On the other side of Death Valley, Lily was hiding behind some long grass, breathing heavily. She kept looking back at the terrifying monsters searching for her.
They came close to the grass but didn't notice her. They slowly started walking away, still searching her.
Lily slowly moved, keeping herself low. Her footsteps were deliberate and careful. She kept looking back at the monsters, making sure they hadn't noticed her, while slowly moving forward.
She felt something was wrong. Mist was getting around her, making it harder for her to see into the distance.
"What's this presence I'm feeling? It's kinda terrifying... and it's also somewhat familiar."
She couldn't see anything besides the white mist.
Then, Lily felt something coming toward her, something moving through the mist. It looked black because of the mist, and she couldn't fully see what it was. She heard a sharp sound coming through the mist.
Finally, the thing became visible. It was a claw slash cutting through the air toward her.
She was shocked. It took her a moment to process what was happening. Then she moved and dodged when the slash got too close to her body.
It wasn't a perfect dodge.
It was somehow a survival instinct.
When she moved sideways, a sharp sound like a blade cutting through the air rang in her ears. Heavy air ripped past her face, making her hair move violently behind her. The slash threw dirt into the air so violently that Lily was forced to move her gaze.
Because she dodged, the attack kept going.
Several trees started to split. Bark exploded off the trunks, and leaves flew everywhere. Even after the attack vanished, the trees kept falling one after another. The impact was so strong that dozens of trees fell apart.
She turned her gaze back toward the direction where the atttack made the huge damage, her eyes widened in shock.
'If I hadn't dodged that... I might've been cut into pieces.'
Seeing the impact, she looked toward the direction the attack had come from.
A woman was approaching through the mist.
The woman started speaking. Her voice was intimidating and deep, but still feminine. It was both attractive and terrifying to hear.
"Welcome, Lily! I was waiting for you. Why did you take so long? I was losing my patience."
A psychotic laugh began.
She wasn't fully visible yet. She looked dark because of the mist. Lily noticed her perfectly feminine figure, with nice curves and two demonic horns on her head.
The woman spoke again.
"You've gotten uglier than before, darling!"
The woman finally became visible to Lily.
Lily's eyes widened in huge shock. She never expected this moment to happen. It was impossible.
In shock, a single word came out of her mouth.
"Stella!?"
Somewhere in Death Valley, Emi was wandering around, trying to find the little girl.
'Where's she? I can't let anything bad happen to her. I have to find her quickly.'
She looked around in different places but couldn't find the girl yet. The place was also suspiciously silent, unlike where Lily was.
Suddenly, after moving a little forward, she saw a group of wolf-type monsters a little far away from her.
"Shit!!"
As soon as she noticed the monsters, she hid behind a tree.
She hid behind the tree, but one of the monsters heard a piece of ground clicking.
When Emi was trying to hide, she had accidentally kicked a piece of the ground.
The monster let the others know in their own language, but to Emi, it sounded like nothing more than a growl.
They started approaching her.
Emi looked at them, keeping herself close to the tree.
"Fuck, they found me."
Emi started running. She had fought so many humans before, but never a monster. She didn't know how to fight them. At that moment, she wasn't confident enough to just stay still and fight those monsters off.
'I have to find her. Looks like it'll be hard to get rid of them.'
They were rushing toward her. One of the monsters suddenly jumped onto Emi.
When she looked back, she saw the monster already close to her face, eye to eye.
It pinned her down to the ground, holding her by the shoulder. It stared into her eyes with hunger.
Other monsters jumped onto her too, trying to bite her. Emi was trying her best not to get bitten by them. There were so many monsters that no matter how hard she tried to avoid their bites, some still managed to land on her.
When one of the monsters was about to bite her neck, she protected it by bringing both hands up as a shield against its mouth.
Instead of her neck, its teeth sank into her forearms.
She was trying her best to protect herself but couldn't properly. She got bitten at her shoulder, forearms, and side ribs.
She was struggling against the strength of the group of monsters. But she was moving instinctively, protecting herself without knowing what to do.
A monster bit hard into her ribs, and a scream burst out of her, voice was broken by pain and panic.
"Get... off."
On Arashi's side, he was still searching for Emi, screaming her name.
The cold wind was moving through the trees, made the silent even more unsettling.
After going a little forward, he started hearing some heavy footsteps. They were slow, calm, and sounded like they were coming from something armored.
"What's that sound?"
The sound kept getting louder. The footsteps started ringing in his ears as they got closer.
Then, something black appeared.
It was covered in black armor.
The black armor covered its entire head. The dark helmet blended into the armor. Its helmet had a sharp and terrifying shape, with narrow openings where its eyes should be.
Seeing it, Arashi took a step backward.
"What the hell is this? Looks damn cool, but also terrifying."
On the right side of its chest, there was a number written on it.
"1"