Roger's kick missed, as Simpson suddenly burst out from the side. His frail body exploded with a terrible force, catching Roger off guard and knocking him over.
The two rolled on the ground. Roger, using all his strength, pushed Simpson away. As he stood up, the pages of the book in the flames happened to burn up completely.
A strand of red light suddenly exploded and shot out of the cave at an extreme speed, quickly disappearing from sight.
"What have you done?"
"What have you done?"
Simpson pounced on Roger, relentlessly shouting.
"You've ruined our ritual!"
Roger was completely stunned.
"That red light just now?"
But it was only then that he suddenly realized that everyone else in the cave had a confused look, as if they hadn't noticed the red light at all.
Only Amanda, her gaze towards the mouth of the cave, seemed to be searching for something.
"What's going on, could only I see that red light?"
Amanda then came back to her senses. She stepped forward and pulled the struggling Simpson away.
"Calm down, everyone just calm down!"
Roger's attitude and Simpson's overreaction had everyone looking at each other in puzzlement. Amanda dragged Roger aside, "What's going on? Didn't you say you wouldn't participate in this ritual?"
"Something's not right," Roger frowned, unable to explain to Amanda. He vaguely replied, "I have a bad feeling. Let's leave this place."
After thinking for a moment, Amanda nodded. With the occurrence such an incident, staying any longer seemed pointless.
That's when Bob stepped forward, confronting Roger, "After we get back to town, you'll get off my car and stay away, I don't want to see you again!"
Roger ignored Bob. Although nothing had happened, he knew the ritual had finished, and he suspected the consequences would soon become evident.
The group extinguished the flames, cleaned up any traces in the cave, and then hurriedly packed their belongings and left.
By this time, the sun had already set behind the mountains. Other areas of the town must still have been brightly lit. But in the mountain's dense foliage, the visual was obscured, making it appear quite dim.
"The path is this way."
Betty led the way out of the mountains. Roger felt distinctly ostracized, the others were silent but carried a covert hostility towards him.
Amanda was unable to mediate in such a situation.
The group exited the valley and passed through a dense forest when suddenly a black shadow flashed through the tall grass.
Simpson, who was walking at the back of the line, let out a piercing scream as he was abruptly tackled to the ground.
Everyone looked sharply and saw a grey-black wild wolf, grim in appearance, pinning Simpson to the ground.
Its sharp front claws viciously scratched at Simpson's face and chest, while its stark white teeth bit into his forearm, wildly tearing at him!
Simpson shouted loudly, trying to push the beast off him, but he was too weak to do more than barely maintain the situation.
Half of his face was mangled by the wolf's sharp claws, a piece of flesh on his cheek was torn away revealing the teeth in his mouth, blood soaked his entire chest in a gory mess.
This scene terrified everyone.
Lucy was closest; she fell on her backside, legs kicking wildly as she frantically crawled backward. The dry twigs on the ground tore up her expensive skirt and left multiple bloody marks on her sleek legs.
Bob, standing a little farther away, wasn't doing much better. Though tall and strong, typically embodying the tough guy image, at the end of the day he was still just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old high school student.
Faced suddenly with a ferocious wild beast, confronted with the creature's unadulterated savagery and the bloodlust provoked by the smell of blood, he found himself paralyzed with indecision on the spot.
Just at that critical moment, Roger sprang into action. The greatest change that the island experience had brought him was not physical strength, but the calmness he could muster in the face of danger.
He kicked ferociously at the wolf's flank, putting all his strength into the blow. With his current power, even the wolf found it hard to withstand and was sent flying by his kick.
Tumbling through the air with a low howl, the wolf rolled several times upon hitting the ground before it managed to rise, crouching low.
"How could there be wild beasts around here?!"
Picking up a tree branch as thick as a wrist, Roger lowered his center of gravity, keeping a vigilant eye on the wolf while he asked loudly.
"This is impossible!"
"We are at the periphery of the mountains, and no trace of wild beasts has been seen for miles around for many years!"
In such natural forest areas, though the living environment for wildlife is protected, to avoid trouble for nearby residents, rangers periodically clear the peripheral areas.
Coupled with the occasional poaching by townsfolk, Baytown hadn't had any news of beast attacks for several years.
Amanda had chosen this location precisely because of this knowledge.
Amanda herself was in a panic. She and Betty quickly ran up to examine Simpson's injuries.
Simpson looked awful, still struggling madly; it took a great deal of effort for them to calm him down.
"What are you waiting for? Come and help!"
Amanda yelled at Bob, who was still standing in the distance.
Roger didn't speak; his entire focus was on the wild beast opposite him. The sun was setting, and things in the woods were getting very dim.
"Could it be just a coincidence?"
The wolf's crimson pupils and its somewhat deranged behavior planted doubts in Roger's mind.
"What do we do? What should we do?"
Lucy cried out incoherently, "Run! Run for it!"
"Once we get to the car, we'll be safe!"
Roger had a bad feeling, but before he could speak, Lucy, nearly breaking down from fright, frantically ran off into the distance.
Roger couldn't help but curse under his breath. His kick had completely drawn the wolf's animosity. But now with Lucy's sudden mad dash, the beast's attention was diverted.
With a sudden lunge, the wolf took off after her!
Although Roger's physical condition had been greatly enhanced, in this type of forest environment, it was still impossible to catch up to a wolf in such a short distance.
As expected, Lucy didn't get far before the wolf tackled her to the ground. Yet she was lucky, as she fell down a slope, her body rolling down swiftly and avoiding the following bites.
In that moment, having pushed his physical abilities to the limit, Roger finally caught up, sweeping the wooden stick he held across, hitting it close to the wolf's hind legs, landing a blow on its rump.
The stick was far more potent than fists and feet had been, and this time when the wolf was sent flying, it struggled for a moment before getting back on its feet.
Its hind leg was clearly injured, and its movements were no longer as agile as before.
The beast's ferocity was thoroughly aroused; it fixed a deadly glare on Roger, growling low in its throat.
At that moment, Roger deeply missed the iron axe he had left on the island.