James tightened his grip on his shield, his grizzly bear-like hand turning white.

"You think there’s a stronger monster somewhere that’s scaring these headless things into spreading out?"

Mikhail nodded slowly. "It makes sense. If they really are connected through a hive mind, they should be gathered together."

Stella adjusted her glasses, looking nervous. "If there really is a monster like that here, we’re probably not ready for it."

Nelly bit her lip. "Then what do we do? Keep farming small groups?"

Mikhail took a few seconds to arrange his thoughts before he adjusted his stance.

"We will keep moving towards the sun," he said in a soft voice. "If we encounter any monster like that, then we will retreat and keep farming smaller groups."

The team nodded in agreement with Mikhail’s plan, though tension still lingered in the air.

They started moving again, carefully weaving through the ruined village while staying alert.

The black sand crunched softly under their boots as they kept a steady pace toward the distant orange sun.

For the first few minutes, everything remained quiet.

An hour passed, and they didn’t find anything else on their path.

Mikhail couldn’t help but frown. ’What is going on?’

His mind was racing as he tried to understand the current predicament.

’There is definitely something on the sun’s side, but what?’

Mikhail glanced at the ever-still orange sun, which appeared to be frozen in time.

’...Should we head back?’

He wondered silently, thinking of a plan to find more monsters.

After a few minutes of debate, he decided to scrap the idea.

’Even if there is a boss monster, I am sure I can win against it.’

After the previous experience and his current stats, Mikhail was quite confident in his strength.

The team continued walking in uneasy silence for another hour.

The black desert stretched endlessly before them, broken only by the occasional cluster of dead, charred trees.

The complete absence of monsters made the atmosphere even more tense.

James finally broke the silence, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Where the hell did all the monsters go? We went from fighting fifteen at once to seeing absolutely nothing. It feels wrong."

Stella nodded, fixing her glasses. "It’s like they have completely disappeared."

Nelly gripped her bow tighter. "Do you think they’re all hiding?"

Patrick looked around nervously. "Maybe we should turn back a little?"

No one answered, but they all wished for the same thing.

Another thirty minutes passed.

The landscape slowly began to change.

The flat black desert started to slope gently downward, forming a wide, shallow basin.

In the center of this basin stood a large, circular stone platform half-buried in the sand.

Tall, broken pillars surrounded it like the remains of an ancient arena or temple.

"There," Mikhail said, pointing with his spear. "That’s new."

The team stopped at the edge of the basin and observed carefully.

Bert narrowed his eyes. "No monsters visible... but I don’t like how open it is."

Stella tilted her head. "Should we check it out?"

Mikhail stared at the circular platform for a long moment.

"Stay here," he said finally. "I’ll go check it first. If anything happens, fall back immediately."

James stepped forward. "Alone? That’s risky."

"I’ll be fine," Mikhail replied calmly. "Methew will come with me."

Before anyone could argue further, Mikhail walked down the gentle slope toward the stone platform.

Just as Mikhail reached closer, his ears pricked when he heard a sound.

....It was a low sound of gurgling.

The low, wet gurgling sound echoed across the basin, faint but unmistakable.

Mikhail froze mid-step, his grip tightening around the engraved spear.

Behind him, the rest of the team tensed instantly.

"Did you hear that?" Stella whispered, her voice shaky.

James raised his shield, bear-like muscles flexing. "It’s coming from the platform..."

The gurgling grew louder, no longer faint. It was deep, slow, and carried an unnatural rhythm.

It was like many voices trying to speak through a single rotting throat.

Mikhail narrowed his eyes and took another cautious step forward.

The circular stone platform lay only twenty meters ahead.

The broken pillars surrounding it cast long shadows under the frozen orange sun.

Then the ground in front of the platform began to shift.

Black sand rippled and parted as something massive slowly rose from beneath the surface.

First came the head or rather, the cluster of thick, writhing tendrils that served as its head.

Each tendril ended in a gaping, tooth-filled mouth that opened and closed hungrily.

The body that followed was even larger than the monsters they had seen earlier.

Its bloated, decaying flesh was covered in patches of hardened black ichor, and dozens of smaller parasitic growths pulsed across its torso.

In its right hand, it dragged a massive, rusted cleaver stained with old blood.

This creature was noticeably stronger and more grotesque than the previous abominations.

The monster fully emerged, standing nearly four meters tall.

Its many mouths released a synchronized gurgling roar that made the air itself vibrate.

’The fuck is it? A hive lord?’

Mikhail didn’t hesitate.

"Fall back!" he shouted toward the team. "Get out!!"

Just as his words reached the group, the ground around them trembled.

In the next instant, two small monsters but much stronger than normal corpses rose from the ground.

The two monsters encircled the group as their growling sound echoed.

’Shit... How the fuck did we not notice them?’

The Hive Lord’s tendrils suddenly shot forward like living spears, stretching unnaturally fast toward Mikhail.

He dodged to the side at the last second, feeling the wind of the attack brush past his face.

"Meowtherfucker!"

Methew leaped off his shoulder with a fierce cry.

He unleashed a powerful lightning bolt straight at the creature’s chest.

The electricity crackled across its rotting flesh, but the Hive Lord barely flinched.

’It’s much stronger than previous monstes. The rest will die in no time if it attacks them.’

Mikhail drew in a deep breath and decided to focus on the monster.

He lowered his stance and unsheathed the sword he had brought for the first time.

Mikhail gripped the spear tightly in his other hand.

With a chilling calmness, he dashed toward the monster.