Having survived several crises, Rebecca and the others were no longer as panicked as before.
Moreover, they had just killed a Wendigo with their own hands.
Only by facing terror head-on could one better fight it.
Knowing the creatures’ weaknesses meant they no longer screamed in blind panic—but that applied only when the odds were somewhat comparable.
The situation before them was an entirely different story.
The cave opening was at least three meters high.
The monster stood upright, filling the entire doorway.
Its hide color and towering stature, completely distinct from the other creatures, proclaimed its overwhelming power.
Sarah and the others had hoped to exploit the monsters’ blind spot to sneak away, but with every step they shifted, the creature’s pupils tracked them flawlessly.
This was terrible news: it could see.
Fear surged back into their hearts once again.
Beth gripped her gun tightly, raising it with trembling hands to aim.
“Beth, don’t fire yet,” Rebecca whispered.
“Confirm if its target is actually us first.” She managed to stay relatively calm.
With a beast of that size charging in, gunshots wouldn’t necessarily stop it, while the three of them would definitely be doomed.
Rebecca’s logic was sound, but reality rarely conformed to wishful thinking.
Before they could make another move, the Evil Spirit Wendigo dropped onto all fours and charged straight at the trio.
Terrified, Beth fired several shots in rapid succession.
Every bullet hit its mark.
Had it been an ordinary carbon-based creature, it would already be dead.
Instead, the Evil Spirit Wendigo merely grunted in pain, then lunged even more ferociously in front of Beth, backhanding her across the cavern.
She and her pack crashed into the blood pool, her fate unknown.
Rebecca turned and ran.
Sarah backed up two steps and collapsed onto the ground, staring dumbly at the monster in front of her.
She was going to die…
“Sarah!” Hearing the shout, the Evil Spirit Wendigo slowly turned its head, still clutching a severed head dripping with blood and gore…
Looking at the familiar face hanging from the Evil Spirit Wendigo’s claw, Juno teetered on the brink of an emotional breakdown.
Shaking her head wildly, she raised her gun and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
“Roar!” Enraged, the Evil Spirit Wendigo tossed aside the severed head, opened its gaping, bloody maw, and lunged violently at Juno.
Juno was equally furious.
Out of ammunition, she pulled out her ice axe and bellowed, going head-to-head in a one-on-one duel against the Evil Spirit Wendigo.
Juno truly went wild—the death of her dear friend sent her combat prowess soaring, but that couldn’t change the outcome.
If handgun bullets couldn’t penetrate the Evil Spirit Wendigo’s hide, an ice axe stood even less of a chance.
The Evil Spirit Wendigo swatted the ice axe from Juno’s hands with a single swipe of its claws, pinned her to the ground, and opened its jaws wide to bite her head off in one smooth, decisive movement.
Dan Lee, who had been watching from the shadows, was hardly about to let that happen.
If Juno died, he’d lose someone to draw fire, and besides, this was a prime opportunity.
The instant the Evil Spirit Wendigo opened its maw, Dan Lee aimed his rifle and dumped a full magazine straight inside.
The Evil Spirit Wendigo scrambled up, clutching its throat as it stumbled back several paces.
Tough as its hide was, taking a burst of rifle rounds to its soft internal tissues was excruciating.
It uttered a bizarre screech, collapsing onto all fours and vomiting a pool of dark blood.
Dan Lee gave it no breathing room, laying down suppressing fire with controlled rifle bursts.
At the same time, he pulled out his Ghost Card.
The prompt read: [Unable to Contain]?
That shouldn’t be.
Logically, as long as an anomaly was severely injured, it could be contained—unless…
Looking at the Evil Spirit Wendigo, Dan Lee suddenly had a bad feeling.
Seeing Juno preparing to charge in for a finishing strike, Dan Lee shouted to stop her.
“Stay back!
Something’s wrong with it!” Blinded by rage, Juno was past listening to reason.
She scooped up her ice axe and rushed forward anyway.
