Ghoul Evolution

Chapter 32: Chaos erupts

After Oliver and Korre returned to the camp, they once again got to work on the boat.

By the time evening arrived, everyone was exhausted and eventually gathered around the campfire to rest.

They ate the food they had collected over the past few days.

Every day, two of them would leave camp to gather resources and hunt for food. Since Oliver had wanted to ensure nobody discovered the golden pear earlier, he had volunteered for nearly every hunting trip.

Thanks to that, his Essence Shards had increased significantly.

[Essence Shards: 15/500]

While eating, Korre glanced toward Ahreum and asked gently,

"How much longer do you think until we’re ready to leave?"

Ahreum met her gaze and replied directly, though there was a faint hint of melancholy in her voice.

"If it doesn’t get broken again...unexplainably...then we should be able to finish it by tomorrow night. And, we can leave the day after that."

Theo immediately let out a relieved sigh as he whispered in a low voice.

"Thank the Lord of Dominion, I was starting to get bored of this place."

Oliver raised an eyebrow slightly as this was the first time he had ever heard Theo openly pay respect to a deity.

’So he follows the Lord of Dominion, huh?’

The Lord of Dominion was one of the Four Orthodox Deities and among the most respected gods on Earth.

He was said to embody authority, hierarchy, conquest, and ambition itself. Those who sought greatness and power often found themselves drawn toward his teachings.

Even the Apostolic Clan that served the Lord of Dominion possessed tremendous influence back on earth, with connections to countless powerful Ghouls from both ancient and modern generations.

Oliver silently continued eating as he looked back towards the boat.

’Still... at least the boat will be ready, in case, everything goes horribly wrong tomorrow.’

After having their dinner, the group slept as usual and woke up early the next morning.

The first half of the day passed rather peacefully and Oliver and Korre spent the morning helping with the boat repairs just like everyone else.

Neither of them wanted to attract suspicion, so they worked normally and acted as if nothing was wrong. By now, the boat was nearly complete and according to Ahreum, if everything went smoothly, it would be finished by nightfall.

Around the afternoon, Oliver and Korre finally left camp under the excuse of gathering additional food and supplies for the journey ahead.

Neither Theo nor Ahreum found anything suspicious about it. After all, hunting trips had become a normal part of their routine.

Goldie immediately became excited the moment they entered the forest, occasionally running ahead before returning impatiently whenever the two weren’t moving fast enough.

Eventually, the familiar tree came into view and the moment Oliver saw the golden pear, he stopped walking.

The fruit had changed again. Yesterday it had merely looked golden, but now it was actually shining.

Tiny golden particles floated around it while streams of golden light occasionally flowed across its surface.

Even from a distance, Oliver could feel the energy radiating from it.

Unfortunately, the excitement lasted only a few seconds as the moment he looked away from the fruit and toward the surrounding area, his expression froze.

There were even more of the beasts now. A lot more.

"You have got to be kidding me."

Yesterday there had been around twelve but today there were more than twenty. The entire area around the tree had become crowded with beasts of all shapes and sizes.

Some rested beneath nearby trees while others occupied branches high above. Several remained hidden within bushes, yet their eyes never left the fruit.

After observing them for a while, Oliver gradually noticed something and it seemed Korre had recognized the same.

"It seems the weaker beasts only sensed the fruit recently."

Yes, it was true. Most of the newly arrived beasts seemed relatively ordinary and weak.

However, the original five creatures that had an immensely dangerous aura were still present. The giant spiked serpent remained beneath its tree and the bulldog beast was still there. Several insect-type beasts had also stayed. On top of that, a few newly arrived creatures gave off similarly terrifying pressure.

Just looking at them made Oliver and Korre uncomfortable. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ

It didn’t take long for them to understand what had happened.

As the fruit approached maturity, the energy leaking from it had become increasingly stronger. The powerful beasts had sensed it days ago and arrived early however, the weaker beasts had only noticed it recently after the fruit’s aura became impossible to ignore.

His gaze then eventually landed on the giant serpent with big spikes all over it.

Oliver had not noticed it before, but the snake only seemed to possess a single eye as the other side of its face was covered by a long scar that stretched all the way down its neck.

Yet despite missing an eye, the beast didn’t look weakened in the slightest.

