Chapter 131. Camouflaged Predator
Aiden eventually arrived at the edge of the mountain range after killing and navigating complex webs of assassins. The moment he arrived at the edge of the mountain range, his face altering cream’s effect wore off, revealing his original facial appearance.
Before him stretched the Ashen Wasteland. Aiden’s crimson eyes narrowed as he scanned the terrain of the wasteland before he ventures into it.
Crimson volcanic liquids spewed randomly out of dark rocky grounds.
Some of the volcanic liquids flowed along several courses and formed several volcanic streams.
Smoke rose from the volcanic liquids and streams. The smoke aggregated in the air and turned into thick poisonous fogs that reduced visibility considerably.
Aiden could see crimson phantoms shifting in and out of the fogs. Those were the chaotic beasts of the Ashen Wasteland. Whenever the crimson phantoms moved, trails of crimson flames flickered in and out of the fog. The chaotic beasts here had the flame affinity.
"Even with my enhanced senses, those chaotic beasts look like shifting phantoms. Their complexion has blended so seamlessly with the environment in the fog if one does not pay close attention, they won’t notice them. Thankfully, I can still see their silhouettes shifting across the place. It seems I will have to fool these chaotic beasts to hunt them," Aiden thought.
"There’s nowhere to hide here. No caves. No mountain ranges in this wasteland. It’s literally flat volcanic land of poisonous fog full of assassin based chaotic beasts. DeepSea really thought this mission through," Aiden thought.
Several blobs of blood appeared before Aiden.
Some of the blobs of blood transformed into crimson armor and graced Aiden’s figure from head to toe. Apart from protecting his body from the attacks of chaotic beasts and volcanic liquids, Aiden covered himself with the crimson armor to avoid the poisonous mass of the Ashen Wasteland. Despite the fact that he had monstrous healing and regeneration, Aiden didn’t want to push his luck.
The remaining blobs of blood merged into the shape of a large shifting amoeba like crimson mass. The mass had a very hollow interior. Aiden entered the interior of the mass.
He manipulated the floating amoeba shaped mass. The mouth of the construct closed completely.
The plan was to blend in with the shifting phantomlike chaotic beasts while he hunts them. That way, not only would he avoid being targeted by them, he’d be able to covertly hunt them and absorb their blood essence.
The crimson amoeba-like shifting mass Aiden was in, floated into the Ashen Wasteland.
Aiden’s enhanced vision, hearing and smell operated at full capacity. Every movement, every smell, every sudden shift in sound was on his radar. The shifting phantomlike chaotic beasts were very easy for Aiden to notice. Also, anytime some volcanic liquid spewed out of the ground, Aiden controlled the amoeba-like construct to avoid them.
Several rank 3 chaotic beasts saw the crimson amoeba-like construct. Instead of attacking it, they veered past it, leaving trails of fire in their wake.
Aiden heaved a large sigh of relief.
"It worked." He was very confident that it would work. But he was human. He was naturally nervous. He could only feel at ease after what he envisioned became a reality.
Thousands of blobs of his blood appeared before him in the hollow construct he floated in. They transformed into extremely tiny but very condensed sharp needles.
They shot out of a small opening Aiden made in the construct and moved towards different directions in the Ashen Wasteland.
The small opening in the amoeba-like shifting construct closed.
The crimson condensed tiny needles shot through the fog of the wasteland.
They moved with cold calculated precision towards rank 2 chaotic beasts shifting in and out of the fog.
Puchi... Puchi... Puchi...
The crimson needles pierced through the bodies of the creatures, killing them.
Dull thuds and splashes resounded across the hot volcanic rocky floors as several creatures fell on the ground and into the volcanic ponds.
Aiden absorbed their blood essence.
The crimson needles kept killing rank 2 creatures with precise ease.
Had those who wanted Aiden dead seen this sight, they would have questioned their life choices. The crimson wasteland, which was supposed to become his grave, had turned into a hunting ground for Aiden Vhorn.
He killed rank 2 creatures, then kept absorbing their blood essence.
The rank 3 creatures, sentient, and able to reason, noticed something was off. Why were many weaker comrades dying?
What could have been causing this occurrence?
However they found nothing out of place. This shocked them.
Aiden, studying the rank 3 chaotic beasts, noticed they were realizing something was off. He ceased his killing.
He waited for them to let his guard down. Aiden waited patiently for about three days. Then, he resumed killing rank 2 beasts again.
The rank 3 chaotic beasts were searching for the culprits of the sudden deaths in their territory. However, the person was hiding in a construct he had made to camouflage himself among them.
***
Soon, a group of people appeared at the edge of the Ashen Wasteland.
The group of people were the beginner rank 3 assassins who had decided to hunt down Aiden Vhorn in the Ashen Wasteland.
"Are we seriously about to enter this place?"
"I feel like I’m entering some hell in some fantasy novel or something."
"Just the sight of this place gives me chills."
"Alright guys. Enough," the guy who spurred them all on to come here said. "We made a decision to hunt Aiden Vhorn down and leave this place. We can’t just turn back can we?"
"That’s true."
"Yeah. Let’s do this."
The group of assassins dove into the wasteland.
****
Somewhere deep into the Ashen Wasteland.
Aiden was currently floating above the wasteland in the shifting amoeba-like construct. He was currently taking a break from slaughtering a large number of legendary rank 2 chaotic beasts in the wasteland. He was taking things slow. He did not want to risk anything and draw the attention of the rank 3 chaotic beasts. They were sentient and could reason. He could not treat them like mindless rank 2 and rank 1 chaotic beasts.
Suddenly, a glint flashed through his eyes.
"As expected of assassins sent by top tier industries. Not all of them can be easily tricked. They actually figured things out despite the fact that I left no traces behind. But this is all for the best. Not everyone has enhanced vision, hearing and smell. The wasteland will get rid of them for me."
Aiden observed them. The assassins dove into the wasteland. They didn’t know they had just signed their death warrants.