Jacob gave a hug to his aunt Linda before leaving for the expedition.

"Practice all day and stay safe. Then, if you feel tired, I made a reinvigorating mix of herbs you can soak in water and drink as tea. They will help you cultivate and practice Spells," Jacob handed over a small sack full of herbs to his aunt.

"Oh, Jackie... Be careful, please."

There was evident worry on his aunt's face, and he couldn't blame her. Now, Jacob had the whole bunch of conspiracy theorists at his back. If they lost it, he could very well be lynched by such a crowd.

Aunt Linda was still wrapping her head around the Hell Devouring Cultivation Technique: even though the Cockroach realm didn't require profound insights to get past it, she was starting to feel the core of cultivation, the mighty hunger that eats all.

She wanted to ask her nephew for pointers, but she knew he was already too busy for her. Maybe not just now, but for a long time to come. And it was fine. She had enough to work with. Fireballs and Earth Walls; she could already summon some of both, and however puny they were, it didn't matter.

...

"How, just how?" Frederick was speechless.

The principal's son was a born leader, or so he thought before seeing the herd of crazies follows Jacob as sheep behind a Sheppard's dog.

"It's complicated. Just nod if they start saying something," he turned to the person on his right, "same for you, Juliet. Joseph has taken to it very well, without me saying anything."

Apparently, Joseph knew a lot of internet stuff that Jacob didn't even remember. So the conspiracy theorists took after him as Jacob's right hand, loving all the facts he could regurgitate about wild theories.

They mainly chose cars and scooters for the travel. Jacob hoped to avoid any blockage or Demonic Beast, but it would be impossible. So instead, he would scout ahead of the convoy on a scooter, together with a few others.

He had found a red Vespa with a 125cc and told Juliet to ride with him. He had his sharp sixth sense, and Juliet could now flatten even a Hellspawn Chameleon with a fist empowered by her Body Technique (author's note) previously referred to as Martial Technique, but I realized it wouldn't fit as well).

They left while people looked at them with a dark faces. No one liked their current arrangement, and they better come back with some good news to avoid more civil unrest.

Jacob pressed on the accelerator while Juliet put her arms on his abdomen. Honestly, it was quite a funny scene since he was shorter than her and her head towered over his. Juliet could have easily been a model if she had wanted, whereas Jacob could have been a massive nerd at best.

"No helmet, Jake. What are we, in Naples?" she laughed with sincere mirth, the previous fight momentarily forgotten.

Jacob guessed that the absence of Helena played a significant part in Juliet's newfound happiness.

Fort Mountain was twenty minutes by car, barely 10 km. However, given the tortuous mountain roads, the trip took more than one would expect.

Jacob felt something by the side of the road and stopped his Vespa. Juliet immediately jumped off and checked her surroundings. Jacob had instructed her very clearly before riding.

“No talks. If I stop and there is not a blockage in the front of us, then we are most likely in the presence of Demonic Beasts. So let's try to sneak attack as many as possible.”

The convoy stopped fifty meters before then, and nobody moved. Frederic, who was riding slightly behind them, dismounted and followed Jacob's lead.

Over the guardrail, there were trees, the typical forest. At first glance, everything seemed normal.

After looking, Jacob paled.

It can't be.

There were multiple great monsters around the world. Dragon and Hydras were the two main forces, one controlling the sky and ground, and the other the water. However, there were minor threats that, when left unchecked.

There was one type of monster that everyone hated, from Dragons to Hydras to Humans. And that was not just because they were the nastiest creatures ever to exist, but also because they could get insanely strong over time and with enough resources. In addition, they were stealthy in their infant forms but deadly in swarms.

What Jacob saw in front of him was egg sacks. Minute, tiny, minuscule membranous fuc**ng egg sacks.

He followed the trail and focused on a couple of Forbidden Techniques at the same time. If he spotted even one of the wretched monsters, he would immediately activate them and bring the monsters down. If even one survived, it could produce an entire colony. They were also parasitic and could hide on someone's body, crawling in their flesh after secreting a potent local anesthetic through that specific patch of skin.

Those monsters were nightmares incarnated. But it didn't make sense for them to be around St. Peter. Jacob didn't remember any of them sprouting around the entire region. And that was also because wherever they appeared right after the change, they would massacre everyone and everything, feed on their bodies, and wage another extermination war as soon as they evolved.

Humanity had not been able to contain them. Even other Demonic Beasts hated them to their core.

Jacob found a nest with every egg popped and empty. It looked recent, and just a few eggshells were making his danger sense go crazy.

Entire cities had fallen against these monsters. Entire regions. Entire nations.

Even Dragons and Hydras sometimes perished to them.

And now, God only knew where they had gone. Jacob was tempted to burn the entire forest down, but he knew that not even that might stop them.

The monsters were adaptable, strong, relentless.

Charybdes was their name, enemies of life.

If he did not find them, they would kill off the entire region.

Another considerable problem had fallen into Jacob's lap.