The Alien Within

Chapter 82: Supermonkey Carnage!

Ikehara stopped in his tracks and glanced back at the group. What had started as a fifty-member contingent was now down to forty-nine, a subtle loss that gnawed at him. Inside, he wasn't pleased—his plans to gradually chip away at the group's numbers were being thwarted—but he masked his irritation with a lazy, indifferent smile.

Adrian, however, wasn't fooled. His march forward was swift, his face hard with fury. The air around him seemed to hum with barely contained anger as he stormed towards Ikehara.

"You didn't tell us everything, did you?" Adrian's voice was sharp, accusing. His gaze was intense, piercing through Ikehara like a blade.

"You intentionally led us into that swarm. If not for her," he pointed at Tessa, who was still regaining her strength, "most of the group would have fallen prey to those... things."

Adrian's hands clenched, his posture radiating an imminent threat. He was ready to launch an attack when Ikehara, still wearing that infuriating smile, spoke in a calm, dismissive tone. "You have her. Why worry about something as trivial as flies? Is it even worth discussing?"

The nonchalance in Ikehara's voice only stoked Adrian's anger, but something in the way Ikehara spoke made

Adrian pause. As the pieces fell into place in his mind, he realized the truth: Ikehara wasn't telling them about the dangers because he didn't feel the need to.

He expected Tessa to handle everything, and each time he attempted to whittle down the group, Tessa's interventions thwarted him. She was the obstacle standing between Ikehara and his plans to reduce their numbers. But that wouldn't stop Ikehara from trying again.

Adrian's jaw clenched, but he held himself back. There was no point in attacking someone who was clearly playing a longer game. For now, they needed to focus on getting Tessa back to full strength.

Ikehara, content with the brief exchange, shrugged and began looking for a suitable place to rest, while the rest of the group huddled together, waiting for Tessa to recuperate from the immense energy she had expended.

A little distance away, Nymff sat on the grassy ground beside Nyala, their quiet conversation contrasting with the tension that had just passed. Nyala, her eyes thoughtful, leaned closer to Nymff, her voice a gentle whisper. "I know it's none of my business, but I've been wondering... Do you love Adrian?"

Nymff blinked, caught off guard by the sudden question. She wasn't used to Nyala initiating conversations like this, especially not about something so personal. Nyala, who usually stuck close to Tessa, was now sitting beside her, asking a question that stirred something deep within her.

"I..." Nymff stammered, unsure of how to express the swirling feelings inside her. "I can't be myself when I look into his eyes. My heart... it flutters every time I hear his voice. He... he makes me feel like I'm standing on the edge of something I can't understand." Her words came out in a rush, but she still felt like she hadn't captured the depth of her feelings.

Nyala was stunned, realizing that her earlier assumptions had been far too modest. Nymff didn't just have a simple crush on Adrian—her feelings were consuming, overwhelming, bordering on obsession. It was a kind of love that seemed to eclipse everything else.

For a moment, Nyala didn't know what to say. She had asked out of curiosity, but now, faced with the raw intensity of Nymff's emotions, she felt out of her depth.

"I'm sorry, Nymff," Nyala said softly, trying to offer some comfort. "I don't know how to help with this. The moon goddess... she's invested in Adrian, as you know. But..." Nyala hesitated before continuing. "I think you should follow your heart. Don't bury your feelings."

Nymff looked down, a little lost in her emotions, and Nyala, sensing the awkwardness, rose to her feet. She gave a small, sympathetic smile before turning to leave, her expression a mixture of regret and helplessness.

As she walked away, the tension between emotions hung in the air. Nyala's advice lingered, but Nymff was left in the same swirling confusion, unsure of what following her heart truly meant when it felt like her heart was pulling her towards something she could never fully have.

The hour of rest was short-lived.

A low growl, like the rumble of an impending storm, filled the air. The ground seemed to shiver as the sound echoed around them. Then, suddenly, from the shadows of the surrounding trees, they appeared: a horde of monkeys, nearly 200 strong, each wielding long wooden staff-poles like warriors charging into battle. Their eyes gleamed with feral intensity, their faces twisted into savage snarls. These weren't ordinary monkeys—they were warriors, fierce and wild, with dark, matted fur and teeth bared in menacing grins.

