Without wasting any time, he continued moving deeper into the forest.

The trees grew denser and denser the more he entered the deepest part of the forest. The atmosphere also became heavier. Even the sounds of monster roars gradually faded.

Then suddenly...Aron stopped.

His eyes narrowed as he stared ahead. His heart started beating loudly.

A gigantic yellow vortex, hundreds of meters wide, was spinning rapidly in the distance. The terrifying aura emanating from it made even Aron shiver for a moment.

The sight instantly reminded him of the calamities from his previous life. In this world, vortexes were classified by both color and size.

Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, White, and Black. They represented the ranks from F-rank all the way to SSS-rank.

Judging by its color and size, the vortex before him should have been a Peak B-rank Vortex. The monsters inside were supposed to be B-rank or below.

However... the moment Aron observed it more carefully, his expression turned grim.

His pupils contracted looking at the edges...A trace of horror suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"An Advancing Vortex..."

Even the little skeleton was stunned.

It also directly stared at the gigantic vortex. The flames burning inside its empty eye sockets trembled slightly before it slowly turned toward Aron.

"You know about Advancing Vortexes?"

Aron nodded. Countless memories from his previous life surfaced in his mind.

Advancing Vortexes were among the greatest disasters humanity had faced. A vortex that evolved to a higher rank would cause the monsters inside to undergo terrifying transformations.

Their strength would increase dramatically, often turning an ordinary expedition into a massacre.

However, something didn't make sense.

Aron's frown deepened.

Advancing Vortexes weren't supposed to appear for another three years. Then why had one appeared now? His gaze locked onto the giant vortex.

At the edge of the swirling yellow energy, faint traces of orange could already be seen. Although the transformation wasn't complete, it had clearly begun.

The monsters inside were probably evolving at this very moment.

Aron's expression darkened.

"This is bad..."

His fists clenched tightly...

"If someone is still inside..."

The little skeleton immediately sensed the concern in his master's voice.

Without wasting time, it activated one of its unique abilities and carefully scanned the vortex.

A few moments later, it spoke.

"There are seven people inside."

Aron's eyes narrowed slightly.

The skeleton continued, "Three of them are Peak B-rank SIREs. The remaining four are C-rank."

The surrounding forest suddenly became completely silent. Aron's face grew more serious.

Peak B-rank Sires might be powerful under normal circumstances, but if the vortex completed its evolution before they escaped...

Even they could die.

A moment later, Aron looked toward the vortex entrance. His eyes became sharp and determined.

"There is still time."

Before the skeleton could react, Aron took a step forward, toward the Advancing Vortex...

Aron stepped into the vortex... and a wave of dizziness immediately washed over him.

After a few seconds, the uncomfortable sensation completely disappeared, and the scenery before him completely changed.

A vast wasteland stretched as far as the eye could see.

The ground was covered in endless sand dunes, while thorny plants emerged from the desert here and there. The scorching heat distorted the air itself, creating shimmering mirages in the distance.

Not a single human could be seen. Not even a monster. The entire place felt eerily silent. Aron swallowed hard. His worry for the people trapped inside grew even stronger.

"This is a desert-themed vortex..."

That was very, very bad news.

Inside vortexes, SIREs often needed several days to clear all the monsters and find the core. During that time, they relied heavily on supplies stored in their Space Rings.

Food is important for humans to gain energy. Water is essential to survive . And in a desert type vortex, the lack of water could kill someone even before the monsters did.

Aron frowned, "Let's hope they brought enough food and water with them."

The little skeleton sitting on his shoulder nodded.

Then it spoke in a serious tone, "Humans on this planet don't know about Advancing Vortexes yet."

Its eye flames flickered.

"Even if they brought enough supplies, do you really think they'll have time to enjoy them?"

Aron's expression darkened instantly. He understood exactly what the skeleton meant.

Once the vortex completed its evolution, the monsters inside would undergo a terrifying transformation. By then, food and water would become the least of their concerns.

Aron took a deep breath.

"You can still sense them, right?"

The skeleton nodded, "Of course. They're still alive."

"Good!"

Aron looked toward the distant horizon.

"Lead the way."

