In one area of Ztheu, things seemed calmer.
At least, that was how it looked from the outside.
A large concentration of fog had gathered around one part of the land, spreading far across the area like a thick white ocean.
The mist covered everything.
It was so dense that anyone standing outside it wouldn't be able to see what was hidden within.
And inside that mist-covered area was the ruined city.
This was the only place on the entire Ztheu map that showed signs that civilization might have once existed there.
Although no one truly knew if that was real history or simply part of the artificial environment created for the tournament.
The city itself looked abandoned.
Dead.
Some buildings still stood tall, though cracks ran through their walls. Others had already collapsed halfway, leaving piles of broken concrete and twisted metal behind.
Several windows were shattered.
Broken glass littered the roads.
Damaged cars were scattered carelessly across the streets as if people had once fled the place in panic.
Street signs leaned sideways.
Traffic lights hung dead and lifeless.
Everywhere looked old, silent, and forgotten.
Just one glance at the city was enough for someone to imagine what a completely deserted ruin would look like.
And honestly, the thick fog only made the place feel worse.
Within that ruined city, two members of the sub-Wyndham family were currently moving through the streets.
Henry and Jimmy.
The two had been paired together since the beginning of the tournament and were deployed into the ruined city area from the start.
Since arriving there, both of them had learned one thing very clearly.
The ruined city was dangerous.
Far more dangerous than it looked from the outside.
At that moment, Henry and Jimmy were running through the ruined streets at full speed.
The two moved frantically as though something terrifying was chasing them from behind.
And honestly, from the expressions on their faces, whatever it was had clearly scared them badly.
Jimmy especially was running like his life depended on it.
Despite his large body size, he was actually faster than Henry and was almost leaving him behind completely.
Jimmy didn't even care what stood in front of him anymore.
As he charged through the streets, abandoned cars were directly in his path.
Bang!
Crash!
His body slammed into them violently one after another.
Yet instead of slowing him down, the cars were the ones sent flying out of the way.
Some rolled across the broken road.
Others smashed into nearby walls.
Meanwhile, Jimmy never once lost his momentum.
He simply kept charging forward like a raging beast.
As for Henry, he was struggling to keep up.
Then suddenly, he raised his palm.
On the center of his hand was a strange tattoo shaped like a wind symbol, almost resembling an eye.
The next moment, energy gathered there.
Boom!
A compressed blast of air exploded from his palm and struck behind his feet.
The force instantly launched Henry forward.
Broken asphalt and dirt exploded upward from the street while his body shot through the air.
While airborne, Henry quickly turned his body slightly.
Then he fired another blast behind himself.
Boom!
Another burst of air exploded.
The impact acted like a thruster, pushing him farther ahead.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
He continued firing compressed air repeatedly behind him.
Each blast increased his speed more and more.
And before long, Henry had finally caught back up to Jimmy as the two continued rushing through the ruined city streets.
Meanwhile, the air blasts Henry had fired were not wasted.
Every single one of them headed directly for their targets.
And the targets chasing them were monsters.
Running behind Henry and Jimmy was a group of large beast-like creatures.
They moved on two legs, but their bodies were hunched forward like predators ready to pounce at any second.
Most of them were covered in dark gray and brown fur.
Their arms were long.
Their claws were sharp.
And extending from their faces were long snouts that looked almost exactly like those of wolves.
The moment anyone saw them, they would immediately think of one thing.
Werewolves.
That was the closest thing these creatures resembled.
Several of them were chasing after Henry and Jimmy through the ruined city.
Some sprinted across the streets with savage hunger in their eyes.
Others moved through the buildings instead.
Three of the werewolves had latched onto nearby structures.
One ran sideways along the wall of a broken building with terrifying speed.
The other two sprinted across rooftops, leaping from one ruined structure to another without once taking their eyes off Henry and Jimmy.
Their movements were wild but precise.
Fast enough to make anyone panic.
But at that moment, Henry attacked.
Five condensed air blasts shot out from his palms almost instantly.
Fwoosh!
The attacks tore through the air at frightening speed.
Two of them headed directly toward the werewolves chasing from the ground.
Boom!
Boom!
The compressed wind exploded violently upon impact.
The streets shook.
Broken asphalt and debris blasted upward while the werewolves were thrown backward forcefully.
One crashed through the side of a damaged car.
Another rolled across the road before slamming into a broken wall.
Meanwhile, the remaining three air blasts shot toward the werewolves moving through the buildings.