Their attack was swift, too fast for anyone to react in time. The monkeys howled as they charged, their staff-poles raised, their screams turning the quiet air into a battlefield. Before the Rhemonic people could even process what was happening, ten of their men had already been beaten down, lying in the dirt with bruises and broken bones.

Nyala's eyes flared with anger as she saw one of the monkeys gleefully bouncing on the chest of one of her fallen comrades, beating him mercilessly with its staff. A deep growl erupted from her throat. "Enough!" she roared, launching herself forward with the speed and precision of a missile.

With one powerful swoop, she drove her spear into the monkey's skull, its shrill screech cut off instantly as it slumped to the ground, lifeless. Blood dripped from the tip of her spear, but Nyala didn't stop to savor the victory.

Two more monkeys, having witnessed the brutal death of their comrade, lunged at her in a blind rage. Nyala sidestepped gracefully, her movements fluid and precise. She yanked her spear out of the dead monkey and, in one smooth motion, plunged it into the gut of the nearest attacker. As the monkey screeched in pain, she spun on her heel, whipping the spear out of its body, and in a graceful arc, drove it into the last one's heart. Three monkeys down, but more were coming—fast.

The battlefield descended into chaos as the group fought back.

"First those irritating flies made one of my brothers insane, and now these damned monkeys!" Ecdy's voice rang out in frustration as he gripped his spear tightly, plunging it into a monkey's gut. He twisted it viciously, the sharp blade tearing through flesh as he gritted his teeth in fury. "I hate Akanon city already!"

In the middle of the chaos, Adrian remained unflinching, standing calmly at the center of the storm.

With a wave of his hand, he reduced the attacking monkeys to ash, their bodies disintegrating into fine gray dust before they could even reach him. Each wave of his hand sent several monkeys screaming into oblivion, their wooden poles dropping to the ground, clattering uselessly as they vanished.

Adrian glanced over at the group of Rhemonic warriors gathering behind him, seeking shelter from the relentless assault. A smirk tugged at the corner of his lips. "Look at this," he muttered, half-amused. "A bunch of warrior monkeys—against actual monkeys. You'd think you'd all be better at handling this kind of thing. But don't worry," he added with a mockingly casual tone, "I'll babysit you."

More of the Rhemonic warriors rushed to Adrian's side, at least twenty of them now, watching as he nonchalantly continued to obliterate the monkeys with effortless flicks of his wrist. They stared in awe as he barely broke a sweat, reducing each screeching attacker to nothing more than scattered ashes.

Nymff, however, was far from calm. Rage burned in her chest, her movements wild and driven by emotion. She stabbed each monkey with fury, her blade striking out again and again, fueled by the frustration she had kept pent up inside. By her side, Abdel fought with equal intensity, the two of them forming a deadly pair as they cut through the onslaught.

Meanwhile, the twins, Lhaze and Lhize, seemed to be having the time of their lives. They danced through the battlefield, their movements perfectly synchronized as if the fight were nothing more than a playful competition. Every time one of them killed a monkey, the other would smirk and immediately try to outdo the last strike, their laughter echoing through the chaos.

The battle raged on for what felt like an eternity, the air thick with the smell of blood and dust. Yet, despite the relentless attacks, the group fought with everything they had, pushing back the savage wave of monkeys.

Finally, after what felt like hours, the last monkey fell, its staff clattering to the ground as it let out a final shriek of defeat. The group stood among the fallen bodies, panting, bruised, but alive. Slowly, the chaotic noise of battle died down, replaced by an eerie silence.

The monkeys were gone, and peace, however brief, had returned.

Nyala, her chest heaving with exertion, wiped the blood off her spear and glanced at the others. "Is it always going to be like this?" she muttered, half to herself, half to anyone who would listen.

Adrian, standing tall and calm as always, dusted off his hands and smirked. "If we're lucky," he said with a dry chuckle, "this is just the warm-up."