Cain didn''t have to wait for the bad news for too long.


    "There are a lot of creatures in this ce. Like a lot..." Jenny said quietly, her eyes shing with worry.


    "And they don''t seem to have noticed us yet, but a group of them is slowly approaching us," Susan said with a frown.


    Falling silent, Cain considered their options...


    "How many?" Cain turned to Susan and asked.


    "A little more than a hundred, with around twenty of them approaching... However, they are all strong. Very strong" She said. For some reason, she seemed apprehensive about whatever creatures that prowled the fragmentednd.


    Taking a moment to organize his thoughts, Cain quickly made a decision.


    "Fighting the group of them will attract the attention of the rest." Cain had fought arge number of mutant beasts and devils before. However, a vast majority of them had been weaker than him. He had a terrible suspicion that things were not going to be the same this time around.


    Fighting with the {Lythoran Wyrms} had taught him a valuable lesson after all...


    "Stick close..."


    ''This is a good opportunity to use the Dark Soul.''


    The creature hiding in the darkness received its order. It swiftly dove into the darkness and assumed the role of a scout. Since it could share its senses with Cain, he was able to see what the dark spirit could see, hear what it could hear, and feel what it could feel.


    However, because it wasn''t a physical being, itcked a lot in the feeling department...


    The {Dark Soul} surfed through the darkness and observed the surrounding area. The creatures in question looked simr to the mutant beasts, but Cain could spot several differences between them.


    For one, while the mutant beasts looked like strange mutated versions of mundane creatures that existed on the, the Aether beasts were far more fearsome and strange-looking than anything he had seen.


    For a moment, he had thought they were more fearsome than devils. The creature the {Dark Soul} had seen looked like an amalgamation of a lizard and a mountain goat. Cain had seen pictures of mountain goats in some books and thought they had no potential to be fearsome. However, he had turned out to be wrong.


    The creatures had three twisted horns on their heads, a mouthful of razor-sharp fangs, a long serpentine tail, as well as two pairs of ck beady goat eyes. They were covered in a mismatched connection of fur and metal scales. They stood on their hind legs resembling that of a mountain goat, and their forelimbs were huge muscr arms that ended with three sharp ws.


    All in all, they were the very definitions of what an abomination should look like. The most terrifying thing about them was theirplexion. It was as though they had been baptized in red, putrid blood,


    ***


    {Blood Abomination}: Level 90 (Deadly)


    Strength: 1,200


    Agility: 1,750


    Defense: 200


    HP: 23,000/23,000


    Aether: 2,000/2,000


    Skills: Corrosive Blood, Physique Augmentation, Herding Call.


    ***


    With one nce, Cain was able to tell that he would be able to handle a single one of them with very little difficulty. However, he had no idea how he would fare if he were to face off against twenty of them at once.


    Since all sorts of creatures had unique skills as well, it was quite a chore to respond to the effects of the skills, as no one could be truly prepared against every single abomination they had to face.


    "Let''s go..."


    Signaling to the girls, Cain activated the {Emblem of Darkness}, which appeared above his head in the form of a dark rune.


    Ignoring it, they walked forward at a moderate pace, careful not to bump into the group of patrolling monsters.


    Thanks to the {Dark Soul}, they were able to determine the paths the creatures were most likely to take and avoid them. The dark diver was able to move through the terrain unnoticed by the creatures and was the perfect scout.


    With his help, Cain and the others were able to steer clear of the aether beasts without having to confront them.


    However, once they arrived at the edge of the floatingndmass, they were soon faced with an obstacle.


    ''How are we going to get across?''


    The floating pieces ofnd were not tethered to one another, and the only thing linking them together was the dark nothingness of the abyss they floated above.


    The distance between the floatingnd masses was also substantial enough that even Cain was unsure about whether he could make the jump without using any skills or spells.


    Luckily, his mana, ki, and devil essence were totally undisturbed, and he had ess to his skill and spells.


