Chapter 1223 Crossing The Sinking Highlands Author's Note: Unedited Chapter ------------------------ "Whether or not they can see us, we can't stay here forever or we will lose," Gustav responded while moving towards the southern ledge of the tall black rock. At this point everyone had gotten up as well and began making their way to the ledge Gustav stood before. Gustav slowly lowered his figure and turned around while firmly holding onto the ledge. He made sure to position his feet properly on the rough parts of the rocks potruding out than normal before slowly letting go of the ledge. "We don't have all day guys," Gustav voiced out while looking up, after noticing no one else had gone over the ledge like him. "Technically we have over a day..." "Shut up E.E you know what I mean," The group began to carefully climb down along with Gustav at this point. They descended as quietly as they could. "It's good that we're picking a different zone to hide out after stacking life points. Climbing back up this would be death," Teemee voiced with both frustration and relief. The group was climbing down the back of the rock which was in the opposite direction of where the Beast that gave them a jumpscare approached from. Minutes into the descent, Yonda fingers pulled out a small pointy rock he had held onto for support. Clakkk! His body nearly slipped as he struggled to hold on while his lower body dangled due to sudden imbalance. claak! Claakk! "Hey what the hell?" Ria yelled from below as some of the small rocks that pulled out slammed onto his head and that of a few others. "My bad," Yonda voiced as he tried to place his hand on another protruding rock, only for the same occurrence to repeat itself. Clakkkk! Claakk! Bam! Bam! Bam! Some of the rocks slammed into Ria's forehead causing him to completely slip as more rocks rolled out making loud noises. "Arrrghhh!" Ria yelled as his body fell through the air. Fwwhoo! Gustav quickly reached out and grabbed Ria the instant he descended to his height. "I got you," Gustav consoled as his left arm trembled from Ria's weight. Ria swiftly reached out and clamped onto the rough rocks with his limbs. Gustav arms were finally free from the weight but he felt like his shoulder was a little out of place. 'Getting a feeling of deja vu here,' Gustav thought as he shook his left arm before placing it back on the rough parts of the rock. "Kiiirrrrhhhhh!" An incredibly loud screech suddenly rang in their ears announcing the approach of an incoming beast. "Everyone shhshh!" Gustav voiced internally with an expression that demanded silence. Everyone paused at this point, holding onto the rock firmly and completely keeping quiet. There was no doubt that the rocks that had pulled out of the surface of this giant rock had attracted the attention of whatever beast made that noise. Bang! The rock trembled a little as something rammed into it at the bottom but the tremor was so light, it could easily be ignored. Gustav could tell that it wasn't because whatever rammed into the rock was weak. It was because this was a green zone and the heaven rocks were very sturdy. The Beast at the bottom must have gotten blasted away after ramming into a green zone so Gustav had a look of relief at this point. "Let's keep going," Gustav voiced with a low tone. The group resumed climbing down at this point and tried not to make any noise this time. In about thirty minutes time, the group finally reached the bottom. Now that they were on the ground they could see how tall the heaven piercing rocks in the area were. It was like staring at a bunch of skyscrappers scattered all across the place with only around twenty feet distance away from each other. The visibility seemed even worse at the bottom as the towering rocks hindered proper vision. Fortunately, the map helped with this situation. The group began making their way forward quickly but carefully. Around forty minutes of their time had already been spent climbing down the rocks so they had only a little over five hours left. It took around twenty minutes of walking and scouring around the towering rocks before they finally left the region of heaven piercing rocks. < The sinking highlands > The map displayed their current location which was neither a green, red or yellow zone. This was one of the few places on the maps that served no purpose besides being a route to other locations. It might have beasts lurking and might not. There was no way to know till they scaled through. The region had several moutains by the sides and paths in between that had exalted as well as sloppy areas. However, as the name suggested, it was definitely a dangerous location. Gustav had picked it because they would definitely have an advantage here so long as they knew how to properly tread past this region. There were splits on the ground all around them as they moved forward. The spaces in between the splits were wide enough for them to see through it. Green bubbling liquid which emitted a light glow could be spotted in between the splits. Ssshhhsshhh~ A small sizzling sound escaped from the split on the ground as Gustav took the first step forward. The ground descended upon contact with his feet, which Gustav quickly reacted to by stepping forward. As that part of the ground sunk in, sizzling greenish liquid spilled out, spreading a little further than one foot radius. "Be careful," Gustav voiced as he continued to move forward. "Why in the hell did we agree to pass here again?" Teemee voiced with a low tone as his forehead scrunched. The group quickly followed after Gustav as he stuck close to the left side of a huge moutain while moving forward. They did their possible best to avoid sinking into the green liquid below with the ground. Fortunately, not every part of the ground sunk upon contact. The group couldn't catch a break as they quickly moved forward to avoid the sizzling greenish liquid. Over twenty minutes went by and the group luckily had not encountered any beast in the area as they moved forward. They had made it more than halfway past the region at this point and it looked like they would be out soon. "Stop," Gustav suddenly voiced out after a few minutes of movement. The group quickly paused as they moved to the sides upon Gustav gesture to hide. Since there were a couple of rocky areas, they had places that could conceal their figures. Up ahead was a group of four beastly looking creatures who seemed to have not discovered their presence. These creatures stood on fours with three square shaped pointy heads that made it look like their faces were drills. These creatures had eyes at the tip of their horns which were curved backwards along with a fourteen eet long body and very short tail. Compared to a lot of creatures Gustav had seen in the past, these looked less scary but that didn't mean they should be underestimated. Gustav was about to give an instruction when a loud yell rang out behind him. "Arrghhh! Shit!" One of the one legged aliens behind them screamed out as they jumped away from a sinking land. The participant happened to have side stepped subconsciously, causing the ground to sink as a small portion of green liquid made contact with their leg. "Kiiiiihhh!" The creatures ahead were instantly aware of their presence and turned around. "Go! Go! Go!" Gustav yelled as he quickly turned to the side and began running. The group of fifty also followed suit as the beasts began to give chase. "You just couldn't keep your goddamned mouth shut!" Yonda yelled with a tone of anguish as they ignored the sinking terrain while running at full speed. Thoooommm! One of the four beasts suddenly leapt forward, completely flying above their heads before landing a couple of feet in front of them. "Gustav," Aildris yelled from the side. Gustav nodded and grabbed onto a mini boulder sized rock by the side. Aildris grabbed hold of this rock as well and they both struggled to lift it. They successfully tossed the rock forward together as the Beast charged forward while swinging its claws. The group behind found their action completely stupid as due to weakness they could only toss the rock a few feet forward which was not even far enough to make contact with the Beast. However, at the same moment the rock landed on the ground, the Beast also stepped on that piece of land with its left upper body foot. Dddhiiinnnn~ That part of its body instantly sank into the ground, dipping into the greenish sizzling liquid below like chicken strips in hot sauce. "Kiiiihhhhhhh!" The creature screamed in pain as it quickly yanked its left leg out and fell to the side. That leg was already a pile of bones but Gustav and Aildris didn't wait to witness this.