The vultures were too numerous, and all of them combined was similar to the power of a high-level zombie beast. Something she could barely control. However, if it was just a smaller flock, she could still handle it.

Suddenly, all of the vultures closest to the four of them stopped, and they abruptly changed their direction.

Heading toward Serena.

Meanwhile, Cassias and her two parents focused on attacking the vultures, killing the remaining ones she couldn’t control.

One by one, the vulture corpses fell.

"Attack them, aaah!" Serena shrieked like a banshee. The vultures were pecking her everywhere. "You dare to be disobedient?!"

Zerra could feel a strong power, like a wave of huge ocean waves, trying to snatch back the control from her. She persisted, resulting in a tug of war.

Some vultures still managed to take a few pecks at Serena, and blood spilled out, revealing a gruesome sight as her skin became bloody. They even pecked at her deformed cheek, pulling out a few maggots in the process.

"Serena?" Zerra called out, knowing she could hear her. She suddenly thought of something. "Did you and Anita plan all of this?"

Serena’s choked laughter echoed through the valley again, and she croaked in response to Zerra’s question. "So what..."

"Just answer me, did she do it or not?" She pushed again for the question.

"She is so jealous... envy... and full of hatred..." Serena suddenly let out a strange laughter, half-choking. "She blamed... you... for not saving... her boyfriend..."

She laughed again, her voice turned shrill, "So similar to me..."

Now, they all understood Anita’s motive. It was just another story about the farmer and the snake.

Zerra shook her head and focused on controlling the vultures again, because Serena had taken a moment of inattention to snatch the control from her again.

Honestly, she was lucky, because she had Cassias and her parents as her supports, who were chasing away or obliterating the vultures. Meanwhile, Serena had no one on her side but herself.

If only there were only the two of them, it would have been hard to say who would win.

Each time a vulture pecked Serena, she would lose a small chunk of flesh. The attack coming for all the direction made her let out a deafening shriek, filled with pain yet also madness.

A few hours later, the four of them, all battered and exhausted, laid down on the valley’s floor, on top of a grass. Cassias had swept all of them into his space, sending the three to a clean place somewhere in the valley. He took care of the aftermath—burning the zombie beasts corpses.

The corpses were numerous, forming a small hill.

Meanwhile, after a rough battle using mental power, Zerra was completely exhausted. She was nestled in her mom’s arms, sleeping in her fox form. Unfortunately, besides the four of them, no one had survived.

Even Ashley had perished.

Serena had been reduced into a puddle of blood and eaten by her own army of vultures.

Cassias came back a while later, and they all rested there. Everything became quiet, a comfortable kind of quietness.

"Her energy is all depleted." Cassias suddenly spoke, wanting to snatch the fluffy and cute fox from Nerith yet didn’t dare to. "I can give her spring water."

Nerith’s face was calm, and she smiled. "Then, I will thank you, Cassias."

She waited for him to take out a bottle of spring water. For one full minute, no one moved. Until Cassias inwardly sighed and took the bottle of spring water out of his inner space, feeling defeated.

"Is this your clan’s spring water?" Alaric sniffed it, watching as Nerith opened Zerra’s small mouth and controlled the water she drank.

"Yes." Cassias nodded and didn’t explain more.

There was a flash of pity on Alaric’s face, and he didn’t ask further. After they ate some crystal core, they all waited for Zerra to wake up.

"They are really zombie beasts..." Alaric trailed off, thinking. "But they should be native to this place."

"Some vultures tend to be solitary while some gather in groups. But even if they gather together, the sheer number shouldn’t be this many," Cassias chimed in.

"Is this someone’s deliberate act?" Nerith furrowed her brows. "Not that Serena girl, right?" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

"It’s the first time I have seen a case where animals can merge with humans." Alaric frowned. "The vulture case and the girl are unusual. How about you, Cassias? Have you found such a case before too?"

Cassias suddenly remembered Daniel, the experimental subject who was the first to show unusual characteristics. Even without awakening his power, mutated dogs were friendly toward him.

He had brought him along with them because he detected something not right with him. For a split second, he thought he had felt the aura of a certain unorthodox group in the celestial realm who had been wreaking havoc everywhere.

"There might be one, but it’s not clear whether the case has a similar situation. It’s unknown if the person might be a native to this mortal realm or celestial realm," Cassias answered.

He began to tell them about Daniel’s unusual characteristics.

Not long after, Zerra was roused from her sleep. Her eyelashes fluttered open, and she shook her small body, noticing a few giants looking at her.

She glanced at her paws and sighed. Can she even turn back this time?

Fortunately, she could.

They all rested for a bit more before planning to go back. It didn’t take long because the sky had gone darker. They didn’t want to stay for the night there, where many zombie beasts corpses had fallen.

So, they went back.

Anita’s scheme had left a bitter taste. It wasn’t that they felt close enough for her betrayal to hurt, but the fact that she could do such a thing against others.

She was overwhelmed by the grief of her boyfriend’s death, but she wanted others to feel the same and blamed others for his death. For her hatred, she was willing to sacrifice innocent people.

Alaric and Nerith knew Cassias couldn’t bring so many people unless he shifted to his real dragon form, so they went back to Zerra’s space.

Zerra and Cassias went back to the edge of the cliff, where all the ability users had gathered. Thankfully, Azir was alright. He was among the people who didn’t come down with them.

At this moment, all eyes were on them, wide in shock.