The Creatures That We Are-Chapter 1109: Digging Graves

A lazy chuckle echoed through the air—the voice of Wang Shu, the death monster Sloth. Her second form manifested as the massive moon hanging in the sky, her power flowing through every shaft of moonlight. Wherever moonbeams touched became part of her Domain of Night.

The domain's influence was mild, and in that state, Wang Shu had no direct offensive power. Yet it could be deadly—night was the realm of rest and slumber, an eternal enemy to wakefulness and vigilance.

Those in the gymnasium felt only a mild drowsiness, one they could fight with willpower alone. Things were different for Chen Ying and Nine Frost. One of them was using Sensory, while the other was using Avian King and Telepathy, both psychic Talents with a large range.

Inside the Domain of Night, they were akin to roosters trying to call upon the day in thick darkness. They stood out like a sore thumb, and their wakefulness and alertness were destined to be swallowed up by the gentle night. Therefore, the two of them sensed no danger approaching. Instead, they relaxed their guard and became drowsy.

Moreover, the Domain of Night negated all domains, barriers, forcefields, and AOE Talents for psychic attacks, dominance, and connections. Those who used such Talents would face the powerful counterforce of the night.

A slim, fair girl with twin tails floated in the moonlight. Six wings of soft white light unfurled behind her, carving the round moon into segments. This was Envy—Gao Xinxin.

Moments ago, those same wings had reduced the basketball court to pieces. She looked down at the crimson ruin below, an innocent smile tugging her lips. Her black eyes were clear and devoid of judgment.

Clack. A pair of cloth shoes for martial arts landed on the rubble. The newcomer was an old man wearing a gray old-fashioned hat to cover his bald head, his hair having fallen off from chemotherapy. He cut a thin, bony figure, his face covered in wrinkles and liver spots.

Eyes narrowed, he put on a friendly smile. It was Gluttony, Liu Tao.

“Girl, look what you’ve done to the food,” he said hoarsely, sounding disappointed.

Gao Xinxin didn't bother to acknowledge him. She scanned the area, voice heavy with dejection, “Greed lied to me. My brother’s not here.”

The omnipresent moonlight laughed once more. Then the light condensed into a dozen airy bands like living things, flying to Gao Xinxin and taking the abstract, dream-like form of a woman.

“Why would you believe Greed? There’s nothing she won’t do for the mission.”

“Then why did you come?” Gao Xinxin asked, exasperated. “Don’t you hate trouble the most?”

“Yeah,” Wang Shu said resignedly. “But it’s even more troublesome to turn down someone’s request. You won’t get the plight of an introvert.”

“This is lame. You go ahead.” With that, Gao Xinxin vanished. The resulting gust almost scattered the moonlight’s form.

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Liu Tao had reached the center of the destruction. He crouched slowly, pulling a severed hand from the rubble and bringing it to his nose. His narrowed eyes widened slightly, flashing with muddy joy. “Haha, I knew the food wasn’t going to spoil so easily.”

With a slight tightening of his grip, the bloodied hand dispersed into blue energy and blood mist. He stood, turning his gaze to the moon. “This is a smokescreen. The food must be around.”

The moonlight sighed. “Now I have to work overtime.”

At that moment, an old man wearing only boxer shorts descended from the sky—the death monster Wrath, Mark.

He had rushed in too early and messed up the plan last time, so this time, Greed told him the time and location the last.

“Where’s my son?!” Mark glared at the rubble furiously. “Didn’t I tell you to leave the little bastard to me?!”

He turned to Liu Tao and growled, “Do you even have a heart, killing my son? You killed my son, then who should I kill? You?!”

“How could I die before I see you off to the afterlife, damn old man?” War Tiger said, his voice coming from behind Mark.

Mark shuddered with surprise and joy. He spun around, breaking into a guffaw. “As expected of my boy! I knew it! I knew you wouldn’t die so easily!”

A group of around a dozen stood a hundred meters away from the death monsters. War Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Qing Ling took the lead, while Liao Liao, Nainai, Hong Xiaoxiao, Ke Yo, Gregor, Mischievous Monkey, Dead Pig, and Adept Horse formed a line behind them.

The awakeners had indeed been hiding in the basketball court—just not the one the death monsters had struck. That had been merely a replica, crafted by Mischievous Monkey's level 7 Earth and enhanced by Lying Wood's level 4 Afterimage. The true court lay disguised as a regular teaching building, explaining the school's seemingly strange layout.

To make the deception more convincing, Quiet Book had used level 4 Substitute to create sophisticated substitutes for everyone with 300ml of each of their blood, helped by Small Luo’s Toy.

Since the substitutes were close enough to the real awakeners, Quiet Book had the substitutes synced with them. That allowed the substitutes to do and say whatever they did and said. Afterimage even replicated the uses of their Talents, only the Talents weren’t actually used.

To put it simply, what happened in the fake basketball court had been a live projection of what happened in the real one.

They couldn’t be too cautious when facing the death monsters. War Tiger and Vermilion Bird had taken into consideration the possibility of Chen Ying and Nine Frost being compromised.

Then Sunny’s Crisis Alert would buy them too little time to ensure a successful escape. That was why they had created a convincing fake to fool the enemies and buy more time.

Now, the noncombatants had fled, leaving the core fighters.

War Tiger and Vermilion Bird had considered a full retreat, but after assessing the situation, they'd chosen to make their stand.

The reasons were:

First, the others wouldn’t be able to escape easily without someone buying time. The death monsters might catch up with them and get them all in one fell swoop.

Second, Nine Frost and Chen Ying could still be alive. They couldn’t just leave them behind.

Third, the death monsters would be able to find them again and again given what had happened. They couldn’t run away forever.

Fourth, the strongest death monster, Pride, hadn’t shown up, and Envy had turned around and left. They might stand some chance facing three death monsters.

Best-case scenario, they could kill these three. Then their odds would be better in the final fight. Even if they couldn’t defeat the death monsters, they could collect intel in preparation for the final fight.

Worst came to worst, the death monsters were defeating them. They still had a contingency: Vermilion Bird had sent an emergency message to Gao Yang. With Spatial Jump, Gao Yang would be able to quickly come to their aid. The cooldown should be approaching its end.

Once Gao Yang was here, they could retreat without problem even if they couldn’t defeat the death monsters.

The cold wind of the late night swept past the desolate running track. Eleven awakeners stood on the lawn on the left, while two death monsters stood amid the rubble on the right. The third death monster had transformed into the massive silver moon, hanging above everyone.

The air was silent, eerie, and thick with tension.

“Everyone, be prepared to give your life.” War Tiger drew the Dragonslaying Greatsword from his back and grinned. “Just as before, whoever survives until the end will be digging the graves!”

They all drew their weapons and readied for a fight.