God Ash: Remnants of the fallen.

His eyes widened in shock, 'The entire forest?!'

{Replying to host: Affirmative... The entire forest}.

Cain stood there for a while, taking in his surroundings. He had noticed earlier during the first day of Armageddon, that the plant life in their vicinity had begun to drastically mutate. The trees had grown taller, and the shrubs and bushes had grown thicker and more thorny.

He knew that it was most likely every single organism on the face of Urbus that had begun to mutate, but he had no idea it would be this drastic.

'How is that even possible? Are you saying that this entire forest is just one really big creature?' Cain asked, trying to discern whether there was another meaning behind the system's words.

All he got, was another notice of affirmation. He looked around at all the trees surrounding them, they had all grown even taller than they had been on the first day. It was really scary that they were able to grow so much in two days.

Cain looked down at the collapsed monster, or not, laying on the ground before him. Now that he thought about it, It did look like a layer of dead tissue. The intertwined vines and branches acted as the blood vessels, while the roots and the trunk made up the fleshy parts.

Cain observed that Evangeline stood on the same spot, just as silent as he was. The look of shock on her face told him all he needed to know...

The others who were on standby came closer to observe the now withered anomaly. Cain quickly recalled his very heavy blade into his inventory.

Vincent kicked at one of the dried-out branches, causing it to break off violently. "Phew... Glad that's over with." He picked one of the branches as though he wanted to study it, but was secretly looking for any treasures that might have dropped when it fell.

"What was that thing anyways?" asked David.

"That was the forest," Cain said, after thinking it over for a second.

He figured that he had nothing to lose if he told them about their current situation.

"The forest? What do you mean by that?" Susan asked the question all of them wanted to know the answer to.

"I mean exactly what I said. That thing was a part of this forest."

"Well duh... Of course It is part of the forest. What else could it be part of."

Cain realized he needed to change the phrasing of his words...

"The entire forest is alive, and this... monster is just a tiny fraction of the whole thing," said Cain, a grave expression settling on his face. He looked around and noticed dark expressions now filting across their faces.

'Seems like they get it now...'

"Ha... This shit just keeps getting crazier." Vincent let out a heavy sigh...

***

Although destruction had been brought upon the department complex, there was still a single building standing. It was the gymnasium...

The entire place consisted of 5 main buildings. The main hall, the classroom building, the gym, the teacher's lounge, and the science lab. The only building fortunate enough to survive was the gymnasium.

All the other buildings in their department complex, including the classroom block, had been reduced to rubble by the impact of the missile that had attacked them first, and the mad rampage of the agitated mutant beasts.

The entire complex was huge, so the courtyard surrounding all these buildings was big enough to hold more than a thousand people at once. Although the forest had infringed into the courtyard space a little, there was still a lot of space.

This space was currently covered with the corpses of the mutant beasts they had killed.

However, the number of mutant beast corpses were dwindling at a steady pace, as more and more of those grotesque membranes of plants had begun to form all over the area of the forest surrounding the courtyard of the complex.

Their thorny vines and branches slithered across the courtyard like snakes, pulling in as many corpses as they could all at once. In the blink of an eye, all that was left in the courtyard was rubble...

"Damn... This is creepy," said Manny as they walked quietly through the tunnel towards the only Bud still standing.

"Shhhh! Keep it down." David said. They figured that since they didn't know much about these strange entities, it was best to exercise caution.

A few seconds later, they had successfully arrived at the gymnasium.

The entire place was murky and full of dust from lack of use, but there was a certain air of normalcy within it that made it contrast with its surroundings. All the equipments were in a mess. However, despite the dust, and darkness, it still looked more inviting than its surroundings.

The gymnasium was also very big, so they had no problems with space.

Once they entered, they quickly shut the door right behind them...

Since the gymnasium was very huge, Evangeline quickly separated from them. She walked to the end of the room before sitting down in her solitude.

"So weird..."

"Ahhhh! So exhausted..." Vincent said as he plopped down to the ground with a thud.

