Seed of Titan-Chapter 136: Congregation of the Valley

As he followed the direction of the horde, Drai realized that the creatures he passed by didn’t seem to notice his presence. In fact, all of them were totally focused on their destination, so much that a predator and its prey could march side by side indifferently.

Drai’s pace wasn’t too fast, as he didn’t want to overtake the massive horde at the front. It took him about an hour to finally arrive at a towering cliff with a wide gorge in its center.

Due to the bottleneck, the horde was forced to halt their advance. Slowly but steadily, their numbers dwindled as the creatures entered the gorge in smaller groups. Interestingly, even creatures that could fly, like insects and birds, chose to walk on the ground like the others.

Drai watched from a distance, perched on a tree.

’This is absurd—it’s like a mass hypnosis,’ Drai thought as he examined the dazed expressions of the beasts. Although Drai couldn’t infer much from the faces of the reptiles and insects, he assumed that they were similarly in a daze.

Minutes passed, and the queue of creatures thinned considerably. Only a single large group remained huddled at the gorge’s entrance.

Drai finally leaped off the tree and approached the group in front of him. He stood behind them quietly, trying to peer through the darkness of the gorge, but to no avail.

’Max said that this gorge is really long and leads to the wetlands biome, the Poison Swamp. Are all of these creatures migrating there? But why? Because of the green moon? And why do they have this dazed look on them?’

Drai mulled it over, but he still couldn’t get a grasp on what was happening.

This entire event had been eerie and foreboding. If it were any other person, they would’ve probably chosen to sleep tight inside the base, letting the night pass peacefully.

But Drai had witnessed way more chilling scenes, so he wasn’t fearful at all, only cautious and intrigued.

Soon, the last few creatures had entered the gorge, leaving Drai standing there alone. Staring at the darkness ahead of him, Drai steeled his resolve, and with a deep breath, he finally entered the gorge.

Stepping onto the pathway, Drai realized the gorge was wider than he had expected. It seemed that rocks at the entrance curved a bit, creating a false sense of width for those looking from the outside.

Drai also noticed that there was a small stream running along the right-side of the path, close to the cliff walls. Along the stream grew vegetation that were slightly lusher than those in the valley outside, though still no match for the jungle’s greenery.

Drai kept walking for a while, making sure to follow the rearmost creatures from a safe distance. He didn’t know what awaited him at the end of the road, but he didn’t want to be caught off-guard.

Just as Drai wondered if he really would end up reaching the wetlands if he kept following the creatures, the event took a sudden turn—quite literally.

Drai halted his steps, watching the creatures ahead of him disappear into the cliff wall on their left. When they had all disappeared, Drai rushed forward and stopped just outside a wide opening.

The entrance seemed to lead deeper, as Drai could see nothing but total darkness.

This time, it took longer for Drai to make up his mind, but he eventually ventured forward, stepping into the darkness.

Blinded by the darkness, Drai kept to the walls. He slowly moved forward, with one hand tracing the wall and the other one raised, ready to attack or defend at moment’s notice.

Drai’s past lifestyle truly showed its effects here. He had spent much of his life in a simple-minded manner, taking most things at face value. This had made him totally oblivious of the ideas of ghosts or the like. The notion of their existence was something Drai found ludicrous—if he couldn’t see them, how could they be there?

Therefore, coupled with his lack of socialization, Drai had become immune to horror stories, making him completely unafraid of the dark, a trait that proved invaluable in the current situation. In fact, Drai was actually feeling annoyed that he didn’t even have a single skill to provide him with vision, making this traversal a hassle.

’If only I’d gotten a lightning skill from the apes, I could’ve lightened up my path a bit. Too bad I got that useless storm detection instead...’ he thought amidst the complete darkness.

But Drai didn’t get to be annoyed for too long, as a dim light soon brightened the passage. He immediately controlled his steps, making them as quiet as possible.

However, his extra caution proved to be meaningless, as a growing buzz filled the air ahead.

A moment later, Drai arrived at a vast cave, easily tens of times larger than his basecamp. Thousands of creatures could be seen standing motionless in tight rows, encircling a massive mound. Overhead, dozens of large moss-green beetles hovered, their wings producing the deep buzz that had echoed through the dark passage earlier.

Drai quickly joined the crowd, taking a spot at the periphery. His gaze was fixed on the massive mound in the distance, but nothing stood out except for a pillar of light beaming down upon it.

Drai looked up and saw that the light was coming from a hole in the rocky ceiling above the mound. He suspected it led to the outside, with the pillar of light being moonlight that poured into the cliff.

Drai didn’t know what all these creatures were waiting for, as they kept still in their spots. He also wondered why the green beetles were the only ones roaming freely and what they signified.

Suddenly, a low hum filled the air, rattling Drai’s insides. His muscles immediately tensed as he prepared himself to flee if things turned for the worse.

The low hum subsided, but loud clacking sounds quickly replaced it. Glancing upward, Drai saw that the moss-green beetles were the ones making this sound as they snapped their mandibles repeatedly.

Just then, the ground shook.

Drai’s eyes widened as he stared at the massive mound—it was slowly rising, eventually stopping when it was around two-thirds of the way to the ceiling.

Another loud hum swept through the creatures, their bodies trembling. Looming over them was a towering figure.

A colossal beetle had risen.