Lian did not even dare to move.
His entire body was hidden, and Abyss Veil was active at maximum power, mana was quickly leaving his body.
But he did not even think about turning off the skill, in such a place, only one mistake was equal to death.
He did not remember the last time he had been forced to hide like this, in fact, he did not remember at all that he had ever needed to hide.
Even against the Dreadmaw Sovereign, although he was in a very bad situation, he had not chosen the option of hiding and had gone straight into the danger.
But the current situation was so bad that anything other than hiding was pure suicide.
Suddenly, the entire tree trembled.
Not just the branch he was standing on, but the entire giant tree...
A deep tremor rose from the depths of the trunk and moved its countless branches one after another, leaves that were each the size of a house, shook from the intensity of the tremor.
At that same moment, a sound like thunder, but continuous and regular, was heard from the sky.
Wooooooom...
Wooooooom...
Wooooooom...
Every time that sound repeated, the air pressure changed.
The clouds above the tree, like a white cloth, split in the middle.
Massive wind currents passed through the branches and moved the giant feathers around the nest.
Lian slowly raised his head, at first he only saw the shadow.
A shadow that covered the entire nest.
Then... two wings, wings so massive that their ends were lost among the clouds.
Every time it flapped its wings, masses of clouds were pushed hundreds of meters away.
Then the claws appeared, claws covered with black scales, curved and shiny nails, like spears of black metal, shining under the sunlight.
A few moments later, two bright golden eyes became visible from among the clouds.
Eyes that each were larger than the capital’s central square, their vertical pupils were calmly scanning the surroundings.
Lian felt that if that creature’s gaze fell on him just once, he would not even have time to think.
And finally, its entire body became visible.
He held his breath, that bird’s body was several hundred meters long.
The distance between its two wings was several kilometers, its black feathers were shining under the light, like blades of polished metal.
Even its feathers were larger than humans, its massive beak was covered with natural golden lines; runes that seemed to have been carved on it from the moment of birth.
No creature that Lian had seen until today could even compare to one finger of this monster.
At that same moment, a blue window appeared before his eyes.
[Species: Giant Sky Bird]
[Level: 50]
[Rank: Fallen]
Only that, but those three lines made Lian’s body freeze.
Level 50.
Until today, the highest creature he had seen was not even close to such a number.
He involuntarily thought to himself, level 16, against level 50, a gap that was impossible to even imagine.
For a more precise comparison, this monster is even more powerful than the Dreadmaw Sovereign, which was an Unholy, without a doubt, this giant monster is the most powerful monster he had ever seen.
Today, just being able to survive would be an achievement in itself...
The massive bird calmly opened its left claw, and three objects fell from its grip.
Almost like three small rocks, but they were not rocks, they fell with a muffled sound on the nest’s branches.
Lian sharpened his gaze, three living creatures, all of them were covered from head to toe in a clear and sticky liquid that was the bird’s saliva.
A thick liquid that, like spider webs, had stuck their hands and feet together.
Every small movement stretched the elastic strands of saliva more, escaping was impossible.
Without even looking at them, the bird gently pushed the three toward the eggs with its massive beak.
A completely normal movement, like a human putting food in the refrigerator to eat later.
It had not kept them for itself, but for its chicks, it had brought fresh and living food.
Lian felt a coldness rise up his spine, this creature did not even bother to kill its prey, and if he got caught, he would have exactly the same fate.
Now he could see those three more clearly.
Two females and one male, their height was almost equal to humans, but they were not human.
Their skin was like human skin, but a long tail, resembling a lizard, had come out from the back of their bodies.
Two thin and segmented horns, like cricket antennae, had grown from both sides of their heads.
Six small eyes, arranged in two rows on their faces, and their pointed ears were constantly trembling with fear, and despite their different appearance, it was completely clear that they were intelligent creatures.
The massive bird looked at its eggs for a few moments, then calmly gathered its giant body inside the nest.
It laid its wings over its body, its golden eyes slowly closed.
Its breathing was heavy, and every inhale and exhale, like a massive storm blowing, shook the surrounding branches.
A few minutes later, one of those creatures said something.
But its language was completely unknown.
"Shir... Aka... Neri..."
Lian did not understand even one word, but at that same moment another notification appeared.
[Translation Active.]
Immediately, the next voice became understandable for him.
"...We... are going to die..." the first girl said with a trembling voice.
"Calm down..." the boy answered calmly, was silent for a few seconds, and then slowly continued.
"If it thinks we are awake... it will eat us sooner..."
The second girl lowered her head, her voice was so quiet that it could barely be heard.
"...Mom..."
Silence covered everything again, none of them were crying, they were just terrified, a terror mixed with the shock of people who knew they would soon die.
About an hour passed.
The massive bird was still asleep, its breathing had become regular, those three would occasionally talk quietly with each other.
Sometimes they would whisper unknown prayers under their breath, sometimes they would examine escape routes.
But there was no way, death was on every side.
Lian was looking at them in silence, his mind was stuck between two choices, should he communicate with them or not?
There was no doubt that these three were from the native and intelligent species of this small world, or more precisely, the Special Area.
They had the ability to speak, think, and reason, and even their body structure had similarities to humans.
Although they had features of lizards, crickets, and spiders, but aside from that, they were clearly intelligent and smart species like humans.
And this meant they could be a very large source of information.
If he showed himself, they might scream in fear, if they screamed, everyone would die.
But if he did nothing, he would lose his only clue about this strange world.
He calmly let out his breath, his gaze fixed on those three creatures again.
"If these are really intelligent creatures like humans, maybe they are the only ones who can tell me something about this world." He needed information to find a way out of this hell.
Lian looked at the massive bird once more, its eyes were still closed, its breathing was deep and heavy.
He made his decision and calmly moved toward them...
———
( Giant Sky Bird’s Visualization )