The headless corpses stirred. What began as a single twitch rippled through the crater like a wave.

Joints cracked with wet, sickening pops. Decayed limbs scraped against the black sand as the bodies rose to their feet.

Some of them stood on two legs, most of them were on all fours like animals.

Jasper, who had slumped onto his legs, began to move as well.

Raising both his hands, he grabbed whatever was left of his head and pulled it out.

His neck made a wet gurgling sound as the chest muscles attempted to expand and air was forced through the severed trachea and throat.

The same sound immediately filled the entire crater.

"Back! Get back!"

Bert the assassin shouted, already using his skill of concealment to vanish from his place.

James spat out the bits of brain matter that had landed in his mouth, gagging violently. "What the fuck is this?!"

Mikhail had already taken a few steps back as he looked at the headless corpses.

The first headless body lunged at Stella with unnatural speed.

Stella screamed and threw the seeds that she had clenched in her hand.

The seeds grew and expanded, turning into vines that wrapped around the creature’s torso, slowing it for a split second.

But the headless thing simply tore through them with raw strength. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Nelly nocked an arrow in record time. Her Huntress class made her movements fluid and precise.

The arrow flew true, piercing the creature’s chest. It barely slowed down.

"These things don’t feel pain!" she yelled.

Patrick’s owl, Veltam, screeched from above and dove, talons extended to grab a monster and yank it from the ground.

The mutated Tammer boy followed up by using his chain, which wrapped around another rising corpse, yanking it backward.

A headless corpse rushed towards Mikhail as well.

But as it moved closer, Methew woke up and jumped at the corpse.

"Meowtherfucker!!"

With a roar, it summoned lightning that zapped the life out of the corpse.

Mikhail glanced toward the crater’s rim. Aleena still stood there, arms crossed, watching with clinical interest.

She made no move to help.

’As expected.’

Another corpse charged Mikhail from the side. He dodged easily and didn’t hesitate to use [Black Spike].

A razor-sharp obsidian spike erupted from the ground beneath the creature, impaling it through the torso and lifting it several feet into the air.

Black ichor dripped from the wound, but the thing kept thrashing.

The group had reached the edge of the crater as they quickly tried to move out.

"Jasper!" Nelly cried out.

The Duke-rank noble’s headless body was already rushing towards them with the others.

His luxurious spear was clenched tightly in his hand.

Mikhail looked at the spear for a few seconds before he slowed down ever so slightly.

Jasper’s headless body raised his hand to thrust his spear, but Mikhail dodged easily.

He twisted the boy’s hand and snatched his spear before kicking him so hard that the body flew a few metres back.

Mikhail felt the engraved spear in his hand and silently prayed for the young noble boy.

’Thank you for the gift, I will use this spear wisely.’

"Above you!" Stella warned him as she tried to get out.

Mikhail looked up and saw three headless corpses had climbed onto each other’s shoulders, forming a grotesque tower.

They launched themselves toward him in a flying tackle.

Mikhail didn’t have any plans to fight such a monster. He just turned around and rushed towards the edge.

The girl with the glasses was still trying to get out of the crater.

Mikhail quickly grabbed her, spun once, and threw her out of the crater.

He then jumped up and reached the edge in one swift motion.

The group didn’t stop there. They kept running away from the crater as far as they could.

When they noticed nobody was following them, they stopped to take some rest.

They collapsed near a cluster of charred, skeletal trees.

Patrick’s owl, Veltam, circled overhead while Patrick himself sat on the ground, looking pale.

Mikhail stood a little apart from them, the stolen spear resting casually on his shoulder.

The weapon felt surprisingly well-balanced in his grip.

"Is everyone... fine?" Stella asked weakly, pushing her glasses back up her nose.

"Barely," James growled, rolling his injured shoulders. "What the hell were those things? They didn’t even have heads, but they moved like they were alive. And Jasper... fuck."

Nelly’s face was filled with confusion and fear. "His head exploded from a tiny cut...That’s not normal."

Bert materialized from the shadows a few paces away, wiping black blood from one of his daggers.

"Necromancy? Some kind of parasitic entity? They looked like they were controlling or replacing the nervous system."

Mikhail listened quietly, his expression neutral.

He was more or less sure what they were; in fact, he had fought something similar before... a group of spiders controlling a human body.

’A form of parasite that is controlled by something inside them.’

What made Mikhail uneasy was the fact that he wasn’t sure who was in control.

Aleena finally strolled up behind them at a leisurely pace, as if she had been on a casual walk.

The wine-red-haired senior stopped a few meters away, scanning the group with cool detachment.

"First contact and you already lost your strongest member," she remarked dryly. "Not the best start for a practical exam."

James shot her a glare. "You could’ve helped! You just stood there watching!"

"My job is assessment," Aleena replied with a small shrug. "Not babysitting. If you can’t handle low-level Rift anomalies, you don’t deserve to pass."

Stella stood up slowly, dusting black sand off her clothes. "James, let me heal you."

She placed her hands on the burly commoner’s shoulders.

Soft green light emanated from her palms as her Healing skill activated.

The puncture marks slowly closed, though the skin remained an angry red.

The rest of the group wasn’t hurt badly, so Stella didn’t waste her mana.

The wind picked up, carrying that same faint rotten scent from earlier, though much weaker now.

Finally, Patrick asked in a grim tone, "How should we get out now?"