She did not decide. Instead, she turned to Freon. "What do you think?"
Freon shrugged. "What is there to think? My decision remains the same. I will find my sister!"
She faced the others. "After hearing about the danger from Elder Unvo, what do the rest of you think?"
Benedict and Shirley had the same reaction. They immediately supported Freon's decision. Lady Kalasena was inwardly curious about these Beast Lords, so she silently nodded, much to the vexation of her two maids. They felt that the situation had grown out of their control, so they wanted to contact the Dewshard Household. That way, if anything went wrong, they could try and explain themselves. Unfortunate, they could not find the opportunity to. Yuna struggled a great deal. She was scared and regretful. This was not what she signed up for. But when she thought about how Nassandra was probably more scared, regretful, and lonely, she did not hesitate. She wanted to help out too! The Arcane Knights and Grand Knights exchanged wry gazes. They tried to convince Elizabeth that this was too dangerous, that they should retreat. Alas, their words fell on deaf ears. Since they could not force her, they had to accompany her, even if it led to their graves!
Elizabeth knew what these knights were thinking, and she felt bad for them. They were truly stuck between a rock and a hard place. Still, she was happy that their morale remained high. Elder Unvo did not sway their minds. She smiled and faced Elder Unvo, "As you can see, this is our decision. Of course, I also acknowledge the dangers that you spoke of. We will do our best to not provoke any beast hordes, or Rank 2 Beast Lords. That is why time is of the essence. The faster we find Nassandra, the less likely a problem occurs. I hope you can aid us, Elder Unvo."
Elder Unvo nodded. "Don't regret it." He willed and used a martial technique. Yellow wind left his nostrils, condensed into a wind ribbon, and stretched into the distance. "This will guide you to that cave. Like I said, because it's underground, my support will be limited."
"Thank you."
"I will stay here for a day. If you don't return by then, I'll assume the worst."
After that, Elizabeth and the others gathered their supplies, and headed out. They chose not to use any techniques or spells to hasten their voyage, despite the urgency. Elizabeth was still wary about these Beast Lords or beast hordes. She wanted to keep their strength at their maximum, in case of a battle. The terrain was difficult as one would expect. They cut their way through the forest, while some carried torches. There was barely enough light. Sometimes, there would be a steep rock wall or cliff, and they would have to return to find another way. They ran into a lot of dead ends, but fortunately, they had Elder Unvo's yellow wind ribbon to follow. Other times, beasts would encircle and ambush them, and a battle would ensue. These beasts displayed a level of cunning, and wisdom not found anywhere else. It made Elizabeth and her party secretly shocked. Shirley was the only one calm about this peculiar trait of the Mordrigan Peaks.
Originally, the Second Peak was not that far away, requiring an hour to reach; however, because of the constant detours and battles, that time extended to three hours! The snowstorm intensified, bringing a bone-chilling cold to everyone. Beast blood and thirty goat carcasses decorated the space around them. These goats were very strange. When they bent down and charged, they could explosively accelerate in a straight line, moving from rest to a sprint instantaneously! This speed was extremely fast, and when these goats aimed their horns, it was like a metal battering ram! They smashed through trees, rocks, and everything standing in their way! Even a human would be blasted to death! Elizabeth had a thought. Were these the three-horned goats? She needed to find an Uncrowned Millennial Horn which came from a four-horned goat. Thankfully, Elizabeth's group was quite strong. They dealt with the thirty goats without much trouble. Sadly though, there was no four-horned goat amongst them.
Everyone sat down and rested. They were tired, having fought two battles previously. Elizabeth ate some food, Benedict cleaned the blood off his sword, Shirley chatted with some of the knights, and Freon looked at Yuna. Although Yuna had Peak Gaseous Fog Core Level, she was not a good fighter. She struggled in the fights and required constant protection. Even Lady Kalasena's two maids showcased exceptional cooperation and combat ability! But in the last fight, Yuna made a mistake, which injured a Grand Knight. Out of everyone present, she had the weakest combat strength. She was a detriment to the party. She apologized profusely to the Grand Knight as shame clouded her face. This feeling of dragging everyone down was really horrible. Freon walked over and tried to talk to her, but she quickly hid her gaze, fearful of his harsh words. He felt awkward. His ability to comfort people was very poor. Nassandra complained about the same thing once.
They marched on. The frequency of the battles increased, forcing Elizabeth, Benedict, Shirley, and Freon to use their stronger methods. Spells flashed, as techniques blazed. The light illuminated the dark forest. Many beasts died, as the others retreated. They continued lurking, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Aside from that, they encountered strange things. Some trees possessed extraordinary toughness, being as hard as steel, or abundant vitality, regrowing lost branches at a visible rate. Fog could suddenly appear and make them lose their sense of direction. Or a booming thunderstrike could be heard, but the lightning bolt could not be seen. Despite all that, Elder Unvo's yellow wind ribbon remained straight and true. The profundity of Elder Unvo's technique impressed everyone. Using it, they successfully reached their destination with everyone intact.
There was a large cave entrance, tall enough for people to stand in, and wide enough for three or four people to walk side-by-side. This was important, because too small of a space and Benedict, Shirley, and the other martial artists would be unable to fight. It would be extremely awkward if they encountered an enemy by then. Elizabeth, Freon, and the other Arcanists were slightly solemn. Arcania specialized in wide area of effect destruction. Their spells were unrestrained and did not differentiate between ally or enemy. In these tight passageways, the range of their spells could easily implicate their allies. Moreover, they would need to control the power of their spells, or they could destabilize the entire cave. It would lead to their deaths!
The cave burrowed deep into the mountainside. The exact depth was hard to estimate. It could be unfathomably vast! At the very least, they could not spot Nassandra anywhere. But they did discover the traces Elder Unvo mentioned before. A series of human-shaped footprints in the snow went from forest into the cave. Since they were closer, Benedict used his Martial Perception and Freon used his Magic Perception. Shirley was not a Perception Realm, but she could use Mock Perception. Elizabeth was the one who smiled bitterly. As a Half-Condensed Drop, she could not extend her Magic Perception outward yet. She had to leave it to the others. Waves of senses pierced through the rock and darkness, probing the cave for any signs of Nassandra. Freon's eyes flashed.
"I found her! She's definitely inside this cave!" he shouted as he clenched his fists tightly. Cupping his mouth, he yelled with the loudest voice he could muster. "Nassandra! We're here! We're coming to get you!"
"Nassandra… Nassandra… Nassandra…"
Echoes answered his call, which hinted how deep the cave went. Still, that did not discourage Freon at all. Compared to searching the entire mountain, this was far more manageable! Hope surged in his heart. Since he did not receive a reply, he casted a spell to amplify his voice. He even wanted to use his Bloodline Ability, Thousand Core Resonance, to strengthen his spell to the absolute maximum limit he could. Nassandra was probably lost and scared. She might even be hurt, or in danger. Therefore, she needed to know that her big brother was coming to save her!
But before he could use his Bloodline Ability, Shirley held his arm with a grimace. "Don't."
"Huh? Why?"
"There's… something else in there," she replied ominously.
"What is it?" Freon's expression changed. A Magic Perception had greater range, and penetration than a Martial Perception, but it could only sense magic. Only Shirley and Benedict could understand the full picture.