"Bloody Hell! What the heck is that!"
The eyeballs of the remaining refugees left in ignorance from the other factions bulged out as they saw this tide of enemies pouring out like an endless tide from the ash forest. It was one thing to hear the cackling of Digestors drawing closer, but where did these beasts come from?
Those who had scanned, scouted or warned their comrades beforehand had long since fled, and it was the weak, panicked and ignorant refugees who had to bear the brunt of this stampede.
Jake and his group were focused on the refugees and Evolvers standing in their way, but they flinched when they heard the screams of agony and terror from the refugees at their backs. Their position was not much better than that of these clueless factions. They had advanced only about a hundred meters or so toward the mountain since leaving the forest.
They would not make it out in time.
Based on some comments I've seen and a discussion on discord, I'd like to conduct a quick survey on chapter 522 (the one where we have an explicit depiction of what Maeve and the other slaves of Bhuzkoc are going through).
I know that some people are offended by this kind of scene (as was the case with Yerode and Lamine before), as evidenced by some of the comments and the drop in the Power Ranking following these chapters, and I'd like to know what you really think about this subject. Should I stay as realistic as possible, or should I tone down/edit these chapters and future scenes of this type to cater to most readers' taste?
As you know, it's hard to write what you want if you want to make a living out of writing. If I just focus on the positive and power-leveling ride, you get a simple shonen like Solo Leveling, Naruto ect... but just a bit more gory. It works and it's popular, but it's fatally aimed at a younger, immature audience. If I make this choice, my novel might appeal to more people, but those who liked it for its niche, cruel and realistic feel would inevitably be disappointed.