Without wasting another second, the skeleton pointed in a certain direction.

Aron immediately burst forward with his topmost speed.

His figure shot across the desert like an arrow released from a bow, leaving a trail of sand behind him. The scorching wind howled across the wasteland.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the vortex, five SIREs found themselves locked in a tense standoff with a terrifying monster.

A gigantic snake more than twenty meters long lay coiled before them.

Its entire body was covered in earthly colored scales that glistened beneath the blazing desert sun. Every movement caused the scales to scrape against one another, producing an unsettling ringing sound.

Two massive fangs protruded from its mouth, each one sharp enough to pierce steel. Its forked tongue flicked in and out repeatedly as it observed the humans with cold, predatory eyes.

Most frightening of all was its tail.

The monster slowly rattled it back and forth.

RATTLE.

RATTLE.

RATTLE.

The strange sound echoed across the desert. The five SIREs immediately tensed hearing that sound. This was no ordinary B-rank monster.

It was a Sand Hypnotist Viper. A creature feared by countless SIREs because of its terrifying mental abilities.

Unlike most monsters that relied solely on brute strength, the Sand Hypnotist attacked the mind directly.

The rattling of its tail carried a mysterious power capable of dragging weaker opponents into powerful illusions. Once trapped inside those illusions, many victims would lose all sense of reality and eventually die without ever realizing what had happened.

A few meters away from them, a young man around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old lay on the ground.

One of his legs was severely injured.

It had happened during their last battle against a Sand Lizard, another B-rank monster. The monster's sharp claws had torn through his leg, leaving a deep wound.

Beside him, a young woman of a similar age continuously used her healing skill to treat the injury.

She was the sole healer of the group, Sarah.

Her entire face was covered in sweat as she focused on healing him.

The young man, Cedric, gritted his teeth in pain. Even so, his gaze remained fixed on Sarah, who was clearly overexerting herself.

"Sarah, stop..." he said weakly. "You need to rest too..."

But the girl didn't stop at all.

Cedric could feel his wounds gradually closing. The pain was no longer as unbearable as before.

Sarah grinned at him, though her face had already turned pale from exhaustion.

"Hehe... If I don't heal you guys, then who will?"

Suddenly, at that moment, the rattling sound became much clearer. Sarah immediately lost control.

Her eyes turned blank as she unconsciously looked toward the rattling tail in the distance. Due to her weak spirit, she was the first to fall under the monster's hypnosis.

Cedric's expression changed drastically. He quickly grabbed her hand and shouted toward his teammates,

"Sarah has been hypnotized! Take care of yourselves! I'll try to stop her from reaching your side!"

The leader of the group, Gorgon, who carried a massive shield, narrowly evaded a frontal attack from the Sand Hypnotist.

At the same time, another teammate, a beautiful young woman named Lisa, swung her sword at the snake.

Slash!

The blade cut through the monster's scales, leaving behind a bloody mark on its body. The snake immediately hissed in pain.

Hearing Cedric's warning, everyone briefly glanced in their direction.

The moment they saw Sarah's blank expression, their hearts sank. Sarah was the only healer in their team.

If she was controlled by the monster, they would lose their only source of healing. And in a battle against a B-rank monster, if they became careless for even a moment that could very well mean death.

After being injured by the humans, the snake let out an enraged hiss. Its mouth opened wide, and a stream of pure venom sprayed toward the group.

One of the men, a bald fighter with a rugged build, was struck directly by the venom.

"Aaaahhhh!"

A horrifying scream echoed across the desert.

Under everyone's terrified gaze, his body began to melt. His skin dissolved first, followed by his flesh. Within moments, nothing remained of him.

Another girl in the team cried out,

"Mika!"

But there was nothing anyone could do. Mika had died a horrifying death, one he could never have imagined.

The girl's name was Myra.

Her eyes instantly filled with tears. They had been teammates for several years.

They had fought together, trained together, and survived countless dangerous missions together. Yet today, after deciding to raid this vortex, nothing had gone according to plan.

First, Cedric had been seriously injured. Then Sarah had fallen under hypnosis. And now...

Now Mika was dead.