Liam and Tatiana finally arrived at the location marked on the map after nearly an hour of walking through the forest. The trees here were much older than the ones surrounding the town, their trunks so thick that three grown men probably wouldn’t be able to wrap their arms around one. Massive roots crawled across the ground like sleeping serpents while vines hung lazily from the branches above, occasionally swaying despite there being almost no wind. The place was strangely quiet too. No birds sang, no insects buzzed around their ears, and even the leaves seemed unwilling to rustle. It was the kind of silence that naturally made the body tense, as though every instinct was whispering that something dangerous was nearby.

Tatiana unfolded the rough map the guild receptionist had given them and compared the landmarks around them with careful eyes. She looked from the drawing to the surroundings several times before finally nodding.

"We’re here."

Liam slowly turned in a full circle, taking everything in. Empty.

Nothing.

Just trees... dirt... rocks... and silence.

No beast.

No tracks.

No obvious cave.

No signs of battle.

Tatiana frowned as she looked around again, her eyebrows slowly pulling together. "This doesn’t make sense..."

Liam glanced at her. "What?"

She lowered the map slightly.

"If this is really where the attacks happened... then where’s the monster?"

Liam wasn’t bothered in the slightest. Instead, a small smile appeared on his face as he continued observing the area with surprising calm.

"It doesn’t really matter."

Tatiana looked at him.

"Hm?"

"It’s a beast," Liam replied casually, shrugging his shoulders. "Beasts move around. Finding one is always harder than killing one."

He rubbed the side of his neck before looking ahead once more.

"The fighting isn’t the difficult part."

"It’s locating it."

Tatiana slowly nodded.

That actually made sense.

Just because the guild marked this location didn’t mean the beast would politely remain here waiting for adventurers to arrive.

It could have wandered kilometers away already.

Then Liam’s eyes suddenly changed.

His pupils focused sharply.

His X-Ray Vision activated.

The ordinary world immediately disappeared beneath countless transparent layers. Trees became hollow outlines. Massive roots beneath the earth became visible. Rocks lost their opacity, revealing the dense soil underneath them. Layer after layer peeled away until his vision reached deep beneath the ground itself.

For several long seconds he said nothing.

His expression gradually became more serious.

Tatiana noticed immediately.

"What is it?"

Liam didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he continued scanning the earth beneath their feet before finally speaking.

"I think..."

He narrowed his eyes.

"...we’re exactly where we’re supposed to be."

Tatiana blinked.

"What?"

She instinctively looked around once more.

Nothing had changed.

"It’s still just trees."

Liam finally turned toward her.

"You told me werewolves have better instincts than humans, right?"

She nodded.

"Much better."

"Then forget your eyes for a second."

He gestured around them.

"Tell me what your instincts are picking up."

Tatiana obeyed.

She closed her eyes.

The world around her immediately became much clearer.

Every scent.

Every vibration.

Every tiny disturbance.

Her ears twitched slightly.

Her nose lifted into the air before lowering toward the ground.

Several seconds passed.

Then her expression slowly changed.

"...The ground."

Liam smiled faintly.

"What about it?"

"It isn’t natural."

She crouched down, brushing her fingers lightly across the dirt.

"There are tiny elevations everywhere."

Her fingers followed several shallow ridges stretching across the forest floor.

"They almost look like..."

She paused.

"...something large has been moving underneath."

Liam’s smile widened.

"What else?"

Tatiana inhaled deeply.

The smell became much clearer now that she focused.

She frowned.

"I smell rotten flesh."

Another breath.

"A lot of rotten flesh."

Another.

"And..."

Her expression darkened.

"...blood."

Very old blood.

So old it had almost disappeared.

Liam nodded approvingly.

"Good."

Then he casually added,

"I can see bones too."

Tatiana nodded absentmindedly.

"Yeah..."

A second later—

She froze.

Her head snapped toward Liam.

"...Wait."

Liam looked at her innocently.

"What?"

Tatiana pointed at the ground.

"You just said..."

"...you can see bones?"

Liam nodded.

"Yeah."

She stared at him.

"...In the ground?"

"Yeah."

"...Underground?"

"Yeah."

Tatiana looked at the dirt beneath her feet before slowly looking back at Liam.

Then back at the dirt.

Then back at Liam.

"...What the hell?"

Liam couldn’t help chuckling.

"I can see through things."

Tatiana’s mouth slowly opened.

"...You can what?"

"I can see through solid objects."

She blinked rapidly.

"So..."

She pointed toward one of the enormous trees nearby.

"...you can see through that tree?"

"Yep."

"And whatever’s behind it?"

"Yep."

She stared at him for several silent seconds.

Then, like every other girl before her, the first question that entered her mind escaped without hesitation.

"...Does that mean..."

She hesitated awkwardly.

"...you can see under my clothes?"

Liam’s entire face twitched.

"Oh, come on."

He lifted both hands helplessly.

"Seriously?"

Tatiana tilted her head.

"What?"

Liam sighed so deeply it almost sounded painful.

"Why..."

He looked toward the sky as though asking the heavens for strength.

"...why is that always the first thing you girls ask?"

Tatiana looked genuinely confused.

"What else am I supposed to ask?"

Liam pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Out of every possible application..."

"I can find hidden enemies."

"I can locate underground caves."

"I can detect ambushes."

"I can search for treasure."

"I can literally see through mountains..."

He looked at her with complete disbelief.

"...and somehow the first concern is always, ’Can you see me naked?’"

Tatiana’s cheeks turned slightly pink.

"When you say it like that..."

"It does sound bad."

"It sounds terrible," Liam muttered.

He waved his hand dismissively.

"And no."

"I can’t see through your clothes."

Tatiana immediately relaxed.

"Okay."

"I believe you."

Liam simply sighed again.

"I can’t believe I had to explain that."

The awkward atmosphere disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared.

Tatiana smiled sheepishly before returning to the matter at hand.

"So..."

She looked around again.

"What do you think we’re dealing with?"

Liam’s playful expression disappeared.

His X-Ray Vision activated once more as he carefully examined the underground landscape beneath them.

This time he studied the movement.

The tunnels.

The disturbed soil.

The strange patterns hidden beneath the surface.

Several seconds later he slowly spoke.

"I think..."

"...we’re hunting something that resembles a gigantic worm."

Tatiana immediately became alert.

"A worm?"

He nodded.

"It stays underground almost all the time."

His eyes continued following the winding tunnels beneath the earth.

"It travels beneath the surface without making much noise."

He pointed toward the countless raised sections of ground.

"Those aren’t random."

"They’re tunnels."

"Tunnels it’s been making."

Tatiana swallowed unconsciously.

Liam continued.

"And judging from these attack patterns..."

His expression became colder.

"...it doesn’t chase people."

"It waits."

Tatiana listened silently.

"When someone walks above it..."

He tapped the ground lightly with his foot.

"...it erupts upward."

"Swallows them whole."

"And disappears underground again before anyone even realizes what happened."

Tatiana felt chills spread across her entire body.

She slowly looked down at the earth beneath her boots.

The thought alone was horrifying.

Imagine peacefully walking through a forest...

Taking one more ordinary step...

Then suddenly—

The ground beneath you explodes open.

A gigantic mouth lined with countless teeth swallows you whole before you can even scream.

No chance to fight.

No chance to run.

You simply vanish.

Her fingers unconsciously tightened.

She whispered quietly,

"...That’s a horrible way to die."

Liam nodded once.

"It is."

Then his eyes suddenly narrowed again.

He had found something.

Far below them...

Deep beneath the earth...

Something enormous shifted ever so slightly.