Rocks plummeted to the ground, scattering dust and rubble in a shockwave.
At the entrance to the outside world.
Orlando made a desperate lunge forward, rolling to the ground, narrowly dodging catastrophe.
"Catherine!"
He sprang to his feet and roared at Catherine.
Willard and the slender Wizard stood beside him, their expressions darkened.
When they turned back, they clearly saw Catherine knocking down the rocks at the top of the passageway!
Watching them successfully escape, Catherine slightly furrowed her brow, her gaze shifting.
In a rage, Orlando swung his right hand, casting an Earth Cone directly at Catherine!
A Fireball suddenly appeared in front of Catherine, blocking the path of the Earth Cone.
Bam!
Upon contact, the Fireball violently exploded, turning the Earth Cone into fragments.
Orlando's face grew dark. He was about to take another shot, with invisible Magic Power brewing in his hands.
"A bunch of fools!" Catherine glanced at them and spat out coldly.
Orlando couldn't help but falter, blood rushing to his face, turning it red.
"You!?"
The expressions on Willard and the slender Wizard's faces soured as well.
"That Black-Maned Giant Pig King inside, it possesses at least the strength of an Advanced Apprentice; if we don't use the rocks to block it..." Catherine said icily, "then none of us present here would stand a chance at survival."
"Besides, with the passage so close by, are you still afraid you won't be able to escape?"
"The Black-Maned Giant Pig is so powerful that most of the Apprentices who were hit are probably already dead.
Rather than risking our lives for nothing, it's better to take this opportunity to bring down the rocks and escape."
Willard's rage on his face gradually faded as his mental scales tilted in favor of Catherine's argument.
The slender Wizard remained expressionless, silent.
They tacitly didn't mention Colin, who was still alive and begging for their help.
Only Orlando still harbored anger in his heart; he wanted to retort, but Catherine interrupted him again.
"I even suspect that the Black-Maned Giant Pig King deliberately lured Captain Holt away.
Here, since there's more than one Black-Maned Giant Pig, perhaps there isn't just two..."
Upon hearing these words, Orlando suddenly felt a chill in his heart.
He looked over Catherine's shoulder to the back of the deep cave passageway.
Under such a pretext, an added sense of horror filled the place.
It was as if, at any moment, another Black-Maned Giant Pig would quietly emerge from the darkness at the end of their line of sight.
"Since this is the situation, arguing any further is useless; what's most important right now is to quickly leave the Dark Forest."
Willard suddenly interjected, glancing at the nearby passage with some fear.
As Catherine had said, no one knew if there was a third Black-Maned Giant Pig. Staying here was undoubtedly a very dangerous thing to do.
Orlando glanced at Willard, his expression constantly changing, finally relenting. He walked forward without a word.
The slender Wizard kept silent the entire time. Being the only member of the Chiwen Gang present, it was best to speak less and do more.
Furthermore, he too preferred to leave this place first.
He stepped forward to walk alongside Willard by Orlando's side.
After a few steps, Orlando's expression changed as he suddenly thought of something and stopped.
No, Colin was still alive!
The Lap School has severe punishments for members who harm one another's lives!
If the School were to find out about Catherine's actions, she would be lucky to survive, let alone unscathed.
With this in mind, how could she allow those of them who knew to live.
Willard's face also changed suddenly, a terrible suspicion arising in his heart.
He charged forward hastily!
Orlando and the slender Wizard also reacted, rushing forward.
Catherine, walking ahead, gradually stopped and turned around to look at them, her expression playful.
Orlando and the others had only taken a couple of steps when the air in front of them seemed to become a viscous liquid, making it nearly impossible to move. They were like insects trapped in amber, gradually immobilised in place.
"You?!!"
Orlando and the others were horrified, finally realising the truth.
Catherine had never intended to let these witnesses go; her words were just to lull them.
Catherine's face turned slightly pale, the Magic Crystal in her hand crushed to dust, but she smiled, suddenly lifting her head.
Swoosh!!
A Fireball, nearly the size of a person, materialized with her will and shot towards the cave ceiling at high speed!
"Ah ah!!" Orlando yelled in anger, but this time it was mixed with despair.
Willard, holding a Magic Crystal, kept trying, his usually cool face now filled with panic as beads of sweat emerged.
The slender Wizard was positively livid, his anger erupting like a volcano, flooding his brain and making him feel as though he were kindling set aflame.
