The wilderness felt even colder after leaving King's Territory behind.
Not because the temperature had changed drastically, but because the thin sense of security provided by the wooden fence had disappeared the moment they stepped beyond the gate. Outside the territory walls, the world immediately returned to what it truly was. Vast, unfamiliar, dangerous.
The group traveled quietly at first.
Boots crushed fallen leaves beneath their feet while branches shifted overhead in the afternoon wind. The deeper they moved into the wilderness, the farther the sounds of King's Territory faded behind them until eventually only the forest remained.
Iris walked near the front beside Snow while the map projection glowed faintly at the corner of her vision. The marked route toward the valley remained stable for now, though the distance still looked annoyingly long.
Traveling alone yesterday had been much faster.
Traveling with over ten exhausted people was something else entirely.
Even the bodyguards moved slower now.
Victor still limped slightly from his earlier injury while Daniel looked half asleep whenever the terrain flattened enough to stop demanding full concentration. Lee Wei and Jin Taejin carried some of the cooking equipment due to their spaces being full while Marcus occasionally scanned the surrounding forest carefully with one hand resting near his weapon.
Nobody truly relaxed anymore.
Not after experiencing the wilderness firsthand.
Still, compared to the atmosphere inside King's Territory earlier, this felt strangely calmer.
At least nobody here was pretending.
Caleb stretched both arms dramatically while groaning toward the sky. "My legs are officially declaring independence."
Benjamin snorted softly beside him. "Your legs barely did anything inside the territory."
"That was emotional exhaustion." Caleb said again with an exhausted sigh
"That's not a real thing." Benjamin clapped back.
"It absolutely is."
Several people laughed quietly at that.
Even Henry's expression loosened slightly for a moment.
The tension from earlier gradually eased as the group continued moving through the forest trails, carefully following Iris's directions whenever the terrain split apart.
At some point, Caleb's attention shifted toward Elias walking near the back alongside the large black dog.
The animal moved calmly beside its owner despite its size, occasionally brushing against Elias's leg while scanning the surrounding forest with alert golden eyes.
Caleb stared at the dog thoughtfully for several seconds before finally asking,
"Mr. Elias… what's your dog's name?"
The question immediately drew several curious looks from the others.
Elias answered without hesitation, "Dog."
Caleb stared at him for several seconds before nearly tripping over a rock. "Wait, seriously? That's the actual name?"
The middle aged man looked genuinely confused by the question. "Of course. What else would I call him?"
Even Benjamin snorted quietly at that while Caleb burst into loud laughter so suddenly that Snow startled beside Iris.
"You're serious?!"
"Yes."
"I've literally been calling him 'the black dog' inside my head this whole time!"
"That is correct."
Caleb laughed harder.
Benjamin covered his face briefly while even Veronica failed to suppress a smile.
Marcus turned away entirely, shoulders shaking slightly.
Meanwhile Elias continued walking normally beside the animal with complete seriousness, clearly unable to understand why everyone suddenly found this funny.
The black dog itself looked deeply uninterested in the conversation surrounding its existence.
Snow barked once toward it.
Dog ignored him completely.
The group's mood lightened considerably after that.
Even the exhausting uphill climb that followed became slightly easier to tolerate.
Slightly.
The terrain gradually steepened the farther they traveled toward the valley region Iris discovered earlier. Loose rocks shifted beneath their feet while exposed roots forced everyone to slow down carefully along narrower paths.
By the time the sun drifted lower across the sky, several people were visibly sweating despite the cold air.
Iris checked the Lord Token timer again absentmindedly while climbing over another uneven slope.
[Remaining Duration: 1 Day 43 Minutes.]
Not much time left anymore.
If the token expired before they established somewhere stable—
No.
She pushed the thought away immediately.
They would reach the valley first.
Then figure things out afterward.
Eventually the trees began thinning around them again…. Not completely.
But enough for distant mountain winds to pass more freely through the cliffsides.
