Chapter 99
Chapter 99
Oliver was in a daze. What had just happened?
The Nocturna Herons had gone crazy and started attacking each other en masse. It was unmistakably bizarre!
When the firewood at the entrance was brushed aside to create a gap, it posed a great danger. But now, there wasn’t a single Nocturna Heron flying over.
The ground outside was strewn with the bodies of Nocturna Herons. The dead birds lay without twitching, while the debilitated ones still crawled up to attempt to assassinate each other. They only rested when they were truly dead.
Oliver shuddered with fear at the sight, and Wayne and Simon beside him were also stunned. They couldn’t figure out why the Nocturna Heron suddenly attacked one another.
No one moved to cut more firewood to cover up the gap in the kindling. The remains of the Nocturna Herons lying outside seemed to make the rest of the world disappear without a sound.
The other people hiding in the cave ran to the entrance in surprise to see what the commotion was. The danger had passed, but they didn’t know what had just occurred.
Only Oliver had an inkling of the matter at hand. He lowered his gaze and glanced at the Eye Sculpture in his hand. It was probably this that caused the Nocturna Heron to start mauling each other!
The Eye Sculpture had some inexplicable power that he couldn’t puzzle out.
Oliver stared at the Eye Sculpture for a while and pulled out an identification message he had saved. He had read it before, but when he studied the end again, he realized he didn’t seem to remember one
point. The material of the Eye Sculpture contained otherworldly meteorites, and animals would have strange hallucinations when they made eye contact with the Eye Sculpture.
Oliver’s heart skipped a beat when he saw this. He thought, “Damn! So that’s why the Nocturna Herons assaulted each other!”
Looking at the Eye Sculpture, animals would see strange hallucinations. No wonder they beat each other to death.
Wayne poked his head out of the cave and looked outside. It was very dark at night, and the fire at the entrance illuminated the ground outside the cave, which was covered with Nocturna Heron corpses.
There wasn’t a single Nocturna Heron of them left, save for the mutilated carcasses strewn about.
Simon jumped out of the cave, swinging his blade to chop down a tree that was as thick as an arm. He cleaved away a stick about three feet long and then poked at the Nocturna Heron’s corpses with it.
None of them moved. They were all dead.
Simon was surprised but stayed observant. He really couldn’t hear nor see any more Nocturna Herons.
Wayne also got out of the cave to inspect the scene. Louis and Yoseph exited after him, and there was no movement outside
the cave.
Sienna hurriedly came over to tug at Oliver’s sleeve, asking him, “Why are you all dazed? What’s wrong? Are you frightened?”
“I… I’m fine,” Oliver mumbled when he snapped out of it and stuffed the Eye Sculpture into his backpack. This relic was not a simple object, maybe the secret of the Tristar Treasure was connected
to it.
Gunther also hobbled out of the cave with his cane. Hailey hurriedly rushed over to support him while Gabriel stalked out with his teeth bared.
The back of his head wasn’t bleeding anymore, but it was still throbbing. When he get out of the cave, his mouth dropped open at the sight that greeted him.
Simply put, it was a bloodbath. It was terrifying.
Simon prodded the ground and carefully checked everywhere to see if there were any birds that had not perished yet. This was the terrifying lethality of the Nocturna Heron. Even he couldn’t block two consecutive attacks from them.
There were nearly a thousand birds, and only nine of them left. But even if there were ninety or even nine hundreds of them, their arms would still be rendered useless after one blow.
However, now that the dead Nocturna Herons were gone and the ones that fled had disappeared, no bird would come out and harm them.
Simon hadn’t figured out the reason, and Wayne couldn’t think of it either. Gabriel asked Oliver in confusion, “Mr. Eastwood, what happened to the Nocturna Herons? Why did they try and obliterate each other?”
Oliver shook his head. “I don’t know,” he lied.
The reason must be the Eye Sculpture, but Oliver didn’t say it. He had to keep some secrets to himself. And more
importantly, he hadn’t fully cracked the secrets of the Eye Sculpture yet.
“Mr. Fox, the Nocturna Herons are dead anyway. The ones that fled wouldn’t dare show up again. Can’t we go outside the cave entrance and set up a tent until dawn? It’s still early.”
It was only 9 p.m. at the moment, and there were nearly ten hours left until dawn.
Gunther nodded and said, “It’s fine with me. I have to rest anyway.”
Louis and Yoseph made haste to start setting up the tents. With Wayne and Simon joining in, they set up five tents in half an hour.
Out of his own volition, Louis told Gunther about the tasks assigned. “Mr. Fox, I’ll take the night watch first. It will be two hours for each turn. After that, Yoseph will keep guard for two hours, followed by Wayne and Simon. It’ll be almost daybreak after we take turns.”
Hailey helped her father into the tent. Gabriel couldn’t fall asleep, so he chatted with Louis. Oliver and Sienna also hid away in a tent and spoke to each other in soft voices.
Louis did not dare fall asleep. There were unidentified things in the cave, and nobody knew if any monsters might emerge from the shadows. Anyway, there was nothing good both inside and out. Due to fear, he chose to keep watch until dawn rather than sleep.
Oliver was the only one who knew that the Nocturna Herons fled because of his Eye Sculpture. Since those creatures were afraid of the Eye Sculpture, other animals and beasts might also be discouraged to come close.
So with the Eye Sculpture in his possession, at least he could let half of his guard down.
Whether it was inside or outside the cave, he couldn’t rest assured. The Blind Viper and other giant monsters in the cave and the Nocturna Herons outside were all deadly.
Wayne and Simon had the same thought. They were not worried about themselves but about Oliver. While they were alert, they guarded Oliver and Sienna’s tent. At the tiniest disturbance, they would strike without hesitation.
Sienna chatted with Oliver for a while before her eyelids started to shut. As she continued speaking, she fell asleep on Oliver’s arm.
Oliver looked down at Sienna’s delicate face. Her eyelashes were long, and she was indeed beautiful.
Sienna used to be a tough girl who did not know a single thing about being as gentle as other women. But since she started liking Oliver, she gradually became more feminine, even acting cute and relying on him every once in a while.
Oliver sighed internally, wondering if this trip could cure Sienna’s Blood Malediction.
If they couldn’t cure it, he would accompany her then. Now, they both had the Blood Malediction eye pattern on them anyway. If they died, they would die together.
But Gunther probably wouldn’t be able to make it up the mountain. At the moment, his condition was as if he was hanging onto a thin thread. Any breath could very well be his last.
If Gunther died, Hailey would be heartbroken.
Thinking of Hailey, Oliver felt his heart also inexplicably start to ache.
If possible, he would try his best to satisfy Gunther’s last wish. If not for him, then for Hailey. Oliver was afraid that he would never be able to repay her kindness in this life.