"So Cain, I need you to explain in detail what you know about those things," asked David.

'Should I tell them everything?' Cain contemplated.

On one hand, he knew that every piece of information he knew that they didn't was an advantage on his part, but at what cost?

For all he knew, the information he decided to keep out would prove to be very crucial, and might even cost them a life. Although he wasn't concerned about the life and death of any of them, they hadn't served their purpose to him yet, so he was a bit hesitant to see any of them die.

'Besides, I'll have more to gain if I provide them with all the information I have on me. That way, it will be easier to plan how we will leave this place.'

"From what I know, the forest surrounding this place has come alive and mutated due to mana. Hide things aren't living beings, but are simply parts of the living forest. That means killing them won't even grant any exp.

The only problem is, if we approach them, they are going to attack, which means unless we fight, we have no way of leaving this place."

Cain explained all he knew in a single breath...

"So what do we do now?" asked Blaze, a deep frown making its way onto his face.

"My weapon possesses a skill that gives me a clear advantage over these things," Cain said. Although that was true, he intentionally left out the fact that the more of those things he killed, the stronger he became.

For every one of those things he killed, he gained about a 10% increase in the effectiveness of {Fear} and a 100% increase in the blade's attack power.

"That's true... Guess we have no other choice then..." David said, his voice dropping lower with every syllable, as though he was contemplating something.

'This is a very good opportunity, not only to gain extra power but to gain a firm grasp over this group. Evangeline is a no-go, so their only option right now is me.'

Cainr realized that taking control of the group required more than just brawn. He also needed to show his intelligence and leadership ability. This was the perfect scenario he needed to show all this.

This was the main reason he had joined the group in the first place... He needed strong people who trusted him 100%. It wasn't going to be easy tho...

David continued, "Cain, we need your help to get through that forest safely. Although one of them might not be much of an issue, this forest is big enough for there to be hundreds of those things.

We will also have to worry about the mutant beast within the forest, as well as the possibility of encountering more of those devils..."

"I agree..." Without even hesitating, Cain agreed.

"Are you sure? This is a lot of responsibility." David said with a concerned look. If Cain decided to do this, it meant he was going to leaf all of them through the forest. This also meant he bore responsibility for their safety.

"You don't have to do this. We can find another way to" Susan said, a hint of concern appearing on her face. Cain looked at her with a soft gaze, before he responded with a smile. As he stared at her, Can deny that he had a bit of a soft spot for this former class monitor of his.

"You all do not need to worry about all that. But thanks.." Cain responded. Feeling the heat of his stare caused a faint blush to appear on her cheeks.

"Damn... They flirting right in front of us..." Vincent said, a wide grin on his face.

"Get a room!" Steve added with a snort.

Cain cleared his throat before he continued, "I'm sure that I am capable enough to get us all out of here safely. However, I'll need some time to plan everything out... Give me a day." Cain said.

"I don't think I can entrust my life into your hands..." Hunter suddenly interrupted.

Hunter knew exactly what Cain was up to. So, he was determined to make sure his plan didn't succeed.

However, this time, Cain had expected this bit of resistance. So he knew exactly how to put it down...

"Then you do it..." Cain said, a smirk forming on his face.

Before Hunter could get a word in, he continued, "If you think you can get us all safely away from here, by all means, do it." Cain locked his gaze onto Hunter.

They directed their burning gazes at one another, but Hunter was the first to give in this time.

"Whatever..." Hunter let out a snort before he stood up from where he was seated. He was followed by Dan as he walked away from the rest of them.

"Damn... He got you, good bro." Dan said, his eyes widened in shock.

"Shut up..." Hunter said in his signature dead voice. However, he was unable to hide the undeniable crease of anger in his brows.

Dan noticed it but decided to just keep it to himself...

Meanwhile, Cain had a serious expression, his eyes scanning everyone seated around him, "I will need everyone's total cooperation if we all want to get out of here alive..."