If anything, it looked smug.

It barely even bothered looking at the other beasts around it. The way it carried itself made it seem as though the fruit already belonged to it and everyone else was simply wasting their time.

Looking at that arrogant posture, Oliver couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

’Look at this bastard.’

’He’s already acting like he owns the fruit.’

Oliver stared at the fruit, then at the beasts, and then at the fruit again. Finally he looked toward Korre and sighed.

"So..."

"What?"

"We are absolutely screwed, right?"

Korre stared at the gathering of beasts for several moments before slowly nodding.

"Yeah...Very screwed."

For a while, neither of them spoke as they simply remained hidden amongst the trees while observing the gathering around the golden pear.

The atmosphere felt strangely tense. Despite there being nearly twenty beasts present, very few sounds could be heard. There were no territorial disputes, no growls, and no fights breaking out as every creature seemed focused on the same thing.

Or perhaps not.

The longer Oliver watched, the more he realized that many of the beasts weren’t even looking at the fruit anymore.

Their gazes frequently shifted toward the stronger creatures nearby. The giant one-eyed serpent. The bulldog beast. Several of the larger insect-type creatures.

Everyone seemed to be waiting for somebody else to make the first move and nobody wanted to be that somebody.

As the minutes passed, the golden glow surrounding the pear continued growing brighter. Tiny golden particles drifted through the air around it while waves of energy occasionally pulsed outward from the fruit. Even Oliver could feel it. The thing was close to ripening.

Then suddenly, a faint cracking sound echoed through the clearing and the golden pear suddenly released another pulse of light.

Then another and then another. Each pulse of light was brighter than the last.

The surrounding branches trembled despite there being no wind. Goldie too immediately stood upright on Oliver’s shoulder with its eyes widened and its tail puffed up.

The squirrel looked more excited than Oliver had ever seen it.

’Well at least somebody is excited.’

"It is starting," Korre whispered.

Oliver silently nodded as even he could tell that much.

A moment later, another crack appeared across the surface of the fruit and golden light, different from the simple glow earlier, began leaking from the tiny fractures.

The brightness rapidly intensified until Oliver had to narrow his eyes.

And then, the pear exploded with light.

A wave of golden radiance swept through the entire clearing as countless golden particles burst into the air, making it look as though a miniature sun had appeared amongst the branches.

For one brief moment, everything became still as every eye there locked onto the fruit.

The golden pear had ripened and the next second, the entire forest erupted.

A deafening roar exploded through the clearing as the bulldog beast launched itself forward. The ground cracked beneath its paws and almost simultaneously, a giant insect creature shot into the air while several other beasts charged from different directions.

The giant serpent moved as well with its enormous body moving forward with frightening speed.

The peaceful standoff had instantly transformed into complete chaos.

A wolf-like beast attempted to rush directly toward the tree, hoping to take advantage of the confusion. Unfortunately, It barely made it a few steps before the giant serpent’s tail swept across the battlefield.

BOOM!

The unfortunate creature vanished from sight, launched so far away that Oliver couldn’t even tell where it landed.

"Holy shit."

’This thing is a fucking monstrousity.’

Even Korre looked slightly pale but her eyes were still locked onto the fruit.

The battlefield grew increasingly chaotic as the beasts tried to keep each other from getting the fruit.

Oliver had expected fighting but he had not expected a whole war. frёewebnoѵēl.com

Meanwhile, the golden pear continued hanging from the branch completely untouched.

Everyone wanted it but nobody could reach it.

Every beast that tried was immediately attacked by several others.

The strongest creatures had effectively trapped each other.

The giant serpent looked quite dominant, but even it couldn’t advance freely. The bulldog repeatedly intercepted it while the bird beast harassed it from above.

The several weaker beasts joined the battle as well, turning the area around the tree into complete madness.

Goldie suddenly became extremely excited.

The squirrel jumped onto Oliver’s head and began pointing frantically toward the tree.

Oliver frowned as he ushed it to remain silent.

"Not now."

Goldie immediately smacked him on the head.

"Ow!"

The squirrel pointed again, this time more aggressively this time.

Oliver looked toward the battlefield and then toward the fruit.

Slowly, his eyes widened because for the first time since the battle had begun a path was starting to appear.