'This masked bitch!'
The humiliating scene from last time in West City flickered in his mind again, sparking a surge of anger in his heart that had nowhere to vent, causing his eyes to tear and bleed.
Crack.
The mountain rocks shattered, and tons of great boulders plummeted rapidly under the force of gravity.
It was all a foregone conclusion.
Catherine withdrew her gaze and carefully gathered the powdered Magic Crystal she had transformed into the palm of her hand until none remained, and stowed it away.
Without leaving a trace.
As for the falling rocks, her main reliance was on the shockwave from a Fireball explosion, which wouldn't leave any noticeable marks.
She sighed, feeling some heartache.
Up to this point, she had exhausted all of the trump cards she had acquired from a fortunate encounter in her early years.
But it was all worth it; the Black-Maned Giant Pig was exceptionally fast. Only by using the boulders to restrict its movement could she ensure her successful escape.
Otherwise, even if someone diverted its attention, it wouldn't delay it for much time.
With its speed, the Black-Maned Giant Pig could easily kill them one by one as they ran out of the Dark Forest.
This was the safest method for her!
As for the others, they were not at all in her consideration.
The only pity was that she hadn't managed to bury Orlando and the others with it.
However, she had anticipated this and had prepared a contingency plan.
After all, she wasn't foolish enough to let these people in the know live.
"...Masked bitch!"
The noisy voice came again.
The frail wizard in the distance was still furiously cursing her, his tone fierce as if tearing at his throat.
But she didn't care at all.
The boulders were about to smash down on him.
These shouts were nothing more than his futile struggles before death, just some noise.
Though she had a bad temper, she wouldn't waste her anger on a dying man.
But the next second, a sudden premonition came over her.
Whoosh!
Dazzling flames rose from around her, forming a misty halo.
Yet everything was calm as if nothing had happened.
Catherine looked up at the frail wizard in the distance who was about to be buried by the boulders, just before the moment when the rocks hit the ground and crushed the three of them.
Her pupils contracted slightly as if she saw something unbelievable.
Boom!!!
The shockwave hit, and dust rose everywhere. Catherine stood frozen, her mind replaying the scene she had just witnessed.
Orlando and Willard had given up struggling and were only staring in despair at the boulders falling above their heads.
But the frail wizard, the one who had been unnoticeable from the start and whose face she couldn't even remember now, a Chiwen Gang Deacon, was clutching her with hatred in his eyes, looking incredibly eerie.
...His eyes emitted a nauseating green light, his flesh appearing to surge with life like waves, flesh waves. His skin cracked open, with yellow fat mixed with a dark aura rolling within his flesh.
Under such inhuman torture, the frail wizard's face was eerily calm as he stared at Catherine, his lips moving silently, saying something.
"I… curse… you…"
Amidst the dust, Catherine repeated the frail wizard's lip shapes quietly.
By now the rocks had completely collapsed, and after the loud impact, the world fell into a strange silence.
In the long tunnel, it seemed there was only her breathing.
Catherine couldn't help but shiver, the flames burning around her failing to bring her any warmth.
'Evil God...' she immediately concluded.
The frail wizard's last performance was a typical sacrifice... and to the Evil God, at that.
An uncomfortable feeling surged within her.
"Crazy man!" she muttered a curse.
She hadn't expected the frail wizard to be so extreme, to sacrifice himself to the Evil God to put a curse on her.
And... he actually managed to successfully sacrifice himself... was he a Cultist all along?
The discomfort in her body was getting stronger.
She lowered her head to check herself.
'Supple and smooth arms, worm-like fingers, a body full of pustules… Yes, everything's normal.'
Catherine's furrowed brow relaxed, and it seemed she had worried too much. It's not so easy to communicate with the Evil God to cast a curse...
She put her mind at ease, using the tentacles below her to slither towards the cave's entrance, making a soft rustling sound.
Pale moonlight shone into the cave, casting behind her an eerie, snakelike shadow.
As she neared the mouth of the cave, the shadow grew shorter, and on closer inspection, the odd shadow quivered and twisted, gradually returning to the normal human silhouette.
Tap tap.
Normal footsteps suddenly echoed, replacing the previous rustling sounds.
Catherine walked out of the cave and stopped by the entrance, completely unaware.
She carefully identified her surroundings, found her direction, and immediately started running forward with her restored normal legs.