'I had a bad feeling about this,' he mumbled to himself.
He took a glance at Jin Chow and the rest of them, holding their own against a lot of giant bugs and then at Sergio soaring above. "Please hold on without me," he whispered before he went to the dwarves' designated positions.
While running, he heard a lot of firearms firing, but it's steadily dwindling over time.
WAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!
Liu Kai moved further in the direction of the shout. When he arrived, he saw Karden sitting on the ground with his legs inside the mouth of a giant bug. He's hitting it with his firearm, but it's not letting him go and pulling his whole body inside from his legs.
[Activate Concentrated Breathing]
Liu Kai quickly pounced forward and sliced the giant bug's head. Karden removed his feet, bleeding from the bug's giant mandibles.
"Can you stand with those feet?" asked Liu Kai.
'I need him to run by himself, or he'll be a hindrance here.' He thought, but Karden replied differently.
"I can't."
He tilted his head to his sides to check the others, but...
.
.
.
It's too late.
.
.
.
His eyes almost fell out of its pocket after he saw a few giant bugs, all plant-covered, eating the remnants of Karden's group members.
A ton of questions began to pile up in his head.
'What's going on here?' He said to himself, looking at their lifeless bodies still being consumed in front of him.
"Why are they here? I thought they couldn't go to this location," Liu Kai stared at Karden, confused about what happened.
"That's... what we thought too," Karden answered, holding his legs still bleeding from the bite earlier and can't stop trembling.
'Has the scope of the Giant Cursed Tree extended?' Liu Kai thought to himself.
"Alright, get on my back, and let's find the others," Liu Kai gently told him, showing his back to the dwarf on the ground. Karden nodded and climbed on Liu Kai's back.
Liu Kai wanted to throw up on what he saw. The gruesome sight of the dead members can't go out of his head. But he decided to be brave for Karden, who's traumatized by what happened.
'Should I go back and ask King Lee first? No! No! That's not an option now.'
'The other groups probably don't know that they are vulnerable in their position. If I went back now... I might not see them alive.'
'I'm putting Karden's life at risk too if I go deeper into the woods.' Liu Kai thought to himself. He wanted to leave Karden to a safe place, but he's not sure how far The Giant Cursed Tree's radius expanded.
Liu Kai felt Karden's hand on his shoulder, trembling in fear while he's sobbing.
"Hey, don't think about it. I'm going to get you out of here alive!" Liu Kai raised his voice a bit to assure him. He raced north, where other groups positioned, hoping to get there before the giant bugs could.
'Hang on. I need to inform them about this too.' Liu Kai's second thought stopped him from his tracks, confused about what he should do.
Every second counts, yet Liu Kai froze on his feet, torn on which group he should tell the information first.
The giant bugs, on the other hand, won't wait as they creepily crawl around, looking for prey. Liu Kai carried the dwarf with him and avoided the presence he sensed.
*****
"Shifu, look!" Wang Xiu Ying pointed his finger at one of the giant dead bugs.
The vines on its body are shifting to seize its other pieces. The giant bug stood up, with its body reverted to what it was before.
"This is impossible! They can regenerate themselves?" King Lee's eyes widened, surprised about the information he didn't know about.
'This can't be! If the giant bugs can't be killed, then all of our efforts will go to waste. We can't use these bodies for resources.'
'We haven't hunted these pests before, so they can become The Giant Cursed Tree's victim and become our resources. I didn't know that it was like this.' King Lee thought to himself. He failed to get more information, and he had others put their lives on the line for nothing. He didn't imagine the case was like this.
"EVERYONE FALL BACK NOW!!!" King Lee shouted.
Jin Chow, who's on the front line with the other students, looked at King Lee, "What!? Why!?" They said in unison, confused about why they should fall back.
Sergio Von Croy, who just landed a minute ago, also heard the command. He saw them confused, so he yelled at them, "Just fall back and obey the order!"
They went back without knowing the reason. But before they could inquire about it, they saw the bodies of giant bugs slowly regenerating as the vines moved to complete their body.
"How's this possible?" Jin Chow exclaimed, realizing the reason why they need to retreat.
"I have no idea, let's run for now," said Sergio, running along with him.
'Giant bugs aren't supposed to be here,' King Lee thought to himself.
"Shifu! The range of the Giant Cursed Tree's range is up to the pond only. I was chased before, and that's where they stopped following me," said Wang Xiu Ying
'I have a bad feeling about this.' King Lee thought to himself, running and leading the way to Krugarl's party.
Suddenly, A giant bug appeared in front of them, biting the head off of one of King Lee's students. It pulled the student's head, together with his spine, using the insect's giant mandibles.
"NOOOO!!!" screamed King Lee, he turned his rage to that particular giant bug and pounced forward.
BAITARU STRIIIIKEUUUU!!!
(VITAL STRIKE)
King Lee struck it with a powerful and precise jab, obliterating its entire body.
"Woah!"
'That's the same attack he used to kill the giant fishing spider in one blow.' Sergio talked to himself, shocked by King Lee's real power.
"Sergio, we're surrounded!" Jin Chow reported, tilting his head side to side, recognizing the enemy's presence.
KIIIIIIEEEECCCCKKKK!!!!
Multiple giant bugs appeared and bit anyone next to them, killing one after another.
AAAACCCCKKK!!!
"SHIFU HELP ME!"
"I STILL HAVE A FAMILY I DON'T WANNA DIE!!!"
"SHIFU!!!"
King Lee's students are calling him from the mandibles of the giant bugs.
"STOOOOP!!!" shouted King Lee, begging the giant bugs to release them, but they didn't care at all and kept eating their bodies alive.
"Shifu!" A faint voice was heard from the sideline.
"WANG XIU YING!?" exclaimed King Lee, who was frozen on his feet, seeing Wang Xiu Ying's body inside the giant bug's mouth with only the head and right arm dangling outside, struggling to escape.
"LET HIM GOOOO!!!" King Lee screamed while charging forward, but the bug saw him and sunk its teeth on Wang Xiu Ying's head and arm, making it slip from its mouth, lifelessly falling into the ground. It clenched its mandibles, resulting in blood sprinkling all over the place, spraying on King Lee's face, making him stop on his tracks.
"Wang Xiu Ying..." King Lee's voice trailed off. He can't explain the feeling he is in at the moment. His entire body weakened, despite not receiving any blows, witnessing his top student die in front of him.
"King Lee! I hate to say this, but we should go. We can't do anything about them. They'll just regenerate after some time," Sergio voiced out, forcefully dragging King Lee to run with them.
King Lee lifelessly followed, his eyes still wide open, staring at space.
They continued to run with roughly half of King Lee's students, forcing their way out to a safe spot.
"Hey, compose yourself, King Lee. The casualty will increase if you won't help us here," Sergio stated, looking at him still lifeless and running around without thinking and just following their commands.
"Where's Liu Kai?" Jin Chow asked worriedly while they were running, tilting his head side to side, examining every student if he overlooked Liu Kai.
"He's not here. I saw him go out earlier while I'm in the air. I don't know what happened, but don't worry, we know what kind of person he is. He is not going to die easily," Sergio answered confidently with no signs of worry, running in front of him. Jin Chow nodded, agreeing to Sergio's point.
Jin Chow narrowed his eyes and thought, 'Please be safe, Liu Kai.'