Clayne slowly opened his eyes and immediately felt something different.

For the first time in a very long while, his head no longer felt heavy.

The exhaustion accumulated from maintaining the Silent Sword Mist Array for five straight days had almost completely disappeared.

His muscles felt relaxed.

His breathing felt smooth.

Even his senses seemed sharper than before.

Meanwhile, sunlight was already filtering through the thick mist surrounding the school building.

The hallway remained quiet.

No scratching sounds echoed from the walls.

No endless growls came from below.

No constant pressure weighed down on his nerves.

Only silence.

A silence so rare in the apocalypse that it almost felt unnatural.

Slowly, Clayne stood up and stretched his body.

Immediately, a series of crackling sounds came from his joints.

His shoulders loosened.

His neck relaxed like it had never experienced it all his life.

His arms felt lighter.

Even his legs felt more powerful than before.

For a brief moment, Clayne simply stood there enjoying the sensation.

Then reality returned.

Immediately afterward, he walked toward the nearest window.

The moment he looked outside, the comfortable feeling from earlier vanished completely.

His expression immediately became serious.

The insects were still there.

Not all of them.

Not even close to the horrifying numbers from several days ago.

Yet there were still many.

Far too many.

Several giant beetles crawled over abandoned vehicles.

Mutated rats ran through piles of corpses.

Large centipedes slithered across roads.

Meanwhile, countless smaller insects moved through cracks, windows, drainage systems, and destroyed buildings.

The sight alone was enough to make Clayne’s scalp tingle.

Because unlike the undead, these things seemed far more difficult to predict.

The undead simply charged at whatever they saw.

These creatures hunted.

Adapted.

Evolved.

And that made them dangerous.

Very dangerous.

"Still here..."

Clayne muttered quietly.

Immediately afterward, he turned around and inspected the formation again.

Despite already checking it earlier, he still did not feel comfortable.

After all, his life depended on it.

Carefully, he inspected every part.

The formation lines.

The spiritual circulation.

The bucket serving as the spiritual core.

The heavenly tribulation dried mango powering everything.

The spiritual flow between every node.

The mist generation.

The concealment effect.

Everything.

Nothing escaped his attention.

Several minutes passed.

Then several more.

Only after checking everything repeatedly did Clayne finally relax.

The formation was functioning perfectly.

Nothing was damaged.

Nothing had weakened.

The mist continued hiding the school.

The insects outside remained unable to detect the building.

Everything remained stable.

Only then did Clayne release a long breath.

Meanwhile, his gaze drifted downward once more.

The insects remained there.

Crawling.

Hunting.

Searching.

Waiting.

And suddenly, Clayne started thinking.

If these creatures continued multiplying...

Then eventually they would become a problem.

Even if they could not currently detect him.

The stronger they became, the greater the chance one of them might discover something unusual.

Immediately afterward, Clayne bent down and picked up several chunks of broken concrete.

Then he walked toward the window.

Without hesitation, he flicked one of the fragments.

The piece of concrete shot through the air like a bullet.

BOOM!

A giant beetle immediately lost its head.

Its body rolled several meters before becoming still.

Clayne flicked another.

BOOM!

A mutated rat exploded.

He flicked another.

BOOM!

Another insect died.

Then another.

Then another.

Then another.

Concrete fragments continuously flew outward.

Several insects died every minute.

Yet the more he killed...

The more Clayne frowned.

Because there were simply too many.

Far too many.

Even if he stood here all day.

Even if he killed continuously without stopping.

The result would remain the same.

Tomorrow there would still be more.

The next day there would still be more.

The day after that there would still be more.

Eventually, Clayne stopped attacking.

His gaze became thoughtful.

Slowly...

An idea appeared.

A dangerous idea.

A reckless idea.

Yet somehow...

The more he thought about it, the more reasonable it sounded.

Immediately afterward, Clayne’s eyes moved toward his spiritual vault.

Specifically...

Toward the heavenly tribulation dried mango stored inside.

A grin slowly appeared on his face.

Since all of these creatures loved devouring each other...

Why not help them?

Why not encourage them?

Without hesitation, Clayne took out one piece of heavenly tribulation dried mango.

Even now, the fruit looked extraordinary. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Its surface faintly shimmered.

Tiny traces of spiritual energy continuously flowed from it.

The aroma alone felt refreshing.

