The first hour into their trek had been a quiet one. There were no signs of Spectors or even Z-Streamers.
What surrounded them was nothing but the ruins of an ancient city—crumbled buildings, dried-out trees every here and there, streets torn up so badly they were barely distinguishable from the rest of the rubble.
This part of the city was more ruined than further back, with buildings hardly intact and rubble piled up so high they could make small mountains.
Several times the group had to climb over one hill of rubble or another. Or they had to completely make a detour, cutting down on their time.
They had barely left the Safe Zone, and already, the landscape was realizing their fears.
Even worse, the fact that there were no Spectors made them unsure of how to feel. They knew that they needed to find and kill Spectors, but the thought of begging to find them left the group very uneasy.
Nonetheless, they continued down the uneven landscape without saying a word and kept their guard on high alert.
Half an hour in, Ji-su halted everyone, startling half of them and leaving the rest tense.
Gripping his dagger tight, Min-ho could hear his heart thump in his ears.
"There's a Spector down that way," Ji-su pointed toward the north.
"How far?" Min-ho asked.
"About sixty meters," Ji-su responded.
"Are we going to take it?" Sae-wee asked Min-ho.
"That's to the north. We're supposed to be headed west," Dok-su interjected.
"It won't take that long. We could take it down and be on our way," Min-ho said, and no one said anything else.
Dok-su wanted to protest, but he knew they needed as many kills as possible. So he stayed quiet.
"Remember what we planned. Dok-su, Sae-wee and I will draw its attention. Ji-su and Im-hee stay back. And Jang-book—"
"Yeah, yeah," Jang-book interrupted. "Let's go already."
Min-ho paused, then led the way.
Smoke formed in Sae-wee's and Dok-su's hands.
Sae-wee had summoned her usual bone dagger, while Dok-su had summoned a new weapon he bought—a claymore.
Then they proceeded with cautious speed. Not long after, they saw the creature.
It looked like a worm with two large hands nearing the base of its mouth. And instead of its body being made of skin, it was covered in feathers that also ran down its arms.
It had a large mouth encircled with rows of teeth, but it had no eyes.
The Spector was rummaging through a pile of rubble, searching for a potential meal this day.
As the group observed quietly, everyone noticed that the Spector had no eyes. Which was a clear indication that it could navigate the world in another manner. And the best bet was that it could sense its surroundings, which was bad news for anyone who wanted to sneak up on it.
Thinking light on his feet, Min-ho pulled his arm back, then tossed his dagger across the street.
CLANK!
It fell on the other side of the Spector, and to their surprise, it lifted its head off the rubble and into the air. Then, turning to the point the dagger fell, it rushed it with a speed that surprised everyone.
Not waiting to let this opportunity slip them by, Min-ho pointed two fingers toward the Spector, and like a previously rehearsed routine, Dok-su and Sae-wee dashed toward it.
Min-ho followed behind, dismissing his dagger into smoke and recalling it into his hand.
While they raced for it, Jang-book kept at a close distance, waiting for them to act and give him his opening.
Ji-su and Im-hee, on the other hand, stayed behind, hiding near a building that was barely intact as they watched the fight with hope in their hearts.
In a matter of seconds, the attacking force had closed the distance between them and the Spector without alerting the frenzied creature to their presence.
Striking the first blow was Dok-su on the Spector's wrist. A smart move if one were to destroy its mobility.
Min-ho batted an eye at the move, feeling a hint of astonishment at how much Dok-su had planned ahead.
"KKKKKAAAAAA!" the Spector crackled as a small wound was made on its wrist.
Before it could retaliate, Sae-wee was already at it, striking the exact same spot Dok-su had hit earlier.
Once her dagger had connected, a shock vibrated across her dagger into her arms, causing her to wince from pain.
Though Dok-su made it look easy, this Spector's skin was much stronger than she had thought.
Now having recovered from the shock of the surprise, the Spector lashed out, swinging its long arm across the sky in an arc.
Min-ho was the one left to face the brunt of the attack, as he was right behind the swing.
With wide eyes, he ducked below the attack just barely.
He twisted and rebounded, turning to the striking arm while keeping an eye on the Spector's anchor arm.
Like he had expected, the same hand came back for a second wind. Pinning his sights on the wound, Min-ho leaped over the attack while striking his dagger into the spot of the wound with all his might.
He unfortunately missed the mark, but managed to open a new wound beside the other.
Sae-wee and Dok-su came in almost immediately, striking both wounds at the same time.
Dok-su had bitten deeper into the first wound while Sae-wee did the same to the second.
The trio kept at this—evading and attacking. Luckily for them, the creature only had one hand to balance itself, which meant any time it would attack, the strike would be well telegraphed long before it happened.
Watching close by, Jang-book had been given many opportunities to take the Spector down, but he instead watched as the trio fought together like a well-oiled machine.
They continued at this until Sae-wee dealt the final strike on the Spector's wrist, taking its hand clean off.
The Spector crackled as it crashed onto the floor.
Dok-su rushed in, eager to dig his claymore into the Spector's belly now that it was on its side.
But just as he was about to close in, the feathers surrounding the creature all stood. And in the blink of an eye, they fired in all directions like deadly projectiles.