CHAPTER 85: SUDDEN DEATHS

Gracie stood amidst the battle aised her hands.

With a single gesture, the atmosphere changed.

The weight of emotions felt heavier, critical thinking dying down.

All the centipedes turned on each other, attacking and shredding their own partners. Their fangs tearing in their in partner’s skin. Thick cover colliding with each other.

The students fighting nearby were baffled by the scene. The old students knew who was behind this bizarre turn of events, but the new students had different reactions.

One student was using his scythe to cut down centipedes one after another, but he was getting overwhelmed—the disadvantage of using a scythe in close proximity was piling up.

Just when he was about to be drowned under the corpses of dead centipedes, a sudden flash passed through his vision, killing the powerful centipede that was about to strike him.

Tyler had marked his opponents. Most were already lost, killing each other, but some centipedes were smart enough to resist Gracie’s mental attack.

He had already discovered his Qi element—it was lightning.

It gave Tyler the skill to travel at heightened speed.

Not only his speed but also his thinking and comprehension abilities had improved.

Analyzing things at such high speed and avoiding potential crashes wasn’t easy. On top of that, he had to cope with multiple visions at once.

He was pretty sure either his body element or Qi element had granted him the ability to comprehend a lot of information simultaneously.

Within seconds, a flash swept across the battlefield. Most centipedes didn’t even realize when a dagger passed through their brains.

Tyler killed all the centipedes that were able to resist Gracie’s mental attack. The rest killed each other.

Gracie finished off the few that remained afterward.

Her ability came from her body element—a skill to control emotions. It was hard to test and even harder to master. But her continuous fights against beasts in the desert had helped her become familiar with it.

Hundreds of students watched in awe. What had seemed like an impossible task was completed in under a minute.

When the last beast fell, a girl stood amidst the thousands of corpses, her graceful features hidden beneath layers of black blood.

Tyler wasn’t in the mood for attention, so he quietly slipped back into the crowd. With how fast he moved, barely anyone had noticed him during the chaos.

The act boosted the students’ morale.

A loud cheer echoed across the battlefield as students raised their weapons high in celebration.

Gracie’s essence was depleted. The only reason she was able to influence so many beasts at once was because of their weak minds. Those who resisted her, she left to Tyler.

Gracie looked back... Tyler stood among the crowd, grinning.

It seemed childish to her, but Gracie was well aware—these moments were what kept the students holding on.

"Continue building the wall. Distribute all the crystals among the students and store the corpses," Gracie ordered a tall young man.

His eyes sparkled with sudden amusement.

Gracie smiled at him and left.

She returned inside. As she cleaned herself and made her way to her room, she saw large piles of corpses waiting for her.

Just the sight gave her a headache. Although most were at the Foundation Building realm and wouldn’t cause her pain, using the Soul Eater skill was still a burden.

She knew breaking through Level 8 wasn’t possible with the current quality of corpses. But at the very least, she would reach the pinnacle of Level 8.

It took her the entire day before she emerged from the room.

As she came out, she saw Tyler and Sylas.

Two bodies lay on the ground.

Gracie raised an eyebrow. "Another?" she asked, surprised.

Sylas just nodded.

Gracie wasn’t sure what to make of it.

"Did anyone see them?"

"Yes. We’ve already questioned all the students who interacted with the two," Sylas explained. "They were working together to prevent any mishaps after the last announcement, but both died at the same time." He sighed.

Gracie held her head, thinking deeply, but no solution came to mind.

"Are you sure it was a student?" Tyler asked, looking at the bodies.

"No way... it can’t be," Gracie snapped out of her trance.

"I’m just saying—there are many beasts capable of something like this," Tyler replied.

"Wait... It can’t be a beast. Why would it kill one by one? Why only specific students?" Sylas argued.

"Haha... A beast with a mind hex could do it. The way it selects and kills students in different parts of the settlement suggests it’s either purely a mental-type beast—or one of a higher realm. Maybe even a Spiritual Sage," Tyler said with a shrug.

"No... No, it can’t be. If it is, we’re doomed," Gracie whispered.

"We should confirm everything before jumping to conclusions," Tyler said firmly.

He knew there were multiple possibilities—every path was open.

Gracie, Tyler, and Sylas were walking through a pathway again when they noticed students giving them strange looks.

"What happened?" Gracie asked, noticing the tense gazes.

"Most of the students know about the deaths," Sylas explained. "They ignored the first incident, but now things are becoming chaotic. They’re even hesitating to trust their own friends.

"Everyone is eyeing each other as potential threats. Tensions are high—we need to solve this before things spiral out of control."

The wall was nearly complete, but they still had to fight off constant waves of beasts to defend it. On top of that, they had no clear way out—and now, another threat loomed over them.

As Gracie walked through the crowd, she sensed hatred directed toward her.

Her eyes landed on a person—Oscar. He had been one of the henchmen of the previous leaders.

One of the dead was his brother. She hadn’t killed everyone connected to them; most were only following orders under pressure.

But as she noticed him, he slipped into the crowd and vanished from her sight.

She didn’t think much of it and moved toward the crime scene. As before, there were no clues—it was as clean as if the deaths were natural. But she wasn’t naïve enough to believe that.

While Gracie was inspecting the scene, in a certain corner of the settlement stood a man with a thick beard.

"Welcome. You’re a smart guy. That girl is just wasting our time," the man said. The other ten people around him nodded in agreement.

He placed a hand on the shoulder of the hesitant newcomer.

"See that badge? You see ’80,000’ written on it—that’s the key to going home. Until there are fewer than 10,000 people left, we can’t return."

The student looked at Oscar. He had been lost for months, full of despair. But now, hope returned to his eyes.

Seeing that, Oscar smiled with a wide grin.