Transmigrated as the Cuck.... WTF!!!-Chapter 182. A Wall of Fog

Kaelira stared with her mouth hanging open, eyes wide in disbelief as Leon calmly cleaved through another wave of monsters like he was slicing through paper.

Snowflakes danced in his wake, and the battlefield bent to his presence like it was a stage crafted for him alone.

She finally whispered, "...Wait a damn minute. We had that kind of monster in our arsenal all this time... and no one told me?"

Verena scoffed without even glancing at her. "Because you didn’t need to know, duh?"

Kaelira slowly turned her head, narrowing her eyes suspiciously at Verena. "You didn’t know either, did you?"

Verena flinched, her body stiffening. "What? No! I knew! I’d seen him duel Zyon before!"

Kaelira wasn’t convinced for a second. She leaned in slightly, brow raised. "If you sayyyyy sooo..."

Verena shot her a glare. "You don’t sound convinced."

Kaelira smirked, voice deadpan. "Yeah, maybe ’cause I’m fucking not."

Verena’s brow twitched violently, a vein bulging near her temple. "You—!"

"Shut up!!!"

Mia’s voice cut through the rising tension like a blade.

Both Kaelira and Verena snapped their attention toward her.

Mia’s hands were clenched at her sides, and her chest rose and fell heavily. "Can you two stop bickering for one fucking minute?! If you hate each other so much, then stop sticking together like glue! What’s the point of staying in a group when there’s zero teamwork between you two?!"

The scolding left the air tense and heavy. Neither of them dared respond immediately.

Verena lowered her gaze and muttered weakly, "I’m... sorry."

Kaelira sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. "Yeah. Me too."

Mia exhaled, pinching the bridge of her nose. Her voice softened. "I shouldn’t have snapped either... I’m just—" She paused. "I’m not in the mood right now."

Kaelira’s expression relaxed. She moved closer and placed a hand on Mia’s shoulder. "We get it. You’re worried about Cassius." She offered a small, wry smile. "How about this? Instead of stewing in worry, let’s do something. Let’s go find him."

Verena blinked. "What? You’re serious?"

Kaelira nodded, her voice resolute. "I know it’s dangerous. But every monster in this damn forest is charging in this direction. Which means, if we move opposite—somewhere weak, or thinned out—we might be able to slip past and reach wherever Cassius is."

Verena’s eyes suddenly narrowed, a thought sparking behind them. She muttered, "Wait... wait a second."

Mia and Kaelira turned to her, confused. "What is it?" Mia asked.

Verena gulped, her brows furrowed tightly. "Don’t you two find it weird that all the monsters are coming from the same direction?"

Mia paused. Her heartbeat slowed. The thought struck her like lightning. "You mean..."

Verena nodded slowly. "Yes. They’re not surrounding us. They’re not attacking from multiple flanks. It’s like they’re fleeing from something behind them... or chasing something terrifying ahead."

Kaelira rolled her eyes. "Oh gods, not this again. You two are overthinking things. They’re monsters, okay? Of course they’re going to charge head-on like lunatics. That’s what they do. They’re not military tacticians!"

Mia shook her head, her voice firmer now. "That’s not the point. The issue is directionality. They’re forming a single-file funnel of death. There’s no deviation. That’s not randomness—that’s fear or manipulation."

Kaelira groaned, dragging her hand down her face. "Nope. They’re monsters. Brain-dead things. It’s just how they behave. Stop turning this into some kind of horror mystery." She sighed. "Look, how about we don’t waste time arguing, and do something useful like finding Cassius? Sounds good?"

Mia and Verena exchanged glances—unconvinced, but also unwilling to drag the conversation further.

"...Fine," Verena relented, sighing. "Let’s look for a gap."

Mia nodded faintly. "Right."

The three of them quickly moved, weaving through the chaos, sticking close to the tree line. The problem wasn’t the monsters—they were fixated, entirely consumed by Leon’s overwhelming presence and the snowstorm of death he brought with him. But that very single-mindedness created a problem.

The horde wasn’t spreading.

They weren’t clumping together, or breaking formation. They marched like insects, like waves of darkness funneled through one route. It made finding a breach impossible.

They followed the outer edge of the horde, trying to find a crack—a weak spot—anything.

Minutes passed.

Then—finally—at a distance of nearly two kilometers from the main battlefield, they found something.

A broken chain in the stream of monsters. A bend in the line.

And what they saw beyond it made their blood run cold.

More.

Hundreds—no, thousands—of monsters marching. Not toward Leon. Not toward the students.

But toward a point deeper in the forest.

Marching like they were being pulled.

Kaelira tilted her head, baffled. "Why are they ignoring us...?"

Verena’s face turned pale. "They’re not attacking us."

Mia’s hands trembled.

"They’re going somewhere," she whispered. "Something’s calling them."

