She was getting closer—a woman, her entire body snow-white. Her skin looked like cracked ice, her eyes an icy blue. She wore a white hooded robe, a beige vest, gray jeans, and was barefoot.
Swinging from her chest was a half-circular object, its left side exposed and carved with the number 013.
With a whoosh, black smoke swirled around, curling as if to devour everything in its path—a predatory supernatural intent.
"So fast. The way these entities devour each other is terrifying."
I saw Entity 016 throw a punch, but what shocked me was that Entity 013 actually dodged, pressing one hand against 016's chest. With a crackling sound, a Frostblossom instantly formed on 016's chest.
"Get farther away, Ethan Zhang. I just hope the Path of the Four Guardians that 016 mentioned still exists."
Suddenly, Entity 013 kicked 016 in the ribs. With a ripping sound, I saw pale blue Frostblossom icicles instantly pierce through 016's body, riddling him with holes. He screamed in agony.
With a crack, the Frostblossom on 016's chest exploded. His expression grew serious. Shards of Frostblossom shot toward me. Instinctively, I ignited Crimson Flame and dodged quickly, but one Frostblossom icicle still pierced my shoulder.
A stabbing pain surged through my body, and the suffocating cold began to freeze my blood. Eyes wide, I watched as my shoulder slowly swelled, the blood inside truly frozen solid by the Frostblossom icicle.
With a bang, my entire shoulder burst open, Crimson Flame erupting. I looked over—Entity 013 was quietly watching me, head raised. Not far away, Entity 016 was completely frozen, his body covered in supernatural ice.
"Hey, don't underestimate me. Why don't you go to the Saints' place and eat them instead?"
With a boom, Entity 016 scrambled to his feet, shards of ice scattering from his body. He spat out a puff of black smoke with a hiss.
Entity 013 let out a cold, chilling laugh.
"It's troublesome. Those guys—the Saints—are annoying, but they're not that tasty. Besides being annoying, they're irrelevant to me."
My heart skipped a beat. Entity 013 suddenly vanished into the snow, and when she reappeared, she was already locked in combat with Entity 016.
With a bang, Entity 013's right hand, like a club, smashed down toward 016's head. 016 quickly raised both arms and blocked the blow. I saw his feet trembling and his smoke-wreathed arms beginning to freeze.
"Let me take you somewhere. The people there might know where the Saints are."
Entity 013 spun once in the air, laughing loudly as she landed three or four meters from 016. Now, 016 was half-kneeling on the ground, looking utterly tormented.
"Time to eat."
Entity 013 sneered, and in a flash, she lunged at 016, her face twisted and mouth wide, ready to bite down on his shoulder.
With a boom, Crimson Flame ignited. I swung my fist at Entity 013's gaping mouth—a wave of icy coldness. I felt my skin pierced as her pale blue eyes glared at me, full of hostility.
A creaking sound echoed as I kept unleashing flames, but no matter how much power I poured in, the fire only wrapped around my fist's surface. Against this chill, the flames were utterly defeated.
"You want to die..."
Suddenly, Entity 016 moved beside me, pressing both hands against Entity 013's heaving chest.
"It's still not clear who will win!"
"Bastard."
Entity 013 cursed. For a moment, I wanted to let go, but then, with a crack, half my fist was bitten clean off. Entity 013's body shuddered violently, the layer of cracked ice covering her began to fall away, and black embers started crawling across her skin.
With a bang, Entity 013's front exploded, releasing a fierce cold current. Instantly, my body froze, my consciousness seemed to freeze too. I tilted my head back, unable to make a sound, and gradually lost awareness.
A wave of cold swept over me, and I felt my hands go numb. I snapped my eyes open and, in a daze, saw Entity 016 floating in the air, arms spread wide. When I focused again, 016 had two Frostblossom spears crossed through his body, suspended in the air and unable to move. The black embers had faded, and black blood dripped steadily from the spears.
Entity 013 sat on the ground not far away, clutching her chest and looking pained. She had returned to a human appearance—sweet-faced, round cheeks, and a curvaceous figure.
"Soon, I'll eat you."
Entity 013 glared at me viciously as she spoke. My limbs were icy cold, my hands completely numb and seemingly ruined by the frost. I struggled to stand upright.
