Leonard Churchill and his team of five no longer pursued the Vampire's scent but headed straight toward the Abyssal Rift.
Perhaps due to disturbances from earlier battles, they encountered several Demon Beast attacks along the way.
Giant Man-Eating Flower, King Kong Ape, Titan Python...
Usually, these were common Demon Beasts, but in this forest, without exception, like the previously encountered Shadow Leopard, they had been influenced by the Abyss's dark mists for a long time, their size, strength, and vitality extraordinarily exaggerated.
Only then did Leonard and his team realize why the nearby villagers described the forest at night as "forbidden."
During the day, these beasts retained their normal reasoning, but the night mists acted like a "Frenzy Potion," making them extremely brutal and aggressive.
Any human encountered in the forest would be fiercely attacked.