Chapter 30 Into The Predators’ Layers Part 7

The dark water made it difficult for Yul to see everything around him. Before he jumped into the water, he didn't think about what might be lying in the dark pond, but it was hard for him not to jump into the pond, have a moment of sobriety, and think about what would happen to him if there was another demon waiting for him. All he could think about was the key that would allow him to enter No Man's Land. The only light Yul sees in front of him is the glowing light at the bottom of the pond, so when the first clue he'd gotten in the past fifteen days was within reach, it was hard to resist not to jump.

Yul reached the shining point of light that appeared to be a stone sitting on top of a huge seamount. He tried to pull the stone out but was unsuccessful and Yul knew he would run out of air soon. He drew his dagger from his belt and began to cut around the seamount where the stone was. Yul tries to pull the stone out, but something seems to stop it. He took his knife and chopped off what was holding down the stone. He grabbed the stone, knowing he would soon be out of breath, so he had to get to the surface before he drowned. Yul, started to swim up towards the surface, but suddenly something grabbed his left leg. Then he shone the bright stone at his feet, and he saw a naked pale man swimming towards him smiling. He was so scared that he quickly free his leg from the man's hand. Then surrounding him were hundreds of people swimming around him. He heard voices calling to him and he knew the intention of these pale ghostly figures are here to drown him. Hundreds of hands grabbed Yul and pulled him deep into the pond.

"Stay down here with us."

"Come and live with us."

"Stay with us."

"It's so fun down here."

Yul was struggling to free himself from the hands that was pulling him deeper into the pond. He knew that if he did not break free from their grasp, he would soon drown.

Since Yul had been swimming in the depths of the dark abyss for at least six minutes, Hajime began to worry about how long Yul could hold his breath underwater. He thought; the average person can only hold their breath for one to three minutes at most. Hajime himself could only hold his breath underwater for less than forty-five seconds. Now, he regrets not trying to stop Yul from diving into the unknown.

He turned his head to look at Michio, but his gaze fell on the dead half-female, half-snake body. Seeing the tail of the snake made him sick, and suddenly vomited on the edge of the pond.

Michio quickly gave way to Hajime. He asked with concern, "Are you unwell?"

Hajime wiped his mouth and said, "I hate snakes."

Michio asked, "You vomit because you hate snakes, not because you feel unwell?"

Hajime nodded.

Michio asked, "Then why aren't you afraid of the snake when we were fighting?"

Hajime said, "I'm worried about you two, so I don't have time to think about the grossness of the snake's scales." He took three steps toward the pond, but Michio grabbed his upper left arm. "Yul has been away for too long."

Michio said, "Don't worry, Yul can hold his breath underwater for as long as it takes to burn one incense stick."

Hajime looked at Michio and asked in surprised, "You are kidding me?"

Michio said, "No, I'm not. When he was training to become a palace guard, those people received very harsh and heavy training. Underwater breath holding is a requirement of the palace guards. Abrafo's breath holding time is much longer than that of Yul."

Hajime looked at the middle-aged monk and asked, "What about you?"

Michio smiled sheepishly, raising up two fingers.

Hajime asked, "Your breath-holding ability is twice that of Abrafo?"

Michio shook his head and said, "No... I can hold my breath for twenty counts."

Hajime burst out laughing. He said, "I thought the men of this universe were immortal. I think I was wrong to rate you so highly." He continued to laugh, but deep down, he was still worried and kept thinking when Yul would come out from under the surface.

The large beast looked at Abrafo with a low growl, and the side of its neck was bleeding. The beast's saliva dripped from the corner of his mouth, but he showed no sign of weakness or flinching. The beast walks slowly step by step: slowly move the foot towards Abrafo.

Abrafo knew that if he continued to retreat towards U-ri, it would show the beast in front of him that he was the weaker alpha, so he stood still and stared fiercely at the beast that was getting closer to him. Abrafo smirked, knowing that these were not ordinary beasts, and they can understand human language.