Immediately afterward, Clayne carefully sliced off a tiny piece.

Very small.

Almost insignificant.

Then he tossed it through the window.

The fragment fell.

And fell.

And fell.

Until it landed among a group of insects below.

At first, nothing happened.

Then suddenly...

A giant black beetle rushed forward.

The creature immediately swallowed the fragment.

The moment it did...

Changes began.

Crack.

Crack.

Crack.

Its shell started expanding.

Its claws became sharper.

Its body became larger.

Its aura became stronger.

Meanwhile, every surrounding creature immediately noticed.

And instantly became violent.

The giant beetle had barely finished evolving before dozens of nearby creatures rushed toward it.

Mutated rats.

Giant insects.

Large centipedes.

Everything attacked simultaneously.

The beetle fought back fiercely.

One rat died.

Then another.

Then another.

Several insects were crushed beneath its body.

For a brief moment, it looked unstoppable.

Unfortunately...

It had become the strongest thing nearby.

And therefore...

The most delicious target.

More creatures arrived.

Then more.

Then even more.

Soon, the giant beetle completely disappeared beneath a mountain of monsters.

Crunching sounds echoed nonstop.

Flesh tore apart.

Shells shattered.

Limbs flew through the air.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Within moments, the giant beetle was completely devoured.

Yet that only marked the beginning.

Every creature that consumed a piece of the beetle immediately started changing.

A giant rat doubled in size.

One centipede grew several additional body segments.

Several beetles developed thicker armor.

Others developed sharper claws.

And immediately afterward...

They became targets too.

The entire area descended into absolute chaos.

Creatures attacked one another without hesitation.

The stronger they became...

The more attractive they became to others.

One giant rat killed several insects.

Then a centipede wrapped around it and tore it apart.

That centipede became stronger.

Then three beetles attacked the centipede.

One beetle survived.

Then dozens of smaller creatures swarmed the beetle.

The cycle continued endlessly.

Meanwhile, standing at the window above, Clayne watched everything unfold with growing excitement.

His eyes followed every battle.

Every movement.

Every attack.

Every death.

The scene below resembled a massive battlefield.

No.

It resembled something even more appropriate.

A Gu jar.

Countless poisonous creatures trapped together.

Only one survivor allowed to remain.

The more Clayne observed, the more convinced he became.

His theory had been correct.

The red mist earlier had accelerated evolution.

It had increased aggression.

It had encouraged slaughter.

Now, the heavenly tribulation dried mango acted as a replacement.

It provided something worth killing for.

Something worth evolving for.

Something worth devouring others for.

And the results exceeded expectations.

The number of creatures rapidly decreased.

Hundreds became dozens.

Dozens became twenty.

Twenty became ten.

Ten became five.

Five became three.

Three became two.

Hours passed.

The slaughter never stopped.

Meanwhile, Clayne simply continued watching.

Occasionally laughing.

Occasionally nodding.

Occasionally making mental notes.

Because this was useful.

Extremely useful.

If he understood how monsters evolved...

Then he could survive longer.

Eventually...

Only two creatures remained.

A giant beetle.

And a massive centipede.

The two monsters stared at each other.

Neither retreated.

Neither hesitated.

Then they charged.

The battle that followed lasted nearly ten minutes.

The beetle possessed incredible defense.

The centipede possessed terrifying speed.

Their bodies repeatedly collided.

Cracks appeared in the ground.

Concrete shattered.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

Meanwhile, Clayne watched attentively.

Finally...

The centipede won.

Its mandibles tore through the beetle’s armor.

The beetle collapsed.

The centipede immediately devoured everything.

Minutes later...

Only one creature remained alive.

The centipede slowly raised its body.

Its length now exceeded several meters.

Its shell had become dark metallic black.

Its body looked powerful.

Its mandibles looked capable of cutting through steel.

Its aura alone surpassed every creature that had participated in the slaughter.

The surrounding area became silent.

No competitors remained.

No enemies remained.

Only the centipede survived.

The sole victor.

The final survivor.

Meanwhile, standing at the window above, Clayne nodded slowly.

His experiment had succeeded perfectly.

Then, without hesitation...

He picked up a tile fragment.

Positioned it between his fingers.

Focused.

And flicked.

The projectile shot forward like lightning.

Straight toward the centipede’s head.