Kaelira leaned back slightly, a hesitant smile tugging at her lips as she scratched the back of her neck. "Okay, this might sound totally crazy... but hear me out—what if we, I dunno, follow them?"

Silence.

Then—

SMACK!

Verena’s hand collided with Kaelira’s face with a resounding slap that echoed through the trees.

Kaelira staggered back, clutching her cheek, eyes wide with shock. "What the actual fuck!?!"

Verena didn’t flinch. She stared Kaelira dead in the eye, her voice sharp and laced with righteous fury. "You deserved that, you brain-dead lunatic! Are you seriously suggesting we trail a horde of monsters? What do you think this is, a parade? Who the hell do you think you are—Leon? Art? Zyon?!"

Kaelira snarled. "That hurt!"

"Good!" Verena barked. "Maybe it’ll knock some damn sense into you!"

And then—

"I think..." Mia’s quiet voice broke through the tension. She was staring toward the fading silhouettes of the monsters, her fingers curled tightly around her sleeves. "I think we should go..."

A beat of silence.

Then Verena spun so fast it was as if someone flipped a switch.

She dropped to one knee with a dramatic flair, grabbing Mia’s hand like a knight before a queen. "At your service, my queen. Lead the way."

Kaelira blinked. Then blinked again.

A beat later, she burst into laughter. "I swear, I’m gonna crack your skull open someday. You bipolar lunatic!"

Verena ignored her entirely, her full attention locked on Mia. She stood up, brushing imaginary dust off her clothes like a loyal servant ready to charge into war.

With the mood slightly lifted, the trio began to tail the endless stream of grotesque creatures, weaving through the forest like silent shadows. Their pace was slow and measured, deliberately timed to stay behind the rear line of the horde.

But of course, stealth wasn’t without hiccups.

Verena stepped on a brittle tree branch once.

Snap.

The sound echoed loud enough to stop a heart, and she froze, breath caught.

Mia sneezed once—softly—but it still made Kaelira flinch.

Only Kaelira moved without a trace, like a seasoned predator. Her steps made no sound, her body moved like wind cutting through silk. She was the only one who truly fit in this game of shadowing monsters.

Yet despite their occasional blunders, something off became more apparent with every step.

The monsters didn’t react. At all.

They didn’t look. They didn’t sniff. They didn’t veer even a millimeter off course.

They were completely, utterly ignoring them.

Verena whispered, eyes sharp and narrowed. "This isn’t normal... something serious is happening. Monsters don’t just ignore prey. Especially not when it’s this close."

Kaelira, for once, didn’t argue. Her voice came out subdued. "Yeah. I hate to say it, but I agree. Something’s seriously off. Are we... absolutely sure we want to keep going? I know I suggested it, but now I’m reconsidering."

Mia didn’t hesitate. "Yes," she said. Her voice was firm, resolute. "If this leads us to Cassius, then I’m going. No matter what."

Kaelira sighed. "Can’t lie, I still don’t like this one bit."

Verena rolled her eyes. "No one’s asking your opinion."

Kaelira shot her a glare. "It’s an opinion. I’ll give it whenever I want, girly."

Verena just clicked her tongue and looked away, choosing to ignore her.

The forest trembled beneath the thunderous march of the monstrous legion, but after following them for so long, even the tremors began to feel like background noise. A new normal.

For Kaelira, it was easy. Her balance was unshakable, her steps practiced. Verena and Mia stumbled more often, still not entirely used to navigating ground that rippled like a dying heartbeat.

They followed for what felt like hours—winding deeper and deeper into the unknown until the light of the sun itself began to dim.

And then they saw it.

A wall.

Not a literal one—but a fog so dense and unnatural it looked like a slab of reality had been torn away and replaced by something... wrong. An entire region of the forest was swallowed by it. Pale. Luminous. Like ghostly silk.

The monsters marched into it without pause. And once they entered, they vanished.

No noise. No screeches. No exit.

Gone.

Verena’s voice cracked as she stared at the shimmering mist. "What... the hell is that? What kind of demonic dimension are we looking at?!"

Kaelira’s face went pale, her voice trembling. "Yeah... fuck no. That place screams death. I don’t care if you two decide to go off and die nobly—I’m not stepping a toe in there."

Mia stared at the fog. Her hands were shaking. Her lips pressed into a thin line. "It’s fine... we’re far enough from the horde now. Let’s not go inside."

Kaelira smiled in relief and reached for Mia’s hand. "Now that—that’s a plan I can get behind."

The three girls turned away from the strange fog, moving toward the fringes of the forest instead. Whatever lay beyond that dense veil of mist, it was not for them.

Instead, they scanned the forest’s edge, hoping for signs of Cassius—or any clue that he had passed through.

But something still gnawed at the edge of their minds.

Why had the monsters moved so perfectly?

Why had they ignored everything?

What... was inside that fog?

And why, even from this distance, did it feel like something was watching them back?