One of the werewolves was just about to leap onto another building when the ball of condensed air caught up to it.
Boom!
The compressed air exploded right against its body.
The werewolf was blasted away violently, spinning through the air before disappearing out of sight completely. For a moment, only its pained howl echoed through the ruined streets.
Meanwhile, the other two still had Henry's attacks chasing after them.
One of the condensed air blasts slammed into the werewolf running along the side of a building.
Boom!
The impact exploded instantly.
The werewolf was smashed straight into the wall of the building. Cracks spread across the concrete as its body tore through windows and broken metal before vanishing inside the structure.
Then there was the last one.
Unlike the others, this one reacted fast.
Its claws dug hard into the rooftop as it twisted its body mid-run and avoided the incoming air blast by a hair.
But the creature had celebrated too early.
The condensed air didn't stop after missing.
Instead, it curved sharply in the air and chased after it from behind.
The werewolf noticed too late.
Just as it jumped toward another rooftop, the condensed air caught up and struck directly into its back.
Boom!
The blast sent the creature crashing downward into the narrow space between the buildings.
Then came the second sound.
Crash!
One of the already damaged buildings shook violently before collapsing inward. Large chunks of concrete and metal crashed down directly on top of the werewolf, burying it under the rubble.
Henry finally landed beside Jimmy.
The moment his feet touched the ground, he didn't even pause to catch his breath.
He pushed forward immediately and continued running alongside him.
Behind them, the ruined city kept shaking with distant growls, falling debris, and the sounds of destruction echoing through the fog-covered streets.
" I have only delayed them for now. I have a feeling there are more of them coming," Henry said as he ran through the ruined street.
"We need to find a place to hide or just get out of this area," Jimmy replied.
"This has to be the worst place to be deployed."
Ever since they had been deployed there, the fight had never truly been against another clan. It had always been against the werewolves hunting them through the ruined city.
They had watched other clans try to fight back, only to get overwhelmed almost instantly.
Some were taken down so fast that their wristbands couldn't even pull them out of the tournament in time.
A few clans had even stopped fighting each other entirely. Enemies had become temporary allies, all because everyone was trying to survive the werewolves and escape the ruined city alive. Funny enough, the tournament had somehow turned into a giant survival horror show.
As Jimmy and Henry kept running, a large wolf suddenly dropped from the top of a building right in front of them.
Boom!
The cracked road shattered beneath its heavy landing.
Both Henry and Jimmy instantly stopped.
The creature was far larger than the others chasing them before. Its body was packed with thick muscles beneath dark gray fur, and its glowing eyes stayed locked onto them like prey already caught.
Its long claws slowly scraped across the broken asphalt.
Grrrrr...
The low growl alone made the air feel heavier.
Jimmy clenched his fists.
Henry raised his palm slightly, the wind tattoo on it already glowing faintly.
---
Meanwhile, far away from the ruined city, a single mountain stood within the mist-covered land.
At the top of it stood two figures overlooking the fog below.
Both carried an aura that smelled of blood and battle.
"Are you sure this is where their energy is coming from?" Gavalich asked.
Beside him, Clifford continued staring into the thick mist spreading across the land below.
"It's here," Clifford answered calmly.
"The energy is faint because of the fog, but I can still feel it."
The two had been traveling ever since the tournament started, trying their best to locate the rest of their clan and regroup with them.
Although they had run into a few problems along the way, Clifford had handled most of them quickly. Because of him, Gavalich had been able to remain in his transformed state for much longer than normal. Even now, he was still maintaining the form.
"Their energy signature is definitely coming from there," Clifford said with a serious look on his face.
"But something else is inside that mist as well. There are too many life forces gathered there," he added.
"How much can you sense?" Gavalich asked as he turned to look at him. It was hard to ignore the seriousness in Clifford's eyes.
"A lot," Clifford answered. "There are a lot of beasts inside that mist."
Gavalich narrowed his eyes and looked toward the ruined city in the distance. Thick mist covered the entire place like a giant white blanket. From where they stood, they couldn't even see the buildings clearly.
"Then we need to get in there before it's too late," Gavalich said immediately.
Meanwhile, Clifford secretly glanced in another direction, away from the ruined city itself. His eyes turned thoughtful for a moment.
'Is this fate or just coincidence?' Clifford thought.
'The others' energy signatures are all moving toward the same place... and they're getting closer to each other.'
For some reason, he had a bad feeling about it. The kind that sat quietly in the chest and refused to leave.
And usually, feelings like that were never wrong.