The terrain here overlooked sections of the lower wilderness below, allowing brief glimpses of distant forest canopies stretching endlessly toward the horizon.
Then suddenly—
A white flash illuminated the distance behind them.
Several people stopped instinctively.
The light vanished almost immediately afterward.
Caleb blinked.
"What was that?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Iris narrowed her eyes slightly toward the distant direction where the flash appeared.
Too far away to identify properly.
But something about it felt strangely familiar.
Like the light produced during level advancement notifications.
"We keep moving," Henry said after several seconds.
And so they did… At first nothing seemed unusual afterward. Then Snow abruptly slowed. A low growl rumbled from his throat.
Dog reacted almost immediately afterward.
The large black canine suddenly lifted its head toward the wilderness behind them, ears twitching sharply as a low growl rumbled from its throat.
Elias's expression changed almost immediately. "You hear that?"
The group slowed instinctively.
At first, Iris only heard wind moving through distant trees. Then a deep sound rolled faintly across the wilderness behind them, distant enough to almost blend into the mountains themselves.
Thump.
A few seconds later, it came again.
Thump.
The ground beneath Iris's boots trembled slightly this time, weak but impossible to mistake.
Benjamin's expression tightened immediately. "That's not thunder."
Another vibration rolled through the earth before anybody could answer him, stronger now, carrying a heavy rhythm that made the loose stones near the cliffside shift slightly under their feet.
Thump. Thump.
Thump. Thump.
Birds suddenly burst upward from distant sections of forest ahead, scattering violently into the sky.
More growls echoed faintly through the wilderness below. Not one…. Many.
A cold feeling crawled slowly down Iris's spine.
"Move higher," she said immediately.
Nobody argued.
The group climbed the remaining slope quickly now despite their exhaustion, boots slipping occasionally against loose stone while the strange vibrations beneath the earth gradually intensified.
Then they finally reached the edge, and froze.
Far below them—
the wilderness was moving.
At first Iris genuinely thought it was some kind of landslide.
Then individual shapes became visible.
Monsters.
Hundreds of them.
Maybe more.
The massive wave of creatures surged violently through the forest below like a living flood, crushing vegetation beneath sheer numbers alone. Trees shook as enormous beasts forced their way through the terrain while countless smaller monsters sprinted between them in chaotic packs.
Growls, screeches, roars, shrill cries.
The combined noise echoed across the mountainside like a nightmare.
Caleb's face lost all color.
"What the hell…"
Even Henry looked stunned.
The monster tide moved with terrifying speed through the lower wilderness, all flowing toward the same direction.
Toward King's Territory.
Iris stared silently at the scene below while realization settled heavily inside her chest.
The white flash earlier, The territory upgrade mentioned by Tobias before they left, The sudden environmental pressure, The system energy release, Territory upgrades attracted attention and not the good kind.
Her thoughts immediately connected together afterward with frightening clarity.
Growth created danger.
Expansion invited threats.
The stronger a territory became, the more likely it was to draw the wilderness toward itself.
Veronica covered her mouth slightly while staring toward the distant direction of King's Territory. "Nina…"
Nobody answered her.
Because honestly— what could they even say?
Far below them, the monster tide continued barreling through the wilderness without slowing down once.
If they returned now, they would get caught in it long before reaching the territory.
And even if they somehow made it back—
what exactly could they do against that?
They were barely surviving against individual monsters.
This?… This was death.
Iris slowly tightened her grip around the strap of her bow. Then forced herself to look away. "We keep moving."
Caleb stared at her in shock. "We're not going back?"
Her expression remained tight. "We can't help them."
The words tasted cold coming out. But they were true, nobody argued afterward.
Because deep down— everyone already understood it too.
So while the distant wilderness thundered beneath the weight of countless approaching monsters, Iris turned away from King's Territory entirely and continued leading the group higher into the mountains.
Behind them—
the monster tide continued advancing.