, they could not be seen.

The instance the runic characters had begun solidifying, Anon and Seth had each taken out a clear heart crystal. So, by the time the one-winged monkeys flew into the small mountain, the pair of geniuses were already shrouded by an invisible veil, and casually brushed past the monkeys, successfully exiting the mountain without any problems.

Once stepping into the outside world, amidst the horde of monkeys still pouring into the entrance of the mountain, the duo silently scaled upwards, reaching the top of the mountain where they could barely make out the other four bases far in the distance. Though it was difficult, at the very least, this view gave them the ability to tell the general direction in which the other four bases were located.

They had only been to two bases, so there were probably three more treasures that were up for grasp. Knowing this, Anon felt some excitement, but this excitement was tinged with a hint bitterness and regret.

As for the reason...?

From the mountain below, waves of one-winged monkeys shot out of the mouth and raced into the night skies. Whilst most of them headed towards a single direction, they had essentially split up into four groups, heading towards the four bases. They released crazed growls and their eyes spilled endless blood thirst and anger.

Their feelings were very clear, and it was for this reason, bitterness had washed over his excitement.

"They’re going to alert the other bases." Anon assessed, "And now that two bases have experienced this, the two smaller bases that remain will likely retreat to the main base, along with the treasures in their possession."

"Plundering all five bases was already wishful thinking." Seth said plainly. He did not seem bothered by the current occurrence. Well, so far, only Anon had really benefited from this expedition, so compared to Anon, he would obviously not be as invested.

"Still, there might be some hope to fully quench your greed." Seth said thoughtfully, "If the other bases truly merge with the main base, wouldn’t all three treasures exist in one location?" Seth had a smile on his face as he glanced towards Anon.

Chuckling, Anon felt his heartbeat increase slightly as he said, "In this situation, the number of monkeys would rise astronomically, so the difficulty of acquiring them might increase significantly, but..."

*Beep*

Just as Anon was speaking, his words were forced to come to a halt.

"Huh?" Although his wrist was covered in an illusory veil, that was to the outside world. As he was also behind this veil, he could very well hear the notification sound that the accessory on his wrist produced.

In fact, said accessory attached to Seth’s wrist had simultaneously produced a similar sound.

Following which...

"The Final Hour has arrived." As these words fell, there was a short silence that lasted as long as the blink of an eye. Then, it continued, "It is currently, November the 17th, 11:00 p.m. There is one hour until October’s assessment comes to an end. Students are asked to withdraw from the depths of the Blood-Drip Jungle if possible."

The accessory went silent once again. This time, permanently.

Anon’s brows knitted tightly as he thought, ’It’s the 17th already?!’

In fact, just earlier, he had been thinking of this exact thing. At the time, he believed there was still a few days until the end of the assessment. Even if he had miscalculated, he still thought that there were a couple of nights at minimum, that remained.

And now, there was only an hour.

Seth chuckled, breaking the silence.

"Initially, we’d have had to wait a little so that the bases could react and all retreat to the main base. But it seems that we have no time for such plots." Seth said.

Now that only an hour remained, since they were prepared to enter the main base which was likely to be different from the other bases, they did not know if they would face a genuine threat, so time was of the essence.

They needed to make a move now!

As for withdrawing from the depths of the jungle like the academy’s artificial intelligence had asked, neither cared to listen.

There were still one-winged monkeys pouring in and out of the small mountain and rushing into the sky.

Anon and Seth also moved.

Maneuvering through the forest’s trees, they followed the largest gathering of one-winged monkeys towards the main base!

...

The main base was located in the center of an expansive clearing. There were no trees for at least three hundred meters around an imposing mountain. Though the mountain was not tall, only being ten or so meters in height, it still spanned over forty meters, and was incredibly sturdy-looking.

Surrounding this mountain and infesting the massive clearing were countless one-winged monkeys on the ground, and even more flying in the sky. Notably, the monkeys on the ground were unusually tall compared to the monkeys in the air. They were similar in appearance to the very first wave of one-winged monkeys that Anon and the others had come across.

Intriguingly, whether it be the group below, or the one in the sky, these monkeys would occasionally glance toward the mountain with eyes that showed emotions.

It wasn’t the common emotion of bloodthirst or sadism that were usually present in their eyes, but instead, there seemed to be awe, reverence, and maybe even expectation within their eyes.

It was peculiar to see such beastly creatures showing such submissiveness!

And just then, a cacophony of roars and growls resounded throughout the night skies, reverberating in the heads of the nearby beasts. From one direction, a sea of one-winged monkeys came rushing towards the main base, visibly shaken and angered.

But when they reached within the clearing, whether that be via the sky or by stepping foot into the clearing, and their eyes locked onto the mountain, the rage that was so clear to see before, was immediately replaced by traces of fear, and then awe!

Almost instantly, hundreds, and then thousands of monkeys shut their mouths and were drawn into a state of reverence. But this lasted a short time before they caught themselves, once more feeling the bubbling rage in their chest.

EEE! EEE! EEE!

The monkeys that were previously present appeared confused by their reactions, and soon after, the monkeys of the main base, and the ones from the previous base, began communicating.

Seth and Anon were just outside the clearing, observing the two groups of monkeys with intrigue as they communicated. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

’Hmm, it seems that they have their own language.’ Anon mused inwardly. Although he hadn’t seen beasts communicate before, to him, he could somewhat accept this.

’In fact, it kind of makes sense. A beast soldier can be considered to be comparable to a human toddler, not in strength, but intellect. Beast commanders, on the other hand, must be comparable to kids... who knows.’

’The Fleshy Bear King did not appear all that intelligent, but the Red Ape clearly had some kind of intelligence. Of all the Beast Generals though, the Dreadwing Harbinger was the most intelligent.’ Anon concluded.

There was a veil of mystery that stood between those who utilized the clear heart crystal, and the real world.

Hypothetically speaking, it could be said that Anon and Seth were standing behind the same veil, hence it was feasible for them to speak out loud, and only the other would hear.

In other words, one could say that they resided in another world, so even if they found that the other was speaking loudly, to the one-winged monkeys, it may appear utterly silent.

It begged the question, that if someone else had clear heart crystals, would the veil that hid Anon and Seth be useless then?

Would they not be hidden to that person?

Well, clear heart crystals originated from sources. For example, the white river was a source, and there were many other sources.

Crystals from the same source would be connected to each other, but crystals of differing sources would naturally create their own distinct veil.

Even if two individuals had clear heart crystals, if these crystals were not from the same source, then it would be impossible for them to see, touch, or hear each other.

And if they were sold these crystals, that originated from separate sources, so that they can maybe embark on a mission together, it would actually be quite a laughable scenario once they utilized the clear heart crystals.

"Let’s move now!" Seth understood that time was of the essence. It made no sense to observe the reactions of these one-winged monkeys.

Instead, making a move before one’s enemy could react, was best.

Still, the expansive clearing, though large, was packed out with thousands of one-winged monkeys. Even though they were shrouded by the clear heart crystals’ abilities, the space that they had was extremely limited.

There were one-winged monkeys sitting, standing, walking, running, and even flying just above the ground, so Anon and Seth had no choice but to move with immense care and caution.

Sometimes they would duck, and other times they’d agilely jump into the air. They twisted and turned as they ran through the sea of one-winged monkeys surrounding the mountain in the center of the clearing.