    With that thought in mind, Cain turned to stare at hispanions. Now that he thought about it, he realized he didn''t know a lot about them and what they could do. Despite being teammates for so long, all he knew about Susan''s main abilities was that they were of the light elemental magic and could be used for healing and to see the future. Well, sort of...


    As for Jenny, all he knew was that the shots from her rifle were capable of tearing a hole through almost anything, including himself...


    He had not made any conscious effort to get to know more about their abilities, what they couldn''t do, and how best he would be able to address all these factors for their benefit.


    Giving himself a mental p for his negligence, he decided to speak out,


    "Will you not be able to get across?" He said in a deep voice.


    Starting at the distance, Jenny shook her head,


    "My strength and agility stats aren''t that high."


    Looking at him with a dull expression, Susan rolled her eyes,


    "Same with me. I''ll fall like a rock."


    Chuckling nervously, Cain said what came to his mind,


    "Then there''s only one thing that can be done."


    Without any fanfare, he took their hands in his and made the jump. The feeling of their smooth, bouncy skin and cold, dainty fingers in his hands made his heart race.


    Feeling the emptiness under his feet brought him back. Activating {Wind Weaver}, he glided through the air andnded on the next floatingndmass.


    Taking a deep breath, hemanded the {Dark Soul} to scout the area. Eachndmass was apletely different biome and housed different creatures and topography.


    Thend masses at the edge of the fragmentednd were barren, and their main inhabitants were the {Blood Abomination} aether beasts. There were other aether beasts, but every one of them avoided the herd of monstrosities like a gue by either burrowing into the ground or hiding in the shadows.


    The ones that were unable to escape in time were torn apart and consumed...


    Cain was also able to notice two things...


    The first one is that all the creatures around had a very striking simrity. Their hides, scales, fur, feathers, skin...


    It was all the color of blood...


    And while that didn''t seem too concerning at first, he couldn''t help but feel some type of way about it.


    The second one was the most disturbing. On a few asions, some of the beasts, which included the {Blood Abominations}, would often times, simply disappear into thin air. First, a magic circle would appear beneath them, and with a sh of light, they would be whisked away into oblivion. Some would materializeter, albeit with injuries of different severity, while some woulde back dead...


    Only one thing came to mind when he saw this...


    ''Summoning...''


    Cain knew that Hunter was a summoner, and the beasts he summoned had toe from somewhere.


    ''Looks like I just found my answer...''


    Summoning magic had two origins...


    One was nature magic, and the other was the Aether. Cain let out a sigh as he continued forward. Despite their caution, traversing the fragmentednd was very difficult and time-consuming. Not only did they have to avoid the {Blood Abominations}, but they also had to jump across the brokennd masses from time to time.


    Sometimes, the distance between twond masses would be so much, that even Cain wouldck the confidence to cross it, and other times, thendmass they were about to jump onto would have a few... Issues.


    Slowly but surely, they traveled through the sea of broken ground, avoiding herd after herd of creatures.


    Eventually, their luck was bound to run out...


    Before any of them had the time to think about what was going on, thend mass they were currently traveling on began to vibrate slightly, almost like an earthquake was about to ur.


    ''An earthquake,? Makes no sense...''


    Indeed, there was no earthquake. Cainmanded the {Dark Soul} to search for the cause of the disturbance while signaling Susan and Jenny to stay still in their current hiding ce which was behind a rocky cliff.


    Seeing through the eyes of the dark diver, Cain was able to spot the cause of the disturbance. Eyes widening slowly, he watched as a veryrge herd of {Blood Abominations} raced across the rockynds. Their hind limbs were simr to the hooves of a mountain goat, and as such, they were able to traverse the rocky terrain without much difficulty.


    The herd consisted of a little over two hundred of the aether beasts, and while this was a threat, it wouldn''t be a problem if the herd wasn''ting at them.


    Unfortunately, luck had run out for the group...


    The stream of sanguine abominations was headed straight for them...