"Why do you kill each other? Aren't you all..."
"Exactly because we're the same, that's why we want to kill each other. After all, finding something delicious to eat in this world isn't easy."
With a crack, I broke both my hands. Crimson Flame immediately poured out, and a new arm grew in their place. Entity 013 watched me warily and stood up.
"Who are you?"
"My name is Ethan Zhang. I'm a traveler who stumbled into this world."
Entity 013 didn't press further. Instead, she strode toward Entity 016, clearly intent on devouring him. I quickly stepped forward to block her path.
"Can we talk this over?"
After a long moment, Entity 013 finally nodded. I breathed a sigh of relief.
I stared at Entity 013's chest and asked. She shook her head.
"None of that matters now. All I want is to devour Entity 016."
Suddenly, Entity 016 behind me struggled. With a crack, the ice spears shattered instantly. His body was quickly covered in black embers, and with a whoosh, he dashed off into the distance.
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A cracking sound echoed as cold air rose from Entity 013, layers of frost appearing on her skin.
With a whoosh, Entity 013 appeared in front of Entity 016 before he could react. I stared at the two coldly, a black aura rising from my shoulder.
"Enough, stop it."
I stepped between the two, grabbing their raised hands. Both looked at me in astonishment.
"It seems you really are strong, hiding your power, aren't you?"
Entity 016 muttered something. I said nothing more and let go of their hands. Entity 013 seemed a bit more subdued now.
Soon, we reached the second floor of a building on the Snowfield. It was covered in snow and almost indistinguishable from a distance.
The building looked odd, but inside it was well-equipped—except for the roof, which was missing.
Through their back-and-forth, I began to understand. In this world, so-called 'evolvers' possess a certain level of consciousness, but only low-level intelligence. Beings like them, with full human intelligence, are extremely rare.
Those gradually gaining intelligence are usually killed and eaten before evolving to their level.
So, there are many Forsaken Relics in this world, but very few Forsaken. New Forsaken arrive every day, but they're quickly devoured by beings like these. Night is the best time to hunt—most Forsaken enter at night, when people are asleep.
"Hey, have you seen the Saints' dwelling nearby? Weren't you in the rocky area before? How did you end up in the Snowfield?"
Entity 016 asked bluntly. Entity 013 shook her head.
"I only arrived three days ago. I came because I smelled food here."
"Can we set out now?"
I asked, and Entity 016 stood up. We took off and flew, with Entity 013 following close behind, her Frostblossom aura trailing in the air.
"Still planning to eat me?"
Entity 013 nodded.
"Until this guy leaves us, I won't eat you for now. But the moment he goes, I'll devour you."
As we flew, everything was blanketed in white. Most strange things were hidden under the snow—if you didn't look closely, you'd never notice them.
Only seven fruits left. I just hope the Four Sacred Realm that 016 mentioned still exists.
No matter how I asked, neither 013 nor 016 remembered who branded their bodies with numbers. That struck me as odd. If, as they said, Forsaken don't always devour each other, but it happens sometimes, then they must have evolved from mindless Forsaken.
But when it comes to evolution, both of them drew a complete blank. There are still plenty of unknown monsters underground and in the sky—like the black worm-dragon I saw. Such creatures aren't very powerful, but nobody wants to eat them; they're too big and too much trouble.
"Right, let me ask you something."
I stopped, and both Entity 013 and Entity 016 looked at me in confusion.
"Why don't you go to the Saints' place and eat them instead?"
"Alone, it's impossible. We can't beat them."
Entity 016 said, and Entity 013 coldly added:
"It's troublesome. Those guys are annoying, but they're not that tasty. Besides being annoying, they're irrelevant to me."
I fell into quiet thought. If someone intentionally gave them these numbers, why not rule over them and build a kingdom in this world? That would seem the natural thing to do.
But then I reconsidered—maybe it's unnecessary. Even if you built a kingdom here, it would be meaningless.
"Let me take you somewhere. The people there might know where the Saints are."
Entity 013 suddenly spoke. I nodded immediately. She pointed to a distant place marked by a band of black and white.
"It's far. It'll take five days to get there from here."
I didn't hesitate and nodded.
"Let's go. Speed up."