Elias continued running.
His legs were beginning to feel numb.
Every breath burned his lungs, and the pain in his ribs had only gotten worse.
He didn't know how far he had gone.
He only knew that he needed somewhere to hide.
Then—
His shoulder brushed against something.
Elias stopped.
He turned around.
There was nothing there.
Only a wall of vines covering the side of a rocky cliff.
He frowned.
Was that... a cave?
He reached out and moved the vines aside.
A narrow opening appeared behind them.
Elias stared at it.
The entrance was almost completely concealed by the surrounding vegetation. If he hadn't accidentally touched the vines, he would have walked straight past it without noticing.
Perfect.
He quickly slipped inside.
The cave was dark and quiet.
Elias walked deeper into it before finally collapsing onto the ground.
THUD.
He lay there, breathing heavily.
"Just... a little rest."
He closed his eyes.
For a few seconds, there was nothing.
No roaring beasts.
No Garen.
No fighting.
Just silence.
But then Elias noticed something.
The ground beneath him felt strange.
Wet.
He slowly opened his eyes.
His fingers touched the ground.
He lifted his hand.
Dark red liquid covered his fingertips.
Blood.
Elias's expression changed.
Blood?
He looked around.
There were dark stains across the floor.
Some were old.
Others were still wet.
Then—
Drip.
Something fell onto his forehead.
Elias froze.
Slowly, he looked upward.
His eyes widened.
Several dead beasts were hanging from the ceiling of the cave.
Their stomachs had been completely opened.
Blood dripped from their bodies onto the ground below.
Elias's heart began pounding.
What is this place?
Then a memory suddenly returned to him.
A lesson Garen had taught him.
---
"There are people who fail to transform into the race they chose."
"They're called Outcasts."
"They don't receive the racial abilities they were supposed to gain."
"But some of them develop something else."
"An ability called Devour."
"When an Outcast kills another creature, they can consume its body and absorb one-third of the mana contained within it."
"But ordinary beasts don't contain much mana."
"So their growth is painfully slow."
Garen had paused.
Then his expression had become serious.
"Some of them found another way."
"They started hunting their own kind."
"Humans."
"Those Outcasts abandoned the settlements and disappeared into the forests."
"They wait for people to wander too far from safety."
"And when someone enters their territory..."
Garen's voice had lowered.
"They feast."
"Those Outcasts are called cannibals."
---
Elias's breathing became shallow.
He slowly looked around the cave again.
The dead beasts.
The opened stomachs.
The fresh blood.
Everything suddenly made sense.
This isn't just a cave.
It's a den.
Elias immediately got to his feet.
His body screamed in protest, but he ignored it.
He needed to leave.
Now.
He carefully stepped toward the entrance.
One step.
Then another.
He was almost there when—
"Hehehe..."
Elias froze.
His blood ran cold.
A voice.
Someone was laughing.
Then another voice answered.
"I told you there would be someone today."
Elias's eyes widened.
The voices were coming from outside.
They were getting closer.
He listened carefully.
One voice.
Two.
Three.
Then another.
He counted silently.
Four...
A fifth voice joined the conversation.
Elias's face went pale.
At least five people.
Their footsteps echoed through the cave.
They were coming inside.
Elias slowly stepped backward.
His injured body was already struggling.
He couldn't fight Garen.
He couldn't fight the Savage Fanghorn.
And now...
There were at least five cannibals approaching.
He looked toward the entrance.
Then toward the deeper darkness of the cave.
There was nowhere obvious to run.
The footsteps became louder.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Elias swallowed hard.
For the first time since entering the cave...
He realized something terrifying.
He had not found a hiding place.
He had walked straight into their home.