Evelyn’s eyes widen as she looks out the car window.

Gone are the towering trees and the forest floor—now only barren land stretches into the distance.

The golden light of the sun has vanished, replaced by an eerie purple glow.

She rolls down the window and leans out, eyes scanning the sky.

A purple moon looms above.

The car door opens behind her.

Her brother’s voice explodes into the air, laced with rage.

She turns and sees him standing outside, cursing loudly.

Inside the car, her cousin Stella asks, “Evander, where are we?”

But her brother doesn’t answer—just keeps swearing.

One of the bodyguards, a unification realm martial artist, speaks calmly: “Sir, please tell us where we are. We need to know how to protect you and your family.”

Evander falls silent.

He takes a deep breath.

But before he can respond—

—A deafening boom shakes the air.

Evelyn braces herself just as the car lurches backwards from the impact.

Shouts ring out: “Get out of the car!”

Her door opens—strong arms grab her.

A bodyguard lifts her out and rushes away from the vehicle.

She glances back.

A massive grey spear has impaled the car’s front hood.

“Get the weapons from the back!” her brother yells.

Another whistle cuts the air.

A second spear slams into the car.

Evelyn looks toward the direction of the attack—

—and her heart skips a beat.

Four grey skeletons stand at a distance.

Behind them, a crowd of white-boned monsters gather.

A bodyguard near her whispers, “What are these monsters?”

But no one has an answer.

Only the rising panic in their eyes.

And with every passing second, the certainty grows—they are no longer in their world.

Evelyn turns to her brother.

There’s something in his face.

Not just confusion, but recognition.

He knows something.

About this place.

About these monsters.

She hears him say, low but firm, “I’ll explain everything later.”

Then he looks at the unification realm bodyguard beside him.

Three cars brought them here.

Their family had been split across the vehicles.

Each one escorted by a unification realm martial artist and several guards from the lower three realms.

Her brother gives a clear command.

“Sid. Kill all the monsters first. I’ll explain after.”

Then he runs straight toward the skeletal horde.

Evelyn’s eyes lock on a single enemy.

A grey bone monster raises its hand.

A purple circle flares to life, etched with foreign, glowing symbols.

A spear of bone materialises in the circle’s centre.

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And shoots forward like lightning.

Straight toward her brother.

Evelyn’s heart stops.

Her scream rips from her throat.

“Evander!”

She surges forward.

But a bodyguard wraps an arm around her waist and holds her back.

“No!”

Tears blur her vision.

The wind howls as the spear tears through the air.

Evelyn shuts her eyes—because she cannot bear to watch her brother die.

Then a wolf’s howl splits the air.

Her eyes snap open.

In her brother’s place stands a towering, wolf-like monster—muscles taut, fur dark as smoke, eyes glowing gold.

A purple circle, inscribed with glowing runes, shimmers in front of him.

It blocks the spear.

Then both the circle and the spear vanish.

She stares in disbelief.

It’s him.

He’s wearing the same necklace.

Her brother.

Now in the body of a beast—hulking, hunched, and already charging forward with terrifying speed.

Gasps ripple from the guards.

Even Sid, the unification realm bodyguard, looks frozen.

She doesn’t understand what her brother is.

Doesn’t care.

Not now.

He needs help.

“Sid!” she shouts. “Help my brother!”

Without waiting, she runs to the back of the car.

One of the guards is already unloading weapons—rifles, ammo, pulse grenades.

She grabs an automatic rifle.

“Cassie!” she yells at her cousin, tossing a second weapon, “Take one and fight!”

Gunfire erupts.

She crouches, raises her weapon, and watches as her brother and Sid engage the four grey bone monsters head-on.

Around them, the white bone monsters swarm—

—and the rest of the guards rush in to meet them.

Evelyn aims but hesitates.

Where to shoot?

A shot to the chest might pass uselessly through their ribs.

She decides on the head.

She’s trained with firearms since she was ten. Her aim isn’t perfect, but good enough.

Even if she misses, her bullets won’t hit friendly targets.

She fires.

Her cousin fires beside her.

White bone monsters start dropping fast—bodies collapsing into scattered parts.

The tide is turning.

Or so she thinks.

A scream rips through the air.

Sid.

Her eyes snap to him.

Both his arms each one gripped by a different grey bone monster.

They’re burning.

Purple flames crawl up their bodies like living curses.

She whirls to her brother—

—just in time to see him thrown back by a powerful kick, crashing into a stone.

