Chapter 167

Words : 1137 Updated : Oct 9th, 2025

Chapter 167: Chapter 167 Just as Clayton was panicking, a ball of magma suddenly shot toward him. The sight instantly snapped him out of his daze. Clayton dodged quickly. After that, he stopped paying attention to anything else around him. The only thing on his mind now was escape. Meanwhile, the bear, watching Clayton flee, looked pleased. It then turned toward the injured pheasant. Judging by its condition, the pheasant was no longer capable of doing anything. That only made the bear even happier. Without wasting time, the black bear moved closer to the pheasant. Seeing its prey within reach, the monstrous creature happily raised its claw. But just as the glowing red claw—resembling molten magma—was about to strike the pheasant, a blast of magic shot out of nowhere and struck the bear’s hand. Bang! The attack halted the bear’s movement and even injured its hand, saving the pheasant from certain death. The bear, whose strike had been thwarted, grew furious. The pain in its hand only fueled its rage. Fuming, the monstrous bear turned toward the source of the magic. It saw about a dozen people rushing toward it. "Asant, are you sure the fugitive marked by the nobles’ stigma is here?" asked a well-dressed man, scanning the area with uncertainty. "Yes, sir. I felt his presence earlier!" Asant replied confidently. The young man addressed as "Sir" nodded, though he still seemed rather uninterested. Had Clayton been there, he would have instantly recognized this group. They were the same people he’d first encountered upon entering the transparent dome. More specifically, they were monster users—and the one called Saura, the "Sir," was the same person who had previously controlled the giant lizard. Despite their powerful monsters, this group had still lost. Their opponents had been a team led by a member of the Hammerhead family, equipped with advanced gear. Because of that, Saura’s team didn’t stand a chance, and the hibiscus flower was taken by their rivals. Frustrated by his failure, Saura needed an outlet for his anger. So, they joined the trend of hunting down those marked by stigma. To them, hunting the stigmatized was fun. After all, they were noble-born too—even if not from one of the three great families. In their world, status defined power. Upon arriving at the scene, they activated a stigma detection spell—but nothing happened. "Anything?" Saura asked impatiently. "Uh... he ran, sir..." Asant replied nervously. Saura clenched his jaw, clearly annoyed and ready to punish his subordinate. But before he could act, a shout interrupted him. "Asant! Look—your bird is dying!" Asant immediately panicked, though he didn’t dare show it in front of his master. Saura, noticing this, seemed bored and waved him off. Grateful, Asant rushed toward the voice, with Saura following behind—uninterested but observant. When Asant arrived, he found his pet pheasant gravely injured. He instinctively tried to approach, but was stopped by searing-hot magma. He quickly stepped back and asked his teammates, "What happened here?" "We’re not exactly sure. When we got here, your pheasant was already half-dead—almost killed by that black bear. Luckily, we arrived just in time to save it." Hearing that, Asant felt a bit relieved and turned his attention to the monstrous bear. He froze when he noticed something in its hand—a dragon blood fruit. "Uh... is that—?" Asant asked, unsure. One of his companions, understanding the question, nodded and replied, "Yep, that’s a dragon blood fruit, just like you thought. But it’s not ripe yet. Judging by the markings on it, your pheasant probably stole it from the bear. That’s likely what enraged it." "Haha! I told you, Asant—your monster’s just as reckless as you are!" another chimed in with a laugh. Asant heard the joke but didn’t respond. He was confused. He had never told his pheasant to steal anything—especially not a rare, unripe fruit. The only command he’d given was to spy on someone they’d encountered earlier: Clayton. To Asant and his master, it was strange for someone like Clayton—a mere three-star apprentice mage—to be able to enter the transparent dome. That’s why Asant had instructed the pheasant to follow and observe him. But instead of spying, it had stolen a fruit and engaged in a life-or-death fight with a bear—when it could’ve simply hidden or fled. Something felt off. Saura, now at the scene, also sensed something strange. He inspected the pheasant and found traces of water vapor on its feathers. "Looks like someone else was involved..." Saura muttered. Asant hurried to examine the pheasant himself—and found the same thing. Suddenly, everything made sense. The pheasant had likely followed Clayton, stolen the fruit, been chased by the bear—and perhaps manipulated along the way. Asant’s anger toward Clayton grew deeper. Meanwhile, Saura lost interest in the pheasant and turned to join the others fighting the black bear. But as he watched the beast move, he became intrigued. The bear seemed unusually strong. He observed its movements carefully, then made up his mind. "Don’t kill it. I want this creature alive." Everyone immediately obeyed and changed their tactics. After a brief but intense struggle, they managed to subdue the bear. Saura walked up, clearly pleased, and leaned in to get a closer look. But as he approached, the black bear suddenly thrashed violently in rage. Saura responded by slamming his fist hard into the bear’s head. "You’d better behave. If not, I’ll kill you myself," he said coldly. The bear fell still, though its eyes still burned with fury and hatred. Saura saw the emotion clearly—but he didn’t care. He had his own methods of control. Suddenly, a lizard slithered out from inside Saura’s robe and sank its fangs into the bear’s neck. Caught off guard, the black bear let out a sharp yelp. Pain surged through its body as it began to writhe in agony. It wanted to escape, to get away from the excruciating bite—but it couldn’t. Too many people were holding it down. All it could do was scream and roar in pain. The scene became grim and horrifying, echoing with the tormented cries of the helpless beast. ... Meanwhile, Clayton—who had fled the area in a panic—still didn’t feel safe. The stigma marks on his body were flickering. He ran even farther, unwilling to stop. Eventually, the flickering ceased. The marks stopped glowing, and he finally let out a sigh of relief. Clayton decided to rest near a rocky outcrop. As he sat down against a large stone, his hand accidentally pressed something on the ground—something that felt like a hidden button. Just as he wondered what it was, a strange sensation washed over him—his body suddenly felt weightless. Then, the ground beneath him gave way. Caught completely off guard, Clayton plummeted helplessly. "Ahhhhhhhh!!" His terrified scream echoed through the tunnel as he fell into the unknown.

Chapter 167

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