"Good fight there, little chap..." the brown-skinned man said, offering a hand to Cassian.
Cassian, still in the midst of healing, had patches of raw, burned skin rapidly regenerating before their eyes. The sight left the two Second Circle warriors momentarily stunned—watching as flesh knit itself back together at an unnatural speed.
"It wasn't," Cassian muttered, his expression tinged with irritation. He had been seconds away from being swallowed whole by the damn snake if not for the warrior's timely intervention—her hammer splitting the serpent's head open just in time.
Only then did Cassian finally catch a break, allowing his body to heal.
The same woman who had saved him stood nearby—tall and burly, her wild brown hair flowing freely like a lioness's mane. She was the very definition of a brute-force warrior, the kind who relied on sheer strength to crush anything in her path.
"Cheer up, boy. Lasting a few minutes against that thing is a damn good fight," she said in an encouraging tone.
By now, Cassian had completely healed, though the burned gaps in his leather armor told the full story. The armor had barely lasted a few seconds against the venomous fog, offering little more than a fleeting shield before it was eaten away.
"That aside, that's quite a rare ability you have there. Mind telling us how you developed it?" the woman, Shera, asked, her curiosity clear. She was referring to his healing ability.
Cassian shrugged. "Not sure myself. But if you really want it, try getting tortured before moving up a circle," he said, half-joking, though he knew that was likely the reason for his abilities.
Both warriors gave him strange expressions—part understanding, part confusion. After a brief pause, the man finally spoke.
"I'm Altev, and this is Shera. We're from the city guard, South Wall unit."
"Cassian, detective of the special unit in the city's law enforcement," Cassian introduced himself, extending a hand toward the man.
Altev shook his hand with a nod, and Shera followed suit. "You must've been assigned here to help evacuate the villagers before everything went to hell," she remarked.
"Yeah," Cassian confirmed. "I'm here with my team, but aside from me, we only have one mage. The rest are still regular humans."
"Then how about joining us? We could use an extra pair of hands," Shera offered before adding, "Since both our teams have been assigned to rescuing villagers from the nearby settlements anyway."
Cassian hesitated. He had only fought alongside them once, and while they were clearly fighting the monsters, he knew better than to trust someone too quickly.
"Let's focus on saving the village first," he said after a moment. "I heard there's talk about using these villages as defensive outposts."
Wanni had mentioned it earlier—she had been part of the strategy meeting on how to handle the incoming monster wave threatening the cities.
Cassian couldn't understand why the city's higher-ups weren't deploying their strongest warriors. A single Seventh Circle warrior like Julius could wipe out the entire threat alone. Yet, to his surprise, he hadn't even seen a Fourth Circle warrior here.
He had heard rumors that some were present, but they were stationed deeper in the jungle, protecting villages like Surrock and others that were even more isolated. The jungle stretched far beyond that, though, crossing into the territories of neighboring kingdoms.
Cassian had no idea if those kingdoms would face the same monster invasion, but one question lingered in his mind—why weren't the strongest warriors fighting on the front lines? Why send low-ranking Circle Warriors and mages to battle beasts that the higher-ups could destroy with a mere thought?
While, they had been forced to fight for their lives.
After helping evacuate the last of the villagers, along with some of the wounded, only those prepared to stand and fight remained. Just as Wanni had mentioned earlier, word had come that the city guards were setting up a defensive post here. Altev and Shera were frustrated by the order, but they had no choice but to follow it.
Meanwhile, Cassian and his team finally took a moment to rest. After hours of nonstop battle and running, exhaustion was setting in. Every minute, more monsters had emerged, relentlessly attacking the village.
When Cassian voiced his frustration about the absence of stronger warriors, Wanni offered an explanation.
"I think the higher-ups see this as an opportunity—for young warriors like us to gain experience and, hopefully, for low-tier Circle Warriors to advance in battle," she said.
It made sense. While Cassian had already become a Circle Warrior, the others were still waiting for their chance to break through.
"That makes sense, but what about the cultists? And did any of you notice how these beasts weren't just running wild? They were deliberately going after the villagers… like they were being controlled or something," Theron pointed out.
The others nodded in agreement, except for Robert, who smirked and said, "That tells me none of you have ever encountered or read about monster waves before."
As the group turned to him with curiosity, he continued, looking a little smug.
"In monster waves, there's usually an alpha—a seven-star or higher-ranked monster that takes control of the others, directing them to attack villages. This typically happens when the alpha is on the verge of ascending to a higher rank and needs a massive amount of food… which, unfortunately, means us. Judging by the sheer number of monsters this time, I'd say whatever's behind this is incredibly strong—probably around nine stars, if I had to guess."
Cassian nodded in understanding when a sudden thought struck him, shocking him as he spoke. "Then… if you're right, whatever those damned zealots did during that ritual might have created the thing controlling these monsters."
"It seems so…" Lumine nodded, coming to the same conclusion as the others, who also exchanged grim looks.
Wanni looked a bit shaken as she hesitantly asked, "Could they really do that?"
Cassian chuckled at her reaction and replied, "Do you remember the family murders that happened in the city a few months ago?"
Wanni nodded. "Yeah, I heard about it on the news. I also heard it led to a huge fight between a high-rank warrior and a mage… and you were in the middle of it."
Cassian nodded. "Yeah, I was part of the team investigating the case. Not many details were made public, but you do know the cult was involved, right?"
Wanni nodded again, and Cassian continued, "Do you know why it happened?"
She shook her head, prompting Cassian to smirk. "Well, to put it simply, those cultist bastards were trying to create gods— gods that required sacrificing their own family to achieve godhood."
The new team members, including the siblings and Wanni, looked stunned. Robert and Lumine, who already knew parts of the story, remained silent.
Wanni, still in shock, asked, "Were they… successful?"
Cassian had no answer. He never saw those people who had followed Julius that day ever again. With a shrug, he said, "No idea. But if nothing else, this proves that these cultists have ways of doing the unbelievable. So if you ever face them in the future… never underestimate them."