Before she could even get close, a shockwave blasted her backward.
The Evil Spirit Wendigo threw its head back and roared as black smoke billowed from its body.
Its hide expanded like boiling water, and a second later, dense rows of bone spikes burst directly through its skin.
It didn’t look like a damn carbon-based lifeform anymore.
With the bone spikes protruding everywhere, its body seemed to swell a size larger.
Crimson pupils glared straight at Dan Lee.
Needless to say, just standing there looking like that would terrify adults and children alike, to say nothing of being trapped in such a claustrophobic cavern.
Dan Lee forced a smile that looked worse than crying.
“If I said I didn’t mean to do that just now, would you believe me?” The Evil Spirit Wendigo opened its mouth, and the embedded bullets were forced out of its flesh, clattering onto the stone floor with crisp, audible thuds.
Alright, guess not.
The Ghost Card displayed another message prompt: [Anomaly possessed by an evil spirit.] Seeing the creature in this state, Dan Lee was sorely tempted to bolt.
But having drawn maximum aggro, the thing would likely hunt him down no matter where he ran.
Just then, a rustling sound echoed from above.
At Dan Lee’s command, his six Wendigo minions feigned submission, gathering around the Evil Spirit Wendigo as if rallying to their leader.
Juno staggered up, overwhelmed by despair.
It couldn’t even be killed by a rifle; this was no ordinary monster.
It seemed they were destined to die here today…
If only she hadn’t taken it upon herself to change their expedition location, perhaps this nightmare wouldn’t have happened.
Beth and Rebecca doubled back from the other side.
Beth had just crawled out of the blood pool covered in crimson, but she still possessed enough conscience to want to pull Dan Lee along to flee.
Juno picked up her ice axe from the ground.
“Rebecca, you guys run!
I’ll hold them off!” “We can’t run.
It’s already locked onto us,” Dan Lee said, drawing a trench knife from his waist along with two handguns.
He handed the guns to Beth and Rebecca and gave the knife to Juno.
He was using every weapon available.
“Ready?” Dan Lee asked.
Juno nodded, tightening her grip on the trench knife.
Beth and Rebecca ducked off to the side, raising their Glock pistols and racking the slides.
The strategy was straightforward: Juno would tank up front while Dan Lee, Beth, and Rebecca provided covering fire.
A streak of terrifyingly human cruelty flickered in the Evil Spirit Wendigo’s eyes—the gaze of a predator looking at prey.
It didn’t fear them running; if anything, fleeing would only whet its appetite.
Unfortunately for it, the prey didn’t flee.
They chose to fight back.
Dan Lee raised his rifle and opened fire instantly.
The gunshot acted as a trigger—the six minions surrounding the Evil Spirit Wendigo struck in unison, leaping onto the beast and tearing madly into its flesh.
Though Juno didn’t understand why these monsters were turning on one of their own, she recognized an opportunity when she saw one and sprinted forward at full speed.
Dan Lee posted up to the side, laying down short bursts of fire at key moments.
Yet there were levels among monsters.
Irritated by the small creatures, the Evil Spirit Wendigo didn’t care why they had suddenly turned traitor.
With a backwards strike of the bone spikes on its right elbow, it impaled one of the minions through the chest.
Watching the light fade from his minion’s eyes before the Evil Spirit Wendigo tossed it aside like a piece of dead meat, Dan Lee couldn’t help feeling a pang of regret.
After all, he had worked hard to contain them!
Dan Lee summoned his trump cards: Eldest Mutant and Second Mutant.
Eldest held a machete, while Second carried a bow and arrow.
Dan Lee charged forward with his rifle raised, with Eldest Mutant right on his heels.
Second Mutant followed up from behind with his bow.
In a brawl like this, sniper tactics were useless; direct suppression was the way to go.
Juno reached the Evil Spirit Wendigo’s side, backed by covering fire from Beth and Rebecca.
Siege!