Abrafo sneered, "Come closer, and I'll cut your throat." He raised the knife to his chest, ready to stab the beast to death if it dared to pounce. He twisted his toes desperately, only allowing his left leg to regain about fifty percent of its strength. He knew that if he didn't find a way to get out quickly, if the wolves decided to come back, he would definitely be their dinner tonight.

The beast knew he couldn't defeat Abrafo alone because of the wound on his neck. He raised his head and howled.

Hajime and Michio looked at each other. "U-ri," they said at once.

Hajime looks at the dark pond, he wants to help U-ri but at the same time he is worried about Yul. He looked into the pond and yelled, "Yul!" He turned to look at Michio. "You go help him first, I'll wait for Yul." Hajime took out two wooden wolf figures and threw them on the ground. He looked at one of the wolves. "Take him down."

The wolf lay obediently on the ground, and Michio climbed onto the wolf's back. "See you on the road," he said as the wolf rushed down the hill.

Hajime shouted from behind, "Be careful!" Hajime watched Michio disappear into the dense forest. He turns back to the pond, still not seeing Yul.

Hajime looked back at Jun's body. "I don't want to possess this body." He frowned, clasped his hands together, and closed his eyes.

Suddenly, Chun's body sat up. She turned her head and looked at Hajime standing not far away, one wolf guarding Hajime. She looked at the wolf and said, "Guard my body." Chun hurriedly slipped into the pond.

Abrafo looked at the pack of wolves coming out of the road; every eye of the wolves was on him. Abrafo knew that no matter how powerful he was, he was no match for ten wolves. He began to move quickly towards the bangle circle.

As Abrafo slowly inching his butt away, the wounded wolf, knowing that his siblings behind him had his back, rushed towards Abrafo and bit Abrafo's left arm. Abrafo is no less aggressive than the wolf itself. Although the wolf had bitten his left arm, Abrafo knew that the first fight would be crucial, as it would determine whether he was a better alpha than his opponent. Abrafo stabbed the wolf's throat, which made the wolf's grip tighter, and the teeth dug deeper into Abrafo's flesh, but Abrafo didn't stop there. He continued to stab the wolf.

Uri quickly put down the book, and suddenly realized that the person in front of him might be the real Abrafo. He said, "Abrafo..."

Abrafo yelled, "U-ri you old fool. Don't come out."

U-ri said, "I'm sorry, Hajime told me not to go out of the protection of the bangle."

Abrafo shouted, "Don't come out now! There is no point!" Abrafo continued to stab the wolf.

Abrafo didn't know how many times he had stabbed the wolf, but with the wolf's head severed from its body, he realized that his left leg had regained all its strength. He stood up slowly.

U-ri shouted, "Abrafo, quickly walk into the bangle."

As soon as U-ri finished speaking, two more wolves pounced on Abrafo. Yuri looks around and grabs Michio's spear. U-ri rushed out quickly, stabbing a wolf in the stomach. He kicked another wolf in the stomach, and the wolf turned its attention to U-ri. Abrafo jumped forward and plunged the knife deep into the wolf's head, causing the wolf's instant death.

U-ri helped Abrafo up and turned to look at the protection of the bangle, only to realize that their containment shells were gone. "This is bad, no wonder Hajime told me not to go out of the circle," he said, looking at Abrafo.

Abrafo snatched the spear from U-ri and said, "I told you not to come out."

U-ri said, "I wouldn't watch you die without helping you. What kind of person would I be if I did that..."

The wolves growled at Abrafo and U-ri, all ready to attack the two men.

"What are we going to do now," U-ri asked.

Abrafo said, "Well, it's been a pleasure meeting you. I'm sure we'll be crushed and torn apart by these beasts next."

The leader of the wolf pack stepped forward and looked at Abrafo and Uri. He sternly said, "You dare to step into my layer... even the guardian of this mountain dares not stepping into my layer. You can come here, but you can never get out." He stopped and turned to look at the pack of wolves standing behind him. "Children, your dinner is right in front of you... go and claim it." He growled angrily at Abrafo and U-ri.