The two monsters fighting him are also ablaze in that same cursed flame.

Evelyn raises her rifle and fires at the ones holding Sid.

Nothing.

They don’t even flinch.

Terror coils in her chest as she watches helplessly—

—until Sid’s arms are torn clean off.

Blood sprays.

He falls, screaming.

She gasps, frozen—

—until her cousin, Cassie, steps past her.

A rocket launcher in her hands.

No hesitation.

She pulls the trigger.

A streak of fire, and then—an eruption.

The blast shakes the earth.

Evelyn stumbles, shielding her face as wind and debris whip past.

When the smoke clears—

—Nothing remains of that place.

No monsters.

No Sid.

Just silence.

Two grey bone monsters lie destroyed.

And so does Sid.

Evelyn opens her mouth to say something to Cassie—

—but nothing comes out.

What could she say?

“Well done”?

She killed Sid.

But she also saved them.

Sid was already as good as dead.

Her voice finally returns.

Soft, shaky.

“Don’t use that again… not unless you have to.”

Cassie nods without a word.

The other two grey bone monsters are still fighting Evander—

—And Evelyn doesn’t want Cassie aiming anywhere near him.

Evelyn exhales, lifts her rifle, and refocuses on the white bone monsters.

She fires.

Then a scream.

Another guard, skewered by a grey bone spear.

Evelyn’s breath catches.

She realises it too late—

Cassie didn’t kill two.

Only one.

The surviving grey bone monster vanishes from view—

—then reappears behind another guard, driving a bone hand straight through his chest.

In seconds, the last of their Unification-realm bodyguards is dead.

Cassie lifts the rocket launcher again.

The monster sees her.

It charges.

Evelyn opens fire, unloading her entire magazine—

—bullets slam into its chest, skull, limbs—

—but nothing slows it.

Not even a stumble.

And in that moment, she knows—

—Cassie is going to die.

Then it’ll come for her.

But just before the monster’s claws reach her cousin—

—It explodes.

A burst of purple fire lights up the air, bones scattering like glass shards.

Evelyn flinches—then stares.

A figure steps through the smoke.

A man with glowing purple eyes.

Veins traced in violet light.

His right hand isn’t human anymore—

—It’s a monstrous bone claw, humming with power, still pointed at where the monster had stood.

Without a word, he swings his arm.

The claw shifts, locking onto the white bone monsters shambling toward them.

Small orbs of purple energy fly from his fingertips—

—tiny lights, almost beautiful.

Then—

—explosions.

The ground shakes.

All the white bone monsters are gone.

Evelyn gasps.

She recognises him now.

She’s seen him before—at galas, banquets, quiet elite gatherings.

Zake.

Rumour said he was from the capital, managing Hunt Mall operations in Terrilyn.

Some whispered he came from a bloodline so old even ministers bowed.

She used to wonder what made those rumours true.

Now, she knows.

He turns and helps her brother without hesitation, launching another barrage at the remaining grey bone monsters.

Evelyn realises she’s been holding her breath—

—and finally lets it out.

In moments, the two remaining grey bone monsters fall, their forms crumbling to ash.

She watches as her brother walks forward, kneels, and picks up a bone skull. He hands it to Zake.

Zake nods, says something low that she can’t hear—

—and then, without another word, turns and vanishes into the mist.

Her brother returns, his body back to human form, skin slick with sweat, wearing only his briefs.

Evelyn and Cassie approach.

Cassie, still clutching her rifle, asks, “What is going on, Evander?”

Evander raises a hand. “Wait.”

He moves past them, toward the scattered corpses of the white bone monsters.

From the broken remains, he picks up three bones.

Then he walks to where Cassie’s rocket had slain the grey one and retrieves another.

He rejoins them and says simply, “Follow me. I’ll explain on the way.”

Evelyn meets Cassie’s wide-eyed gaze and gives a small nod.

She grabs the nearest weapon bag and slings it over her shoulder, falling in step beside her brother.

A few minutes later, Merin stops.

He stands still, scanning the land ahead.

In the distance—

white bone monsters surrounding a black SUV.

He can just make out the roof of the vehicle.

Gunfire echoes faintly across the desolate plain.

He doesn’t know who’s inside.

But he decides to help.

If they’re alive, they might know something—

about this place, or better yet, how to leave it.

And even if they don’t—

He has no intention of letting anyone else die here.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep