"Boom!"
A violent, muffled explosion echoed in the darkness, the sound reaching the uppermost level.
On the lowest level, the mountain shook, and Beth, Rebecca, and John huddled together, feeling as if the cave collapsing wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Cough, cough, cough, John got up, covered in dirt and dust, and patted himself off.
He would believe it if someone said this explosion could blow up a tank.
Peter's birth was one thing, but the items he provided had never been wrong.
"Where's Juno?"
This was Rebecca's first question after regaining consciousness.
No one answered.
Beth was still in a daze; it took her a while to ask,
"Is that monster… dead?"
John: "It should be dead. Do you want to go in and check?"
Rebecca and Beth shook their heads like rattles. Having just narrowly escaped, that monster was so terrifying; who knew if it would suddenly reanimate? They just wanted to flee this den of evil now.
Rebecca: "Beth, John, let's go quickly. It's not safe here. Let's get out."
John heard this and said, "I'm going to go in and look."
Beth pulled John's hand, her meaning clear that she didn't want him to go in. She choked out, "Sam is already dead, John. Listen to the teacher; let's leave here quickly."
How could John just leave like that?
All six Wendigo were dead, and the Deformed Cannibal Boss was also gone.
Now, the only card he could use was the Two of Hearts, which was the Deformed Man Number Two he had initially contained.
If he just left, all his previous efforts would be in vain.
John didn't answer; he just pulled free of Beth's hand and turned to walk into the innermost, partially collapsed cave.
Beth looked at Rebecca helplessly and said, "What should we do?"
"Let's wait for him for a few minutes. If he doesn't come out, we'll leave here."
"But John is my student, and he saved us. We can't just abandon him…"
…
In the dark cave.
John now held a Four of Diamonds.
"Containment target Evil Spirit Wendigo detected."
"Status: Dying · Containable."
After the phantom card confirmed it, John walked out from behind and came to the center of the explosion, where half a body lay, surrounded by flesh, organs, and fallen rubble.
Scattered pieces of flesh covered the ground, making it impossible to tell whose they were.
But John was certain that the largest half-body belonged to the Evil Spirit Wendigo; only a pair of legs and half a head remained, not quite dead.
Its single remaining blood-red pupil still eerily stared at John.
Evil Spirits truly were different from ordinary creatures.
"Contain."
The phantom card flew out and plunged into the half-body. The surrounding minced meat and half-body were instantly absorbed into the card.
Whoosh.
John touched the flying card and flipped it over. The background showed a crimson monster crouching in a dark underground cave, its blood-red pupils seemingly glowing with immense pressure.
It was so lifelike, leaping off the card face, as if it could come alive and burst out of the phantom card at any moment.
However strong the Evil Spirit Wendigo was before, that's how happy John was now.
After all, for typical slasher films, John with this card could walk sideways, except for Jason and Michael, those good brothers.
"Containment Target: Evil Spirit Wendigo"
"Description: A legendary Bloodthirsty, man-eating demon—the embodiment of an Evil Spirit."
"Stage Two not activated."
This was marvelous; there was even a description. No wonder rifle fire felt like mere tickling.
It truly deserved the title of 'demon.'
If the Deformed Cannibal and Wendigo John encountered earlier were within the range of ordinary creatures, then the Evil Spirit Wendigo had absolutely transcended the level of ordinary life.
Otherwise, how could it be called an Evil Spirit?
As for Stage Two, it should be its previous appearance when possessed by the Evil Spirit, covered in bone spurs, which was very oppressive.
John didn't delay too long; he planned to go back and check the ability extraction later.
The scattered pieces of flesh here should be the Deformed Cannibal Boss and Juno's remains. Forget it, let them be buried here; he had no intention of collecting the bodies, it was too troublesome.
However, thinking that there might still be stragglers in the cave, John decided to undo the fusion with the Deformed Cannibal and then choose to fuse with the Four of Diamonds, the Evil Spirit Wendigo.
"Fuse."
The moment of fusion, John felt his body fill with power, and all his bones trembled, ready to activate the second stage at any moment.
It seemed he could even punch through the underground ceiling if he wanted to.
His power expanded to its extreme.
To describe it in terms of novels John used to read, it was the classic, 'he could kill a cow with one punch,' or perhaps dozens of cows.
Or, classically, the Deformed Cannibal he previously had to deal with carefully could now be killed with a casual flick of his hand.
After inflating for a while and adapting, John returned the way he came.
Beth and Rebecca were waiting outside. Seeing John emerge, they eagerly asked, "How was it?"
"It's fine, it's dead. Let's find the exit quickly," John didn't mention much about what was inside.
Rebecca also had no intention of going to see her good friend Juno; what was there to see in a pile of minced meat?
While the three were looking for an exit.
Rebecca and John, and Beth, coordinated their stories.
Why coordinate stories? Because Juno was the senator's daughter.
With that identity, a large number of police would certainly come to investigate later.
Beth was still a little uneasy.
For John, it was like coming home, as this was originally the lair of the Evil Spirit Wendigo.
After several twists and turns.
They didn't encounter any more monsters along the way. John, guided by the Evil Spirit Wendigo's memories, led the two of them out through an exit.
The exit was under a tree in a certain forest.
The first thing they saw upon coming out was a clear sky.
Having stayed in the dark for so long, the light seemed a bit dazzling.
As soon as John came up, he dissolved the fusion. He looked at the sky, feeling a long-lost sense of relaxation. He hadn't known the time or how long had passed underground.
Beth and Rebecca, seeing daylight again, greedily breathed the air.
After resting, the three walked down the mountain to the road.
Vehicles could be vaguely seen coming and going on the road.
Cars meant people, and people meant safety.
The three hitched a ride, planning to go to the nearest hospital or town, but on the way, they encountered a group of police and rescue teams heading up the mountain.
The driver, having given a ride to the three disheveled individuals, was stopped by a police officer for a routine check. Rebecca had no intention of hiding their identities, and they were taken away immediately.
Then, a question and answer session.
Only then did the three realize that Juno's father had really pressured the police department, leading to a large search and rescue team being dispatched.
John, Beth, and Rebecca, being Juno's teammates, naturally became prime suspects.
Fortunately, the three had already coordinated their stories.
However, the police simply refused to believe in man-eating monsters underground—such an absurd thing.
Yes, without seeing the monsters with their own eyes, these young police officers wouldn't believe it, even thinking the three were crazy.
It was an old police chief who stopped the young officer's interrogation.
"Listen, Jimmy, they might not be lying. You might not believe it, but there really are some non-human monsters in this world."
The old police chief's mature face still bore a scar, suggesting he had experienced something extraordinary in his youth.
The young officer Jimmy wasn't very convincing, but this old police chief was very experienced and had seen things ordinary people hadn't. With his intervention, John and the other two were first sent to the town.
The police department planned to organize a rescue team to go down into the cave first.
Of course, every member of the rescue team carried weapons and equipment, and the old police chief personally led the team.
Most of the monsters in the cave were already dead, so the rescue team should be fine as long as they were careful.
On the way, John recalled the old police chief. From his words, it was clear that the other party had definitely seen or encountered some monsters.
The young officer Jimmy, on the other hand, was clearly a greenhorn.
From this, a conclusion can be drawn.
Most people don't believe, while a small number of people believe and have experienced it.
As for why these events are rarely widely reported.
John thought one reason was the smaller population abroad, and the second was to avoid causing panic.
After all, while various ghost and murder incidents seem numerous online, when dispersed across all states nationwide, they become minority events.
…